Twitchy reported in October that climate alarmists were worried that global warming was creating tiny goats, but it looks like it’s not just goats who scientists are worried about shrinking in size. Check this out from Mother Jones:

Another side effect of climate change and El Niño events? Shorter kids. http://t.co/WDaCjnQ8u9 pic.twitter.com/HeCsh0q1bw — Mother Jones (@MotherJones) November 25, 2014

Click. Bait.

Here’s an excerpt from the Mother Jones story that throws cold water on their own sensationalist headline:

Of course, the results are still too preliminary to indicate that El Niño alone stunted children’s growth. But the authors note that in interviews with focus groups, “community members did not cite other events occurring during the same period as El Niño that had such a destructive impact on their lives.” Checkley told me that his research squares with past studies of the public health consequences of El Niño events, which include increased risk of infection and social and emotional stress. Flooding and higher temperatures often lead to increased risk of contracting infectious diarrheal and respiratory diseases, especially in poor, overcrowded communities. These illnesses could prevent children from developing properly.

At least Mother Jones added the all important “?” at the end of their tweet, but not every Twerp or media outlet reporting the news was so careful and tweeted this news out as if it were “settled science”:

Study shows how extreme weather stunted growth of Peru children as el Nino caused floods, hit crops http://t.co/66gCsPD3Ya @TR_Foundation — Belinda Goldsmith (@BeeGoldsmith) November 25, 2014

Study shows Peru's record 1998 #ElNino event stunted growth of children https://t.co/OG28oZBaE9 — Mike Barry (@planamikebarry) November 25, 2014

El Niño stunts children's growth in Peru: ( BioMed Central ) Extreme weather events, such as El Niño, can have… http://t.co/laQezv3pt9 — Children's Health OW (@Child_Health_OW) November 25, 2014

El Nino stunts children's growth in Peru http://t.co/09BXUHt5x8 — Emperor Tikacuti (@EmperorTikacuti) November 25, 2014

Johns Hopkins research proves El Niño causes stunted growth: Children in Peru that were born during or shortly… http://t.co/EzpWGVOD3f — Tweets Counter (@TweetsCounter_) November 25, 2014

“Proves”? Hardly.

Related:

‘Cutest effect of climate change yet’: Global warming is shrinking goats