WASHINGTON — Leading climate scientists wrote an open letter on Tuesday to blast The New York Times for allowing its new columnist to publish “inaccurate and misleading” statements on climate change. “Stephens is entitled to share his opinions, but not ‘alternative facts.’”The Times hired Bret Stephens, a former opinion writer at The Wall Street Journal and a denier of mainstream climate science, last month. In his debut column, titled “Climate of Complete Certainty,” Stephens — who Vox recently dubbed a “climate change bullshitter” — calls the 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit by which Earth has warmed since 1880 “modest.” It is among the claims with which the climate scientists took issue. None of this is to deny climate change or the possible severity of its consequences. Stephens suggests the effects of climate change may be less serious than the scientific community estimates and ignores the possibility that they could be worse, the scientists write.

Source: Huffington Post May 02, 2017 19:41 UTC