Global Warming Shatters Reporter’s Abilities to Do Simple Math
Reuters today released a hilarious account marking the collapse of the Antarctic shelf. According to Reuters,
The Antarctic Peninsular has warmed by 36 degrees Fahrenheit over the past half century, far faster than elsewhere on the ice-bound continent or the rest of the world.
Huh? If the Antarctic shelf had warmed 36 degrees over the last 50 years, the shelf would have collapsed a long time ago. So how did the moron who wrote this arrive at this figure?
Ah, you see, the actual warming was only about 2.5 degrees Celsius. Since 2.5 degrees Celsius is about 36 degrees Fahrenheit, the Reuters reporter concluded that this was a 36 degree Fahrenheit increase in temperature.
Somebody needs to go back to college for a refresher course.
Note, by the way, that the collapse of the Antarctic shelf is not a result of global warming. As the Washington Post noted in its coverage,
Researchers and scientists who study the Antarctic Peninsula cautioned that there was little evidence to directly link the ice shelf collapse to the effects of global warming, which is induced by carbon dioxide and other man-made “greenhouse” gases. Rather, they are blaming a localized warming period that allowed melt water to seep into cracks and trigger massive fracturing of the ice when temperatures dropped.
Sources:
Global Warming Shatters Giant Antarctic Ice Shelf. Reuters, March 19, 2002.
Antarctic Ice Shelf Collapses Into Sea: Scientists Split on Global Warming Role. Eric Pianin, Washington Post, March 20, 2002.
Tags: Global Warming