"People used to think the world was flat. Then others said it was a perfect sphere. Once we could accurately measure, it turns out they are both wrong, but the truth is not half-way between."

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Note:  Due to compression by heavy polar ice sheets, earth has a very slight "midriff bulge;" i.e. it's slightly ovoid ("egg-shaped.")    Obviously, this shape is far, far closer to a perfect sphere than to a flat plane.  

As discussed at Colorado University's Sea Level Research Group, the ice caps have receded following the last ice age, and the earth has been "rebounding" back toward a more perfect spherical shape, causing some land masses (e.g. the Gulf Coast) to sink (subside).   This post-glacial "rebounding" toward a more spherical shape is known as "post-glacial isostatic adjustment." 

When media tries to "balance" a climate scientists with a deniers, the result is a "he said, she said" debate that leaves the viewer with the false impression that both sides have equal merit, so the truth is probably somewhere near "the middle."   This distortion was first highlighted by Boykoff, M. & Boykoff, J., (2004). "Balance as Bias: global warming and the US Prestige Press." Global Environmental Change. 14, p.125-136.

Bite Source: Richard Alley; note by Tom Smerling

Image Source: here