{"id":280057,"date":"2023-09-23T13:44:24","date_gmt":"2023-09-23T11:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=280057"},"modified":"2023-09-23T13:44:40","modified_gmt":"2023-09-23T11:44:40","slug":"bbc-happisburgh-complaint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=280057","title":{"rendered":"BBC Happisburgh Complaint"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Paul Homewood<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will no doubt remember this BBC report from last December, which specifically blamed coastal erosion in Norfolk on climate change:<\/mark><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-england-norfolk-63822899<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I filed this complaint at the time:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The report states\u201dBut punishing weather conditions linked to climate change have eroded so much of the village\u2019s soft sandy rock \u201c<\/em>
In fact coastal erosion has been taking place in Happisburgh for thousands of years. There are well established historical links for this fact, for instance:<\/em>
http:\/\/happisburgh.org.uk\/ccag\/history\/<\/a><\/em>
The British Geological Study in their 2006 study on Happisburgh erosion states:<\/em>
\u201cIt is likely that the Norfolk cliffs have been eroding at the present rate for about the last 5000 years\u201d<\/em>
https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/case-studies\/coastal-erosion-at-happisburgh-norfolk-landslide-case-study\/<\/a><\/em>
The recent increase in erosion is due to fact that sea defences built in the 1950s, which worked well, have lately fallen into disrepair.<\/em>
Your claim of \u201cpunishing weather conditions\u201d also does not stand up to scrutiny. The Met Office have recently said that \u201cThere\u2019s no evidence of a trend in storminess because of climate change [in the UK]\u201d:<\/em>
https:\/\/www.metoffice.gov.uk\/about-us\/press-office\/news\/weather-and-climate\/2022\/2022-provisionally-warmest-year-on-record-for-uk<\/a><\/em>
And the Met Office\u2019s own charts clearly show that the frequency and intensity of storms in the UK has actually declined since the 1990S:<\/em>
https:\/\/notalotofpeopleknowthat.files.wordpress.com\/2023\/01\/image-1.png<\/a><\/em>
Sea levels on the East Coast have been rising at a steady rate since the mid 19thC. There is no evidence of recent acceleration.<\/em>
https:\/\/www.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov\/sltrends\/sltrends_station.shtml?id=170-053<\/a><\/em>
About half of the sea level rise along the Norfolk coast, about 1mm a year, is caused by the land sinking, something which has been occurring since the Ice Age:<\/em>
https:\/\/notalotofpeopleknowthat.files.wordpress.com\/2022\/01\/image-61.png<\/a><\/em>
Nowhere in the article is there any mention of the above facts.<\/em>
Consequently readers will have been badly misinformed, and led into thinking that coastal erosion is all due to modern, man-made global warming.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The first response was obviously written by the office junior, which I refused to accept. I have just received the second formal response:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I appreciate you may not believe there is a link between coastal erosion and climate change however many scientists and experts would disagree. Within the article, we quoted a spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as saying:\u00a0“We recognise the threat from climate change and sea level rise, which is why we are investing a record \u00a35.2bn over six years in around 2,000 flood and coastal erosion schemes to better protect communities across England,”<\/em>
The LSE\u2019s Grantham Research Institute released\u00a0<\/em>a paper<\/a>\u00a0on this in 2021 which says: \u201cClimate change is causing sea level rise, which is increasing the risk of flooding around the UK\u2019s coastline. It is also increasing coastal erosion. Both of these hazards pose a risk to people and the environment. \u2026The major impacts of sea level rise occur during high tides and storms, causing flooding along coastlines and estuaries.\u201d<\/em>
The LSE paper further says: \u201cSea level rise can also increase coastal erosion because waves can extend further up and along beaches and cliffs. Erosion is happening faster along coastlines made from softer sediments, notably on the East coast of England\u201d\u2013 which is where Happisburgh is sited.<\/em>
You have cited a\u00a0<\/em>BGS survey<\/a>\u00a0from 2006. As you suggested, it does indeed say \u201cIt is likely that the Norfolk cliffs have been eroding at the present rate for about the last 5000 years\u2026”<\/em>
However it goes on to say: \u201c\u2026future predictions of sea-level rise and storm frequency due to climate change are likely to have a profound impact on coastal erosion and serious consequences for the effectiveness of coastal protection and sea defence schemes in East Anglia in the near future.\u201d<\/em>
It also states: \u201cSea-level rise and climate change, including increased storminess, may also increase the rate of erosion.\u201d<\/em>
The BGS survey was conducted 17 years ago in 2006, since when knowledge about climate change has moved on. What it predicted then does indeed seem to be happening. We reported in our article that\u00a0During the last 20 years, 34 homes have crumbled into the water in Happisburgh because of coastal erosion.<\/em>
I am sorry if you were disappointed by our coverage however I do not believe there has been any breach of our\u00a0<\/em>Guidelines<\/a>\u00a0relating to editorial values and standards.\u00a0 I would however like to thank you for taking the time to write in and share your views with us.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

So I have now sent my complaint up to the Executive Complaints Unit, with this reply:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Your response implies that the rate of sea level rise and storminess have increased since 2006, when the BGS stated that “It is likely that the Norfolk cliffs have been eroding at the present rate for about the last 5000 years”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no evidence for this. In terms of sea levels, the rate of rise has actually slowed in the period:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov\/sltrends\/sltrends_station.shtml?id=170-053<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You quote DEFRA on the future threat of sea level rise, but the data shows that has not happened yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And as my original complaint noted, the Met Office have recently confirmed that storminess has not increased either. Their charts actually show a decline since the 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your comment that “During the last 20 years, 34 homes have crumbled into the water in Happisburgh because of coastal erosion” is utterly irrelevant, as homes have been lost to the sea for centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Above all you offer no evidence that the rate of erosion has increased since 2006. This is obviously crucial to your claim that climate change is having an increased effect on erosion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unless you can prove that the rate of erosion has increased since 2006, the BGS statement remains true, that \u201cthe Norfolk cliffs have been eroding at the present rate for about the last 5000 years”. This in turn therefore invalidates your report\u2019s claim that \u201cpunishing weather conditions linked to climate change have eroded so much of the village\u2019s soft sandy rock that her house is now the last one before the cliff edge\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever role modern climate change may have played, it is a fact that most of the erosion is due to geological forces which have been taking place for thousands of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is grossly misleading not to mention this fact. It is also inaccurate to claim that climate change is having an increasing effect, as your reponses state.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You will no doubt remember this BBC report from last December, which specifically blamed coastal erosion in Norfolk on climate change<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":280065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818389,691818056,691819743,691822896,691818087,691821601],"class_list":{"0":"post-280057","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-climate-change","10":"tag-climate-propaganda","11":"tag-coastal-erosion","12":"tag-global-warming","13":"tag-norfolk","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/071053b98ea9186354d8f38ca47d30a32.jpg?fit=1024%2C684&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1aR3","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":238624,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=238624","url_meta":{"origin":280057,"position":0},"title":"Coastal Erosion? Well, It\u2019s Climate Change, Innit?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/01\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"But punishing weather conditions linked to climate change have eroded so much of the village\u2019s soft sandy rock that her house is now the last one before the cliff edge.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-359.png?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-359.png?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-359.png?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-359.png?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":237831,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=237831","url_meta":{"origin":280057,"position":1},"title":"Complaint To BBC Over Happisburgh Report","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/01\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cIt is likely that the Norfolk cliffs have been eroding at the present rate for about the last 5000 years\u201d","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-146.png?fit=976%2C549&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-146.png?fit=976%2C549&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-146.png?fit=976%2C549&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-146.png?fit=976%2C549&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":237270,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=237270","url_meta":{"origin":280057,"position":2},"title":"The Truth About Happisburgh","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/01\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"It is likely that the Norfolk cliffs have been eroding at the present rate for about the last 5000 years","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-19.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-19.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-19.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-19.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-19.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":282438,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=282438","url_meta":{"origin":280057,"position":3},"title":"BBC Say It\u2019s OK To\u00a0Lie","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/10\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT By Paul Homewood https:\/\/notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com\/2023\/09\/22\/bbc-happisburgh-complaint\/ Predictably, the BBC have rejected my complaint about the accuracy of the above claim, that \u201cpunishing weather conditions linked to climate change have eroded so much of the village\u2019s soft rock\u201d. In the response from the BBC Executive\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"BBC\"","block_context":{"text":"BBC","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bbc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image-190.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image-190.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image-190.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image-190.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":237225,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=237225","url_meta":{"origin":280057,"position":4},"title":"BBC Lying About Happisburgh Erosion","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/01\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"They\u2019re lying. They know they\u2019re lying. But they carry on lying anyway:","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-11.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-11.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-11.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-11.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":255513,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=255513","url_meta":{"origin":280057,"position":5},"title":"Norfolk\u2019s \u201cClimate Refugees\u201d","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/05\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Our hopeless media is conflating local erosion problems in Norfolk with absurd forecasts of sea level rise","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate Change Committee\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate Change Committee","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change-committee"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0-Hemsby-Norfolk.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0-Hemsby-Norfolk.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0-Hemsby-Norfolk.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0-Hemsby-Norfolk.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0-Hemsby-Norfolk.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=280057"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":280066,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280057\/revisions\/280066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/280065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=280057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=280057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=280057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}