Woozle/2021/11/26
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This is a crosspost from Nextdoor.
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subject: science: "conservatives" want to destroy the planet
From over a decade of researching global warming and global warming denialism, I kinda knew this was what's been going on -- but it's helpful to have confirming evidence.
It still sucks that people would do this -- i.e. promote economically devastating policy for the sake of their own short-term profits -- but maybe in another decade or two, the last of the denialist talking-points mentioned here will no longer have a market and they'll move on to denying something else important, like a deadly global pandemic... owait.
2021-11-26 Study: How Conservative Think Tanks are Destroying the Planet (video, 10:07, Rebecca Watson]
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Great Barrier Reef
In response to a comment that the Great Barrier Reef had "healed itself", I wrote the following:
I don't think that's true.
Here's the most recent information I was able to find quickly: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-54533971
The Conservapedia[u] article on the GBR claims that "Contrary to what many environmentalists have claimed, scientists have found that the Barrier Reef is not dying." and links to a Breitbart[u] article which quotes a 2017 article in abc.net.au, but the URL given is wrong; the correct URL -- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-29/coral-regeneration-raises-hopes-for-great-barrier-reef-recovery/9001518 -- contains the section quoted in Breitbart.
It appears that bleaching is still happening -- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-05/great-barrier-reef-coral-bleaching-study/100592796 (Nov 5) but there definitely seems to be *some* recovery -- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-24/coral-spawn-great-barrier-reef/100645572 (Nov. 23). Marine biologist Gareth Philips: "This spawning event is another sign that the reef is recovering, it is not all doom and gloom for the reef, it is looking amazing and it is very encouraging to see it bouncing back."
(Neither Conservapedia nor Breitbart can justify their claims based on the evidence presented, nor even the additional positive indications I found.)
[u] = unreliable source
Additional reading:
- 2021-11-27 Photos show vast coral spawning event in Great Barrier Reef, giving divers hope for climate change recovery
- 2021-11-26 Great Barrier Reef: how a spectacular coral spawning event is helping to breed heat-tolerant corals
- 2021-10-27 Coral bleaching extent shown in new study, with WA reefs suffering more than Great Barrier Reef
- 2021-10-03 Charlie Veron's 'coral ark' biobank plan to futureproof the Great Barrier Reef
GW denialism declining
There was some discussion around the finding that support for GW denialist claims 1-3 was declining. I agreed that this was what the study had found, and dug up some specifics:
The transcript of RW's video:
- https://www.patreon.com/posts/study-how-think-58876906 The study she discusses:
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-01714-4.pdf
Note, however (see chart) that they're not declining by much, and they were already far below the other claims in popularity. ("CTT" = conservative think-tank(s))
