I remember a good while ago that the “outspoken” James Hansen, of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies was reputed to have spieled words to the effect that it is no longer necessary to exaggerate on global warming, and it was time to be more rational and science-based.  However, I see in the recent following link that he is still at it!  (I summarize the important part if you don’t want to grind through the ramble)

"Research Finds That Earth’s Climate is Approaching ‘Dangerous’ Point."

It is certainly scary stuff, to learn that the West Antarctic ice sheet is vanishing so quickly!   However, a rational person might dare to enquire what is happening in East Antarctica, which is not at all mentioned by Hansen.  Such checking reveals that he appears to be selecting the data he likes best, to make things seem much worse than they actually are.  For instance, not only is there a great deal more land-based ice in “the absent” East Antarctica, but it appears to be growing from snowfall at about double the RATE of the localized thinning that Hansen seizes upon.  The European Space Agency provides a fuller picture, and here is a partial quote:

The team used data from the European Space Agency’s radar satellites ERS-1 and ERS-2, which measured changes in altitude over about 70% of Antarctica’s interior - more than 8.5 million square kilometres, roughly the same size as the United States.East Antarctica thickened at an average rate of about 1.8 centimetres per year over the time period studied, the researchers discovered. The region comprises about 75% of Antarctica’s total land area - but as its ice is thicker, it carries about 85% of the total ice volume. "It is the only large terrestrial ice body that is gaining mass rather than losing it," says Davis.In contrast, smaller West Antarctica showed an overall thinning of 0.9 centimetres per year. "It’s amazing that they can measure such small changes," says Vaughan.

Does anyone think that it is OK for Hansen to deceptively give us all "the terrors" like that?   Is he not referred to as one of the leading climate SCIENTISTS in the world?