Media outlets share climate change facts that are totally unbiased. And they’re 100% accurate. Oops. I skimmed back and re-read what I just wrote. I’ll have to edit out those typos when I get a chance. Because they’re the opposite of true. And you remember what the opposite of true is. Right?
False.
But who cares if the information presented is true or false. That’s beside the point. Because as long as it sells papers…uh, websites and advertising…write it and publish it.
So-called “climate change facts” are exercises in information manipulation.
I love the art (and science) of writing. The countless ways of turning a phrase. Alliteration. Metaphors and similes. Allegories and short stories. Yeah, I love it. But people, who call themselves “journalists” (because they get a “journalism” degree in a college) twist facts to grind their ax.
For example, a “senior editor” for an online “news” organization said this in a recent article:
“Thanks to climate change, heat waves and record temperatures in the Pacific Northwest may become commonplace.”
Of course, the implication is “Aargh, we’re all gonna burn up!” But when someone says something “may” happen, it’s crucial (and easy) to remember…it also may not. (Side note: I’m a might or might not kind of guy when it comes to examples like this. But that’s just me.)
Anyway…
That same so-called “senior editor” went on to write that the heat dome around the Pacific Northwest has been described as a “once in a millennium”weather event. Then, he added, “…such extreme temperatures are a rarity in the region. But thanks to climate change, they may not be so unusual in the years to come.”
And there’s that information manipulation again. Warmer temperatures truly “may not be so unusual in the years to come” up yonder in the great Northwest. But then again, they may still be rare.
No one knows. So, you can choose to go the Chicken Little route and believe the sky is falling and the sun’s gonna burn us up. Or…you can choose to follow the actual science. I know, I know. That’s more work than listening to (or reading) talking heads on TV and online. But grownups don’t mind work.
And when you do the work, you discover it wasn’t all that long ago that global cooling was the fear du jour. Mister Spock…I mean Leonard Nimoy…even narrated a special report about it.
Our grandchildren were gonna freeze. Now, they’ll burn. Oh no!
My favorite part of the article I’ve been talking about was actually the photo that went with it. It was a picture of a guy on a paddle board out in the bay near a city in the Northwest. And the caption/link under the picture said “We’re gonna have to get used to this.” I nearly did a spit take (look it up).
Because I bet the guy on the paddle board was thinking that, too. “Yeah, I could really get used to this.”
I’ve made a decision not to fear
What the weather might do to us here.
And I’ve chosen to trust what God said
About how long we’ll have this homestead.
Stay tuned,
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