A couple of Daily Telegraph articles in recent days serve to re-emphasise the dumbing down of the newspaper under its new ownership, which Ben Pile wrote about in the Daily Sceptic last week.
The first article was published last Monday, headlined ‘Extreme heat is increasing risks for pregnant women and babies, experts warn’. It reported:
Soaring temperatures are increasing birth complications and defects in newborns, a new report has warned.
The report, which surveyed 1,000 doctors and midwives, found that at least 73% of healthcare workers across Australia, Brazil, Britain, India and Zimbabwe had seen an uptick in heat-related complications in pregnancy and birth.
High temperatures can cause surface-level blood vessels to dilate, which in pregnant women can significantly decrease blood flow to the placenta and reduce oxygen and nutrients reaching the foetus.
The first two words “soaring temperatures” tell us that this was not a serious study. The average increase in global temperatures in recent years is barely measurable against the background of daily, weekly and seasonal swings. The term is used to scare.
Are these birth complications more common in summer than winter? We are not told.
Are they more common in hotter countries? Again, we are not told because the study is not a proper scientific analysis, based on accurate, verifiable data.
