Peter Hadfield (journalist)

Peter Hadfield (born 1 July 1954) is a British freelance journalist and author,[2] trained as a geologist,[3] who runs the YouTube channel Potholer54,[4] which has over 233,000 subscribers.[5] He has previously lived in Japan,[2] and now lives in Australia.[6][7]

Peter Hadfield
Hadfield in 2014
Personal information
Born (1954-07-01) 1 July 1954
NationalityBritish
Occupations
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2007–present
Subscribers226.00 thousand[1]
Total views32.11 million[1]
100,000 subscribers2015

Last updated: 8 July 2022

Early life and education

Hadfield has a degree in geology from Kingston University.[8]

Reporting career

Hadfield wrote a weekly humour column for The Mainichi Daily News (the English edition of the Japanese-language Mainichi Shimbun) while living in Japan.[9] He was The Sunday Times correspondent in Tokyo from 1988 to 1990, then wrote a regular column for the Daily Mail on life in Japan.

Later he became Tokyo correspondent for the Sunday Telegraph and U.S. News & World Report. He was also the Tokyo correspondent for New Scientist for 14 years.[2] His writing has appeared in other publications, such as the BBC News website[10], USA Today, The Guardian,[11] The Independent, The Daily Telegraph,[12] The South China Morning Post and The Lancet.

In 1991 Hadfield became Far East correspondent for Monitor Radio, and reported throughout East Asia.[13] During this period, Hadfield wrote and appeared on screen regularly as a correspondent for CNN,[14] the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), ABC News (U.S.)[15] and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).[2]

Hadfield's book, "Sixty Seconds that Will Change the World," about the potential implications of an earthquake in Tokyo, was published by Sidgwick & Jackson in 1991.[16] A second revised edition was published by Pan and Tuttle in 1995 after the Kobe earthquake.[17]

More recently, he has contributed regularly to the CBC, NPR, and BBC radio programmes Costing The Earth, Science in Action, The World Tonight, Outlook and East Asia Today, as well as the ABC's Science Show.[2][18]

YouTube career

Hadfield, known on YouTube as "Potholer54" and "Potholer54debunks", has made videos about various scientific topics, such as the science behind global warming,[19][20][21] the age of the earth and debunking arguments used by young earth creationists to claim the Earth or universe are young,[22] and for videos on how tricks of the trade in journalism can be used to fool viewers.[23] In March 2010 Hadfield penned an opinion piece on his YouTube series for The Guardian.[4]

Creationism

Hadfield has attacked the creationist preacher Kent Hovind for rejecting phylogenetic taxonomy in favour of the pseudoscience of created kinds,[24] misrepresenting scientific papers to claim that radiocarbon dating does not work,[25] and contorting the historical record to fit Biblical chronology.[26] Hadfield accused Ken Ham, another promoter of baraminology, of working backwards from his conclusion, arguing that his entire modus operandi is to distort scientific facts to fit his beliefs. For example, Hadfield explained that Ham's distinction between experimental and historical science is an entirely arbitrary differentiation designed so that Ham can reject any scientific theories that conflict with his religion and deem them false.[27] He also mocked Ray Comfort for suggesting that the banana was intelligently designed by God to fit in a human hand and not knowing that the fruit had been selectively bred and genetically engineered over human history,[28] referred to the concept of a crocoduck invented by Kirk Cameron "laughable", explaining that ducks and crocodiles were part of completely different lineages that shared a most recent common ancestor in basal archosaurs that evolved in the Early Triassic,[29] ridiculed Chuck Missler for thinking that the theory of evolution predicted that life would spontaneously spring into existence in a jar of peanut butter,[30] derided Buddy Davis for misunderstanding natural selection and denying that birds evolved from dinosaurs,[31] and lampooned Billy Crone for his claim that the magnetic field would have vapourised the Earth if Earth were even a million years old.[32]

Climate change

Hadfield has stated that both sides in the global warming debate have made erroneous statements, saying, "while skeptics like Christopher Monckton and Martin Durkin fabricate a lot of their facts, many environmental activists tend to exaggerate theirs."[4]

Hadfield has debunked claims that global warming stopped in 1998 made by blogger Michael Andrews and United States Senator James Inhofe.[33] His video about how climate change deniers have claimed that the world has been cooling since 1998 has been featured on Boing Boing, where Maggie Koerth-Baker has called it "true skepticism at its best."[34] Hadfield has also made videos debunking the claims made by Christopher Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley about climate science in public presentations; Hadfield's series on this topic is entitled "Monckton Bunkum."[35] Among other false claims, Hadfield debunked Monckton's cherry picking of start and end points in the historical global temperature record that he used to make it seem that the Earth had not been warming,[36] his confusion of forcing with sensitivity,[37] his claim that Himalayan glaciers showed no change over the past two centuries,[38] misquotes of Sir James Houghton,[39] and his assertion that the International Astronomical Union concluded in 2004 that global warming was mostly attributable to solar forcing.[40] A back-and-forth ensued, in which Monckton responded to Hadfield's video series about him on Watts Up With That?, whereupon Hadfield replied in turn.[41][42] Later on, responding to an exchange between Monckton and Stefan Molyneux, Hadfield pointed out that Molyneux did not understand positive feedback, which Molyneux referred to as a "magic multiplier".[43] Hadfield criticised Patrick Moore for obfuscating in a video for Prager University the relationship between global temperature and carbon dioxide over geologic time by misusing figures from the works of Robert A. Berner and Christopher Scotese that agreed with the conclusion that carbon dioxide drove Phanerozoic global temperatures.[44] Hadfield put the British journalist James Delingpole in his crosshairs and dismantled his assertions after he misrepresented a Nature Geoscience article and claimed that it proved climate change deniers correct.[45] Hadfield similarly dismissed a claim made by Ian Plimer that volcanoes produce more carbon dioxide than humans, showing how Plimer never gave a source for that assertion and appeared to have made it up.[46] Hadfield has taken aim at a number of predictions of a forthcoming "grand solar minimum" and "mini-ice age" made by Don Easterbrook, Kevin Long, Habibullo Ismailovich Abdussamatov, and others.[47][48]

In addition to his debunking of climate change deniers, Hadfield has also disproven false claims pushed by left-wing politicians that exaggerate global warming. Al Gore and his film An Inconvenient Truth were targeted by Hadfield for misleading their audience by implying that the Greenland ice cap would melt in the near future even though scientific studies predict this will happen over many millennia.[49] Hadfield lambasted Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for saying in 2019 that the world was going to end in twelve years.[50]

Expanding Earth

Hadfield has criticised and lampooned the Expanding Earth hypothesis, an obsolete hypothesis from before the discovery of plate tectonics that attempted to explain the apparent continental drift over geologic time. He has referred to the belief of comic artist Neal Adams, one proponent of the theory, that pair production in Earth's core generates extra mass as Earth supposedly expands as "New Age hippiespeak". Additionally, he also mocked James Maxlow, a geologist who continues to advocate this theory, for mistakenly referring to the Sun as a "giant blob of pure energy" after he suggested that the driver of the Earth's expansion may be the same thing as "whatever the Sun is made of".[51]

HAARP

As an example of his style of debunking, in June 2013 Hadfield revealed that a photo that was provided as evidence for a link between High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) and the 2004 tsunami in the first episode of the television show Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura, was purchased from a commercial photographer's website.[52] The photo was introduced by the TV-show's lead investigator Raheem as a picture of the Aurora borealis. Hadfield found that the photo was described by the photographer as being of the Aurora Australis.[53]

COVID-19

Hadfield has been critical of the COVID-19 lab leak theory, pointing out the falsehoods and misrepresentations of science made by many of its proponents, such as Nicholas Wade,[54] Matthew Tye,[55] and Radio France Internationale.[56] Hadfield likewise debunked false claims that significant numbers of deaths were falsely attributed to COVID-19,[57] and has called out various politicians and media outlets, such as Donald Trump, Fox News, and Sky News, for their promotion of hydroxychloroquine as a cure for COVID-19 despite no evidence supporting its efficacy as a treatment.[58] In addition, Hadfield showed how Trump's lack of understanding of the difference between case fatality rate and infection fatality rate sparked numerous conspiracy theories that scientists were exaggerating the danger of COVID-19.[59] Hadfield mocked Ted Nugent for believing that COVID-19 was the nineteenth incarnation of the coronavirus and that there were viruses named COVID-1, COVID-2, and so on.[60] Hadfield also examined a fake quote from Kary Mullis that claimed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests do not work; the quote was actually from John Lauritsen and said not that PCR tests do not work but that they cannot determine the quantity of a given pathogen.[61]

Vaccines

Hadfield has debunked and mocked the claims of anti-vaccine activists such as that MMR vaccines are a cause of autism, an assertion based on a fraudulent paper in The Lancet by anti-vaccine activist Andrew Wakefield, among numerous other anti-vaccine conspiracy theories.[62] Michael Yeadon, an anti-vaccine activist who claimed outside of peer-reviewed medical journals that the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine could cause infertility because the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein shared a sequence of four base pairs with syncytin-1, has also come under fire by Hadfield.[63]

Pseudoarchaeology

Hadfield has criticised pseudoarchaeologist Graham Hancock and his Netflix series Ancient Apocalypse for their pseudohistorical claims about a "lost civilisation" prior to the Younger Dryas in a two-part video series. Hadfield revealed that Hancock had misrepresented and exaggerated numerous facts about ancient monuments such as Gunung Padang and Göbekli Tepe by suggesting that these advanced structures appear suddenly in the archaeological record despite being preceded by a record of less advanced sites indicating gradual technological development and contradicting Hancock's "lost civilisation" thesis. Hadfield further explained how Hancock's stereotypical presentation of mainstream archaeologists as dogmatic and close-minded is used to present Hancock as a voice of reason and a victim of censorship.[64][65]

References

  1. "About potholer54". YouTube.
  2. Hadfield, Peter. "Who I am". YouTube.
  3. Evelyn (14 May 2011). "Earthquakes and End-of-the-World Nonsense". Skepchick. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  4. Hadfield, Peter (29 March 2010). "How my YouTube channel is converting climate change sceptics". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  5. "YouTube channel belonging to Peter Hadfield – YouTube username "potholer54"". YouTube.
  6. Welcome to PragerU — the "university" that gets its science wrong, retrieved 26 September 2021
  7. The cause of Australia's bushfires – what the SCIENCE says, retrieved 26 September 2021
  8. "Peter Hadfield addresses the recent email release". skepticalscience.com. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  9. MacLaren, Don, "Pros and cons of Japan-bashing" The Mainichi Daily News, 31 October 1998
  10. "Fujimori charged with murder". 28 August 2001. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  11. Hadfield, Peter. "Japan's earthquake will create a global financial aftershock" The Guardian, 15 March 2011
  12. Hadfield, Peter (2 December 2001). "Joy in Japan as princess gives birth". Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  13. Hadfield, Peter (13 January 2014). "Thai protests: Coup talk in the air as opposition shuts down Bangkok". CBC News. CBC/Radio-Canada.
  14. "CNN.com – Japan suspects first case of mad cow – September 10, 2001". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  15. "8 Children Dead in Japanese School Stabbing". ABC News. 6 January 2006. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  16. Hadfield, Peter (1991). Sixty Seconds that Will Change the World: The Coming Tokyo Earthquake. Sidgwick & Jackson. ISBN 9780283060793. OCLC 636240141.
  17. Hadfield, Peter (1995). Sixty Seconds that Will Change the World: The Coming Tokyo Earthquake (2nd ed.). Pan. ISBN 9780330345804. OCLC 877595802.
  18. "Thousands flee Japanese floods". Asia-Pacific. BBC News. 12 September 2000.
  19. potholer54. "27 -- The evidence for climate change WITHOUT computer models or the IPCC". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  20. potholer54. "28 - The consequences of climate change (in our lifetimes)". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  21. potholer54. "Why global temperatures never go up in straight lines". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  22. potholer54. "5 -- The Age of Our World Made Easy". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  23. potholer54. "TV tricks of the trade -- Quotes and cutaways". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  24. potholer54. "Potholer and Hovind Come Together (Not like that!)". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  25. potholer54. "Carbon dating doesn't work -- debunked". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  26. potholer54. "Making history fit the Bible (like squeezing a large guy into a small car)". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  27. potholer54. "Ken Ham-Bill Nye debate: Just one point, Ken..." YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  28. Potholer54debunks. "Golden Crocoduck nominees 2009 #1". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  29. potholer54. "7 -- The Theory of Evolution Made Easy". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  30. potholer54. "6 -- Natural Selection Made Easy". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  31. potholer54. "The Creation Adventure Team go crazy!". YouTube. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  32. potholer54. "Do population and magnetic fields prove a young Earth?". YouTube. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  33. potholer54. "8. Climate Change -- Has the Earth been cooling?". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  34. Koerth-Baker, Maggie (4 November 2010). "Where climate myths come from". Boing Boing. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  35. Readfearn, Graham (1 November 2012). "Climate Science Denialist Lord Monckton's IPCC "Appointment" That Wasn't". DeSmogBlog. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  36. potholer54. "Monckton Bunkum Part 1 - Global cooling and melting ice". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  37. potholer54. "Monckton Bunkum Part 2 - Sensitivity". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  38. potholer54. "Monckton Bunkum Part 3 - Correlations and Himalayan glaciers". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  39. potholer54. "Monckton Bunkum Part 4 -- Quotes and misquotes". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  40. potholer54. "Monckton bunkum Part 5 -- What, MORE errors, my lord?". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  41. potholer54. "Monckton responds (part 1/2)". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  42. potholer54. "Monckton responds (part 2/2)". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  43. potholer54. "Response to "The Global Warming Hoax Lord Monckton & Stefan Molyneux"". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  44. potholer54. "Response to Patrick Moore's "What They Haven't Told You about Climate Change"". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  45. potholer54. "Did scientists REALLY just admit to exaggerating global warming?". YouTube. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  46. potholer54. "Do volcanoes produce more CO2 than human activity? -- a look at Ian Plimer's claim". YouTube. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  47. potholer54. "Are we headed for a Grand Solar Minimum?". YouTube. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  48. potholer54. "A short chronology of failed 'ice age' predictions". YouTube. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  49. potholer54. "4 - Climate Change -- Gore vs. Durkin". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  50. potholer54. "Of course the world isn't ending in 12 years". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  51. potholer54. "Expanding earth my ass". YouTube. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  52. potholer54. "Conspiracy theories conspiracy". YouTube. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  53. "Aurora Australis by David Miller" Archived 14 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Posters-wanted.com, visited on 14 June 2014
  54. potholer54. "Fact-checking Nicholas Wade's claims about a 'man-made' virus". YouTube. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  55. potholer54. "More "man-made" SARS-CoV-2 lab-leak malarky". YouTube. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  56. potholer54. "Did SARS-Cov-2 start in a Chinese lab?". YouTube. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  57. potholer54. "How many 'Covid' deaths are really caused by Covid-19?". YouTube. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  58. potholer54. "The rise and fall of Hydroxychloroquine". YouTube. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  59. potholer54. "The difference between Case Fatality Rate and Infection Fatality Rate". YouTube. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  60. potholer54. "Another side-effect of Covid-19: Stupidity". YouTube. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  61. potholer54. "Debunking internet myths about PCR testing". YouTube. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  62. potholer54. "Health, vaccinations and junk science". YouTube. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  63. potholer54. "Covid vaccine causes infertility -- FACT CHECK". YouTube. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  64. potholer54. "Graham Hancock and the evidence for his 'Ancient Apocalypse' (Episode one)". YouTube. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  65. potholer54. "More debunking of Graham Hancock's "Ancient Apocalypse" (Ep 5: Gobekli Tepe)". YouTube. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.