Berliner Boersenzeitung - Meteorologists targeted in climate misinfo surge

EUR -
AED 4.291518
AFN 81.206138
ALL 97.736885
AMD 448.444329
ANG 2.09153
AOA 1071.424762
ARS 1538.513486
AUD 1.78876
AWG 2.103124
AZN 1.953872
BAM 1.968524
BBD 2.359451
BDT 142.128682
BGN 1.955894
BHD 0.440525
BIF 3446.786616
BMD 1.168402
BND 1.503615
BOB 8.075718
BRL 6.311939
BSD 1.168553
BTN 102.445758
BWP 15.732702
BYN 3.857783
BYR 22900.683958
BZD 2.347424
CAD 1.609638
CDF 3376.682411
CHF 0.942217
CLF 0.028498
CLP 1117.98599
CNY 8.388193
CNH 8.392067
COP 4697.561217
CRC 591.159042
CUC 1.168402
CUP 30.962659
CVE 110.823138
CZK 24.469798
DJF 207.648098
DKK 7.462655
DOP 71.769097
DZD 152.001424
EGP 56.57635
ERN 17.526034
ETB 163.430286
FJD 2.631008
FKP 0.865009
GBP 0.864916
GEL 3.148828
GGP 0.865009
GHS 12.316664
GIP 0.865009
GMD 84.709161
GNF 10134.46136
GTQ 8.965953
GYD 244.495972
HKD 9.17187
HNL 30.773487
HRK 7.537947
HTG 153.210101
HUF 395.845331
IDR 18970.687023
ILS 3.984129
IMP 0.865009
INR 102.47131
IQD 1530.797603
IRR 49218.944625
ISK 143.258403
JEP 0.865009
JMD 186.928263
JOD 0.828386
JPY 172.848949
KES 151.308759
KGS 102.059755
KHR 4681.045545
KMF 492.481294
KPW 1051.489033
KRW 1616.080316
KWD 0.35698
KYD 0.973857
KZT 632.075665
LAK 25270.05346
LBP 104680.536659
LKR 351.8544
LRD 235.208338
LSL 20.682857
LTL 3.449988
LVL 0.706755
LYD 6.344856
MAD 10.572984
MDL 19.465373
MGA 5176.354661
MKD 61.585983
MMK 2452.751192
MNT 4202.030238
MOP 9.449284
MRU 46.648422
MUR 53.080516
MVR 17.994329
MWK 2027.428281
MXN 21.703913
MYR 4.931815
MZN 74.731006
NAD 20.682857
NGN 1792.909864
NIO 43.007993
NOK 11.922609
NPR 163.902449
NZD 1.961015
OMR 0.449248
PAB 1.168402
PEN 4.122345
PGK 4.852771
PHP 66.419579
PKR 331.726434
PLN 4.257197
PYG 8752.483121
QAR 4.254983
RON 5.06467
RSD 117.191251
RUB 92.829566
RWF 1689.495058
SAR 4.384877
SBD 9.616642
SCR 17.226659
SDG 701.623887
SEK 11.149548
SGD 1.498429
SHP 0.918181
SLE 27.108464
SLL 24500.810237
SOS 667.786307
SRD 43.719857
STD 24183.567431
STN 24.850587
SVC 10.225092
SYP 15191.507565
SZL 20.678146
THB 37.787268
TJS 10.92683
TMT 4.101092
TND 3.377074
TOP 2.813232
TRY 47.600159
TTD 7.929765
TWD 35.021103
TZS 3002.794345
UAH 48.486104
UGX 4159.864664
USD 1.168402
UYU 46.790316
UZS 14686.463752
VES 155.108362
VND 30694.923497
VUV 139.682586
WST 3.10576
XAF 656.222332
XAG 0.03051
XAU 0.000349
XCD 3.157666
XCG 2.106012
XDR 0.820612
XOF 656.222332
XPF 119.331742
YER 280.737791
ZAR 20.523091
ZMK 10517.007643
ZMW 26.966032
ZWL 376.225045
  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    73.08

    0%

  • BCC

    3.5200

    84.26

    +4.18%

  • JRI

    -0.0100

    13.38

    -0.07%

  • CMSC

    0.0200

    23.08

    +0.09%

  • NGG

    -0.9500

    70.28

    -1.35%

  • SCU

    0.0000

    12.72

    0%

  • RIO

    0.9600

    63.1

    +1.52%

  • SCS

    0.2300

    16.19

    +1.42%

  • CMSD

    -0.0107

    23.56

    -0.05%

  • RELX

    -0.2100

    47.83

    -0.44%

  • BCE

    0.1500

    24.5

    +0.61%

  • GSK

    0.5100

    38.22

    +1.33%

  • BTI

    -0.4100

    57.92

    -0.71%

  • RYCEF

    0.6400

    14.94

    +4.28%

  • VOD

    0.0300

    11.54

    +0.26%

  • AZN

    1.2700

    75.34

    +1.69%

  • BP

    0.1200

    34.07

    +0.35%

Advertisement Image
Meteorologists targeted in climate misinfo surge
Meteorologists targeted in climate misinfo surge / Photo: Damien MEYER - AFP

Meteorologists targeted in climate misinfo surge

Once trusted faces on the news, meteorologists now brave threats, insults and slander online from conspiracy theorists and climate change deniers who accuse them of faking or even fixing the weather.

Advertisement Image

Text size:

Users on Twitter and other social media falsely accused Spain's weather agency of engineering a drought, Australia's of doctoring its thermometers and France's of exaggerating global warming through misplaced weather stations.

"The coronavirus is no longer a trend. Conspiracy theorists and deniers who used to talk about that are now spreading disinformation about climate change," Alexandre Lopez-Borrull, lecturer in Information and Communication Sciences at the Open University of Catalonia, told AFP.

"These scientific bodies are seen as part of the establishment, so anything they say may get disputed on social networks.

"They are providing evidence against what the climate deniers claim, so the latter try to discredit them."

- Meteorologists threatened -

In a harsh drought and with local elections looming, Spain's State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) spoke out after its members were threatened in Twitter messages, phone calls and emails.

"Murderers", "Criminals", "You'll pay for this", "We're watching you", the messages shouted.

They came from people who believe the widely debunked theory that aeroplane condensation trails are really "chemtrails" sprayed by the authorities to poison people or create weather disasters.

Some referred to the "2030 agenda", a debunked theory that global elites are plotting to subjugate people through Covid and climate policies.

"Do you want us to publish your contact details and those of your family?" read one Tweet aimed at an AEMET employee.

"Crooks! You are destroying nature on the orders of the damned 2030 agenda," said another.

"We have seen an increase in insulting messages as a result of a thread we published about condensation trails" on April 10, AEMET spokesperson Estrella Gutierrez-Marco told AFP.

"What makes no sense is that they are insulting an institution that is constantly watching out for their interests, whose aim is... to contribute to people's safety."

Lopez-Borrull noted a "significant increase" in climate change denial –- particularly among far-right supporters who see it as a leftist cause and oppose reforms aimed at curbing its impacts.

"People distrust politicians, judges and the media, and the cost of living is rising," he said.

"In this context people feel alienated and end up listening to people they never listened to before, with messages appealing directly to the emotions."

- Australian thermometers -

In another case investigated by AFP Fact Check, conservative media and Facebook users shared unfounded claims that Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) doctored its temperature readings.

In an analysis of data obtained via a freedom of information request, prominent climate sceptic Jennifer Marohasy said BOM's electronic probes returned readings up to 0.7 degrees Celsius warmer than those of its older mercury thermometers.

Experts who analysed the data said the claims were inaccurate.

Monash University emeritus environment professor Neville Nicholls said the difference between most readings on the electronic probes and the mercury thermometers was negligible -- between zero and 0.1C (0.18 degrees Fahrenheit).

"This difference is very small compared to the strong warming trend in average temperature over Australia" -- about 1.4C over the past century -- Nicholls told AFP.

The World Meteorological Organization told AFP that the BOM's measurements were in line with its standards, contrary to Marohasy's allegation.

- Temperatures in France -

After a series of heat records in March in southwestern France, a critic on social media published a thread alleging that the country's national weather service overstated warming by relying on readings from stations in urban districts, where temperatures are typically higher.

The thread received more than 139,000 views and spread to Facebook.

"Yet another way of making us feel scared and guilty," one woman commented on the thread, referring to the weather service, Meteo-France.

"Luckily fewer and fewer people believe them after the Covid business. I'm glad not to watch their forecasts on France TV."

Climatologists consulted by AFP debunked the claims, pointing out that the limited network of 30 weather stations referred to in the thread is not what scientists use to measure climate change, and the climate is also observed to be changing in rural districts.

"Meteo-France researchers use all possible measures and create computer models with various hypotheses and a longer timeframe for analysis," said Christine Berne, a climatologist in the service.

"You can be sure we don't just have our 30 little weather stations."

One Twitter user accused Dutch broadcaster RTL Nieuws of exaggerating a late-April heatwave in Spain, posting as evidence a screenshot showing moderate temperatures in the Costa Blanca.

However, his screenshot was taken three days after the heatwave, in the cool of the morning.

Some of AFP's full fact-checks on these topics are available at u.afp.com/ibQg, u.afp.com/ibQj and (in French) u.afp.com/ibwv.

(P.Werner--BBZ)

Advertisement Image