Scientists Blast NYTimes for Fake Narrative About Climate Report

The New York Times has been caught yet again for reporting incorrect information in a desperate attempt to slander the Trump administration. 

But scientists aren’t letting the publication get away with it.  

The Times allegedly “leaked” a secret report that reveals supposedly terrifying findings about the impact of climate change. The only problem is this was an Obama era report that has been freely available since last January!

“The draft report by scientists from 13 federal agencies concludes that Americans are feeling the effects of climate change right now. It directly contradicts claims by President Trump and members of his cabinet who say that the human contribution to climate change is uncertain, and that the ability to predict the effects is limited,” writes the New York Times. “Evidence for a changing climate abounds, from the top of the atmosphere to the depths of the oceans,” a draft of the report states. It was uploaded to a nonprofit internet digital library in January but received little attention until it was published by The New York Times.”

The Times also cited an anonymous scientist as the source and said that the authors are “awaiting permission from the Trump administration to release it.”

After The Times published this article title, “Scientists Fear Trump Will Dismiss Blunt Climate Report” on Monday, scientists were quick to call out the publication. The climate change report had been online and publicly available for months now.  

“It’s not clear what the news is in this story; posted draft is public review draft from Dec, and WH review hasn’t yet missed Aug 18 deadline,” tweeted Robert Kopp, a climate scientist at Rutgers University and one of the authors of the report. “The Times’ leaked draft has been on the Internet Archive since January, during the public comment period.” 

Another author of the report also pointed this out.

“Important to point out that this report was already accessible to anyone who cared to read it during public review & comment time. Few did,” tweeted Katharine Hayhoe, a professor at Texas Tech. “Side-by-side comparison shows that @nytimes has public review version of our new climate sci report – so, no leak. It was available to all.”  

White House officials weren’t surprised by The Times’ attempt to sensationalize the report.  

Sarah Sanders, White House press secretary, called the story “disappointing, yet entirely predictable.”

“As others have pointed out – and The New York Times should have noticed – drafts of this report have been published and made widely available online months ago during the public comment period,” said Sanders. “The White House will withhold comment on any draft report before its scheduled release date.” 

A few hours after The Times was blasted for reporting incorrect details about the climate report, the article was updated.

“Correction: August 9, 2017 An article on Tuesday about a sweeping federal climate change report referred incorrectly to the availability of the report. While it was not widely publicized, the report was uploaded by the nonprofit Internet Archive in January; it was not first made public by The New York Times,” wrote the publication.

Author’s note: This is yet another example of how the NYT is willing to lie and twist information to get more readers. The NYT doesn’t seem to be embarrassed by this, but the publication should be. The article was picked up by other major media outlets, which then unknowingly spread a fake news story.

Editor’s note: Certainly a “leaked” report is more intriguing than one that has been ignored for 8 months. And a conspiracy by the Trump administration to “suppress” the report makes for good drama.  Maybe the NYT should go into daytime television and produce a soap opera. They certainly don’t understand news.