![EPIC Earth](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/07/5ICYRFD2JZ7XJY6SBQT42W5UKI.png?quality=85&w=1041)
![EPIC Earth](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/07/5ICYRFD2JZ7XJY6SBQT42W5UKI.png?quality=85&w=1041)
On Thursday, the House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology took a jab at “climate alarmists” by tweeting an article from Breitbart News. “Global Temperatures Plunge,” the tweet reads. “Icy Silence from Climate Alarmists.”
The Committee, part of the United States House of Representatives, is in charge of non-defense federal scientific research and development. They have jurisdiction over NASA, the Department of Energy, EPA, ATSDR, NSF, FAA, NOAA, NIST, FEMA, the U.S. Fire Administration, and USGS.
Breitbart, which has gained infamy for publishing articles such as “Bill Kristol: Republican spoiler, renegade Jew,” “Birth control makes women unattractive and crazy,” and “Would you rather your child had feminism or cancer,” cites U.K. tabloid The Daily Mail as its source for the climate change takedown. The article presents research arguing that recent increases in global temperature are the result of natural weather patterns, and perhaps not related to global warming. But many scientists have reported that these weather patterns are not sufficient to explain 2016’s record-breaking temperatures.
While it is unrealistic for all scientific studies to reach the same conclusions—no experiment will have the same results every time it’s conducted, as the real world is full of too many variables and biases to allow for such precision—the scientific consensus is that human behavior is driving the change of our planet’s climate. The vast majority of studies support this. The Committee has yet to respond to requests for comment.
President Elect Donald Trump, who has brought on former Breitbart editor Stephen Bannon as his senior counselor and chief White House strategist, has previously expressed doubts about climate change. He has announced plans to defund NASA’s Earth Science division, which conducts research on the climate.
The Breitbart article implores readers not to seek information on climate change from fake news sources. To learn more about climate change, check out our coverage on PopSci.com.