The hypocrisy of willful blindness

Activity levels in the deniosphere have been very high this week, following the publication of the usual nonsense from David Rose in the Mail on Sunday on 8 September 2013. Whilst I cannot be bothered to even try and engage with people on that blog, I did attempt to do so with readers on Mike Adams’ Natural News (NN) blog (see my previous post on this blog). Sadly, even on that very ill-judged republication, the levels of selective deafness amongst Mike Adams’ readers would appear to be very high. As anyone who has attempted to reason with those who believe climate science is a Communist conspiracy will tell you, circular arguments are very common. However, I think the example below is an absolute classic.

Swindon’s so-called ‘Magic Roundabout’ (Image credit: Van Rhijn Aerial Photography)

The same blogger who drew my attention to the NN article also pointed me in the direction of a rebuttal on the WordPress blog of the UK’s Meteorological Office. In response to a number of comments on that blog, I have posted a number of replies (all of which are currently awaiting moderation). However, in a style reminiscent of ‘Denier Comment of the Day’ on uknowispeaksense, I would like to draw attention to one comment in particular (and my response to it):

Judge Fudge (@jdey123) (16:27:20) 13/09/2013 Records of arctic sea ice extent starting only in 1979 are way too recent to make meaningful conclusions. Antarctic sea ice extent is in any case increasing. How come this is continually ignored? We are told that global surface temperature pause is due to the ocean absorbing more heat, yet this year, arctic [sea ice] extent has increased more than 50% from that recorded last year and Antarctic sea ice extent is above average. The myth has unravelled. Why are taxpayers paying for the Met Office to promote Marxist ideology hidden as environmental concerns? It’s time for the Coalition government to stop funding these people. Rick Altman (10:37:46) 14/09/2013 So, what you’re saying is this: You cannot draw any firm conclusions from a 34-year accelerating loss of sea ice but you want the World to do just that on the basis of a 15-year pause in a multi-decadal warming trend.

For the record, the above was actually my second reply to Judge Fudge. This was my first:

Rick Altman (20:50:30) 13/09/2013 The Antarctic is colder than it would otherwise be because of the hole in the ozone layer above it (another example of how humans can affect the environment). Antarctica is also completely surrounded by a huge expanse of uninterrupted, cold ocean. Despite all of this, however, the Antarctic Peninsula is the fastest-warming place in the southern hemisphere. The only myth that is unravelling is the 50-year-out-of-date paranoia that everything you don’t like the sound of must be part of a Communist (or Zionist) plot for World domination.