Fearmongering Media Spotlight: Newsweek and PBS

Since the conception of my first blog one week ago, I have noticed a drastic increase in media coverage related to global warming. Often I wonder if this trend is coincidence, serendipity, or a mere solipsistic illusion my skeptical psyche is producing. Never once have I worried that the recent media frenzy might actually indicate an increase in danger; an increase in stupidity seems to be a more accurate assessment. This blog will be released in two installments - the first discussing written global warming propaganda (Newsweek) and the second discussing televised versions (PBS documentaries).
While casually thumbing through magazines at a local physician's office, I stumbled across a Newsweek cover that read: "Global Warming is a Hoax*" (see link at bottom of page). Imagine my surprise and satisfaction at finding a major news magazine in alignment with my own radical vision! To my dismay, however, I found the tiny asterisc behind the word 'hoax' led to a rather disheartening adendum: "Or so claim well-funded naysayers who still reject the overwhelming evidence of climate change. Inside the Denial Machine." I proceeded to flip through the article angrily, resenting being labelled a naysayer and indignant for the small population of level-headed citizens who rightfully decide not to be swept away in a tide of pointless fear. I frantically scoured the article's statistics for any flaw or hole, and found one within seconds. Written beneath a small picture was the caption: "Naysayers claim that humans aren't responsible for global temperature increase because 1996 was the hottest year on record. Atmospheric carbon however has steadily increased." From this statistic alone, it is obvious no positive correlation exists between carbon emissions and global temperature. Perhaps the fearmongers at Newsweek should comprehend basic experimentation and statistical methods before making wild claims about global temperature causation. Newsweek should also reassess their assumption that "naysayers" deny climate change outright. Few people would actually deny the climate on our earth is changing. Yes, the globe is in the midst of a warming trend. No, its exact cause(s) cannot be determined. Even the most advanced meteorological devices can hardly provide an accurate two-day forecast. Allowing ourselves to be scared of our own planet and our own industry based on speculative generalities or shoddy statistics is just foolish.
The climate has always been in a phase of change. It is merely the executives in media and government that call our attention to it and paint the phenomenon as an imminent apocalypse. As I described in my last entry, the powers that be wish to maintain fear in the masses. In the late 1990's and into the turn of the century, global warming was a commonly discussed issue. After 9/11, however, it was thrown by the wayside and replaced with the fear of future acts of terror. For several years, the American public was obsessed with international terrorism and color-coded threat levels. So much time has passed since the last major attack, however, that U.S. citizens have started to become complacent and confident, or at least bored with the terrorism scare. Now we are back to the old stand-by, climate change, which will never go away until the end of the earth.