Another day, another incident blamed on climate change.
In an attempt to shore up climate concerns, ABC [1], NBC [2], and CBS [3] all aired stories on Oct. 1, claiming large gatherings of walruses were the result of less ice and were connected to climate change. These stories proved again that the networks ignore information contrary to climate alarmist claims.
CBS [3] “Evening News” anchor Scott Pelley introduced the story saying, “The World Wildlife Fund put out an alarming report this week, it says the world’s animal population has been cut in half in the past 40 years, and some of the blame goes to climate change. Carter Evans tells us that among the animals it is threatening, is the Pacific Walrus.” Evans interviewed Margaret Williams of the World Wildlife Fund as well as a concerned aquarium curator, but included no dissenting opinions.
But zoologist Dr. Susan Crockford called the media hype “blatant nonsense,” according to Climate Depot. Crockford said, “The attempts by WWF and others to link this event to global warming is self-serving nonsense that has nothing to do with science.” [4]She also said that mass gatherings of walruses, like the current one in Alaska, “are not new, not due to low ice cover.”
Similarly, NBC [2] “Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams claimed, “Walrus gathering on shore is a phenomenon that has accompanied the loss of summer sea ice as the climate has warmed.” Williams incorrectly stated that “record” numbers had come ashore, even though the Associated Press (AP) reported a gathering of 40,000 [5] in 2007.
ABC [1]’s “Good Morning America” also reported on the large haulout of walruses that day, saying, “Experts say warmer ocean temperatures have left the walruses less ice to rest on so they are swimming ashore.” Of course, it depended entirely on which experts they talked to.
According to Marc Morano of Climate Depot, there have been reports of large scale walrus gatherings or haulouts, dating all the way back to 1604 [4]. AP reported similar gatherings of walruses in 2007 [6], 2009 and 2011 -- some near the same location as the current haulout on the coast of the Chukchi Sea. While it is true could result in deadly walrus stampedes that is not a new phenomena either. AP also reported a large scale stampede in 2007 [5].
Another component to the networks reports were claims that the ice is melting causing walruses to seek out land instead. But according to the Aug. 30, 2014, Daily Mail (UK) [7], the Arctic ice cap expanded for a second year in a row, growing extensively. The Heritage Foundation [8] has also pointed out that the levels of ice in the Arctic have increased in recent years, and in fact the Arctic ice cap is 40 percent bigger than it was in 2012 [8].