Remember the news items from a couple of weeks ago, spurred by the release of a science paper, about sea level rising faster the past few years than any time in record?

Well, sure enough, the Birch Society’s The New American can not let that be true and runs with this headline:

Leading Authority on Sea Levels Disputes Study Asserting Sea Level Rise Is Fastest in 27 Centuries

The New American shows up in newsfeeds - as sure a sign as any that the “news” industry really is just show biz - so when I came across this headline I knew immediately who their “leading authority” was… because we’ve been down this road many times before.

But for the newbies, here’s the article’s opening:

[…]

However, the findings of the study were immediately challenged by Dr. Nils-Axel Morner, the former head of the paleogeophysics and geodynamics department at Stockholm University and a leading world authority on sea levels and coastal erosion.

“The PNAS paper is another sad contribution to the demagogic anti-science campaign for AGW. It is at odds with observational facts and ethical principles,” Morner wrote to the Climate Depot news service. “The paper is full of very bad violations of observational facts,” Morner continued. For instance, the Kopp paper says that the tide gauges at Christmas Island, Kiribati, show increases, yet as Morner notes, while showing the tide gauge record from that island for the past 40 years, “How can anyone find a rapidly rising trend in this tide gauge record? It is flat or rather slowly falling — but in no way rising.” He added that nowhere are there records of true “acceleration.”

[…]

To understand the scale of silliness presented here we have to know something about Nils Morner: he’s into dowsing.

That’s right, looking for water using a stick.

Now, a long time ago, back in 2007/2008, when LGF was undergoing a somewhat traumatic transition, many climate change denialists would post here.

A few of us would push back, but we were greatly outnumbered.

But when sea levels came up, and people would post in what was then the “links” section, the denialists would include posts that reference Morner.

I pointed out at that time that Morner is a flake, a dowser.

IIRC, Charles took notice of that and was a bit taken back by people pushing dowsers at LGF.

Anyway, long, long after Morner has been exposed as a real fringe nut, all over the internet, here comes the Birchers once more pushing the loon Morner.

Morner may have done some real research here or there at some time, many decades ago. He “went emeritus” (my term for these academics who go off on idiotic tangents) a long time ago (he’s almost 80 years old.)

The Birchers are unable, emotionally, to accept modern science. They hate evolution for the same reason they hate climate change - because of emotional rejection. Being “intelligent” or “educated” has nothing to do with this. Their rejection of reality is characterological, an element of their being. They want to live in a fantasy past. It is escapism.