I would like to apologize.

[DetlefK]

I posted this sensationalist bullshit without checking first.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027967714

It has been debunked and I would like to hereby apologize. Thank you.

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/6/30/1543998/--Jet-Stream-Crosses-Equator-Not-Unprecedented-not-a-Climate-Emergency-Hell-Freezes-Over

[Warren DeMontague]

1. Admitting an error and correcting it with factual information?

Oh, right, this is the science group.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. +1 to OP and you. You both get it! Carry on. . . . nt

[trotsky]

8. LOL!

Nice.

[SCantiGOP]

12. First thing I thought also, Warren

Almost seems like a violation of the rules to admit you are wrong at DU. But I guess that is just in the political forums.

And thanks to the OP with another hat tip

[progressoid]

3. And Kudos to Kos for correcting their story too.

[Orrex]

4. Take your "apologies" elsewhere, you brute!

Just kidding! It''s always classy to admit one's errors to plainly. Well don.


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[mountain grammy]

5. I first saw this story on DU,

and it was a different OP with the same source. Then I saw it on FB with a different source. Then I saw it again with another source. It sounded pretty far out, but not entirely impossible.
Appreciate your apology. Now, I must go get my husband out of the bomb shelter.

[Old Crow]

6. No worries.

That story tripped up a lot of climate change followers, myself included. Now I've got a related text or two to send out, per your example.

[Igel]

9. Always wait for follow up and peer review.

Skepticism is good, especially when we hear what we believe.

Richard Feynman's quote to the effect that you're the easiest person for you to deceive is spot on.

Kahnemann's observation that fast thinking assumes that "what you see is all there is" is also appropriate.

[Old Crow]

11. Points taken. That said...

... I'm now finding a lot of the "gotcha" stories on the original gaffe overdone. Predictably, the climate change deniers are pouncing all over this, screamng "SEE?! I told you it's all a fraud."

So, in the interest of clarity, I'd like to make the following points (see below). I'm not addressing these to you necessarily, but to readers generally who are following this latest brouhaha.

1. The vlogger who put up the video, Paul Beckwith, isn't some ignoramus who's unqualified to make observations on climate. At least one fossil-fuel-friendly site is describing him as, essentially, a fraud. In fact, Beckwith's a part-time professor who teaches climatology and is currently working on a PhD in climate science. His Bachelors and Masters degrees are in physics. Is he the most qualified person out there to be commenting on the jet stream vis-a-vis climate change? Probably not. Should his opinions be discounted as those of an Internet troll? Probably not.

2. The trans-equatorial crossing by the Northern Jet Stream is unusual. Correctly pointing out that it isn't "unprecedented," as Beckwith claimed, isn't the same thing as saying it happens all the time. Is it happening more now because the Earth is warming and the difference in temperature between the equatorial regions and the poles isn't as great as it was? Quite possibly.

3. Breakdowns of some of the large climate systems, such as the jet streams and the Gulf Stream, have long been predicted by some climate scientists. That's why this false alarm by Beckwith struck such a chord, at least in my case.

My 2 cents.

[The Polack MSgt]

7. K&R nt

[Igel]

10. Recced for process. n/t