{"id":259739,"date":"2023-05-30T18:04:12","date_gmt":"2023-05-30T16:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=259739"},"modified":"2023-05-30T18:04:53","modified_gmt":"2023-05-30T16:04:53","slug":"jim-steele-corrects-npr-setting-the-record-straight-on-climate-narratives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=259739","title":{"rendered":"Jim Steele Corrects NPR: Setting the Record Straight on Climate Narratives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From Watts Up With That<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Steele does not disappoint on correcting the constant dissemination of climate misinformation. Today, his ire has been directed towards NPR\u2019s report attributing the destructive fire in Denton, Montana in December 2021 to climate change. Professor Jim Steele, an acclaimed geologist and ecologist, perfectly dissected the issue in a tweet, revealing the extent to which NPR missed or misconstrued the critical nuances of the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steele wrote,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI listen to NPR radio to hear what fake climate propaganda they\u2019re pushing. Today was \u2018Climate Change is Increasing the Fire Risk on the mostly treeless Great Plains\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Accusing NPR of fearmongering climate change, Steele goes on to explicate their flawed reasoning in blaming the Denton fire on global warming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continues,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cNPR blamed the December 2021 destructive fire in Denton Montana, on 70 mph winds, the supposedly unusual 56\u00b0F nighttime temperatures, and lack of snow on the ground, and suggesting it was all due to global warming. But NPR perverted well-established natural weather science.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

He points out that NPR conveniently ignored the fact that the fire was started due to high winds toppling a power line, rather than some climate-induced anomaly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steele also brings up the concept of the winter jet stream and its role in producing strong winter Chinooks or fohn winds in eastern Montana. Steele elucidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe native Blackfeet of that region long ago referred to the Chinooks as snow-eaters because the dry warm winds remove the snow,\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

According to Steele,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cFohn winds dry as the water vapor in the rising winds, condenses leaving snow over the Rocky Mtns at higher elevations, but that also releases latent heat that warms the air which warms further as the winds descend onto the Great Plains.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The unique climatic characteristic of the region was conveniently omitted from the NPR story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steele invokes historical data to emphasize his point, recalling two notable instances in Montana\u2019s weather history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIn December 1933 around Havre MT, just 130 miles north of Denton, Chinook winds raised temperatures 27\u00b0F in just 5 minutes, and over the next 36 hours temperatures rose by 53\u00b0F. The most extreme temperature change in a 24-hour period happened January 15, 1972, in Loma MT, just 70 miles north of Denton, when temperatures increased from \u221254 \u00b0F to 49 \u00b0F.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

His rebuke ends with a rhetorical question,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI wonder how many people realize NPR is brainwashing the public?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This is a call to the public to question the information they receive and to strive to understand the underlying processes that drive our environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steele\u2019s critique of NPR\u2019s coverage highlights a pressing issue in the current climate conversation: the tendency to attribute extreme weather events solely to climate change. It is crucial to remember that weather is complex and influenced by many factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Misinformation and fearmongering narratives do little to inform the public. The need for reliable, accurate reporting that goes beyond simplistic narratives to encompass the complex reality of our climate, and scientific issues in general, has never been more important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I listen to NPR radio to hear what fake climate propaganda they\u2019re pushing. Today was "Climate Change is Increasing the Fire Risk on the mostly treeless Great Plains". Having blogged the story Hijacking the Winds of Change 3 years ago, it was obvious NPR was just fearmongering\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/tArvUMKHRZ<\/a><\/p>— Jim Steele (@JimSteeleSkepti) May 29, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>