Just two years ago, the United Nations secretary general announced, “Global warming has ended … The era of global boiling has arrived!”
“(We were) warned about this,” said a “Daily Show” host, “by every scientist for the last 50 years!”
His audience applauded.
Wow. Every scientist agreed!
But here’s the thing. They didn’t.
My new video covers how many of the scaremongers’ claims are just wrong.
Yes, the climate is warming. People burning fossil fuels adds to that.
But there’s little agreement about apocalyptic claims that environmental groups make.
“Global warming is driving polar bears towards extinction,” headlined The New York Times. It’s just not true.
“Polar bears have increased their populations,” explains Heartland Institute fellow Linnea Lueken.
Estimates from the 1960s placed polar bear populations at around 17,000-19,000. Today, there are about 26,000.
OK, maybe polar bears aren’t going extinct, but we’re told we might.
Former President Barack Obama announced, “Our changing climate is already making it more difficult to produce food!”
But agricultural output keeps setting record highs.
So alarmist media and environmental groups move on to other scares:
“Climate change is making droughts worse,” writes Earthjustice.
“Droughts are absolutely not getting worse,” says Lueken. “The media love to share stories when there is a drought somewhere, some specific location. They completely ignore previous years with record low amounts of drought.”
Globally, there’s been no increase in drought.
Climate alarmists have a better argument when they say rising sea levels will cause floods.
But the media’s claims are silly.
In 2004, The Guardian claimed a “secret report” said: “European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas… by 2020.”
Yes, six years ago.
The “experts” also predicted rising seas will “completely cover” the Maldives. But since then, the islands have grown in size. They are even building new airports.
“Sea level rise is absolutely occurring, but it’s been slow,” says Lueken. “About an inch a decade. There is no way people wouldn’t be able to adapt.”
More than 100 million people already live below sea level in places like Holland. Dikes hold back water.
Climate change may cause real problems. But we can adapt, rather than get hysterical about mythical threats.
Like the claim that coral reefs are disappearing.
“Great Barrier Reef headed for ‘massive death,'” claimed CNN.
“The Great Barrier Reef is doing fine,” says Lueken. “2024 actually saw record coverage for the Great Barrier Reef … Corals thrive in tropical conditions.”
Environmental groups claimed bees were dying out. They called it “bee-pocalypse!”
“Thirty percent of the honeybees disappearing!” claimed actress Angelina Jolie.
Yes, 20 years ago, there was a drop in some bee populations. No one is certain why. But nature and beekeepers adjusted. Now there are 31% more bee colonies.
“We’re not in any way facing an apocalypse involving bees,” says science writer Jon Entine. “Things have never been better in terms of the numbers of bees globally.”
Even as the numbers of bees increased, reports of their death continue. “Bee population is in decline!” headlined CNN.
Environmental groups push these myths to get your money.
“Scares drive donations,” says Entine. “The oxygen for these organizations is money donated by people who think they’re doing good.”
We think of environmental groups as little guys — fighting big polluters. But today environmental groups are big guys spending millions on lawsuits that block progress.
Greenpeace pulls in more than $400 million a year.
Your donations to the World Wildlife Fund pay for its elegant 250,000-square-foot headquarters.
The Natural Resources Defense Council funnels your hard-earned dollars into extravagant, star-studded galas.
Climate change may cause real problems. But we can adapt.
Don’t let scammers like Natural Resource Defense Council squander your money.
Every Tuesday at JohnStossel.com, Stossel posts a new video about the battle between government and freedom. He is the author of “Government Gone Wild: Exposing the Truth Behind the Headlines.”
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