Deception number one occurred with a data graph of temperatures from the late 1800s to now. To start off we need to understand history in its full context. From roughly 1350-to the mid 1800’s there was what Geo-Scientists have come to call a little ice age. This is well documented so I will merely cite the Wikipedia page, you can dig deeper from within. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age
Stating that temperatures have gone up since the end of a mini ice age is like stating it gets cooler if you stand in the shade instead of direct sunlight. It doesn’t mean anything by itself.
Deception number two came when Dr. Tyson talked about the melting polar ice caps. Yes the polar caps were declining for a portion of the last 100 years. We have evidence of this. We also however can see a general trend of the ice caps expanding over the last decade. In fact from 2007-2010 the ice caps expanded by roughly 26 %, it declined from 2010-2012, but then that expansion continued again by 60% from 2012-2013 which is our most recent data available. http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2010/jan/10/inconvenient-truth-ice-cap-growing/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor/2013/09/12/remember-all-those-breathy-predictions-about-an-ice-free-arctic-by-2015-nevermind/
Then of course there is the real unfortunate claim about the trend of temperatures rising continuing by Dr. Tyson. See while he is correct temperatures have risen over the past 100 years they have remained constant for the past 17 years. This is problematic for a number of reasons. First it does not correlate with his claim of the increased CO2 production. I don’t dispute the increased CO2, we clearly are burning more coal, using more fossil fuels and producing more green house gasses, but the numbers he is purporting do not result in the very thing he says it should, mainly higher temperatures. http://www.newsnet5.com/weather/weather-news/united-kingdom-meteorology-office-declares-earth-hasnt-warmed-in-15-years http://www.climatedepot.com/2014/03/04/updated-global-temperature-no-global-warming-for-17-years-6-months-no-warming-for-210-months/
Now of course the good Dr. tried to diffuse some of this by stating there is a difference between climate and weather predictions. Fine, I can agree to that. Except one minor problem, the weather predictions in dispute are those concerning long term (decades). Predictions concerning global warming and as pointed out have not increased in almost 2 decades (both surface and high altitude temperatures).
Now I wouldn’t be upset with Mr. Tyson if he was simply putting forward a theory, but instead he is directly called for action based on his deception. He is called for action specifically based on a narrative of his own creation that is in bold opposition of what the data both shows as well as being skewed by blatant omission of World History. His call is neither scientific nor is it in keeping with the truth. While there may be some truth in what he has to say, there is much more that remains hidden and needs exploration. Blatant deception and obfuscation of history is not in keeping with your usual high standards. Shame on you Dr. Tyson.
