On Thursday’s Squawk Box, CNBC pundit Joe
Kernen claimed that climate science is
“witchcraft”
for the conclusion that rising atmospheric CO2
from industrial emissions is increasing the planetary greenhouse effect.
Arguing with Andrew Ross Sorkin about the news that January 2014 was
the fourth
warmest
in recorded history for the planet, Kernen made several factually
incorrect claims.
Kernen said: “The other warmer months were like in the ‘90s. Why would
there be a warmer month when CO2 was 30% less
in the ‘90s?”
In fact, the other warmer Januaries were in the 2000s: ‘07, ‘02, ‘03,
‘14. Five of the 6 next warmest months were in the ‘00s: ‘10, ‘05, ‘98,
‘04, ‘09, ‘13. 1998 was a warm year because of a very strong El Nino,
such that some of the vast amount of heat stored in the oceans was added
to the atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide was 10 percent less in the 1990s, not 30 percent less.
The global CO2 average for 1990-1999 was 360
ppm, which is 9 percent less than the 2013 annual average of 396.5 ppm.
CO2 levels were 26 perecent less than the
present day in the 1880s, and the earth was 0.8 C (1.44 F) cooler then.
Kernen has regularly questioned the science of man-made global warming
and pilloried scientists and activists as the “eco-taliban.”
CNBC host Joe Kernen marked the one-year
anniversary of Superstorm Sandy by questioning the wisdom of investing
to protect utility customers from extreme weather. In an interview with
Steve Holliday, the CEO of utility company
National Grid, Kernen cited Bjorn Lomborg’s recent global warming denial
op-ed in the Washington Post, “Don’t Blame Climate Change for Extreme
Weather.”
Kernen’s repeated dismissal of global warming and attacks on climate
scientists and activists as the “eco-taliban” have spurred a
45,000-signature petition
drive
organized by climate accountability group Forecast the Facts.
Reading from Lomborg’s op-ed, Kernen rebuked Holliday for investing in
resilience to damages from extreme weather, which have been rapidly
rising. In particular, both extreme
precipitation
and sea level are
increasing in the Northeast, both due to fossil-fueled global warming.
Kernen claimed that his dismissal of the well-known connection between
global warming and extreme weather was backed by prominent climate
scientist Gavin Schmidt, of NASA’s Goddard
Institute for Space Studies.
Hill Heat contacted Dr. Schmidt about Kernen’s use of his words, which
he called a “red herring.”
“My statement in no way implies that no extremes are changing,” Dr.
Schmidt retorted, “and certainly not that electricity companies
shouldn’t invest in increased resilience, which, as Holliday rightly
notes, is prudent regardless.”
How did Kernen’s confabulation come to pass?
About a month ago, E&E
News interviewed Dr.
Schmidt about a paper that found that increases in weather extremes are
concentrated in North America and Europe:
The study noted that the greatest recent year-to-year changes have
occurred in much of North America and Europe, something confirmed by a
separate study last year. The result, according to several scientists,
is a misperception across the West that the weather extremes occurring
there are occurring everywhere. . . . “General statements about
extremes are almost nowhere to be found in the literature but seem to
abound in the popular media,” Schmidt said. “It’s this popular
perception that global warming means all extremes have to increase all
the time, even though if anyone thinks about that for 10 seconds they
realize that’s nonsense.”
Lomborg then misleadingly contrasted Dr. Schmidt’s quotation with
comments from President Obama:
President Obama has explicitly linked a warming climate to “more
extreme droughts, floods, wildfires and hurricanes.” The White House
warned this summer of “increasingly frequent and severe extreme
weather events that come with climate change.” Yet this is not
supported by science. “General statements about extremes are almost
nowhere to be found in the literature but seem to abound in the
popular media,” climate scientist Gavin Schmidt of the
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
said last month. “It’s this popular perception that global warming
means all extremes have to increase all the time, even though if
anyone thinks about that for 10 seconds they realize that’s
nonsense.”
Kernen then used Lomborg’s article to argue that climate change has no
influence on extreme weather:
I’m looking at a Washington Post piece, Steve. It’s the Washington
Post. “Don’t blame climate change for extreme weather.” It goes on to
say that in popular — um — well, you see that is in the popular media,
but the science does not support it at all. . . . Gavin Schmidt of
NASA Goddard Institute: “General statements
about extremes are almost nowhere to be found in actual scientific
literature but abound in popular media. It’s a popular perception that
global warming means that all extremes have increased although
anyone who thinks about that for ten seconds realizes is nonsense.”
Kernen’s comments ironically appeared with the chyron “SUPERSTORM
SANDY: LESSONS
LEARNED.”