John Hayward at Breitbart has a new post that's just dripping with familiar denier tropes in an attempt to invalidate two recent news items: record high temperatures measured on the northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula and a new study presenting evidence of a slowdown in the Gulf Stream system (which pumps warm ocean water from the tropics and Southern Hemisphere north, while carrying cold water south).
The post, titled, "More tough times for the church of global warming," paints climate scientists and the media as conspirators, advancing only the data that supports their "political agenda." Hayward tries to show foul play by saying that the high Antarctic temperatures were "outside the Antarctic region," and that the Gulf Stream study was based on model projections, while actual measurements display "no such weakening."
In the first case, the record Antarctic temperature was measured at Argentina's Esperanza Base on the northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula. While outside of the Arctic circle, the Esperanza measurement still likely represents the warmest measurement on record for the Antarctic continent. As for the Gulf Stream, the study doesn't "ignore or even replace [inconvenient data] using 'projections' and 'models'" as Hayward suggests. The abstract states that the scientists used an index based on sea surface temperatures, hemisphere temperature difference, coral-based proxies and oceanic measurements. In other words, the study was based on a lot more data than that which Hayward cites!
As if this weren't enough, who does Hayward then turn to for backup? None other than Patrick Michaels and Paul Knappenberger at the Koch founded and funded Cato Institute. Yeah, sure, it's the research scientists who are advancing political agendas…