ChemEngineer
Diamond Member
- Feb 5, 2019
- 6,078
- 5,875
- 1,940
Wall Street Journal:
Climate Change Alarmism Is âa Real Mental Disorderâ
THOMAS D. WILLIAMS, PH.D.
31 Jul 2023
Climate alarmistsâ overwrought accounts of hot summer weather are âfueling mental derangements,â writes the Wall Street Journalâs Allysia Finley in a searing op-ed Monday.
It is not the weather itself, but the hyperbolic way it is reported that spreads panic, Finley insists, since in the past âheat waves were treated as a normal part of summer,â whereas now they are treated as harbingers of an impending climate apocalypse.
Knowingly or not, mainstream media have been complicit in spreading âclimate hypochondria,â she writes, which simply does not match the reality of what is happening to the weather and the threats this may or may not pose.
âIt isnât difficult to notice that todayâs snowflakes consider hot weather aberrant, similar to how they perceive normal feelings such as anxiety or sadness,â Finley asserts. âBut thereâs nothing normal about climate anxiety, despite the leftâs claims to the contrary.â
Daily data back up Finleyâs contentions. On Sunday, The Messenger reported that given the summerâs extreme heat, âwe may not live to see climateâs ânew normal.ââ The article goes on to make the scientifically untenable claim that âthousands of deathsâ from excessive July heat âcan be attributed to human emissions of greenhouse gases.â
The article also repeats warnings of a climate âtipping pointâ beyond which humanity is doomed, a proposal that further stokes the climate hysteria underscored by Finley.
During a local telecast, Florida meteorologist Steve MacLaughlin uttered a similar threat, assuring viewers he fears we âhave reached a point we cannot return from.â
âThis is the first time that Iâve been overly concerned that we have reached a point we cannot return from,â MacLaughlin said in a weather report for NBC6 South Florida.
âIn 25 years of broadcasting, Iâve never uttered these words on TV before,â the five-time Emmy-winning reporter wrote on Twitter. âI try to stay positive. I report on not just the problem, but the solution. I try to not be alarmist. But with corals, sirens should be blaring.â
Meanwhile, on Monday the Washington Post declared that the world is âboiling,â echoing breathless predictions from U.N. Secretary General AntĂłnio Guterres, who stated last Thursday that âthe era of global boiling has arrived.â
The once-sober Associated Press joined in the melee, reporting Monday that as climate change produces hotter and longer heat waves, air conditioning âis now a matter of survival.â
Most people can read these reports and take them with a grain of salt, mentally toning down the obvious hyperbole and exercising critical thinking to form an objective opinion of the situation. They may consider, for instance, that many more people die each year from cold weather than from heat, or that globally fewer and fewer people die every year from weather-related events.
The problem, Finley suggests, is for those who are swept along by the alarmism, allowing themselves to be overwhelmed by irrational fear from prophecies of a rapidly imploding world.
âClimate hypochondriacs deserve to be treated with compassion, much like anyone who suffers from mental illness,â she concludes. âThey shouldnât, however, expect everyone else to enable their neuroses.â
Climate Change Alarmism Is âa Real Mental Disorderâ
THOMAS D. WILLIAMS, PH.D.
31 Jul 2023
Climate alarmistsâ overwrought accounts of hot summer weather are âfueling mental derangements,â writes the Wall Street Journalâs Allysia Finley in a searing op-ed Monday.
It is not the weather itself, but the hyperbolic way it is reported that spreads panic, Finley insists, since in the past âheat waves were treated as a normal part of summer,â whereas now they are treated as harbingers of an impending climate apocalypse.
Knowingly or not, mainstream media have been complicit in spreading âclimate hypochondria,â she writes, which simply does not match the reality of what is happening to the weather and the threats this may or may not pose.
âIt isnât difficult to notice that todayâs snowflakes consider hot weather aberrant, similar to how they perceive normal feelings such as anxiety or sadness,â Finley asserts. âBut thereâs nothing normal about climate anxiety, despite the leftâs claims to the contrary.â
Daily data back up Finleyâs contentions. On Sunday, The Messenger reported that given the summerâs extreme heat, âwe may not live to see climateâs ânew normal.ââ The article goes on to make the scientifically untenable claim that âthousands of deathsâ from excessive July heat âcan be attributed to human emissions of greenhouse gases.â
The article also repeats warnings of a climate âtipping pointâ beyond which humanity is doomed, a proposal that further stokes the climate hysteria underscored by Finley.
During a local telecast, Florida meteorologist Steve MacLaughlin uttered a similar threat, assuring viewers he fears we âhave reached a point we cannot return from.â
âThis is the first time that Iâve been overly concerned that we have reached a point we cannot return from,â MacLaughlin said in a weather report for NBC6 South Florida.
âIn 25 years of broadcasting, Iâve never uttered these words on TV before,â the five-time Emmy-winning reporter wrote on Twitter. âI try to stay positive. I report on not just the problem, but the solution. I try to not be alarmist. But with corals, sirens should be blaring.â
Meanwhile, on Monday the Washington Post declared that the world is âboiling,â echoing breathless predictions from U.N. Secretary General AntĂłnio Guterres, who stated last Thursday that âthe era of global boiling has arrived.â
The once-sober Associated Press joined in the melee, reporting Monday that as climate change produces hotter and longer heat waves, air conditioning âis now a matter of survival.â
Most people can read these reports and take them with a grain of salt, mentally toning down the obvious hyperbole and exercising critical thinking to form an objective opinion of the situation. They may consider, for instance, that many more people die each year from cold weather than from heat, or that globally fewer and fewer people die every year from weather-related events.
The problem, Finley suggests, is for those who are swept along by the alarmism, allowing themselves to be overwhelmed by irrational fear from prophecies of a rapidly imploding world.
âClimate hypochondriacs deserve to be treated with compassion, much like anyone who suffers from mental illness,â she concludes. âThey shouldnât, however, expect everyone else to enable their neuroses.â
