Is Rowan Dean a liar or just stupid?

By October 30, 2018Australian Politics, Media

Curly-headed lightweight, Rowan Dean, appears in the homophobic, transphobic, racist, denialist corner of the Sky News Australia programming matrix. In the instance which made my bullshit detector go off-scale, Dean ran a session called ‘Rowan’s “weather”’, which says much about his inability to distinguish weather from climate. Furthermore, in the Tweet from Sky News Australia, this is also titled Ice Age watch. This is impossible to satirise.

Dean starts off with a short video of some American washing his car in a rainstorm and uses this to segue into the furphy that the term ‘extreme weather events’ has replaced ‘catastophic climate change’ which itself has replaced ‘anthropogenic global warming’ which itself replaced the ‘greenhouse effect’. This clearly demonstrating that Dean is either a liar, or that he is too stupid to realise the difference between these terms. Extreme weather events are just that; extreme storms. Catastrophic climate change is what we are risking if we do not do something about anthropogenic global warming, which has already taken the average temperature of the planet to 1.0°C above the 1851-1900 baseline. At its current rate of increase we will be exceedingly fortunate to keep it below 1.5°C2.The ‘greenhouse effect’ is the effect the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has; sunlight passes through the atmosphere, heats the surface of the earth which reradiates that energy as infrared radiation, and it is this which is absorbed by greenhouse gases, thereby warming the atmosphere, and then the oceans, more than we would like3. For someone to not understand this is astonishing, as numerous explanations can be found by googling it. There are even some designed for children that Dean could probably understand.

Dean then has a go at Tim Flannery, who he said ‘promised’ that the rain that falls isn’t going to fill dams and rivers’. What Flannery actually said was ‘the rain that falls may not be enough to fill our dams and our river systems’4. This is just Dean twisting words to make it a little lie: how your ‘promise’ something that ‘may happen’ is not something Dean explains. Flannery said this in reference to a decrease in the winter rainfall zone in southern Australia4. Indeed, the trend in Annual Total Rainfall over the years 1900-2009 shows significant decreases in most of Tasmania, central and western Victoria, southern South Australia, eastern Queensland, where the decrease has been about 5-10%, while in southwestern Western Australia, it has been as much as 20%. However, the interval around 1900 was fairly dry, and the trend in Annual Total Rainfall over the years 1950-2009 is even more alarming. In the eastern states and eastern South Australia, rainfall has decreased significantly, in places in eastern Victoria, eastern New South Wales and eastern Queensland by as much as 50%, and by as much as 30% in southwestern Western Australia5. This is in part because the middle of last century was a bit wetter than average.

Dean then puts the boot into Al Gore, who he said predicted that the Icecaps would melt by 2014. This is another Dean lie. Al Gore stated that it was possible that a lack of Summer sea ice could happen as early as 2013; this turned out to be not the case, but it may eventually happen, as the famed ‘northwest passage’ (for a shorter trade route from Europe to Asia) became open to ships in the Summer of 2007 without the need of an icebreaker, something that has not been possible since records began. Dean is either lying or is too stupid to realise that the Arctic Sea Ice is not ‘the icecaps’. There are two large icesheets on the planet; they are on Greenland and Antarctica, and both of these are melting fairly rapidly.

Dean then says that there was some sort of pause or hiatus in global warming, and that the UN had admitted this. This is another straight-out lie, and has been shown time and again to be so7. Dean then reiterates the furphy of the change in terminology, before launching into a silly analogy that Elizabethans believed that bad behaviour had caused the Little Ice Age. Then he rambled on about Britain being set for four months of the ‘coldest winter in a decade’, saying that he is not convinced that this is ‘global warming’ seemingly unaware that the latter term is the average over the entire globe. Such events like Britain’s ‘beast from the east’ of early in 2018 are due, not to a normal low-pressure area, but to a disordering of the polar vortex into central Europe9.

Dean states that climate change is a ‘belief’, when it is precisely not that. It is the considered conclusion of thousands of research scientists who have published many thousands of research papers, the knowledge gleaned having been compiled into the reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change10. Clearly Dean is so ignorant he does not know how science operates. Following this, presumably after trawling Youtube, Dean plays a couple of clips of reporters apparently lying about the weather events upon which they were reporting. The irony is probably lost on Dean.

Denialism, like that spouted by Dean is an odd phenomenon, and has had, and still has, many manifestations around evolution, the holocaust, tobacco, the ozone hole, acid rain, vaccines and AIDS, among others. The motivations are several and include religion, bigotry, self interest (economic or political) or defence mechanisms meant to protect the fragile psyche against mentally disturbing facts11,12. Which of these is the motivation that drives Dean is anybody’s guess, as his appearance on Sky News after dark doesn’t preclude any of them.

I don’t watch Sky News because of idiots like Dean (his silly piece was sent to me), but I presume there are one or two real journalists who work for the organisation. I wonder if they ever watch the drivel put out by their after dark colleagues such as Dean? Do they ever feel embarrassed at being the lead in to such ‘after dark’ idiocy? At social events, do they ever just say they are a journalist, without mentioning for whom they work? If so, you have to feel sorry for them because while apparently doing a job they believe in, their reputations are constantly damaged by the likes of Dean.

Sources

  1. https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=rowan%20dean%20sky%20news
  2. http://www.blotreport.com/environment/a-1-5c-warmer-world/
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_effect
  4. http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/landline/old-site/content/2006/s1844398.htm
  5. http://www.cawcr.gov.au/projects/Climatechange/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/rainfall-paper.pdf
  6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Passage
  7. https://skepticalscience.com/ipcc-global-warming-pause.htm
  8. http://www.blotreport.com/science/deniers-and-the-pause/
  9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Great_Britain_and_Ireland_cold_wave
  10. http://www.ipcc.ch
  11. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/aug/03/denialism-what-drives-people-to-reject-the-truth
  12. https://www.skepticalscience.com/5-characteristics-of-scientific-denialism.html

 

51 Comments

  • Greg says:

    The guardian recently interviewed liberal mp Craig Laundry, he stated

    Then there’s the “Canberra bubble” – often cited, not particularly well understood. “The part that gets missed for people outside Canberra … is when you are in Parliament House, our side of politics spends their whole time in their offices with Sky News playing in the background, and you are watching colleagues going head-to-head with Labor on policy, but once it gets to 6pm, it goes from panel-style shows to commentary shows.

    “Look that’s [Sky’s] business model, it isn’t sour grapes, they are entitled to do this, they are trying to go the Fox News, US-style controversial rightwing shake-it-up … and a lot of my colleagues take what they say as gospel.”

    What chance have we got when the liberal watch and believe Sky after dark

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/25/craig-laundy-i-saw-the-worst-of-politics-i-had-a-ringside-seat

    • admin says:

      Greg,
      Yeah, I read that too. It is very disturbing that they watch it at all, but the fact that they are gullible enough to believe it, is staggering.

      • Aaron says:

        How did the election go for you? I just looked up Rowan Dean because of how perfectly he articulates common sense ideas and was the only one is MSM that predicted the fed election result and was laughed at the whole campaign…Are you starting to see that people like you are the delusional ones not the majority of Australians? This popped up after my search. Huge engagement you have…26 comments or so, incredible platform. But I stumbled upon it and was humoured by the incredible tirade you go about Mr Dean. It was actually pathetic especially in hindsight siting the date of this article. All the best.

        • admin says:

          Aaron,
          You clearly do not understand how idiotic Rowan Dean is. He professes to have a grasp of climate science, but cannot even get the terminology right. That is idiotic in the extreme. By the way, many more people read the articles than comment on them. In fact the Rowan Dean article on which you comment has been read by several hundred people of the 47,000 who have read my essays. In the case of this article, I suspect this is mostly those who want to understand the correct terminology on global warming etc. That is something that seems to be beyond Dean’s understanding.

          • DamandaC says:

            I saw this Rowan Dean on a rant just now on “The Great Re-set” & I looked him up because I couldn’t believe what I was hearing…. Of course I should have realised sooner that he was sitting in a #Sky studio, and “Jaws” music started playing in my head. “Rupert Murdoch….. Rupert Murdoch……. So what I’ve read in this piece certainly confirms my initial suspicions about him, he’s a right wing Tosser!

          • admin says:

            Amanda,
            Dean and all the other microbiota at Sky are becoming more bizarre as Murdoch gets more and more desperate. I initially thought Craig Kelly would be the only one daft enough to spin this ‘great reset’ QAnon conspiracy drivel. Clearly not.

        • Jon says:

          The election was a surprise to me Aaron. Essentially it was choice between hope and complacent smugness. I thought Australians had a bit more nous, although it was primarily Qld which gave the hypocrite Morrison his win. The link you’ve attempted to make between the election result and Dean’s ignorance on climate change is a ridiculously long bow, even for a conservative. That’s not surprising unfortunately because ignorance of facts and arguments (surrounding climate change in this instance) is a common trait among a particular section of the right. Wasn’t always so.

  • JON says:

    No point in getting upset about SKY ‘journalism”. The essential characteristics of employment there are ignorance, stupidity and an ability to regurgitate total nonsense without engaging a single useful brain cell. This bloke appears to be expert/well-practised in all those areas. It’s not unlike coalition senators in the recent “it’s okay to be white” cock-up. Amazing that not one of them thought to question the instructions, but such is life in a government in its death throes.

    • admin says:

      Jon,
      The stupidity of the government is mind-boggling. Hopefully after the next federal election it will be a case of “where the hell are you, Scott?”

  • Row an Dean brilliant journo, not afraid of the looney Left, Greenies. Unafraid, won’t be bullied by the intimidating. Politically Correct, anti-free speech brigade – who really believe their opinion is the only opinion. Their weapon is to shut down opposition to opinions that don’t align with theirs. Thank heaven for Sky News, presenters, as a refreshing opposition to the Left biased ABC and its Leftie presenters.

  • Steven Bosten says:

    Rowan Dean is a Genius, if you disagree, then your oblivious to the real world sentiment, and your just one of the very few socialist low IQ types left… If you disagree, than get a job and start contributing to society rather than bludging off it and trying to get a foot up while sitting on the couch!

    • admin says:

      Steven,

      Are you a satirist? If not, you really should consider it as an option for a career. As an aside, I am a self-funded retiree. Do you have a job?

    • Silver says:

      “your just one of the very few socialist low IQ types”
      Oh the irony. I’m sure I’m not the only one to notice that people who admire the likes of Rowan Dean for his “common sense” and “courage to tell the ‘truth'” have very low literacy skills, absent critical thinking ability, and swallow/regurgitate right wing talking points with a complete lack of understanding, wrapped in the smug confidence that they’ve “owned the libs”.

  • Steven Bosten says:

    Satirist no, I’m a security guard…. 12 hour shifts buddy!
    Self funded retiree? Then thank you, it’s good to know you have Rowan’s and my support!

    • admin says:

      Steven,

      You think Rowan pays tax? I don’t have your support. Like I said, I am a SELF-FUNDED retiree. I pay for myself.

      • Steven Bosten says:

        That is great, like you i aim to do the same in several years.
        That is why WE need to continue supporting Rowan as he is fighting for us. Not the socialist left that wants to redistribute our savings to the lazy lounges…

        • admin says:

          Steven,
          You are wrong there. Rowan Dean is only after the best for his billionaire proprietor, Rupert Murdoch, who is also a climate change denier. If you believe that Dean is fighting for you, then you are seriously gullible. Rupert Murdoch needed his share of the undocumented $30 million grant so much, and he needed his $882 million tax rebate so much too. This is money that you as a taxpayer have subsidised.

          • Steven Bosten says:

            Ouch, why be nasty?
            As always just resort to baseless socialist hype.
            I’m here to debate not be abused by communists.
            I’m only interested debating facts!
            Obviously this is beyond your intellectual capacity, read some books and stop watching ABC..

          • admin says:

            Streven,
            You do not seem to know what facts are. Calling someone else a communist as a form of abuse is so 1980s. Did you miss the collapse of communism?

  • Steven Bosten says:

    Yes I did.
    Obviously you didn’t!

    • admin says:

      Steven,

      Comprehension isn’t your strong suit is it? I asked you if you had missed it. Are you a climate change denier? If so, try this. http://www.blotreport.com/science/deniers-lie-1/

      • Steven Bosten says:

        YES.. I am a GLOBAL WARMING sceptic!
        I’m an Atheist, religion doesn’t play a part in my political agenda.
        Like our recent election, 70 percent of the population disagrees with your ABC agenda.
        Just accept it.. do some real science and learn that your a minority, fighting a religious cause that goes nowhere.
        Please don’t send links to your religious cause, I only look at real science without a political agenda…
        And yes, in case your wondering, Science is my specialty.. bring it on.
        Your one of the 30 percent… An ABC scientist..?

        • admin says:

          Steven,

          You are not a global warming sceptic. You are a denier. I have been a scientist for 42 years if you include my Ph.D., and all scientists are sceptical, that is why there are so many published papers going over the same territory, trying to pick holes in others’ work. What was your field of study? Was it climate science? If so, where do you publish your research? By the way, the contraction of ‘you are’ is not ‘your’, but ‘you’re’. Read this, it might help you. http://www.blotreport.com/english-usage/apostrophe-catastrophe/

  • Russellga says:

    Poor little Steven who mixes possessives up with adumbrated forms of “to be”. Oh, let me explain that now, so that you’re understanding of grammar will improve. Rowan Dropkick is a genius??? I roll on the floor belly laughing till I’m in agony. Get a doctor somebody!

  • Steven Bosten says:

    Relax, don’t panic. Like a true socialist, your limited intelligence resorts you to name calling and abuse. That’s ok, I understand I threaten your new found religion and that’s all your capable of when you live in your world. And yes, I never went to school, we were poor.
    But nothing excites me more when I can still outsmart you!
    You need to understand, educated people are only booksmart and have no real intelligence with reality….
    Your like a dog with a bone…. just give up, and go back to listening to the corrupt UN and their 16 year old disciple…

    • admin says:

      Steven,
      You were the one who contacted me. It always makes me laugh when the people who have no idea what they are talking about, are so certain that they are exceptional in their ability to understand that topic. This is the Dunning-Kruger Effect. Google it.

    • Allan Price says:

      Hi Rowan

      Good to see you here under your Steven Bosten alias.

      Your time would be better spent improving your spelling, grammar and punctuation. And get a haircut while you’re at it.

      See you next Tuesday.

  • Steven Bosten says:

    Nice try… but thank you! Being thought of as Rowen is a compliment.
    My grammar, is not so good as I spend my time on quantum theory!
    Something that a socialist wouldn’t understand. It’s called science, something that this site can’t comprehend.
    Some people waste their lives trying to speak and spell properly to only fool others that they have intelligence….
    English is man made, mathematics and physics is the only true language. Have fun with your very limited area of expertise, it only fools people with low intelligence.
    Now, honestly, does anyone reading these posts think that you have any intelligence when all you can do is attack my grammar?
    Typical small minds that need to resort to ridicule and abuse those with superior intelligence… That is why socialism will always fail.
    Never underestimate us as intelligence wins over who can show off how good their grammar is……

    • admin says:

      Steven,

      So you are into quantum physics. Super. What do you think about the failure of classical symmetry to survive the process of quantisation and regularisation?

  • Jimmy Somethin says:

    So you like Rowan? He’s great hey! Very informative!

    • admin says:

      Jimmy,
      No, he is an idiot. I have more intelligent vegetables in the crisper drawer of my fridge. He believes in astrology, and doesn’t understand climate change. That is profoundly stupid.

  • Steven Bosten says:

    The misinformed and stupid always resort to abuse and mocking because you are threatened by Rowen’s genius!
    Go to bed, you’ll be late for kindly tomorrow.

    • admin says:

      Steven,

      You don’t understand science either. That is a silly thing for someone to say in the 21st century which is so dependent on science for your communications, medical care, and travel. Just because you do not understand it doesn’t mean it has no impact on your life. Ignorance is no excuse. I also notice that you cannot spell his name correctly, which says much about your abilities to discern his equine ordure when it is presented to you.

  • Bob Weis says:

    It’s an interesting knee jerk response – I was talking with a bistro owner, who until this point was unfailingly polite and friendly, and then I mentioned global warming and he said, “Oh so you are a communist.” A little taken aback I listened for a while and then I asked him where he got his information. He looked at me triumphantly and said, “Have you heard of Breitbart?”.
    “Yes, I know who funds it and who edits it and there is a lot to talk about thee.”
    The short story is that he had a meltdown and sold the restaurant.
    The emotional committment to denial makes it impossible to even read, let alone accept, the science.
    When the water comes they will also drown.

    • admin says:

      Bob,
      Strewth, that is extraordinary! I’ve never actually met a person like that. Most of the deniers I have met have either simply been thick, or work for the coal or petroleum industries and for which a belief in global warming is perceived as a personal affront.

  • Jon says:

    The hypocritical and obviously confused Stephen is apparently a security guard who claims to have expertise in physics, maths and science in general. Unfortunately he knows sfa about statistics and opinion polls, or maybe he just makes things up as he goes: “Like our recent election, 70 percent of the population disagrees with your ABC agenda.” Stephen might care to read the polls regarding the ABC (eg: http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8064-abc-remains-most-trusted-media-201907220424) and digest it’s own year on year survey results (which can be found on the ABC website in the unlikely event that Stephen should ever decide to open his mind).

  • Jon says:

    Speaking of redistribution of wealth Stephen old boy – how many HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS (ironically that’s a conservative estimate) of taxpayer dollars have the conservatives handed to their mates in recent years – “direct action”, water, “sport”, mining,….? Rather hypocritical that a government which doesn’t believe in climate change would give such big handouts to help businesses reduce emissions eh mate? Snouts in the trough. I wonder how you feel about millionaires and mega multinational companies paying zero tax while your mates in Canberra take 20+% of your earnings to give them a handout. If as they say ignorance is bliss you must be a very content fella.

  • Marlene B says:

    THE GOVERNMENT AND CORPS ARE ROBBING US BLIND WHILE MANY OF US BLAME THE UNEMPLOYED WHO ARE OFTEN BEING SWINDLED BY THE MANY FAKE JOB TRAINING NETWORKS. WORK IS BEING CLOSED TO MANY AS GOVERNMENTS CREATE INDUSTRIES FROM THE POOR AS SOME PEOPLES GO ROUND AND ROUND IN CIRCLES TRYING TO FIND A JOB

    • admin says:

      Marlene,
      Yep. Things must change. This government and their donors have been screwing Australians via neoliberal economics for decades. That has to stop.

  • ron sole says:

    you are a fuck wit

    • admin says:

      Ron,
      So you know loads of stuff on climate change do you? You have done your ‘own research’ on youtube and in the Murdoch media, have you? I have read many of the IPCC reports and have read many papers in such journals as Nature and Science on climate change. And you think I’m the fwit?

    • Jon says:

      Well thought out nic there Rowan, er “Ron”. Rsole for short. Perhaps your next nic should be Ima Dupe, or Ima Gull if you prefer.

      Couple of questions. Did you accidently hit the space bar or are you so ignorant that you don’t know that fuckwit is a single word? Is there more to come or can we assume that this is the extent of your climate knowledge? The latter is obviously a rhetorical question.

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