Top NOAA scientist: Ocean acidification not a problem

Last October, the New York Times published this dire op-ed on ocean acidification, supposedly authored by NOAA chief Richard Spinrad and his UK counterpart Ian Boyd.

Curious, I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to NOAA for the e-mail related to the development and publication of the op-ed. I received 443 pages of e-mail in return.

First, the op-ed was actually written by NOAA staff Madelyn Applebaum, not Spinrad or Boyd. The purpose was to tout NOAA not inform the public about ocean acidification.

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Second, the New York Times initially rejected the op-ed for its U.S. print edition and web site, the e-mails show. NOAA staff then submitted the op-ed to the International NYTimes staff in London (because Madelyn knew the INYT staff) where it was placed in the International NYTimes print edition and NYTimes.com.

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Next, NOAA staff was appalled at the New York Times-selected title, which was a lot different than the NOAA-picked titled:

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But the most notable e-mails stand in stark contrast to the information presented in the NYTimes op-ed.

Specifically, NOAA’s Dr. Shallin Busch insists the op-ed exaggerates the ocean acidification problem:

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Below are clips of Busch doing so:

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JunkScience has maintained for years now that there is no evidence that ocean “acidification” is causing harm. Glad to see that a top NOAA scientist sees it the same way.

BTW, we were about to FOIA scientist e-mail from NOAA. Not sure why Congress can’t get it and Judicial Watch has to sue for it.

Read more at junkscience.com

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