A couple of degrees increase in average temperature might not seem like much, but what about an increase in hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, droughts, floods, and other disasters?
Climate deaths from such events are the main threat being used to call for drastic immediate cuts in fuel use. The middle graph below shows a very scary sharp increase.

But the three graphs show a classic technique for lying with statistics: Change the scale on the graphs. The first and third display deaths in millions, from 1 million to 5 million. The second goes from 0.02 million (20,000) to 0.14 million (140,000). If you put the same numbers in the second graph on the scale of 1 to 5 million, they look tiny.
The first graph shows that the maximum number of deaths occurred in the 1920s and has been decreasing. The way to make the deaths appear to be increasing is to simply disregard the 50 worst disasters. Making inconvenient data disappear is another common tool of deception.
If you introduce a medicine when you perceive the patient is starting to get better on his own, you can take the credit.
Additional Information:
- Review of typhoon seasons since 1940—certainly worse 1940–1980
- Data on hurricane strength and frequency
- Climate Change IQ question 1: Would lowering atmospheric CO2 prevent or mitigate hurricanes?