In the first half, retired professor of climatology, Dr. Tim Ball argued that climate data has been manipulated and climate issues have focused on computer models rather than empirical data. Ball contends that studies showing a rise in temperatures caused by human activity ignores research that indicates that "the world's been warming up since about 1680" and that this is "well within any natural range." He believes that mainstream scientists have only looked at human causes and not the natural ones. In contrast to reports and most people's sense that storms and hurricanes are more frequent and severe, Ball said that "the actual record shows that there has been a decrease in severe storms."
Ball welcomes the warming trend, since he says plants and animals can adapt better to rising temperatures than cooler ones, although he said that there will be a cooling period by 2030. Ball also believes that the perception that plastics are severely polluting the oceans is not due to too much plastic being produced and thrown away, but that ships carrying the plastics to China and other places overseas for recycling simply dumped their cargoes when the industry became depressed, and the plastic was not worth transporting to its destination. He also contends that the idea of human-caused climate change is politically motivated by those who believe that "we need socialism from pole to pole." He concluded that "there is far too much emotionalism in the discussion of these issues."
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With nearly 30 years of involvement in the paranormal, Mike Ricksecker serves as investigator and "Ghostorian" with Society of the Haunted and regularly travels to speak about the paranormal. In the second half, he discussed his new work on Shadow People, exploring who or what these dark beings may actually be and sharing people's ominous encounters, as well as his own interactions. At the age of 8 or 9, Ricksecker said he experienced something in his bedroom at night, which "approached my bed, took me by my wrist and crossed my hands across my chest," and then "ran down the hall." At 13, his family moved into a new house, where he saw "something peering in a doorway" which would run away whenever he tied to look directly at it. His mother later admitted that she saw the figure as well.
Just this past summer, Ricksecker said he saw something that appeared as "billowing smoke coming up a hallway," which coalesced itself into the form of a young girl. He believes that Shadow People are interdimensional beings. During one investigation, he observed a shadow moving across a kitchen that went out a metal door. There was the sound of someone hitting the door, but the door did not move. This led Ricksecker to theorize that the figure and himself may have been "on two different planes of existence." One of the most disturbing entities he's witnessed is something he called a "crawler," which appears to move about on all fours on spindly legs and arms. He recounted an experience where this figure appeared in the basement of an abandoned church.
News segment guests: Dr. John Curtis, Steve Kates.