Cozying up to Climate Mayhem

Chamberlain had Russell, Magic Johnson had Bird. But Andrew Revkin of The New York Times, like Shaquille O'Neal in his prime, has no peer. Nobody comes close to matching the breadth and depth of climate change coverage that Revkin consistently demonstrates. This was amply evident on Friday, when the Global Humanitarian Forum, an organization headed by former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, issued a news release and report asserting that about 300,000 people died annually from climate change. This striking claim understandably generated worldwide headlines. And the most credulous coverage by everyone in the mainstream media--except Revkin. The three wire stories--from AP,Reuters, and UPI--read like press releases. The Guardian went into more detail about the report, but like the wires, offered no skeptical voices. Ditto for CNN. Contrast this unquestioning reporting with Revkin's news story at the Times, which carries a sharp critique of the report by Roger Pielke, Jr. (who calls it a "methodological embarrassment." ) [[UPDATE: Andy Revkin informs me that "there was no issue with the short (reporting) time frame" that I allude to just below. A copy of the report--though embargoed--was made available to reporters the day before its official public release. Adds Revkin: "As with the journals, this is hopefully to allow folks to do some embargoed vetting and context."]] Now it bears noting that all of these first day stories--including Revkin's--were hamstrung by the short filing window after the Forum's report was officially released. But that's where the value of Revkin's essential blog, Dot Earth comes in. At 11:34 AM (EST), Revkin elaborated on his news story in a probing and thoughtful post, which led off this way: