Scientists have had to pause the Climate Change Hoax Scam

Rating

Misleading: One post even featured a GIF that the user believed showed new land emerging off the coast of Dubai due to falling sea levels — apparently unaware of the artificial Palm Islands constructed there between 2001 and 2007. The findings in the Chinese study are based on publicly available data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites, which have been measuring the Earth's gravitational field since 2002 and have documented changes in the planet's ice and water masses. The data may be correct, but its interpretation by conspiratorial social media users is not — a situation not helped by the researchers' decision to insert an increasing average trend curve next to the preceding decreasing curve depicting ice mass. "This is perfect fodder for people who are intentionally looking to spread disinformation," said Johannes Feldmann, a physicist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research near Berlin. Feldmann emphasized that climate science relies on long-term data — typically over 20 to 30 years — to identify meaningful trends. "Two, three or even five years are far too little to identify a long-term trend," he explained. Cherry-picking short-term data is a common tactic among climate change deniers. "There are always phases where the increase [in temperature] levels off a bit, which people suddenly take to mean: global warming has stopped, the trend is reversing," Feldmann added. "But it's never turned out to be true."

Reviewed by Deutsche Welle ↗ · June 26, 2025