To New York-centric Hannity, a cool June in Central Park means Gore is wrong about global warming

Sean Hannity claimed, “This is the coolest June on record, the eighth coolest, and they're going back to the 1800s.” But Hannity appeared to be referring to a National Weather Service statement about the weather in June in New York's Central Park -- not about the entire planet.

On the July 6 edition of his Fox News show, Sean Hannity claimed, “This is the coolest June on record, the eighth coolest, and they're going back to the 1800s.” He then said that “Al Gore's movie” on global warming is “not reality” and “not science.” However, Hannity appears to be referring to a July 1 public information statement issued by the New York, NY, National Weather Service office that said, “THIS JUNE IS TIED FOR THE 8TH COOLEST ON RECORD” in New York's Central Park -- not for the entire planet. On July 5, Matt Drudge posted a link to that statement under the headline "New York City has 'coolest June since 1958'. . . "

As Media Matters for America has repeatedly noted, scientists have identified a long-term warming trend spanning several decades that is independent from the normal climate variability -- which includes relatively short-term changes in climate due to events like El Niño and La Niña -- to which they attribute the recent global temperatures that are somewhat cooler than the record-setting years of 1998 and 2005.

From the July 6 edition of Fox News' Hannity:

FRANK LUNTZ (Republican pollster): Now, the Democratic approach is to talk about climate change. And when you've seen what happened with Katrina, Al Gore's movie -- the public does believe that the environment needs to be addressed. And so the battle now is: Who's going to offer the most jobs? Are they green jobs or not? Who's got the best solution to deal with it?

HANNITY: But let me ask you -- because new information came out. This is the coolest June on record, the eighth coolest, and they're going back to the 1800s, Frank.

LUNTZ: I know. I've actually gone back to cotton.

HANNITY: Well, I -- but the point is that most people may be buying into Al Gore's movie, but it's not reality, and it's not science.