Philippines climate negotiator Naderev “Yeb” Saño of the Philippines announced to COP 19’s plenary session that he will conduct a hunger strike for the remainder of the UN climate summit in Warsaw.

“I speak for the countless people who will no longer be able to speak for themselves after perishing from the storm. I speak also for those who have been orphaned by the storm. I speak for the people racing for time to save survivors and alleviate the suffering of the people affected. We can take drastic action now to ensure we prevent a future where super typhoons become a way of life… By failing to meet the objectives of the convention we may have ratified our own doom. We have to confront the issue of loss and damage. Loss and damage today is a reality across the world… In solidarity with my countrymen who are struggling to find food back home and with my brother who has not had food for the last three days… I will now commence a voluntary fasting for the climate. This means that I will voluntarily refrain from eating food during this COP until a meaningful outcome is in site. Until concrete pledges have been made to ensure mobilization of resources for the Green Climate Fund.”

This is Mr. Sano’s second tear-filled speech to a COP plenary. Last year Mr. Sano demanded that the delegates in Doha, Qatar accelerate the climate funding and treaty process after another typhoon struck his homeland. Read The misdirected tears of the Philippines at CFACT.org.

We accept Mr. Sano’s pleas at face value. Unlike so many involved in international global warming politics, Mr. Sano’s tears appear completely sincere. We can’t help but admire Yeb’s compassion for those in need and the strength of the protective instinct he feels towards his countrymen.

When devastation strikes, the nation’s of the world should be there for one another. Taiphoon Haiyan/Yolanda was a terrible and tragic storm. We again encourage people to make a gift to aid the victims of Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda. We posted several reliable groups you can make your gift with in CFACT’s previous typhoon coverage. You can find them here.

However, as CFACT observed last year, Mr. Sano’s wholly appropriate tears are also misdirected.

Typhoon activity in the Philippines is normal. Despite over-the-top reporting before the typhoon struck (timed perfectly for COP 19) Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda was not the strongest typhoon recorded in the Philippines. It was the seventh. The Philippines enjoys warm tropical weather. However, with tropical splendor comes tropical storms. This duality is a fact of life in the tropics.

There are no worthwhile science or historical records which support the notion that extreme storms have worsened in the Philippines or elsewhere as a result of a warming planet. We must soberly remind ourselves that global temperatures have not risen since the nineties and that warming to date peaked at less than a degree Centigrade, with only a few years coming anywhere near that.

Further, weather remains normal. Reports in the media continually attribute individual incidents to global warming. However, today’s storms, floods, droughts, fires, famines, etc. have to do with weather, not climate. Global warming pressure groups continually attribute weather events to climate as a propaganda technique and the media, always on the lookout for drama, plays along. See, Extreme weather debunked which features Climate Depot’s extreme weather report.

Not only is global weather historically normal, this year’s Atlantic hurricane season has been one of the gentlest on record.

As he concluded his speech, Mr. Sano said, “Mr. President, this process has been called a farce. It has been called an annual carbon-intensive gathering of useless frequent fliers… It has also been called saving tomorrow today. We can fix this. We can stop this madness.”

Mr. Sano’s conclusion is loaded with wisdom. Yes, Mr. Sano, useless frequent fliers are precisely what the delegates to the COP are. “Farce” and “madness” are highly descriptive terms, perfect to describe international efforts to lock the world into a global warming treaty. However, the UN climate summit does not offer salvation for the future, but a threat to the freedom and prosperity of all mankind.

If you want to restore public confidence in the UN’s climate proceedings, we must cease to tolerate the propaganda which festoons the proceedings and which has shaken public confidence in climate science. Science must be unbiased and it must be sober. It must be open to alternative hypotheses and it must be verifiable through observation. Lose the scientific method and the result is dogma fueled hysteria.

We stand with Yeb Sano in mourning the losses in the Philippines. We count upon the people of the world to help their neighbors in need. However, we cannot allow appeals to emotion, that most potent of logical fallacies, to take the place of rational decision making.