{"id":320342,"date":"2024-04-23T07:43:03","date_gmt":"2024-04-23T05:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=320342"},"modified":"2024-04-23T07:43:05","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T05:43:05","slug":"the-bbc-and-guardian-have-been-raising-the-alarm-about-deadly-heatwaves-in-mali-and-burkina-faso-despite-little-rise-in-average-temperatures-in-the-last-85-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=320342","title":{"rendered":"The BBC and Guardian Have Been Raising the Alarm About \u2018Deadly\u2019 Heatwaves in Mali and Burkina Faso, Despite Little Rise in Average Temperatures in the Last 85 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

From The Daily Sceptic<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BY\u00a0CHRIS MORRISON<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Legacy media filled its columns last week with poppycock \u2018attribution\u2019 stories suggesting that recent heatwaves in Mali (the hottest country in the world<\/a>), Burkina Faso and the rest of the Sahel would have been impossible without human-caused climate disruption. Needless to say, a number of important facts were missing from this latest bout of climate catastrophism. Average temperatures in both Mali and Burkina Faso have barely risen in the last 85 years, rainfall in both countries has increased slightly in recent times, agricultural production is up, while de-desertification is under way across the entire Sahel region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This last fact is never likely to be mentioned in these footling stories dreamed up to promote Net Zero collectivisation. To do so would be to open a Pandora\u2019s Box showing global plant levels have accelerated due to the recovering levels of carbon dioxide in a previously denuded atmosphere. A\u00a0recent science paper revealed<\/a>\u00a0that over the last two decades, plant growth had accelerated over large areas of the planet. During the last 40 years, it is thought that there has been 14% more plant growth, bringing immeasurable benefits for local biodiversity as well as more food for human consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The above illustration shows the boost to the natural world over just the last 20 years. Big increases in leaf growth are reported across India, Europe, Brazil and significant parts of Africa. The growth across the Sahel region south of the Sahara desert can be clearly seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of this seems to attract the interest of activists writing in the mainstream media, seemingly concerned only to fear monger and push populations to embrace the insanity of Net Zero. The Guardian<\/em> wrote of a protracted heatwave in the Sahel<\/a> that \u201cfilled hospitals and mortuaries\u201d. Matt McGrath of the BBC reported a claim<\/a> that additional heat \u201cwould have been the difference between life and death for many people\u201d. Both media operations were reporting the findings<\/a> of World Weather Attribution (WWA), an operation partly funded by green billionaire Jeremy Grantham, that the \u201cdeadly heatwave\u201d would have been \u201cimpossible\u201d without humans ratcheting up the climate thermostat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regular readers of the Daily Sceptic<\/em> will be aware of the model-driven crystal ball gazing of WWA. The service produces pseudoscientific opinions, but fails the test of the scientific process since its claims cannot be falsified. Further details are available here<\/a>. Despite this lack of scientific rigour, the service provides useful \u2018scientists say\u2019 cover for legacy media in their Net Zero work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both the BBC and the\u00a0Guardian<\/em>\u00a0picked up on the claim by WWA that the temperature rose above 48o<\/sup>C in the Mali city of Kayes on April 3rd, with the\u00a0Guardian<\/em>\u00a0claiming the 48.5o<\/sup>C was the hottest day ever recorded in the country. Some doubt on this figure us cast by the data below provided by\u00a0Time and Date<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to this data, April 3rd saw a 44o<\/sup>C high, which was over four degrees lower than the claimed record, and this dropped away two days later to 41o<\/sup>C. As we have seen across the world, the collection of surface temperature data is subject to numerous corruptions. In the U.K., the Met Office compiles nearly 80% of its data from stations that have \u2018uncertainties\u2019 set by the World Meteorological Office of between 2-5o<\/sup>C. WWA states that \u201cextreme five day maximum heat as rare as the observed event over Mali\/Burkina Faso would have been between 1.5o<\/sup>C cooler and 1.4o<\/sup>C cooler over the larger Sahel region if humans had not warmed the planet by burning fossil fuels\u201d. Quite where such precision comes from is anyone\u2019s guess, including, it might be suggested, the computer wizards claiming their garbage-in-gospel-out models can unlock the mysteries of a chaotic atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Away from the elites catastrophising about the weather for domestic political purposes, the countries of the Sahel including Burkina Faso and Mali have actually enjoyed a remarkably stable climate over the last 85 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Both Burkina Faso and Mali show similar average temperature trends and in common with many countries near the equator recent warming has been much less than territories further north. In fact, a large spike during the 1930s, presumably unrelated to humans burning hydrocarbons, was followed by an 85-year pause with little or no warming. The five year 2022 smoothed average temperature of 29.57o<\/sup>C in Burkina Faso, shown above in a World Bank climate graph, is almost exactly the same as that recorded in 1938. In Mali, the temperature difference between these two years is just 0.2o<\/sup>C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course rainfall is very important, and in both countries precipitation amounts have risen in recent years. In Burkina Faso, annual amounts rose from 798.04 mm in the period 1961-1990 to 831.07 mm in 1991-2020, while in Mali the rise over the same period was 313.7 mm to 328.93 mm. Meanwhile, in the course of the BBC story, it is claimed that Senegal is seeing \u201cdecreasing rainfall as a result of climate change\u201d. Not according to World Bank figures which show an annual rise in precipitation from 707.87 mm in 1961-1990 to 722.91 mm in the latest 30-year period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall then, the great story missing from the headlines is that the Sahel is slowly turning green. A few thousand years ago the Sahara desert was full of vegetation. Natural process and climate change turned it into a desert, a process that can easily go into reverse. The desert has shown a greener image over the last 15 years notes Britannica<\/em><\/a> with heavier summer rainfalls reported. \u201cThis is a blessing for the desert as the vegetation recovers,\u201d it notes. Sub-Saharan Africa is a difficult place to make a living on the land. The area needs aid in the form of inorganic fertilisers to improve the soil and hydrocarbon power to boost productivity. But more rain from the heavens and higher levels of CO2 all have a part to play. What it really doesn\u2019t need is the BBC and the Guardian<\/em> spreading nonsense stories inspired by green billionaires about the mortuaries filling up because hot countries have a few hot days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Morrison is the\u00a0<\/em>Daily Sceptic\u2019s Environment Editor.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Legacy media filled its columns last week with poppycock \u2018attribution\u2019 stories suggesting that recent heatwaves in Mali (the\u00a0hottest country in the world), Burkina Faso and the rest of the Sahel would have been impossible without human-caused climate disruption. Needless to say, a number of important facts were missing from this latest bout of climate catastrophism. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":320352,"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":[691828286,691819134,691828287,691818154,691823234,691818262],"class_list":{"0":"post-320342","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-burkina-faso","9":"tag-climate-alarmism","10":"tag-mali","11":"tag-net-zero","12":"tag-the-bbc","13":"tag-the-guardian","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0mali-3.jpg?fit=2600%2C1741&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1lkO","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":321165,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=321165","url_meta":{"origin":320342,"position":0},"title":"Wrong, BBC and Reuters, No Evidence Proves West African Heatwave Is Unprecedented","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/23\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Multiple media outlets, including the BBC and Reuters, claim that a recent West African heatwave would be \u201cimpossible\u201d without global warming. This is claim is misleading and not supported by real-world data. The study cited in both articles is merely an attribution modelling study, which is not proof of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"BBC and Reuters\"","block_context":{"text":"BBC and Reuters","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bbc-and-reuters"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/09719heatwavepng.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/09719heatwavepng.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/09719heatwavepng.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/09719heatwavepng.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/09719heatwavepng.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":262608,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=262608","url_meta":{"origin":320342,"position":1},"title":"Forget 1.5C, Now It\u2019s\u00a01.0C!","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"06\/17\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Maybe Rockstr\u00f6m would prefer them all to live as their ancestors did centuries ago?","rel":"","context":"In \"1.5 degrees Celsius\"","block_context":{"text":"1.5 degrees Celsius","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=1-5-degrees-celsius"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0blobid1_1589876290989.jpg?fit=1200%2C781&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0blobid1_1589876290989.jpg?fit=1200%2C781&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0blobid1_1589876290989.jpg?fit=1200%2C781&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0blobid1_1589876290989.jpg?fit=1200%2C781&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0blobid1_1589876290989.jpg?fit=1200%2C781&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":206233,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=206233","url_meta":{"origin":320342,"position":2},"title":"Niger Negatives","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"06\/28\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The humanitarian crisis in Niger (and beyond) is appalling. Reading a\u00a0recent article\u00a0in the Guardian, it is impossible not to be moved and greatly upset by the terrible reality of life there at the moment. By using an alliterative title I do not seek to downplay the seriousness of the situation.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0pexels-photo-2986359.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0pexels-photo-2986359.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0pexels-photo-2986359.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0pexels-photo-2986359.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0pexels-photo-2986359.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":326546,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=326546","url_meta":{"origin":320342,"position":3},"title":"The BBC Promotes Bad Science About Heat, Floods, Drought, and Wildfires","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/06\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A recent BBC article, titled \u201cHow climate change worsens heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, and floods,\u201d claims that climate change is linked to four types of extreme weather, specifically claiming it causes: extreme rainfall, worse heatwaves, longer droughts, and more wildfires. Widely available data proves these claims are false. The \u201cevidence\u201d given\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Bad Science\"","block_context":{"text":"Bad Science","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bad-science"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0190215162253-climate-change-explainer-super-tease.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0190215162253-climate-change-explainer-super-tease.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0190215162253-climate-change-explainer-super-tease.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0190215162253-climate-change-explainer-super-tease.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0190215162253-climate-change-explainer-super-tease.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":343443,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=343443","url_meta":{"origin":320342,"position":4},"title":"Stick to the Weather, World Meteorological Organization, Africa\u2019s GDP Is Not Declining","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/17\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Associated Press (AP) posted a story describing a study by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) which claims climate change is costing Africa as much as 5 percent of its GDP. Data show this is false. Extreme weather has not become more frequent or severe in Africa, and GDP in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Africa\"","block_context":{"text":"Africa","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=africa"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0Africa-children-pixabay-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0Africa-children-pixabay-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0Africa-children-pixabay-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0Africa-children-pixabay-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0Africa-children-pixabay-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":387971,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=387971","url_meta":{"origin":320342,"position":5},"title":"Guardian: European Heatwave Failing to Spur Support for Climate Action","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/10\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"After 30 years of failure to move the needle, nobody believes the government will do anything about emissions.","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate action\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate action","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-action"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/OIG-22.jpg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/OIG-22.jpg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/OIG-22.jpg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/OIG-22.jpg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320342","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=320342"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":320354,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320342\/revisions\/320354"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/320352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=320342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=320342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=320342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}