Read here and here. The AMA, a bastion of politically-correct ideology, injects itself into the climate change debate by seemingly encouraging doctors to literally lie about climate change in order to scare their patients. The AMA editorial implies that climate change is leading to lower U.S. life expectancy, which must be a monumental surprise to the experts.
Here are examples of the climate-lies that the AMA uses in its editorial recommendations for doctors, regarding climate change and their patients:
- Citizens of Florida have been at risk from rising temperatures: The truth? Over the last 20 years, the NOAA/NCDC reports that Florida temperatures are declining at a -3.8°F trend per century through February 2011. That's called major cooling, not warming.
- Citizens of Florida have been at risk from more frequent hurricanes: The truth? According to the CSU Hurricane forecast team, it's been 5 years since a hurricane has made Florida landfall, which is the first time in recorded history that has happened.
- Citizens of Florida have been at risk from increased ground-level ozone: The truth? According to the EPA, ozone levels have been declining in Florida. In fact, it has been declining across the entire U.S.
- Citizens of Florida have been at risk from rising sea levels: The truth? According to NOAA, over the last 20 years the residents of Key West and Naples, Florida have "suffered" from annual sea increases of about 9/100's of an inch or less. The diameter of a golf ball is 1.68 inches, just about 42 times higher than the average "risky" annual sea level increase.
- Citizens of Florida have been at risk from more droughts: The truth? According to NOAA/NCDC, over the last 20 years the residents of Florida have "suffered" from 58 inches of average precipitation "drought" per year. In contrast, residents of Arizona, another senior citizen paradise, have suffered from some 13 inches of precipitation per year. Droughts? How many Florida residents have died from droughts in the last 20 years?
The scientific information regarding Florida's recent, actual climate is well known and widely disseminated across something called the "web." There is no rational reason for the AMA (and its doctor members) not to know the actual Florida climate facts - the ignorance plea is not credible. Indeed, it would certainly appear that the AMA is purposefully publishing climate-lies, which always turns out to be inconvenient and harmful to the reputation for those pursuing a political agenda instead of empirical-based science.