Hannity, oblivious to “scientific nuances,” takes NY Times out of context on global warming

On his September 23 show, Sean Hannity claimed that a New York Times article reporting that “global temperatures have been relatively stable for a decade and may even drop in the next few years” is in conflict with President Obama's comments at the United Nations that "[i]f we continue down our current course, every member of this assembly will see irreversible changes within their borders." But Times reporter Andrew C. Revkin, in the article Hannity misconstrued, also reported that the recent temperatures have “been seized upon by skeptics” but that scientists say short-term climate variability “has no bearing on the long-term warming effects of greenhouse gases” and that “trying to communicate such scientific nuances to the public -- and to policy makers -- can be frustrating.”

From the September 23 edition of Fox News' Hannity:

HANNITY: And tonight's “Meltdown” is brought to you by The New York Obama Times. Now, readers of that newspaper were in for a big surprise this week. They opened their newspaper to read the following quote: “Global temperatures have been relatively stable for a decade and may even drop in the next few years.”

What? This from one of the chief promoters of climate hysteria. I guess the president hasn't been reading the newspaper too closely. Take a look at the doomsday scenario that he laid out earlier today.

OBAMA [video clip]: If we continue down our current course, every member of this assembly will see irreversible changes within their borders. Our efforts to end conflicts will be eclipsed by wars over refugees and resources. Development will be devastated by drought and famine. Land that human beings have lived on for millennia will disappear.

HANNITY: But then again, we never actually thought that facts form the basis of any of the president's decisions or speeches.

NY Times was not suggesting that global warming is not occurring

Revkin: Scientists say short-term climate variability “has no bearing” on global warming, but that conveying that to the “public -- and to policy makers -- can be frustrating.” From Revkin's September 21 Times article:

The world leaders who met at the United Nations to discuss climate change on Tuesday are faced with an intricate challenge: building momentum for an international climate treaty at a time when global temperatures have been relatively stable for a decade and may even drop in the next few years.

The plateau in temperatures has been seized upon by skeptics as evidence that the threat of global warming is overblown. And some climate experts worry that it could hamper treaty negotiations and slow the progress of legislation to curb carbon dioxide emissions in the United States.

Scientists say the pattern of the last decade -- after a precipitous rise in average global temperatures in the 1990s -- is a result of cyclical variations in ocean conditions and has no bearing on the long-term warming effects of greenhouse gases building up in the atmosphere.

But trying to communicate such scientific nuances to the public -- and to policy makers -- can be frustrating, they say.

Hannity makes a habit of distorting quotes in order to smear progressives

Hannity has a long record of distorting quotes. As Media Matters for America has noted, this is not the first time Hannity has distorted a quote or article in order to smear Obama. He has distorted or taken Obama's comments out of context several times before and after Obama's inauguration and has similarly distorted remarks of other progressive figures.