While we generally focus on the missteps of Rupert Murdoch's media empire, the man himself has recently sent some tweets that are worth a quick look.
A few days ago, Murdoch tweeted that, "To the naked eye [the Great Barrier Reef] looks fully as good as it did 50 years ago." In response, Queensland Senator Larissa Waters tweeted, "Your naked eye needs glasses. And scientific training, @rupertmurdoch #savethereef #50percentcoralcovergone".
Drifting further from the truth, Murdoch tweeted this past Wednesday saying, "In last 3 decades carbon in US air has reduced by nearly 50%." This is bizarre for a number of reasons, like the fact that CO2 is spread evenly through the atmosphere and doesn't stay within national borders. There's also the more widely known fact that CO2 concentrations reached 400ppm this year, a concentration higher than any time in the last 2 million years. Even Murdoch's own Fox News carried the story.
Finally, there's this tweet: "A climate change skeptic not a denier. Sept UN meets in NY with endless alarmist nonsense from u know whom! Pessimists always seen as sages". This one is even harder to decipher, particularly as the UN meeting in September is about sustainability (which as Bob Ward and Aaron Huertas point out, News Corp and Rupert himself support).
But perhaps the worst part of all this denial is how Murdoch acknowledged "climate change poses clear, catastrophic threats" in 2007. While the evidence has grown stronger, Murdoch's conviction has only grown weaker. Apparently, Murdoch's been consuming too much of his own overly opinionated media and forgotten the facts he once knew.
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