Chris Smith: For those who are keen observers of what the global warming mob is up to, and have a healthy cynicism about what the doomsayers suggest, you'll be very pleased to know the world is not heading for disaster, at least not as quickly as they say. — 2GB, Breakfast Show with Chris Smith, 16th September, 2013

Hello I'm Paul Barry, welcome to Media Watch, and great news for anyone concerned about global warming.

And even better news for shock jocks like Chris Smith who doesn't think we have much to worry about.

Yes it's official at last ... those stupid scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change got it wrong

Chris Smith: ... in what amounts to the most embarrassing self-assessment in world science, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has basically fessed up. It's admitted that its computer drastically overestimated rising temperatures. Wouldn't you know it, eh? ... Instead of warming at a rate of .2 degrees Celsius per decade, which was always a total con, we've only warmed .1 of a degree per decade since 1951. — 2GB, Breakfast Show with Chris Smith, 16th September, 2013

Well, that's a relief. And how do we know it's true?

Because Chris Smith read it on the front page of last Monday's Australian newspaper.

And when it comes to rubbishing the dangers of man-made global warming the shock jocks certainly know who we can trust.

The Australian Graham Lloyd Environment Editor We got it wrong on warming, says IPCC — 2GB, The Australian, 16th September, 2013

As the Australian revealed , the world's climate experts had got their figures terribly wrong.

In a leaked final draft of their latest climate report, due out later this week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or IPCC was set to admit:

... its computer drastically overestimated rising temperatures, and over the past 60 years the world has in fact been warming at half the rate claimed in the previous IPCC report in 2007. — 2GB, The Australian, 16th September, 2013

Ah. That damn computer. It's been giving so much trouble.

Not surprisingly, the boffins were running for cover and getting ready for the fall out.

Although of course they would not admit it.

Last week the IPCC was forced to deny it was locked in crisis talks ... — 2GB, The Australian, 16th September, 2013

Graham Lloyd hadn't apparently seen the leaked IPCC report, but he really didn't need to.

Because he'd read all about it the previous day in Britain's raucous Mail on Sunday .

THE GREAT GREEN CON World's top climate scientists confess: global warming is half what we said. — 2GB, The Mail on Sunday (UK), 15th September, 2013

As the Mail revealed, it was an 'astonishing new admission', a 'staggering mixture of confusion and ignorance' and a 'massive cut in the speed of global warming'.

But there was one small problem. It wasn't the scientists who got their figures wrong. It was the Mail on Sunday.

And the Australian had simply repeated the mistake, as one of Australia's most eminent climate scientists, Professor David Karoly, who had read the report- immediately pointed out .

Today's Australian newspaper has major errors in its front page article with headline "We got it wrong on warming, says the IPCC". I look forward to The Australian publishing a correction or a new article with my headline above. "THE AUSTRALIAN GETS IT WRONG ON GLOBAL WARMING AGAIN" — Media Release: Australian Science Media Centre, David Karoly, Professor of Atmospheric Science, University of Melbourne, 16th September, 2013

That same morning, another Australian climate expert added caustically:

The Australian article ... demonstrates the inherent dangers in sourcing scientific information from a UK tabloid rather than climate scientists ... — Media Release: Australian Science Media Centre, John Cook, Research Fellow, Global Change Institute University of Queensland, 16th September, 2013

So what exactly was the mistake? Well, the Mail on Sunday had maintained, and the Australian repeated, this basic claim:

The 2007 assessment report said the planet was warming at a rate of 0.2C every decade, but ... the draft update report says the true figure since 1951 has been 0.12C. — 2GB, The Australian, 16th September, 2013

Ipso facto, the claimed rate of global warming had roughly halved.

The only problem was the Mail had compared apples with oranges.

Matching a period of 15 years from 1990, with another of 60 years from 1951.

IF you compared apples with apples and took the long-term periods from each report there was virtually no change ... and certainly no embarrassing retreat.

Read the long-term observed trend of 0.13C from the IPCC's 2007 report

Prof Karoly told the Australian he would complain to the Press Council.

And after the Mail on Sunday corrected its story we asked why the Oz had not followed suit.

Whereupon-to its credit- it did just that

CORRECTION: A report in The Australian on Monday ... said the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had dramatically revised down the rate of global warming over the past 60 years. In fact, the new rate of 0.12C every decade is almost the same as the IPCC's 2007 figure of 0.13C every decade over the 50 years to 2005. — The Weekend Australian, 21st September, 2013

But by this time the airwaves were abuzz with the smug sound of shock jocks saying they told us so.

On Brisbane's 4BC and Sydney's 2GB the story got a run at least a dozen times, with Gary Hardgrave, Chris Smith, Ray Hadley, Luke Grant and 2GB's news bulletins joining the chorus.

Joel Labi: Scientists have admitted they got it wrong when it comes to climate change ... The world has in fact been warming at half the rate it originally claimed. — 2GB, News Bulletin, 16th September, 2013

On Tuesday, the Australian's stablemate, the Daily Telegraph joined the party , repeating the Mail's mistake-even though it had been exposed by a host of experts-and trumpeting similar joyful conclusions.

UN RETREATS ON CLIMATE The leaked reports have led some Australian scientists to say it confirms forecasts of imminent environmental doom are drastically wrong. — Daily Telegraph, 17th September, 2013

And who were the 'Australian scientists' the Tele relied on?

Well it seems there was only one of them, Bob Carter, until recently at James Cook University in Townsville, who told the Tele's readers the public had been 'relentlessly misinformed'.

Inside Professor Bob also penned an opinion piece proclaiming:

Report gives truth on climate change at last — Daily Telegraph, 17th September, 2013

Now as I read this, I couldn't help remembering that most of the world's scientists still believe man-made global warming is real, and of concern.

And a 5-second search found the figure I was looking for on the US space agency NASA's website.

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE Consensus: 97% of climate scientists agree — climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus

It's not rocket science, but NASA lists several of the eminent academies the Tele could have turned to for comment.

It could also have used quotes we know were provided from the Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science in NSW which pointed out errors in the Australian's article.

But instead the paper plumped for Professor Carter, who believes global warming stopped 16 years ago, and who recently lost his job at James Cook Uni

University dumps out-of-step climate change sceptic — Townsville Bulletin, 28th June, 2013

Professor Carter who says he was dropped because his views are unpopular is the author of a book called Climate: The Counter Consensus.

Back in 2011 its conclusions were described by Professor Karoly as

Inconsistent with any scientific assessment of climate change prepared by any major national or international body — Email from David Karoly, School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, 21st March, 2011

But some people take Bob Carter much more seriously.

He's written 12 sceptical columns in the Australian since 2004 and two in the Tele since 2009.

And the shock jocks just love him, which is why 4BC's Gary Hardgrave and 2GB's Chris Smith wheeled him out on Monday to gloat over the Mail's mistaken scoop.

Bob Carter: The issue here is that at last the IPCC has been forced by the sheer weight of the factual evidence, to admit that most of its previous alarmist assertions are wrong. Chris Smith: Are you tempted to say 'I told you so'? Bob Carter: No, that wouldn't be polite, I'm a scientist so all I can say is just look at the facts ... — 2GB, Breakfast Show with Chris Smith, 16th September, 2013

Yup. Look at the facts, Bob. It's really good advice.

And we should add that after an approach from Media Watch the Tele did 'clarify' its article.