2005
Hurricane Season Recap
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More Hot Air
Networks Link Global Warming
to Increase in Hurricanes
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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Fact Sheet
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The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season brought with it a storm of
controversy that is still having impact. When two studies alleged a
link between increasing strength of storms and global warming,
climate change advocates found another reason to blast the United
States for not signing the Kyoto treaty.
    Now, more than 8,000
representatives from 180 nations are debating the future of that
pact at the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
    Unfortunately, flawed
media coverage of the reported hurricane link will make that
discussion more complicated.
    Nearly 40 percent of
Americans now believe there is a link - and that impacts public
policy decision making, even though the nation’s hurricane experts
and numerous other professionals dispute global warming’s role.
    The Media Research
Center’s Free Market Project looked at how broadcast news – ABC, CBS
and NBC – covered hurricanes and the issue of climate change from
June 1 through November 30.
    Here are those findings:
-
Networks Link Storms
and Warming: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) said that this busy hurricane season was part of a natural
cycle. But when networks discussed the powerful storms and climate
change, they blamed global warming for stronger hurricanes 72
percent of the time.
-
No Balance of
Experts: Stories included both sides of the discussion less than
half the time (45 percent) and that led to skewed coverage of
hurricane season.
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Little Mention of the
Hurricane Cycle: NOAA explained that the heavy hurricane season was
the result of a decades-long natural cycle, but that information was
only found in 38 percent of the stories.
-
ABC the Worst:
ABC was consistently among the worst networks in every category
analyzed. The network made the connection between climate change and
hurricanes and then gave little time to opposing views. It mentioned
the natural cycle in only 20 percent of the network’s stories.
-
CBS the Best: CBS
was far and away the best network on the issue of hurricanes and
global warming. Its stories presented more balance than either ABC
or NBC, and it delivered the most complete explanation of both the
natural hurricane cycle and the history of other storms.
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