Follow up to CBS Global Warming Hysteria

Russ Steele

I watched Scott Pelley on the CBS Global Warming Special and gritted my teeth as he misled the viewers. There is not enough space to go over all the problems I found, but the implication that Antarctica is melting was just too much. It is not melting, there is some warming on the Antarctic Peninsula, a small portion of the Antarctic which reaches above the Antarctic Circle. It has warmed 4 degrees in the region over the last 30 years. Since 2004 there have been several undersea volcano discovered in the area, that could be contributing to the warming. Or, it could be due to changing wind patterns, when the Pacific Ocean switched to a warm phase. 

Pelley was at the Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station, a research station on King George Island, off the coast of Antarctica. King George Island is the largest of the South Shetland Islands, situated at 62°23′S, 58°27′W, 120 kilometers off the coast of Antarctica in the Southern Ocean according to Wikipedia.  Pelley claimed he was in Antarctica, when he was over 120 kilometers to the North in the Shetland Islands. The Chinstrap Penguins are found hear the Arctowski Research Station, and the glacier he climbed with the help of the staff at the Research Station was most likely near the station. We were not looking at a melting Antarctic glacier, but a Shetland Islands glacier well above the Antarctic Circle. 

From the CBS Web site:

60 Minutes wanted to see the evidence of warming nearer the bottom of the world. So Pelley and the team set sail from the last city south, Ushuaia, Argentina, on a two-day voyage to Antarctica.

Here, 60 Minutes found there’s green where the white used to be; on the coast, in summer, there’s grass where the scientists used to ski. The area is called "Paradise Cove," and it is home to fur seals, lazy elephant seals and the Chinstrap penguin.

Paradise Cove is close to Demay Point on the map. Note all the ice free area on this map. This is are not the result of global warming as implied by 60 Minutes. Also, Wayne Trivelpiece said they lose 40 percent of the Chinstrap Penguins every years, most likely due to global warming  driving away the krill which the Penguins eat. However, the Chinstrap's diet consists of krill and small shoaling animals, small fish and other roaming marine crustaceans. No mention they had other food to eat. It could be the volcano's warming the water that are driving off the krill, or changing wind patterns.

UPDATE: Article in the International edition of the Herald Tribune: Antarctic volcanoes identified as a possible culprit in glacier melting. Ooops, Pelley said it was AGW.

Although population changes have been detected among colonies on the Antarctic Peninsula, the overall Chinstraps population seems stable, according to the Antarctic Connection.  If you listened to Scott Pelley and Wayne Trivelpiece they were about to be wiped out by human caused global warming. All those cute penguins killed by humans neglecting to control green house gases. No worry, they make up 70 percent of the penguin population in the world and most populations are stable.

If Scott Pelley has ever gotten to Antarctica, he would know that the main land mass, which is 1.5 times the size of the the US, is not melting only a very small portion on the peninsula. In fact the main land mass is cooling and in 2007 was a record year for sea ice extent,  as shown on the chart below. It is in the middle of summer in Antarctica and the ice extent remains well above the 28 year average and an impressive 3 million square kilometers above last year in January. Once again CBS's credibility is on the line, Antarctic is not melting and the penguins are stable.   

UPDATE #2.  There have been some warming affecting mainly coastal regions between the Ross Sea to the Antarctic Peninsula, while net cooling has affecting the interior areas and most of the East Antarctic Plateau. Interesting that this is the region were the under sea volcanos have been discovered.  The chart below exemplifies some temperature series from various sites in the Antarctic continent.  Ooops, Antarctica is not melting as claimed by Scott Pelley.

More details here.

Comments

[Tom Bright]

"If Scott Pelley has ever gotten to Antarctica, he would know that the main land mass, which is 1.5 times the size of the the US, is not melting only a very small portion on the peninsula."

May I suggest a small editorial update?

If Scott Pelley had ever gotten to Antarctica, he would know that the main land mass, which is 1.5 times the size of the the US, is not melting. That small peninsula on an offshore island that he actually saw in the Southern Hemisphere's summertime may have been green since the last Ice Age. King George Island, after all, is the same distance from one of the Earth's poles as is Anchorage, and there are summer farms in Anchorage.

[Anthony]

Well Pelley is in for a surprise. The Brits have just discovered an active volcano under the west Antarctic ice sheet that is providing an under ice meltwater lake that lubricates the ice above, enhancing its slide to the sea.

I'm sure Pelley will bring this to the attention of viewers any day now.

[Tom Bright]

Thanks for your excellent posting. I have gone in a similar direction. Am I accurate?

==========

CBS featured another GW bit on Sunday. Green areas, melting snow up a hillside. Very convincing? I did a little research.

Anomaly #1: The reporter did NOT hike on Antarctica but on volcanic King George Island. That nice green coastal plain has been listed on maps since the discovery of the island in 1819 as "ice free area." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Kgeorge_map.png)

Note that a description for a similar nearby volcanic area (last eruption less than 1,000 years ago) reads "Residual heat keeps the island largely ice free throughout the year.." (http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1900-041)

Anomaly #2: Down there, right now, IT IS SUMMERTIME.

Anomaly #3: The island's latitude is only 62 degrees south. Anchorage is at an almost identical declination of 61 degrees north, and has some profitable farms in its northern exurbs. Anchorage, too, has been green much of the year since the last Ice Age.

Anomaly #4: King George Island is nearly 2,500 miles away from the South Pole.

Next time those cashmere-overcoated Park Avenue types bark out "Moan! Wail! The consensus is final! Don't stop to think! Install all-powerful World Government!" we might take a few minutes to examine that new evidence, too.

[Sunsettommy]

I have posted your fine Blog at my forum.

It is soooo easy to do a simple internet research to gain a simple understanding of Antarctica.The readers and viewers can do it to and realize quickly the lies and distortions they have been given for years.

The fact that they have not is because they are not interested in the clarity of the topic.It is all about climate change propaganda.That is why they are full of the errors of omissions and deceptions.WE have come to expect.

Too many people sit on the sofa and be couch morons accepting anything they see.It is funny that they take CBS seriously after their deliberate attempt to smear a sitting President.A while back.It took the internet pajama bloggers to quickly spot the obvious con game Rather and his lackeys tried to foist on us.

That is why we have these many blogs and forums trying to expose these misleading presentations.To counter the propaganda of climate change.

[Russ]

Thanks for the link. It is nice to get recognized! The more voices of reason the great the probability that we can make a difference. Very nice looking site.

[Steve]

Dispicable, but, hardly surprising. All the 60 minutes crew had to do prior to going on their quest was to do a little research.

Then, maybe, their reporting would not have been so deceptive.

[Derek]

Hi All,
Err, sometime ago on the below forum
http://www.globalwarmingskeptics.info/index.php
this link was posted,
http://www.lermanet.com/antarcticmelt/

I do not know how "good" this link or the information is....
But it sure as heck annoyed another forum (frequented by BAS "scientists") when I posted it.
Almost immediately the link was removed, and soon after that, I was Banned...
Funny, some questions you appear not to be welcome to ask.

[sunsettommy]

You welcome Mr. Steele.

I have already in the last few months posted some of your articles because I think the Sun needs more coverage.I will be here from time to time.

Keep up the good work!

[Russ]

Hi,

I try to cover the sun more on The Dalton Minimum Returns. check it out and let me know how I could improve the site.

rws

[Sunsettommy]

I have been at that site since last October.I have posted several of your article to GWS forum.

Some of your articles are very short.Maybe you could make them longer for additional information? Hopefully you can archive the article you have posted.

Otherwise it is a good site.

[Scott Brooks]

60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley set out on an expedition; the first stop was the high mountains of Patagonia in Chile, where you can actually see a new age beginning.

So Ol Pelley said the there was unprecedented melting of the O’Higgins glacier. How did he spin that one? What going on down South there?

[Mitchell]

i am doing a project on antarctica can you send me some good info

[Mitchell]

can you call me for more help i live in australia my number is 0424639595 what country do you live in bye