This meteorologistsnow even more so, with an indispensable professional sector in daily life and ongoing climate change, begins to come under the wrath of deniers. Both in Spain and some other countries, this group is exposed to a wave of threats, insults and slander for doing their job: predicting the weather. Climate forecasts are becoming increasingly alarming due to global warming, making them the target of alarming as well as unfair criticism.
A few days ago, a large number of users Social networks accused the State Meteorological Institute (AEMET) of producing the drought, but the same agency in Australia was accused of manipulating thermometers, and the agency in France was accused of exaggerating global warming through decommissioned weather stations. These are hoaxes and gross misrepresentations, reminiscent of tactics already used in other situations of global concern.
“Coronavirus is no longer fashionable. Now conspiracy theorists and those who deny it are spreading disinformation about climate change, Alexandre López-Borrull, professor of Information and Communication Sciences at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), told AFP.
“These scientific organisms are seen as part of science. establishmentso anything they say can be questioned on social media,” he added.
In the last fifteen days, AEMET has received the following slogans over the phone, e-mail and Twitter: ‘Killers’, ‘Criminals’, ‘You will pay for this’ or ‘We are watching you’among others.
It largely has to do with people who believe the theory that airplane tails are actually chemical emissions promoted by the authorities to poison humanity.
According to AFP, one of these messages sent to AEMET said, “Would you like us to publish your and your family’s contact information?” and another said, “Thieves! They are destroying nature at the behest of the damn 2030 Agenda.”
According to the agency’s spokesperson, Estrella Gutiérrez-Marco, a text published by AEMET describing what traces of concentration appears to have coincided with this rise in derogatory messages.
“What is irrational is that they humiliate an institution that is consistently self-interested, whose purpose is to contribute to people’s safety,” he adds.
Deniers in Australia
And this is not just happening in Spain. In Australia, messages circulated profusely on the networks and in the media. Alleged Australian Met Office manipulated temperature readings.
Jennifer Marohasy, a prominent climate denier in the country, said the agency’s electronic probes were up to 0.7 degrees Celsius warmer than old mercury thermometers. Experts denied this claim.
Neville Nicholls, Emeritus Professor of Environment at Monash University, said the difference between most readings from electronic probes and mercury thermometers is insignificant: between zero and 0.1°C.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) also stated that contrary to Marohasy’s claim, the Australian agency’s measurements were compatible with its own parameters.
Criticism in France
And also in France. There, after repeated temperature records were broken last March, especially in the southwest of the country, a social network user posted: the national weather service had exaggerated global warming using readings from stations located in urban areas where temperatures tend to be higher.
This thread has been viewed more than 139,000 times via Facebook. Some comments alluded to Meteo-France, claiming “It’s just another way to scare us and make us feel guilty”.
But the climatologists consulted by this news agency Supporting the Meteo-France action and they point out that the limited network of 30 weather stations implied by the thread is not the network used to measure climate change because this phenomenon also occurs in rural areas. “You can be sure we don’t have just 30 small weather stations,” said Christine Berne, a meteorologist with the Agency.
Reference article: https://phys.org/news/2023-05-meteorologists-climate-misinfo-surge.html
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