WUWT
"What climate scientists have been able to ascertain is that an extended cold snap, called the Little Ice Age, gripped Greenland beginning in the 1400s. This has been cited as a major cause of the Norse’s disappearance. Now researchers led by Brown University show the climate turned colder in an earlier span of several decades, setting in motion the end of the Greenland Norse. "
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Vikings forced out of Greenland by 'cold climate that saw temperatures plunge by 4C in just 80 years'
Daily Mail
"A cold snap in Greenland in the 12th century may help explain why Viking settlers vanished from the island, scientists claim. Researchers reconstructed temperatures by examining lake sediment cores in west Greenland dating back 5,600 years. Their findings indicated that earlier, pre-historic settlers also had to contend with vicious swings in climate on icy Greenland. .....The study, by scientists in the U.S. and Britain, added the previously unknown 12th century temperature plunge as a possible trigger for the colonies' demise. Vikings arrived in Greenland in the 980s, during a warm period like the present."
"A cold snap in Greenland in the 12th century may help explain why Viking settlers vanished from the island, scientists claim. Researchers reconstructed temperatures by examining lake sediment cores in west Greenland dating back 5,600 years. Their findings indicated that earlier, pre-historic settlers also had to contend with vicious swings in climate on icy Greenland. .....The study, by scientists in the U.S. and Britain, added the previously unknown 12th century temperature plunge as a possible trigger for the colonies' demise. Vikings arrived in Greenland in the 980s, during a warm period like the present."
Viking Climate Refugees – PNAS Paper Shows Rapid (Natural) Climate Swings And “Turns For The Bitter” In The Past
NoTricksZone
"Proxies from all over the world have shown that global climate was as warm or even warmer during the so-called Medieval Warm Period back around a thousand years. It’s not called a “warm period” for nothing! ..... How many more proxies is it going to take before the warmists abandon the fantasy that temperatures were more or less stable over the last 1000 years and shot up only when the Industrial Revolution began?"
"Proxies from all over the world have shown that global climate was as warm or even warmer during the so-called Medieval Warm Period back around a thousand years. It’s not called a “warm period” for nothing! ..... How many more proxies is it going to take before the warmists abandon the fantasy that temperatures were more or less stable over the last 1000 years and shot up only when the Industrial Revolution began?"
Continued Deceleration of the Decarbonization of the Global Economy
Roger Pielke, Jr.
"It means that the the trend of emitting less carbon per unit of economic activity -- in place for much of the 20th century -- was slowing down. This slow down was occurring despite intentions expressed in policies around the world to accelerate the trend, despite assumptions in virtually every major integrated assessment model that the trend would begin to accelerate even in the absence of such policies and despite the rapid deployment of renewable energy around the world."
"It means that the the trend of emitting less carbon per unit of economic activity -- in place for much of the 20th century -- was slowing down. This slow down was occurring despite intentions expressed in policies around the world to accelerate the trend, despite assumptions in virtually every major integrated assessment model that the trend would begin to accelerate even in the absence of such policies and despite the rapid deployment of renewable energy around the world."
They don't give up do they ? Award.....
Increasingly acidic oceans leave coral reefs on brink of extinction (Daily Mail)
"Authors of the new research, writing in the journal Nature, said the effect of a pH drop below 7.8 would be 'catastrophic' for the coral."
"Authors of the new research, writing in the journal Nature, said the effect of a pH drop below 7.8 would be 'catastrophic' for the coral."
Monday, 30 May 2011
Temperatures Fall As Global CO2 Emissions Reach Record Highs
NoTricksZone
"All the dregs are at it, making dire 100-year predictions based on silly climate models that have been proven to be wrong time and again. Warmists are gasping in panic screaming “time is running out and they we’ve got to act now!” Where’s the Valium? Take a look at the global temps:"
"All the dregs are at it, making dire 100-year predictions based on silly climate models that have been proven to be wrong time and again. Warmists are gasping in panic screaming “time is running out and they we’ve got to act now!” Where’s the Valium? Take a look at the global temps:"
The Critical Decade: Part II
Quadrant Online
"Whether atmospheric warming is perceived as occurring depends entirely upon the period of time under consideration[2]. For example[3]:
Earth has cooled over the last 10,000 years (since the peak warming of the Holocene climatic optimum).
Earth has cooled since 1,000 years ago (the Late 20th Century Warm Period not achieving the temperatures of the Mediaeval Warm Period).
Earth has warmed since 400 years ago (post-Little Ice Warming).
Earth warmed between 1979 and 1998 (Late 20th century warming).
Earth has cooled slightly since 2001 (last 10 years).
That the atmosphere has failed to warm since 2001[4], over the same ten year period that carbon dioxide has increased by ~5% (which represents nearly one quarter of all human emissions of carbon dioxide that have occurred since 1751)[5], is a test for dangerous global warming and its causation - a test that the hypothesis of carbon dioxide causation fails."
"Whether atmospheric warming is perceived as occurring depends entirely upon the period of time under consideration[2]. For example[3]:
Earth has cooled over the last 10,000 years (since the peak warming of the Holocene climatic optimum).
Earth has cooled since 1,000 years ago (the Late 20th Century Warm Period not achieving the temperatures of the Mediaeval Warm Period).
Earth has warmed since 400 years ago (post-Little Ice Warming).
Earth warmed between 1979 and 1998 (Late 20th century warming).
Earth has cooled slightly since 2001 (last 10 years).
That the atmosphere has failed to warm since 2001[4], over the same ten year period that carbon dioxide has increased by ~5% (which represents nearly one quarter of all human emissions of carbon dioxide that have occurred since 1751)[5], is a test for dangerous global warming and its causation - a test that the hypothesis of carbon dioxide causation fails."
Sunday, 29 May 2011
Wind farms: Britain is 'running out of wind'
Telegraph
"Meteorologists believe that changes to the Atlantic jet stream could alter the pattern of winds over the next 40 years and leave much of the nation’s growing army of power-generating turbines becalmed.
The Coalition has drawn up plans to open more wind farms in an effort to meet Britain’s European Union target of providing 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.More than 3,600 turbines are expected to be installed in offshore wind farms over the next nine years. ......Prof Lockwood said solar activity was especially low during this period, adding that current levels of sun-spot activity were continuing to decline. “We reached a high point of solar activity in 1985,” he said.
“Since then, it has been declining. We are now halfway back to the levels seen during the Maunder Minimum. The probability is that that decline will continue for the next 40 years.”
"Meteorologists believe that changes to the Atlantic jet stream could alter the pattern of winds over the next 40 years and leave much of the nation’s growing army of power-generating turbines becalmed.
The Coalition has drawn up plans to open more wind farms in an effort to meet Britain’s European Union target of providing 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.More than 3,600 turbines are expected to be installed in offshore wind farms over the next nine years. ......Prof Lockwood said solar activity was especially low during this period, adding that current levels of sun-spot activity were continuing to decline. “We reached a high point of solar activity in 1985,” he said.
“Since then, it has been declining. We are now halfway back to the levels seen during the Maunder Minimum. The probability is that that decline will continue for the next 40 years.”
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Still Hiding The Decline?
Climate Realists
"Alarmist academics are being forced to show their work and they don't like it. Do they fear that a web of deception will unravel if their data are made public?
A state judge has ordered the University of Virginia to cough up documents that pertain to the climate change research of Michael Mann, a former professor known for the hockey stick chart that supposedly shows the earth warming sharply over the last 100 years.
Mann's response has been to accuse "fossil fuel industry-funded climate change deniers" with harassing the university, NASA "and scientific institutions with these frivolous attacks."
Across the Atlantic, Paul Nurse, head of a scientific group, is moaning about how unfair it is for British scientists to put up with freedom-of-information laws.
"Alarmist academics are being forced to show their work and they don't like it. Do they fear that a web of deception will unravel if their data are made public?
A state judge has ordered the University of Virginia to cough up documents that pertain to the climate change research of Michael Mann, a former professor known for the hockey stick chart that supposedly shows the earth warming sharply over the last 100 years.
Mann's response has been to accuse "fossil fuel industry-funded climate change deniers" with harassing the university, NASA "and scientific institutions with these frivolous attacks."
Across the Atlantic, Paul Nurse, head of a scientific group, is moaning about how unfair it is for British scientists to put up with freedom-of-information laws.
Friday, 27 May 2011
World Ignores Imminent And Bigger Threat Of Global Cooling As It Fights Non-Existent Global Warming
NoTricksZone
"Moreover, there could also be a loss of annual crops this year due to a shortened growing season from the extra wet soil and late planting because of the flooding and cold spring, This pattern could repeat itself many times in the decades ahead similar to the climate we had in the 1970′s. Both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans show strong indications of heading for cooler SST levels.
These alternating cold and warm phases typically last for 20-30 years, as reflected in our past climate records. We just came out of the warm phase and appear to be now headed for a cooler phase. The winters started to get cooler for some parts of the Northern Hemisphere already after 1998, but more noticeably and significantly in many regions including Europe and Asia during the last for 4 years. "
"Moreover, there could also be a loss of annual crops this year due to a shortened growing season from the extra wet soil and late planting because of the flooding and cold spring, This pattern could repeat itself many times in the decades ahead similar to the climate we had in the 1970′s. Both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans show strong indications of heading for cooler SST levels.
These alternating cold and warm phases typically last for 20-30 years, as reflected in our past climate records. We just came out of the warm phase and appear to be now headed for a cooler phase. The winters started to get cooler for some parts of the Northern Hemisphere already after 1998, but more noticeably and significantly in many regions including Europe and Asia during the last for 4 years. "
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Barack Obama snubs British scientists by refusing to receive Royal Society medal
Telegraph
"The US President rejected the invitation from the world-leading group of scientists and instead chose to visit a south London state school. .....Had Mr Obama accepted the invitation, he would have been greeted by Sir Paul Nurse, President of the Royal Society, who won a Nobel prize in 2001 for advances in genetics and cell biology.
Instead he met pupils at the Globe Academy who had won an award for designing a lunchbox which folds out into a plate. "
-------------------------
Paul Nurse on FOI (Bishop Hill)
"Why does he keep saying things that can so readily be shown to be false? Why? This is the president of the Royal Society, the living embodiment of British science. Why would this man want to keep scientific data locked away? Why would he actually be in favour of the idea that nobody should be able to replicate scientific papers?
It's rather as if the science has taken a leave of absence from the Royal Society and only the scientists remain."
"The US President rejected the invitation from the world-leading group of scientists and instead chose to visit a south London state school. .....Had Mr Obama accepted the invitation, he would have been greeted by Sir Paul Nurse, President of the Royal Society, who won a Nobel prize in 2001 for advances in genetics and cell biology.
Instead he met pupils at the Globe Academy who had won an award for designing a lunchbox which folds out into a plate. "
-------------------------
Paul Nurse on FOI (Bishop Hill)
"Why does he keep saying things that can so readily be shown to be false? Why? This is the president of the Royal Society, the living embodiment of British science. Why would this man want to keep scientific data locked away? Why would he actually be in favour of the idea that nobody should be able to replicate scientific papers?
It's rather as if the science has taken a leave of absence from the Royal Society and only the scientists remain."
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Coup de Grace for Imposed Ignorance
Climate Change Dispatch
"In recent weeks the Catholic Church rubber stamped a Papal Announcement on human caused global warming and endorsed the Anthropocene with the threat that ‘humans were going to have to live in the world they have created.’ For those of us with trust in humanity, that moment cannot come moment too soon.......With an estimated 30% of the Nuns & Priests retirement fund ‘invested’ in a commodity that shrank from $100 per ton to $0.05 per ton in 2010, what is a good Pope to do ? It is a clear choice whether to fleece the brothers and sisters of the cloth or the flock. The Pope chose to spare the shepherds and fleece the sheep."
"In recent weeks the Catholic Church rubber stamped a Papal Announcement on human caused global warming and endorsed the Anthropocene with the threat that ‘humans were going to have to live in the world they have created.’ For those of us with trust in humanity, that moment cannot come moment too soon.......With an estimated 30% of the Nuns & Priests retirement fund ‘invested’ in a commodity that shrank from $100 per ton to $0.05 per ton in 2010, what is a good Pope to do ? It is a clear choice whether to fleece the brothers and sisters of the cloth or the flock. The Pope chose to spare the shepherds and fleece the sheep."
Global Cooling 2011 will be a cold year
Bryan Leyland (New Zealand)
"What is remarkable about this is that a retired engineer with access to the Internet has been able to make accurate predictions of future climate. Yet, to my knowledge, no computer-based climate model nor any mainstream “climate scientist” predicted this cooling. To me, this is truly remarkable."
"What is remarkable about this is that a retired engineer with access to the Internet has been able to make accurate predictions of future climate. Yet, to my knowledge, no computer-based climate model nor any mainstream “climate scientist” predicted this cooling. To me, this is truly remarkable."
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
Did You Know? A Handy List of Facts That Show Why the Claim CO2 is Causing Warming/Climate Change Is Untenable
Climate Change Dispatch
"A list of scientific facts about CO2, anthropogenic global warming, and climate change showing how people are misinformed by the “official climate science” of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The claim that CO2 is causing warming/climate change is the greatest deception in history."
"A list of scientific facts about CO2, anthropogenic global warming, and climate change showing how people are misinformed by the “official climate science” of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The claim that CO2 is causing warming/climate change is the greatest deception in history."
The Prime Minister’s Respect for Science
Impact of Climate Change (Australia)
"The Hon. Julia Gillard, yesterday, explained that she accepts expert, scientific advice:
“The science is in, climate-change is real. The science is clear: man-made carbon pollution is making a difference to our planet and our climate." [...]
....They were all right. They are scientists. We have many experts here who are telling us exactly what we want to hear about the nature of things and the overwhelming necessity for the Government to heed only their expert advice. Nothing can go wrong."
Ed: Worth reading this
"The Hon. Julia Gillard, yesterday, explained that she accepts expert, scientific advice:
“The science is in, climate-change is real. The science is clear: man-made carbon pollution is making a difference to our planet and our climate." [...]
....They were all right. They are scientists. We have many experts here who are telling us exactly what we want to hear about the nature of things and the overwhelming necessity for the Government to heed only their expert advice. Nothing can go wrong."
Ed: Worth reading this
The dying of an industry
Andrew Bolt,Herald Sun (Australia)
"Viv Forbes is a geologist, mineral economist and farmer - and a man worried by our future if the green alarmism isn’t stopped:
People seldom recognise major turning points when they occur. At the time they are just another routine event in a crowd of trivial news. But I was shocked recently by what I believe is a major turning point in Australian industrial history.Xstrata announced that smelting and refining of Mount Isa copper is to be phased out. ....Does Minister Martin Ferguson understand that many of these jobs for technicians, engineers and skilled workmen in minerals processing and refining are under threat from the carbon tax? Does he honestly believe they can be replaced by green jobs such as oiling the gearboxes of wind turbines manufactured overseas by General Electric or washing the dust from solar panels manufactured in China? Can he explain how replacing low cost energy with high cost energy can benefit Australians? If the Minister understands these dangers and delusions, why is he not speaking up? Has he lost his wits or his courage?"
"Viv Forbes is a geologist, mineral economist and farmer - and a man worried by our future if the green alarmism isn’t stopped:
People seldom recognise major turning points when they occur. At the time they are just another routine event in a crowd of trivial news. But I was shocked recently by what I believe is a major turning point in Australian industrial history.Xstrata announced that smelting and refining of Mount Isa copper is to be phased out. ....Does Minister Martin Ferguson understand that many of these jobs for technicians, engineers and skilled workmen in minerals processing and refining are under threat from the carbon tax? Does he honestly believe they can be replaced by green jobs such as oiling the gearboxes of wind turbines manufactured overseas by General Electric or washing the dust from solar panels manufactured in China? Can he explain how replacing low cost energy with high cost energy can benefit Australians? If the Minister understands these dangers and delusions, why is he not speaking up? Has he lost his wits or his courage?"
Monday, 23 May 2011
Coal - The Ultimate Hypocrisy
Climate Common Sense (Australia)
"Australia's carbon tax is aiming to reduce our emissions by 5% by 2020 in the fight against "dangerous global warming" no matter what damage is done to our economy. Australia's direct CO2 emissions in 2008 were 437million tons and probably are similar to that today - say 500 million tons for example. A reduction of 5% in our emissions would be 25 million tons by 2020.
Australia is the largest exporter of coal in the world and in 2008 exported 250 million tons- increasing every year!"
"Australia's carbon tax is aiming to reduce our emissions by 5% by 2020 in the fight against "dangerous global warming" no matter what damage is done to our economy. Australia's direct CO2 emissions in 2008 were 437million tons and probably are similar to that today - say 500 million tons for example. A reduction of 5% in our emissions would be 25 million tons by 2020.
Australia is the largest exporter of coal in the world and in 2008 exported 250 million tons- increasing every year!"
Value Adding in Australia – the Beginning of the End?
WUWT
"News Alert: Smelting and Refining of Mount Isa copper in Queensland to cease. ....But the Gillard/Green/Garnaut Carbon Tax Coalition hate our primary industries because they all depend on carbon fuels and produce the carbon dioxide that feeds our crops. Our backbone industries are seen as dreaded “polluters” and treated like noxious weeds and serpents to be removed from the green Garden of Eden. ......There is no point introducing a carbon tax that does not increase the cost and thus reduce the use of coal and diesel energy. Mining and mineral processing and transport probably consume over 50% of Australia’s electricity, which is mainly coal powered with minor gas. And they are huge users of diesel for utes, trucks, shovels, dozers, scrapers, mobile power and drilling rigs. Therefore, no matter what they say, all of Australia’s mineral processing advantages are threatened by their carbon tax. ......The dreamers in the Canberra cocoon always drool about “value adding”. Their carbon tax will surely cause all mineral processing plants in Australia to lose value, and some will surely close. Low cost coal and diesel power will no longer support our high wages. The value adding will take place in Asia."
"News Alert: Smelting and Refining of Mount Isa copper in Queensland to cease. ....But the Gillard/Green/Garnaut Carbon Tax Coalition hate our primary industries because they all depend on carbon fuels and produce the carbon dioxide that feeds our crops. Our backbone industries are seen as dreaded “polluters” and treated like noxious weeds and serpents to be removed from the green Garden of Eden. ......There is no point introducing a carbon tax that does not increase the cost and thus reduce the use of coal and diesel energy. Mining and mineral processing and transport probably consume over 50% of Australia’s electricity, which is mainly coal powered with minor gas. And they are huge users of diesel for utes, trucks, shovels, dozers, scrapers, mobile power and drilling rigs. Therefore, no matter what they say, all of Australia’s mineral processing advantages are threatened by their carbon tax. ......The dreamers in the Canberra cocoon always drool about “value adding”. Their carbon tax will surely cause all mineral processing plants in Australia to lose value, and some will surely close. Low cost coal and diesel power will no longer support our high wages. The value adding will take place in Asia."
Sunday, 22 May 2011
British Industry Rebellion Over Carbon Targets
GWPF
"Chemical firms lead calls to halt a leap in carbon costs that could lead to the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs and will cripple the industry.
One British company uses more power than Liverpool and Manchester combined. Little wonder, then, that Ineos, the chemicals giant, is leading the charge against government plans to raise power bills by much more than the rest of Europe is proposing.The firm’s pleas have gained little traction. Last week the government accepted the advice of the Committee on Climate Change to agree a new target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions to 50% of 1990 levels by 2027. It will make Britain the first country in the world to commit itself to targets beyond 2020.Manufacturers say the move, taken with other plans, including a UK-only carbon tax, will cripple industry. They insist thousands of jobs will be lost as firms move their plants to countries where the cost of doing business is lower."
"Chemical firms lead calls to halt a leap in carbon costs that could lead to the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs and will cripple the industry.
One British company uses more power than Liverpool and Manchester combined. Little wonder, then, that Ineos, the chemicals giant, is leading the charge against government plans to raise power bills by much more than the rest of Europe is proposing.The firm’s pleas have gained little traction. Last week the government accepted the advice of the Committee on Climate Change to agree a new target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions to 50% of 1990 levels by 2027. It will make Britain the first country in the world to commit itself to targets beyond 2020.Manufacturers say the move, taken with other plans, including a UK-only carbon tax, will cripple industry. They insist thousands of jobs will be lost as firms move their plants to countries where the cost of doing business is lower."
A green dark age
Matt Ridley, Spectator
"The industrial revolution, when Britain turned to coal for its energy, not only catapulted us into prosperity (because coal proved cheaper and more reliable than wood, wind, water and horse as a means of turning machines), but saved our landscape too. Forests grew back and rivers returned to their natural beds when their energy was no longer needed. Land that had once grown hay for millions of horses could grow food for human beings instead — or become parks and gardens.
Whether we like it or not, we are now reversing this policy, only with six times the population and a hundred times the energy needs. The government’s craven decision this week to placate the green pressure groups by agreeing a unilateral and tough new carbon rationing target of 50 per cent for 2027 — they wanted to water it down, but were frightened of being taken to judicial review by Greenpeace — condemns Britain to ruining yet more of its landscape. Remember that it takes a wind farm the size of Greater London to generate as much electricity as a single coal-fired power station — on a windy day (on other days we will have to do without). Or the felling of a forest twice the size of Cumbria every year. "
"The industrial revolution, when Britain turned to coal for its energy, not only catapulted us into prosperity (because coal proved cheaper and more reliable than wood, wind, water and horse as a means of turning machines), but saved our landscape too. Forests grew back and rivers returned to their natural beds when their energy was no longer needed. Land that had once grown hay for millions of horses could grow food for human beings instead — or become parks and gardens.
Whether we like it or not, we are now reversing this policy, only with six times the population and a hundred times the energy needs. The government’s craven decision this week to placate the green pressure groups by agreeing a unilateral and tough new carbon rationing target of 50 per cent for 2027 — they wanted to water it down, but were frightened of being taken to judicial review by Greenpeace — condemns Britain to ruining yet more of its landscape. Remember that it takes a wind farm the size of Greater London to generate as much electricity as a single coal-fired power station — on a windy day (on other days we will have to do without). Or the felling of a forest twice the size of Cumbria every year. "
Wales is in danger: why isn't the Prince of Wales saving it?
Telegraph
"It’s one of those subjects that makes me so upset it leaves me almost lost for words. Ours is going to be the generation forced to witness the most grotesque act of vandalism ever committed against the British countryside – and what makes it so much more painful is that there is no reasonable justification for it whatsoever. From wind farms to solar arrays to biofuels, Britain is committing both economic and aesthetic suicide. Even if one were to believe the discredited theory that CO2 is a dangerous driver of climate change, even then the argument for wind farms wouldn’t wash because – being so unreliable and sporadic in their power generation – they replace not one single conventional power station."
"It’s one of those subjects that makes me so upset it leaves me almost lost for words. Ours is going to be the generation forced to witness the most grotesque act of vandalism ever committed against the British countryside – and what makes it so much more painful is that there is no reasonable justification for it whatsoever. From wind farms to solar arrays to biofuels, Britain is committing both economic and aesthetic suicide. Even if one were to believe the discredited theory that CO2 is a dangerous driver of climate change, even then the argument for wind farms wouldn’t wash because – being so unreliable and sporadic in their power generation – they replace not one single conventional power station."
Saturday, 21 May 2011
The Global Warming/Climate Change Paradox - Why CO2 has not, is not, nor will not be an issue
Climate Change Dispatch
"..In short, anthropogenic CO2 emissions are not, nor will not be a climate issue. If Earth could deal with the Siberian Traps and the Deccan Traps emitting tens of millions of tons of CO2 for thousands and millions of years as well as other mantle plume events in addition to the continuous rate of venting at plate boundaries, then the 30 millions tons of annually emitted anthropogenic CO2 is not nor will not be a problem for Earth to deal with, even if anthropogenic emissions are more than doubled.
By far, the largest contributing factors for Earths climate and temperature variant are influenced by Solar Output, and Water Vapor that is 78% to 82% of temperature influence. The bottom line is that higher levels of atmospheric CO2 are more favorable for life to flourish. Keep in mind that most GW/CC presentations deliberately omit the big picture of the CO2 cycle (cherry picking the information), and there is a deliberate reason that children and teens are selected to promote GW/CC."
"..In short, anthropogenic CO2 emissions are not, nor will not be a climate issue. If Earth could deal with the Siberian Traps and the Deccan Traps emitting tens of millions of tons of CO2 for thousands and millions of years as well as other mantle plume events in addition to the continuous rate of venting at plate boundaries, then the 30 millions tons of annually emitted anthropogenic CO2 is not nor will not be a problem for Earth to deal with, even if anthropogenic emissions are more than doubled.
By far, the largest contributing factors for Earths climate and temperature variant are influenced by Solar Output, and Water Vapor that is 78% to 82% of temperature influence. The bottom line is that higher levels of atmospheric CO2 are more favorable for life to flourish. Keep in mind that most GW/CC presentations deliberately omit the big picture of the CO2 cycle (cherry picking the information), and there is a deliberate reason that children and teens are selected to promote GW/CC."
Wales in revolt over mammoth wind farm scheme
Christopher Booker,Telegraph
"Mr Davies described how the problem is not only the turbines, but the need for two vast substations and 100 miles of steel pylons, up to 150ft high, to carry the electricity into Shropshire to connect with the National Grid. But although he may have spoken eloquently about the visual and social impact of this project, he failed to spell out its nonsensical economic implications. To build 800 two-megawatt turbines would cost at least £1.6 billion, plus, it is estimated, another £400 million for the pylons and sub-stations. With the output of Welsh turbines last year averaging less than 20 per cent of their capacity, thanks to the intermittency of the wind, the power produced by this £2 billion project will average out at little more than 300MW.
Yet contrast this with the 882MW produced by Centrica's new Langage gas-fired power station near Plymouth, costing just £400 million. This single plant, built for a fifth of the money, covering a few acres, will produce nearly three times as much electricity, without disfiguring one of the most beautiful landscapes in Britain. Those Welsh turbines, costing us all £120 million a year in subsidy, will produce power that could have been generated without subsidy at a 15th of the cost."
"Mr Davies described how the problem is not only the turbines, but the need for two vast substations and 100 miles of steel pylons, up to 150ft high, to carry the electricity into Shropshire to connect with the National Grid. But although he may have spoken eloquently about the visual and social impact of this project, he failed to spell out its nonsensical economic implications. To build 800 two-megawatt turbines would cost at least £1.6 billion, plus, it is estimated, another £400 million for the pylons and sub-stations. With the output of Welsh turbines last year averaging less than 20 per cent of their capacity, thanks to the intermittency of the wind, the power produced by this £2 billion project will average out at little more than 300MW.
Yet contrast this with the 882MW produced by Centrica's new Langage gas-fired power station near Plymouth, costing just £400 million. This single plant, built for a fifth of the money, covering a few acres, will produce nearly three times as much electricity, without disfiguring one of the most beautiful landscapes in Britain. Those Welsh turbines, costing us all £120 million a year in subsidy, will produce power that could have been generated without subsidy at a 15th of the cost."
Friday, 20 May 2011
Exploding Watermelons: 'Oh no, not another ruddy energy revolution?'
Telegraph
"Here’s a story from Forbes about attempts by scientists to tap into methane hydrate, perhaps the most powerful and abundant energy source on the planet:
They’ve done it in a laboratory: Scientists have injected carbon dioxide into the kind of methane ice that underlies vast tracts of permafrost in the Arctic and lurks beneath the deep seafloor throughout the world.
In that experiment, the carbon dioxide exchanged with the methane molecules. While the CO2 was sequestered inside the ice, the scientists extracted an energy source that may exist in nature in greater volume than all other fossil fuels combined.
"Here’s a story from Forbes about attempts by scientists to tap into methane hydrate, perhaps the most powerful and abundant energy source on the planet:
They’ve done it in a laboratory: Scientists have injected carbon dioxide into the kind of methane ice that underlies vast tracts of permafrost in the Arctic and lurks beneath the deep seafloor throughout the world.
In that experiment, the carbon dioxide exchanged with the methane molecules. While the CO2 was sequestered inside the ice, the scientists extracted an energy source that may exist in nature in greater volume than all other fossil fuels combined.
Methane: myths & misrepresentations -Farting Cows get taxed
Quadrant Online
"The New Zealand Government is the first to legislate financial penalties on natural gas (methane or CH4) emanating from ruminant animals."
"The New Zealand Government is the first to legislate financial penalties on natural gas (methane or CH4) emanating from ruminant animals."
Duh! Oceans Drive Climate (Not CO2), Says New Nature Study
NoTricksZone
"More evidence of the obvious now revealed in a recent Nature article from research conducted by the IFM GEOMAR and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Believe it or not, they are slowly finding out that the oceans play a role in climate."
"More evidence of the obvious now revealed in a recent Nature article from research conducted by the IFM GEOMAR and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Believe it or not, they are slowly finding out that the oceans play a role in climate."
Thursday, 19 May 2011
Back from the brink
Bishop Hill
"A sudden outbreak of sanity seems to have taken hold Canada. Firstly the idea of a carbon tax appears to have been killed off for good:
Conservatives kill carbon tax
Conservatives have kiboshed a carbon tax, Environment Minister Peter Kent confirmed Thursday."It's off the table," he told reporters Thursday after accepting an award from World Wildlife Fund International on behalf of Parks Canada."There's no expectation of cap-and-trade continentally in the near or medium future."
"A sudden outbreak of sanity seems to have taken hold Canada. Firstly the idea of a carbon tax appears to have been killed off for good:
Conservatives kill carbon tax
Conservatives have kiboshed a carbon tax, Environment Minister Peter Kent confirmed Thursday."It's off the table," he told reporters Thursday after accepting an award from World Wildlife Fund International on behalf of Parks Canada."There's no expectation of cap-and-trade continentally in the near or medium future."
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
IPCC agrees to “major” reforms
WUWT
"From the “I’ll believe it when I see it” department comes this story in Nature News: .....I thought this was interesting:
A new conflict-of-interest policy will require all IPCC officials and authors to disclose financial and other interests relevant to their work (Pachauri had been harshly criticized in 2009 for alleged conflicts of interest.) The meeting also adopted a detailed protocol for addressing errors in existing and future IPCC reports, along with guidelines to ensure that descriptions of scientific uncertainties remain consistent across reports. “This is a heartening and encouraging outcome of the review we started one year ago,” Pachauri told Nature. “It will strengthen the IPCC and help restore public trust in the climate sciences.”
Which is a far cry from “voodoo science”:
"From the “I’ll believe it when I see it” department comes this story in Nature News: .....I thought this was interesting:
A new conflict-of-interest policy will require all IPCC officials and authors to disclose financial and other interests relevant to their work (Pachauri had been harshly criticized in 2009 for alleged conflicts of interest.) The meeting also adopted a detailed protocol for addressing errors in existing and future IPCC reports, along with guidelines to ensure that descriptions of scientific uncertainties remain consistent across reports. “This is a heartening and encouraging outcome of the review we started one year ago,” Pachauri told Nature. “It will strengthen the IPCC and help restore public trust in the climate sciences.”
Which is a far cry from “voodoo science”:
IPCC: Screw the Rules
Donna Laframboise (Canada)
"The IPCC is a bureaucracy. Which means it is governed, to a large degree, by people with a bureaucratic mindset. Rather than being responsive to the outside world, these people actually run the show. If there’s a rule they disagree with, their first response is to simply disregard it. When they’re called on this, they then arrange for the rule to disappear."
"The IPCC is a bureaucracy. Which means it is governed, to a large degree, by people with a bureaucratic mindset. Rather than being responsive to the outside world, these people actually run the show. If there’s a rule they disagree with, their first response is to simply disregard it. When they’re called on this, they then arrange for the rule to disappear."
Wind farm ordered dismantled
WUWT
"Mark Duchamp writes in with this news from the Lerida, Autonomous Community (state) of Catalonia, Spain:
A judge ordered the removal of 45 wind turbines on the grounds that planning laws were violated. There was no “general municipal plan” establishing a “reserva del suelo” – i.e. the land was not legally declared appropriate for the erection of wind turbines."
"Mark Duchamp writes in with this news from the Lerida, Autonomous Community (state) of Catalonia, Spain:
A judge ordered the removal of 45 wind turbines on the grounds that planning laws were violated. There was no “general municipal plan” establishing a “reserva del suelo” – i.e. the land was not legally declared appropriate for the erection of wind turbines."
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Labor chased the green mirage over a cliff, cheered on by the media
Andrew Bolt,Herald Sun (Australia)
"It is astonishing how fast the certainties of the media/politcal class have been overturned. But many in the media remain preachers of the faith, although there’s now a note of panic in their voice. Here’s the Sydney Morning Herald, demanding Labor push ahead with a carbon dioixde tax set higher than voters expected or will tolerate - and which will not budge the world’s temperature by a flicker: "
"It is astonishing how fast the certainties of the media/politcal class have been overturned. But many in the media remain preachers of the faith, although there’s now a note of panic in their voice. Here’s the Sydney Morning Herald, demanding Labor push ahead with a carbon dioixde tax set higher than voters expected or will tolerate - and which will not budge the world’s temperature by a flicker: "
Global Warming should be called Urban Warming!
Climate Common Sense(Australia)
"The whole global warming scam is based on temperature data showing the world is warming inexorably and that warming is caused by CO2. However the temperature data is quite different in urban areas than is in rural areas where the warming is small to non-existent. This means that global warming as defined by the warmists is largely a measurement artifact and the"models" are simply using faulty data to reach incorrect conclusions.Tim Ball takes time from his legal problems to give a fine primer on UHI .
Australian data shows the stark difference between rural and urban "warming".
"The whole global warming scam is based on temperature data showing the world is warming inexorably and that warming is caused by CO2. However the temperature data is quite different in urban areas than is in rural areas where the warming is small to non-existent. This means that global warming as defined by the warmists is largely a measurement artifact and the"models" are simply using faulty data to reach incorrect conclusions.Tim Ball takes time from his legal problems to give a fine primer on UHI .
Australian data shows the stark difference between rural and urban "warming".
Monday, 16 May 2011
The inconvenient truth is that they're wrong
Telegraph,Andrew Turnbull
"On the face of it, this seems like a cohesive package: policy is aligned with scientific advice. But the Really Inconvenient Truth (not the one in Al Gore's film) is that this whole edifice is flawed and built on shaky foundations.
First, the science is nowhere near as conclusive as it is presented. Though there is no disagreement that CO₂ is a greenhouse gas, there is no consensus on the relationship between CO₂ and temperature. Many scientists also challenge the dominant role assigned to man-made CO₂, arguing that other variables such as the sun, cosmic rays, oceans and clouds have been underplayed. Given this, it is unwise of the Government to have placed such heavy bets on just one interpretation of the evidence. Second, there have been failings in the governance of science. Senior figures in our scientific establishment, rather than promoting challenge, have sought to close the debate down and tell us the science is settled. The gap between the IPCC's huge responsibilities to advise on one of the biggest issues of the day, and its competence to do so, is now so vast that it should be scrapped and replaced.
....Third, the framework provided by the Climate Change Act takes no account of what other nations are doing. For a country like the UK, which produces only 2-3 per cent of global man-made emissions, this makes no sense. If we push too hard on decarbonisation, we will suffer double jeopardy: our energy-using industries will migrate and we may still need to invest heavily in adapting our infrastructure.
Fourth, the way in which the policy responses are being prioritised makes no sense. In a logical world, one would start with those technologies that are most effective in terms of cost per ton of CO₂ abated. But the EU renewables policy denies this logic. One set of technologies – in particular, wind – is guaranteed a market share and an indexed price regardless of how competitive it really is. Taking account of wind's intermittency, its cost per kilowatt hour (kwh) exceeds that of other low carbon sources. Wind capacity should not be confused with output.
Fifth, current policies are hugely unfair. Those with large properties or landholdings on which to install solar panels or wind turbines can earn 30p-40p per kwh, which is retailed at around 11p. The loss is paid for by a levy on all households and businesses. If you live in a tower block in Lambeth, you don't have much opportunity to share in this.
Finally, policies are failing to adapt to change, notably the impact of shale gas, which can make a huge contribution to carbon reduction with little extra cost."
"On the face of it, this seems like a cohesive package: policy is aligned with scientific advice. But the Really Inconvenient Truth (not the one in Al Gore's film) is that this whole edifice is flawed and built on shaky foundations.
First, the science is nowhere near as conclusive as it is presented. Though there is no disagreement that CO₂ is a greenhouse gas, there is no consensus on the relationship between CO₂ and temperature. Many scientists also challenge the dominant role assigned to man-made CO₂, arguing that other variables such as the sun, cosmic rays, oceans and clouds have been underplayed. Given this, it is unwise of the Government to have placed such heavy bets on just one interpretation of the evidence. Second, there have been failings in the governance of science. Senior figures in our scientific establishment, rather than promoting challenge, have sought to close the debate down and tell us the science is settled. The gap between the IPCC's huge responsibilities to advise on one of the biggest issues of the day, and its competence to do so, is now so vast that it should be scrapped and replaced.
....Third, the framework provided by the Climate Change Act takes no account of what other nations are doing. For a country like the UK, which produces only 2-3 per cent of global man-made emissions, this makes no sense. If we push too hard on decarbonisation, we will suffer double jeopardy: our energy-using industries will migrate and we may still need to invest heavily in adapting our infrastructure.
Fourth, the way in which the policy responses are being prioritised makes no sense. In a logical world, one would start with those technologies that are most effective in terms of cost per ton of CO₂ abated. But the EU renewables policy denies this logic. One set of technologies – in particular, wind – is guaranteed a market share and an indexed price regardless of how competitive it really is. Taking account of wind's intermittency, its cost per kilowatt hour (kwh) exceeds that of other low carbon sources. Wind capacity should not be confused with output.
Fifth, current policies are hugely unfair. Those with large properties or landholdings on which to install solar panels or wind turbines can earn 30p-40p per kwh, which is retailed at around 11p. The loss is paid for by a levy on all households and businesses. If you live in a tower block in Lambeth, you don't have much opportunity to share in this.
Finally, policies are failing to adapt to change, notably the impact of shale gas, which can make a huge contribution to carbon reduction with little extra cost."
Pray for Britain
WUWT
"...Seems to me that this will place Britain at the forefront of economic disadvantage. You know, back in the day we had a similar problem like this where politicians ignored the people, and I think we rather pushed back against that sometime around 1776. Perhaps after a few years, we’ll see a repeat of that, but this time in Britain, rather than a colony. I think some of the goals are impossible to achieve given Britain’s current direction and results, such as the folly of the wind power program. ....God help you all, at least until you throw the bums out."
"...Seems to me that this will place Britain at the forefront of economic disadvantage. You know, back in the day we had a similar problem like this where politicians ignored the people, and I think we rather pushed back against that sometime around 1776. Perhaps after a few years, we’ll see a repeat of that, but this time in Britain, rather than a colony. I think some of the goals are impossible to achieve given Britain’s current direction and results, such as the folly of the wind power program. ....God help you all, at least until you throw the bums out."
The IPCC, the UK, and Climate Censorship
Donna Laframboise (Canada)
"In essence, the UK delegation tried to censor the proceedings. The head of the delegation, Sir David King (then Tony Blair’s top science adviser), insisted that two-thirds of the scheduled presenters should not be allowed to speak and proposed his own agenda, comprised of topics he considered more suitable. Warning that the entire British delegation would walk out if his demands weren’t met, King apparently insisted that his atrocious behaviour was supported by the highest levels of the British government.
When the Russians ignored his ultimatum, some members of the UK delegation apparently then behaved like bullies on four separate occasions – interrupting other speakers, talking for far longer than they were supposed to (thus preventing other people from having a turn at the podium), and leaving the room rather than answering questions posed to them."
"In essence, the UK delegation tried to censor the proceedings. The head of the delegation, Sir David King (then Tony Blair’s top science adviser), insisted that two-thirds of the scheduled presenters should not be allowed to speak and proposed his own agenda, comprised of topics he considered more suitable. Warning that the entire British delegation would walk out if his demands weren’t met, King apparently insisted that his atrocious behaviour was supported by the highest levels of the British government.
When the Russians ignored his ultimatum, some members of the UK delegation apparently then behaved like bullies on four separate occasions – interrupting other speakers, talking for far longer than they were supposed to (thus preventing other people from having a turn at the podium), and leaving the room rather than answering questions posed to them."
Lord Turnbull: the IPCC is useless
Telegraph
"Lord Turnbull doesn’t mince his words:
The feed-in tariff mechanism is fast becoming a scandal. Those lucky enough to own buildings large enough on which to install solar panels or enough land for a wind farm have been receiving 30-40p per kwh, for electricity, which is retailed at only 11p. The loss is paid for by a levy on businesses and households. It is astonishing that the Liberals who attach such importance to fairness turn a blind eye to this transfer from poor to rich running to £billions a year. If you live in a council tower block in Lambeth you don’t have much opportunity to get your nose into this trough.
and:
It is regrettable that the UK Parliament has proved so trusting and uncritical of the IPCC narrative, and so reluctant to question the economic costs being imposed in pursuit of decarbonisation. It verges on the unconstitutional that the payments being made under the renewables obligation and feed-in tariffs and the levies being raised to pay for them are routed invisibly through the accounts of the electricity industry rather than being voted in Estimates or the Finance Bill. I am also disappointed that so many of my former colleagues in the Civil Service seem so ready to go along unquestioningly with the consensus.”
"Lord Turnbull doesn’t mince his words:
The feed-in tariff mechanism is fast becoming a scandal. Those lucky enough to own buildings large enough on which to install solar panels or enough land for a wind farm have been receiving 30-40p per kwh, for electricity, which is retailed at only 11p. The loss is paid for by a levy on businesses and households. It is astonishing that the Liberals who attach such importance to fairness turn a blind eye to this transfer from poor to rich running to £billions a year. If you live in a council tower block in Lambeth you don’t have much opportunity to get your nose into this trough.
and:
It is regrettable that the UK Parliament has proved so trusting and uncritical of the IPCC narrative, and so reluctant to question the economic costs being imposed in pursuit of decarbonisation. It verges on the unconstitutional that the payments being made under the renewables obligation and feed-in tariffs and the levies being raised to pay for them are routed invisibly through the accounts of the electricity industry rather than being voted in Estimates or the Finance Bill. I am also disappointed that so many of my former colleagues in the Civil Service seem so ready to go along unquestioningly with the consensus.”
Lord Turnbull advises caution
Bishop Hill
"Lord Turnbull, the former Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service (2002 – 2005), has called on MPs and ministers to consider more carefully the rising costs and economic risks of Britain’s unilateral climate policies.
In a dispassionate but devastating critique of current policies, Andrew Turnbull also criticises the blind faith in the propositions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) given that they do not bear the weight of certainty with which they are often expressed."
"Lord Turnbull, the former Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service (2002 – 2005), has called on MPs and ministers to consider more carefully the rising costs and economic risks of Britain’s unilateral climate policies.
In a dispassionate but devastating critique of current policies, Andrew Turnbull also criticises the blind faith in the propositions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) given that they do not bear the weight of certainty with which they are often expressed."
A tale of two coldings
Dr Richard North
"Sydney's western suburbs woke to temperatures below freezing today as the run of extremely cold mornings continued across much of south-eastern Australia. The past two mornings in Sydney (measured at Observatory Hill) have fallen to just 7 degrees, the coldest conditions since last winter. The average minimum temperature so far this month in Sydney is running at 10.5°C, one degree below the May average.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, everybody has seen this of course. But never fear. The Daily Fail is telling us we are about to have a heatwave, with May promising to be the warmest in 350 years. We sincerely hope that is the case. After a cold wet weekend, and a chilly breeze today, the central hating is back on."
-------------------------
Gales, rain - now an icy blast (NZ Herald)
"Tornadoes, lightning strikes, flooding and plummeting temperatures have blasted away New Zealand's Indian summer - and forecasters say it's going to get worse this week.Both main islands have been hit by chaotic weather. Several lines of isolated thunderstorms lashed the North Island yesterday, and in the South Island, farmers sheltered vulnerable stock from the first heavy snowfalls of the season. Auckland is forecast to be hit by a polar blast tomorrow. "
"Sydney's western suburbs woke to temperatures below freezing today as the run of extremely cold mornings continued across much of south-eastern Australia. The past two mornings in Sydney (measured at Observatory Hill) have fallen to just 7 degrees, the coldest conditions since last winter. The average minimum temperature so far this month in Sydney is running at 10.5°C, one degree below the May average.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, everybody has seen this of course. But never fear. The Daily Fail is telling us we are about to have a heatwave, with May promising to be the warmest in 350 years. We sincerely hope that is the case. After a cold wet weekend, and a chilly breeze today, the central hating is back on."
-------------------------
Gales, rain - now an icy blast (NZ Herald)
"Tornadoes, lightning strikes, flooding and plummeting temperatures have blasted away New Zealand's Indian summer - and forecasters say it's going to get worse this week.Both main islands have been hit by chaotic weather. Several lines of isolated thunderstorms lashed the North Island yesterday, and in the South Island, farmers sheltered vulnerable stock from the first heavy snowfalls of the season. Auckland is forecast to be hit by a polar blast tomorrow. "
Return to Fantasy Island: Targets Wthout Policies
Roger Pielke, Jr (USA)
"Environmental groups continue to confuse the effects of a shrinking economic downturn with progress on reducing emissions. Looking ahead, the UK economy is currently positioned to have economic growth or a continued reduction in emissions, but not both. Emissions in 2010 increased sharply."
"Environmental groups continue to confuse the effects of a shrinking economic downturn with progress on reducing emissions. Looking ahead, the UK economy is currently positioned to have economic growth or a continued reduction in emissions, but not both. Emissions in 2010 increased sharply."
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Cameron's price for saving his Coalition: the destruction of Britain
Telegraph,James Delingpole
"Here’s the gist:
Cabinet ministers have agreed a far-reaching, legally binding “green deal” that will commit the UK to two decades of drastic cuts in carbon emissions. The package will require sweeping changes to domestic life, transport and business and will place Britain at the forefront of the global battle against climate change.
The deal was hammered out after tense arguments between ministers who had disagreed over whether the ambitious plans to switch to more green energy were affordable. The row had pitted the energy secretary, Chris Huhne, who strongly backed the plans, against the chancellor, George Osborne, and the business secretary, Vince Cable, who were concerned about the cost and potential impact on the economy. ...
....Let’s be clear about this, there is no logical argument whatsoever for the “decarbonisation” of the British economy. The case for CO2 as a catastrophic driver of Man-Made-Global-Warming remains, at best, unproven. The idea that Britain – producer of barely 2 per cent of Anthropogenic CO2 emissions – could significantly ameloriate the “problem”, even if that “problem” were actually to exist, is self-evidently fatuous.
Therefore, the only excuses one might have left for steering the British economy from relatively cheap, reliable power sources (coal, gas, oil, mainly) towards expensive, unreliable ones (renewables like wind and solar) are 1) that it might boost “energy security” and 2) that it might give the economy a fillip.
However, we know that thanks the Shale Gas Revolution, energy security is no longer a live issue. We have more than enough energy for at least the next two generations sitting on our doorstep, giving us plenty of time to investigate future technologies such as thorium nuclear reactors."
"Here’s the gist:
Cabinet ministers have agreed a far-reaching, legally binding “green deal” that will commit the UK to two decades of drastic cuts in carbon emissions. The package will require sweeping changes to domestic life, transport and business and will place Britain at the forefront of the global battle against climate change.
The deal was hammered out after tense arguments between ministers who had disagreed over whether the ambitious plans to switch to more green energy were affordable. The row had pitted the energy secretary, Chris Huhne, who strongly backed the plans, against the chancellor, George Osborne, and the business secretary, Vince Cable, who were concerned about the cost and potential impact on the economy. ...
....Let’s be clear about this, there is no logical argument whatsoever for the “decarbonisation” of the British economy. The case for CO2 as a catastrophic driver of Man-Made-Global-Warming remains, at best, unproven. The idea that Britain – producer of barely 2 per cent of Anthropogenic CO2 emissions – could significantly ameloriate the “problem”, even if that “problem” were actually to exist, is self-evidently fatuous.
Therefore, the only excuses one might have left for steering the British economy from relatively cheap, reliable power sources (coal, gas, oil, mainly) towards expensive, unreliable ones (renewables like wind and solar) are 1) that it might boost “energy security” and 2) that it might give the economy a fillip.
However, we know that thanks the Shale Gas Revolution, energy security is no longer a live issue. We have more than enough energy for at least the next two generations sitting on our doorstep, giving us plenty of time to investigate future technologies such as thorium nuclear reactors."
Saturday, 14 May 2011
Forget Global Warming: Obama Orders More Oil Drilling
GWPF
"In an effort to defuse Republican and oil industry pressure over drilling permits and soothe public anger over gasoline prices, President Obama is ordering the Interior Department to conduct annual lease sales in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve and speed up seismic work that is a precursor to drilling off the south and mid-Atlantic coasts."
"In an effort to defuse Republican and oil industry pressure over drilling permits and soothe public anger over gasoline prices, President Obama is ordering the Interior Department to conduct annual lease sales in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve and speed up seismic work that is a precursor to drilling off the south and mid-Atlantic coasts."
Friday, 13 May 2011
Blindspots at the IPCC
Donna Laframboise (Canada)
"The fact that the IPCC has just written a 1,000-page report that concentrates on energy sources that currently supply the world with only 13% of its power demonstrates the blinkered nature of its analysis.
It also demonstrates that, rather than being pragmatic, the people at the heart of the IPCC are idealistic. They don’t merely want to solve a particular problem (too much CO2 in the atmosphere), they want to redesign the entire world. Even though nuclear power would result in significantly fewer emissions, they consider it unacceptable because it doesn’t fit into their far larger, far more grandiose fantasy of a world powered only by energy sources they personally happen to approve of.
Everything I’ve just said about nuclear power applies even more to shale gas. Shale gas is the most exciting new energy development to come along in a while. These are still early days, but natural gas extracted from shale has the potential to dramatically reduce carbon emissions, reduce energy prices, and ensure an inexpensive supply of agricultural fertilizer (thus reducing world hunger)."
"The fact that the IPCC has just written a 1,000-page report that concentrates on energy sources that currently supply the world with only 13% of its power demonstrates the blinkered nature of its analysis.
It also demonstrates that, rather than being pragmatic, the people at the heart of the IPCC are idealistic. They don’t merely want to solve a particular problem (too much CO2 in the atmosphere), they want to redesign the entire world. Even though nuclear power would result in significantly fewer emissions, they consider it unacceptable because it doesn’t fit into their far larger, far more grandiose fantasy of a world powered only by energy sources they personally happen to approve of.
Everything I’ve just said about nuclear power applies even more to shale gas. Shale gas is the most exciting new energy development to come along in a while. These are still early days, but natural gas extracted from shale has the potential to dramatically reduce carbon emissions, reduce energy prices, and ensure an inexpensive supply of agricultural fertilizer (thus reducing world hunger)."
Thursday, 12 May 2011
U.K. Submits 12 Applications to Tap $6.5 Billion in EU Clean Energy Funds
Bloomberg
"“Taking forward these sorts of technologies will be crucial to our move to a low-carbon economy, providing green jobs as well as helping us lower emissions and increase energy security,” Energy Minister Charles Hendry said. "
---------------------------
"Either way, it is going to cost a lot more than that, as the knock-on effects are going to do serious damage to every economy in Europe, including our own. You would think, therefore, that the UK would be battening down the hatches, trying to minimise the effects of the fall-out. But not a bit of it. We are still chasing hair-brained schemes that can only do more damage to the economy." (Dr Richard North)
"“Taking forward these sorts of technologies will be crucial to our move to a low-carbon economy, providing green jobs as well as helping us lower emissions and increase energy security,” Energy Minister Charles Hendry said. "
---------------------------
"Either way, it is going to cost a lot more than that, as the knock-on effects are going to do serious damage to every economy in Europe, including our own. You would think, therefore, that the UK would be battening down the hatches, trying to minimise the effects of the fall-out. But not a bit of it. We are still chasing hair-brained schemes that can only do more damage to the economy." (Dr Richard North)
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Victoria slowly awakes from the great global warming nightmare
Andrew Bolt, Herald Sun (Australia)
"Curiously, Premier Ted Baillieu believes it would insane to turn off one of Victoria’s biggest power generators when there’s nothing to replace it, and no gain to the climate whatsoever. And as for Julia Gillard’s mad carbon dioxide tax...::
PREMIER Ted Baillieu has hand-balled responsibility for Victoria meeting its key climate change target to the federal government - and warned he would not support a carbon tax that disadvantaged the state’s economy.
Speaking after the government abandoned negotiations over the staged closure of the Hazelwood power station - often described as Australia’s ‘’dirtiest’’ coal plant - the Premier said the Victoria’s legislated target to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 was ‘’aspirational’’.
Let’s see if Victorian Labor is mad enough in Opposition to keep campaigning to close a massive power station at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation and higher power bills for all. My tip is that this insanity is over. "
"Curiously, Premier Ted Baillieu believes it would insane to turn off one of Victoria’s biggest power generators when there’s nothing to replace it, and no gain to the climate whatsoever. And as for Julia Gillard’s mad carbon dioxide tax...::
PREMIER Ted Baillieu has hand-balled responsibility for Victoria meeting its key climate change target to the federal government - and warned he would not support a carbon tax that disadvantaged the state’s economy.
Speaking after the government abandoned negotiations over the staged closure of the Hazelwood power station - often described as Australia’s ‘’dirtiest’’ coal plant - the Premier said the Victoria’s legislated target to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 was ‘’aspirational’’.
Let’s see if Victorian Labor is mad enough in Opposition to keep campaigning to close a massive power station at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation and higher power bills for all. My tip is that this insanity is over. "
Vaclav Klaus: The Global Warming Doctrine is Not a Science: Notes for Cambridge
Climate Realists
"I will talk about the Global Warming Doctrine (GWD) because this doctrine, not global warming itself, is the issue of the day and the real danger we face. This set of beliefs is an ideology, if not a religion, which lives more or less independently on the science of climatology. Climate and temperature are used or very often misused in an ideological conflict about human society. It is frustrating that the politicians, the media and the public, misled by the very aggressive propaganda organized by the GWD exponents and all their fellow travelers, do not see this. I hope today’s conference will be a help in this respect. "
"I will talk about the Global Warming Doctrine (GWD) because this doctrine, not global warming itself, is the issue of the day and the real danger we face. This set of beliefs is an ideology, if not a religion, which lives more or less independently on the science of climatology. Climate and temperature are used or very often misused in an ideological conflict about human society. It is frustrating that the politicians, the media and the public, misled by the very aggressive propaganda organized by the GWD exponents and all their fellow travelers, do not see this. I hope today’s conference will be a help in this respect. "
Climate Change: an emetic fallacy
Telegraph
"In other words there is still an enormous amount of uncertainty out there about the chaotic system which causes climate. But here’s the rub: global policy makers are acting as if there isn’t.
And the reason they’re acting as if there isn’t because, essentially, they have been hijacked by the scientists on the Warmist side who – behaving far more like political activists than dispassionate seekers after truth – have exaggerated the strength of their case, even to the point of tweaking their data and suppressing contradictory research, in order to ensure that their “correct” interpretation of reality is the one that prevails.
This was the whole point of the Climategate scandal and why it mattered. And since Climategate – as we saw from the entirely unapologetic, nay struttingly arrogant in some cases – behaviour of the Warmist scientists present absolutely zip-all has changed.
Hence Dr Klaus’s frustration. Apart from being the only European leader (apart from Hungary’s) worth his salt, Dr Klaus is also an economist and a former serf of a Communist state. He said: “The arrogance of global warming activists and their fellow travellers in politics is something I know well from the past. They wish to suppress truth, control the market and dictate policy and I, who have spent most of my time living under communism feel obliged to warn against it.”
"In other words there is still an enormous amount of uncertainty out there about the chaotic system which causes climate. But here’s the rub: global policy makers are acting as if there isn’t.
And the reason they’re acting as if there isn’t because, essentially, they have been hijacked by the scientists on the Warmist side who – behaving far more like political activists than dispassionate seekers after truth – have exaggerated the strength of their case, even to the point of tweaking their data and suppressing contradictory research, in order to ensure that their “correct” interpretation of reality is the one that prevails.
This was the whole point of the Climategate scandal and why it mattered. And since Climategate – as we saw from the entirely unapologetic, nay struttingly arrogant in some cases – behaviour of the Warmist scientists present absolutely zip-all has changed.
Hence Dr Klaus’s frustration. Apart from being the only European leader (apart from Hungary’s) worth his salt, Dr Klaus is also an economist and a former serf of a Communist state. He said: “The arrogance of global warming activists and their fellow travellers in politics is something I know well from the past. They wish to suppress truth, control the market and dictate policy and I, who have spent most of my time living under communism feel obliged to warn against it.”
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Sir John responds
Bishop Hill
"The "government" has responded to the Science and Technology Committee's report into the UEA inquiries. Which I guess is pretty much as expected.
The report was apparently prepared by the Government Office for Science - Sir John Beddington's crowd - with input from various other ministries. One wonders what input the government actually had, apart from applying a signature to the document in question."
"The "government" has responded to the Science and Technology Committee's report into the UEA inquiries. Which I guess is pretty much as expected.
The report was apparently prepared by the Government Office for Science - Sir John Beddington's crowd - with input from various other ministries. One wonders what input the government actually had, apart from applying a signature to the document in question."
Steve McIntyre: The UK Government Tricks The SciTech Committee
GWPF
"Information obtained through FOI shows that John Beddington, the UK Government Chief Scientist was in direct contact with both UEA officials and even individual panelists, making sure, among other thing, that individual panelists were ‘warmed up”. Contrary to the UK Government’s claim that the panels were independent, one email from a UEA official says that they will keep Beddington “in the loop” and “seek his advice”. Contrary to the Government’s claims, the Muir Russell and Oxburgh panels were not “carried out independently” and the Government had an important role in “informing how these reviews were carried out”."
"Information obtained through FOI shows that John Beddington, the UK Government Chief Scientist was in direct contact with both UEA officials and even individual panelists, making sure, among other thing, that individual panelists were ‘warmed up”. Contrary to the UK Government’s claim that the panels were independent, one email from a UEA official says that they will keep Beddington “in the loop” and “seek his advice”. Contrary to the Government’s claims, the Muir Russell and Oxburgh panels were not “carried out independently” and the Government had an important role in “informing how these reviews were carried out”."
The Climate Caper
Donna Laframboise (Canada)
"Garth Paltridge’s 2009 The Climate Caper has been difficult to find here in Canada, perhaps because he is Australian. So I was delighted to hear about the $7.97 Kindle edition, which I purchased recently. ......Paltridge argues persuasively that climate science is far too broad a subject matter for any person to be familiar with more than a small portion of the relevant research. So when we’re told that IPCC reports represent a scientific consensus he says this doesn’t mean what the public thinks – that the world’s most brilliant minds have each processed all the important data and have all come to the same conclusion."
"Garth Paltridge’s 2009 The Climate Caper has been difficult to find here in Canada, perhaps because he is Australian. So I was delighted to hear about the $7.97 Kindle edition, which I purchased recently. ......Paltridge argues persuasively that climate science is far too broad a subject matter for any person to be familiar with more than a small portion of the relevant research. So when we’re told that IPCC reports represent a scientific consensus he says this doesn’t mean what the public thinks – that the world’s most brilliant minds have each processed all the important data and have all come to the same conclusion."
There is hope
Dr Richard North
"A couple of days ago we saw this, which rather suggests that the Boy has finally slid away from the faux greenery that marked the first part of his tawdry reign as not-the-tories leader. But with the pixels barely dry on the screen, we get this - a lament from the little greenies telling us that the UK green employment sector "is seeing job losses and opportunities in the green sector are expected to shrink in 2011".
"A couple of days ago we saw this, which rather suggests that the Boy has finally slid away from the faux greenery that marked the first part of his tawdry reign as not-the-tories leader. But with the pixels barely dry on the screen, we get this - a lament from the little greenies telling us that the UK green employment sector "is seeing job losses and opportunities in the green sector are expected to shrink in 2011".
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Most widely used climate computer model exaggerates global warming by 67%
The Hockey Schtick
"The abstract, however, contains a remarkable admission that the model exaggerates the global warming from 1850 to 2005 by 0.4°C more than observations. The observed global warming from 1850 to 2005 was only 0.6°C, thus the computer model predicted ~ 67% more global warming than actually occurred. This exaggeration alone could account for all of the claimed "heat trapping" from the increase in man-made carbon dioxide over that same 155 year period. IPCC projections for future global warming based upon this model may be similarly greatly exaggerated."
"The abstract, however, contains a remarkable admission that the model exaggerates the global warming from 1850 to 2005 by 0.4°C more than observations. The observed global warming from 1850 to 2005 was only 0.6°C, thus the computer model predicted ~ 67% more global warming than actually occurred. This exaggeration alone could account for all of the claimed "heat trapping" from the increase in man-made carbon dioxide over that same 155 year period. IPCC projections for future global warming based upon this model may be similarly greatly exaggerated."
Saturday, 7 May 2011
Is There No End To The Corruption Of Climate Science?
GWPF
"Scientists in New Zealand are refusing to release information about a new temperature index they have published. They have argued that technical details of how the new index was constructed and papers relating to the peer review that is alleged to have been performed are all exempt from the country's freedom of information legislation.
Is there no end to the corruption?"
"Scientists in New Zealand are refusing to release information about a new temperature index they have published. They have argued that technical details of how the new index was constructed and papers relating to the peer review that is alleged to have been performed are all exempt from the country's freedom of information legislation.
Is there no end to the corruption?"
Are Oil and Gas Renewable?
GWPF
"To answer Mr. Style’s headlining question, “Are Oil and Gas Renewable” the answer is yes, of course, if you are patient enough.
Finding gas or oil in deposits much deeper than those we already know about, or in places that aren't consistent with our present understanding of petroleum geology, would represent an even bigger potential energy revolution than the one begun by the recent development of the means of unlocking shale gas resources."
"To answer Mr. Style’s headlining question, “Are Oil and Gas Renewable” the answer is yes, of course, if you are patient enough.
Finding gas or oil in deposits much deeper than those we already know about, or in places that aren't consistent with our present understanding of petroleum geology, would represent an even bigger potential energy revolution than the one begun by the recent development of the means of unlocking shale gas resources."
Shale gas could solve the world's energy problems
Christopher Booker,Telegraph
"So miraculous is the potential of shale gas to change the world that several countries, led by the US and China, are already piling in to exploit it on a huge scale. And an admirable introduction to this energy revolution by Matt Ridley has just been published by the Global Warming Policy Foundation, available online under the title The Shale Gas Shock, with a delightful foreword by the world-famous physicist (and “climate sceptic”) Freeman Dyson. "
"So miraculous is the potential of shale gas to change the world that several countries, led by the US and China, are already piling in to exploit it on a huge scale. And an admirable introduction to this energy revolution by Matt Ridley has just been published by the Global Warming Policy Foundation, available online under the title The Shale Gas Shock, with a delightful foreword by the world-famous physicist (and “climate sceptic”) Freeman Dyson. "
Wrong about running out
Matt Ridley
"The world will use about 450 exajoules (billion billion joules) of fossil fuel energy this year and has so far used less than 20,000 exajoules since the Industrial Revolution began. Total oil, gas and coal resources in the Earth’s crust are estimated at more than 570,000 exajoules. So if energy use was a journey from St Pancras to Istanbul by train, we have not yet reached the Channel Tunnel. Resources can be finite yet effectively inexhaustible or, like dodos and forests, infinitely renewable yet easily exhausted."
"The world will use about 450 exajoules (billion billion joules) of fossil fuel energy this year and has so far used less than 20,000 exajoules since the Industrial Revolution began. Total oil, gas and coal resources in the Earth’s crust are estimated at more than 570,000 exajoules. So if energy use was a journey from St Pancras to Istanbul by train, we have not yet reached the Channel Tunnel. Resources can be finite yet effectively inexhaustible or, like dodos and forests, infinitely renewable yet easily exhausted."
Corruption of Climate Science Has Created 30 Lost Years
Climate Realists
"Traditionally, the older scientists held to the prevailing wisdom and were challenged by the new, skeptical graduates looking for wider answers. In climatology, the opposite has happened. The so-called skeptics challenging the prevailing wisdom are the professors who have researched and taught the subject for 30 years or longer. Their knowledge is much wider than that of the new young scientists because climate science has stagnated for thirty years. All the funding was directed to only one side of climate science, and that was the side promoted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and accepted as the ‘official science’ by governments. "
"Traditionally, the older scientists held to the prevailing wisdom and were challenged by the new, skeptical graduates looking for wider answers. In climatology, the opposite has happened. The so-called skeptics challenging the prevailing wisdom are the professors who have researched and taught the subject for 30 years or longer. Their knowledge is much wider than that of the new young scientists because climate science has stagnated for thirty years. All the funding was directed to only one side of climate science, and that was the side promoted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and accepted as the ‘official science’ by governments. "
Friday, 6 May 2011
Climategate scientists 'too secretive and may have broken Freedom of Information laws'
Daily Mail
"The Climategate row, which was first revealed by the Daily Mail in November 2009, was triggered when a hacker stole hundreds of emails from the UEA’s Climatic Research Unit, and tracks long-term changes in temperature and plays a leading role in compiling UN reports. It is thought that the theft was motivated by the CRU’s repeated refusals to provide detailed information about the data underlying its temperature records. The files showed scientists plotting how to avoid Freedom of Information requests and appeared to show them discussing how to manipulate data. Some of the most controversial contained personal attacks on climate change sceptics and one, by the unit’s Professor Phil Jones, mentioned using a ‘trick’ to massage years of temperature data to ‘hide the decline’. "
ED: This is new?
"The Climategate row, which was first revealed by the Daily Mail in November 2009, was triggered when a hacker stole hundreds of emails from the UEA’s Climatic Research Unit, and tracks long-term changes in temperature and plays a leading role in compiling UN reports. It is thought that the theft was motivated by the CRU’s repeated refusals to provide detailed information about the data underlying its temperature records. The files showed scientists plotting how to avoid Freedom of Information requests and appeared to show them discussing how to manipulate data. Some of the most controversial contained personal attacks on climate change sceptics and one, by the unit’s Professor Phil Jones, mentioned using a ‘trick’ to massage years of temperature data to ‘hide the decline’. "
ED: This is new?
Chris Huhne needs a lesson in economics
Telegraph
"At a time when the UK economy needs every penny of business investment it can get, to be taxing production more to pay for a tax reduction on petrol consumption is bad policy all round. As a trained economist, Mr Huhne will know the correct approach, both from an economic and environmental perspective, is to do the reverse – to incentivise investment in production and disincentivise consumption."
"At a time when the UK economy needs every penny of business investment it can get, to be taxing production more to pay for a tax reduction on petrol consumption is bad policy all round. As a trained economist, Mr Huhne will know the correct approach, both from an economic and environmental perspective, is to do the reverse – to incentivise investment in production and disincentivise consumption."
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Frozen Poles
Dr Richard North
"We might be basking in the sunshine in England – although it is dull and wet at the time of writing – but the Poles are not having such a good time of it. May snowfall and freezing temperatures have descended on south-western Poland, with 41 road deaths and 400 accidents reported since the May weekend began. Traffic has struggled particularly as many drivers had already switched to summer tyres.
In the Lower Silesia and Opole regions, 100,000 homes were left without electricity and temperatures have plummeted as low as 0°C in some areas as frost and heavy fog hampered traffic. Power lines also went down in Walbrzych, Jelenia Góra and the Wroclaw area after trees heavy with snow fell and brought down electricity cables.
The same story applies further east, with the previouly ice-bound Gulf of Finland only now clearing. Just three weeks ago, 38 cargo ships were awaiting icebreaker assistance."
"We might be basking in the sunshine in England – although it is dull and wet at the time of writing – but the Poles are not having such a good time of it. May snowfall and freezing temperatures have descended on south-western Poland, with 41 road deaths and 400 accidents reported since the May weekend began. Traffic has struggled particularly as many drivers had already switched to summer tyres.
In the Lower Silesia and Opole regions, 100,000 homes were left without electricity and temperatures have plummeted as low as 0°C in some areas as frost and heavy fog hampered traffic. Power lines also went down in Walbrzych, Jelenia Góra and the Wroclaw area after trees heavy with snow fell and brought down electricity cables.
The same story applies further east, with the previouly ice-bound Gulf of Finland only now clearing. Just three weeks ago, 38 cargo ships were awaiting icebreaker assistance."
Don't let the Watermelons kill the Shale Gas Revolution
Telegraph
"As Dyson puts it in his foreword:
Because of shale gas, the air in Beijing will be cleaned up as the air in London was cleaned up sixty years ago. Because of shale gas, clean air will no longer be a luxury that only rich countries can afford. Because of shale gas, wealth and health will be distributed more equitably over the face of our planet.
And how have the Environmentalists reacted? Why they’re trying to kill the whole thing stone dead, of course."
"As Dyson puts it in his foreword:
Because of shale gas, the air in Beijing will be cleaned up as the air in London was cleaned up sixty years ago. Because of shale gas, clean air will no longer be a luxury that only rich countries can afford. Because of shale gas, wealth and health will be distributed more equitably over the face of our planet.
And how have the Environmentalists reacted? Why they’re trying to kill the whole thing stone dead, of course."
Back to basics: “Green Electric” becomes “General Electric” again
WUWT
"The president of General Electric slams his previous company green policy as being “too elitist”, vows to get back to “working”. Maybe this will mean no more “green sin week” on GE owned TV networks."
"The president of General Electric slams his previous company green policy as being “too elitist”, vows to get back to “working”. Maybe this will mean no more “green sin week” on GE owned TV networks."
Britain's New Climate Realism: We Are Winning The Argument
GWPF
"Only one-quarter of Britons think risks of climate change outweigh the benefits. The private think-tank Ipsos recently surveyed more than 2,000 Britons aged 16 and above about their attitudes toward science. A news release about the survey findings says nothing about climate change."
"Only one-quarter of Britons think risks of climate change outweigh the benefits. The private think-tank Ipsos recently surveyed more than 2,000 Britons aged 16 and above about their attitudes toward science. A news release about the survey findings says nothing about climate change."
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Australia’s carbon tax losing public opinion big time
WUWT
"It seems Australians are waking up to the folly of a carbon tax. I’m sure Mr. Flannery’s quote of the millenium helped bunches."
"It seems Australians are waking up to the folly of a carbon tax. I’m sure Mr. Flannery’s quote of the millenium helped bunches."
Top Green Admits: “We Are Lost!”
GWPF
"George Monbiot of the left-leaning British newspaper The Guardian has a must-read column in which he admits that because of a whole series of intellectual mistakes, the global green movement’s policy prescriptions are hopelessly flawed.
Read the whole piece for a thoughtful and brutally clear expose of the intellectual bankruptcy of the green movement from one of the smartest people in it. This is what I’ve been getting at for more than a year here: regardless of what is happening to Planet Earth, the green movement does not have coherent and workable solutions.
Greens like to have it both ways. They warn darkly about “peak oil” and global resource shortages that will destroy our industrial economy in its tracks — but also warn that runaway economic growth will destroy the planet through the uncontrolled effects of mass industrial productions. Both doomsday scenarios cannot be true; one cannot simultaneously die of both starvation and gluttony."
"George Monbiot of the left-leaning British newspaper The Guardian has a must-read column in which he admits that because of a whole series of intellectual mistakes, the global green movement’s policy prescriptions are hopelessly flawed.
Read the whole piece for a thoughtful and brutally clear expose of the intellectual bankruptcy of the green movement from one of the smartest people in it. This is what I’ve been getting at for more than a year here: regardless of what is happening to Planet Earth, the green movement does not have coherent and workable solutions.
Greens like to have it both ways. They warn darkly about “peak oil” and global resource shortages that will destroy our industrial economy in its tracks — but also warn that runaway economic growth will destroy the planet through the uncontrolled effects of mass industrial productions. Both doomsday scenarios cannot be true; one cannot simultaneously die of both starvation and gluttony."
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
Fixed: the IPCC’s Climate Model Evaluation Game
Donna Laframboise (Canada)
"We’ve been told the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is comprised of the world’s top scientific minds. But my research has uncovered something rather different.
One group of IPCC authors are 20-something grad students. Even though their experience of the world is neither broad nor deep, the IPCC has long relied on their expert judgment. Another group are those who’ve been appointed because they’re of the right gender or from the right county. (Since the IPCC is a UN body it’s hardly surprising that it considers these factors important.) A third group are activists and activist scientists.
But there’s yet another large contingent of people – climate modelers. While these individuals are often called scientists, their line of work has little in common with traditional science.
The scientific method involves forming an hypothesis, testing that hypothesis in the real world, and then confirming, adjusting, or abandoning the hypothesis according to what those real-world tests reveal."
"We’ve been told the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is comprised of the world’s top scientific minds. But my research has uncovered something rather different.
One group of IPCC authors are 20-something grad students. Even though their experience of the world is neither broad nor deep, the IPCC has long relied on their expert judgment. Another group are those who’ve been appointed because they’re of the right gender or from the right county. (Since the IPCC is a UN body it’s hardly surprising that it considers these factors important.) A third group are activists and activist scientists.
But there’s yet another large contingent of people – climate modelers. While these individuals are often called scientists, their line of work has little in common with traditional science.
The scientific method involves forming an hypothesis, testing that hypothesis in the real world, and then confirming, adjusting, or abandoning the hypothesis according to what those real-world tests reveal."
Monday, 2 May 2011
New Paper: Greenland ice sheet didn't melt despite temperatures much hotter in the past
The Hockey Schtick
"A new paper from the 2011 Antarctic Science Symposium presents new ice core data from Greenland and finds that not even the southern portion of Greenland was ice-free during the Eemian period, despite temperatures much higher than the present (5°C or 9°F) lasting for 16,000 years (from 130,000 to 114,000 years ago). Meanwhile, alarmists such as Richard Alley (buddy of Michael Mann at Penn State) and James Hansen claim "The entire ice mass of Greenland will disappear from the world map if temperatures rise by as little as 2°C." Note global temperatures have recovered by a mere 0.7°C since the end of the Little Ice Age in 1850 and have been flat to declining since 1998."
"A new paper from the 2011 Antarctic Science Symposium presents new ice core data from Greenland and finds that not even the southern portion of Greenland was ice-free during the Eemian period, despite temperatures much higher than the present (5°C or 9°F) lasting for 16,000 years (from 130,000 to 114,000 years ago). Meanwhile, alarmists such as Richard Alley (buddy of Michael Mann at Penn State) and James Hansen claim "The entire ice mass of Greenland will disappear from the world map if temperatures rise by as little as 2°C." Note global temperatures have recovered by a mere 0.7°C since the end of the Little Ice Age in 1850 and have been flat to declining since 1998."
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Scots windfarms paid cash to stop producing energy
BBC
"Hadyardhill in South Ayrshire, which is owned by SSE Renewables, was given £140,000 to stop producing energy, while Blacklaw windfarm in Lanarkshire - also owned by Scottish Power - was given £130,000.
The Millennium windfarm in the Highlands and Beinn Tharsuin, just north of Alness, each received £33,000 and £11,500 respectively.
Dr Lee Moroney, planning director for the REF, which has criticised subsidies to the renewable sector in the past, said: "The variability of wind power poses grid management problems for which there are no cheap solutions.In future we need greater electrical energy storage facilities and greater interconnection with our EU neighbours so that excess energy supplies can be sold or bought where required”
"However, throwing the energy away, and paying wind farms handsomely for doing so, is not only costly but obviously very wasteful".
"Hadyardhill in South Ayrshire, which is owned by SSE Renewables, was given £140,000 to stop producing energy, while Blacklaw windfarm in Lanarkshire - also owned by Scottish Power - was given £130,000.
The Millennium windfarm in the Highlands and Beinn Tharsuin, just north of Alness, each received £33,000 and £11,500 respectively.
Dr Lee Moroney, planning director for the REF, which has criticised subsidies to the renewable sector in the past, said: "The variability of wind power poses grid management problems for which there are no cheap solutions.In future we need greater electrical energy storage facilities and greater interconnection with our EU neighbours so that excess energy supplies can be sold or bought where required”
"However, throwing the energy away, and paying wind farms handsomely for doing so, is not only costly but obviously very wasteful".
Windfarms paid to switch off
Bishop Hill
"Wind farm operators in Scotland were paid nearly £900,000 to keep their turbines idle for a night because the National Grid did not need the power."
"Wind farm operators in Scotland were paid nearly £900,000 to keep their turbines idle for a night because the National Grid did not need the power."
Why windmills won’t wash
WUWT
"The UK has hidden much of the cost of its climate measures behind a calculatedly complex web of levies, taxes, charges, and subsidies, and – above all – behind a furtive near-doubling of the true cost of electricity to pay vast subsidies (“yacht money”, as we landowners call it) to anyone connected with windmills. The website of the King Canute Department amusingly calls this obscurantist mish-mash “transparency”.
How much “global warming” will Jumbo the Albino forestall? While it is in operation, it will generate 209,000/365/24 or almost 24 Watt-hours per hour on average: just about enough to drive an electric toothbrush."
"The UK has hidden much of the cost of its climate measures behind a calculatedly complex web of levies, taxes, charges, and subsidies, and – above all – behind a furtive near-doubling of the true cost of electricity to pay vast subsidies (“yacht money”, as we landowners call it) to anyone connected with windmills. The website of the King Canute Department amusingly calls this obscurantist mish-mash “transparency”.
How much “global warming” will Jumbo the Albino forestall? While it is in operation, it will generate 209,000/365/24 or almost 24 Watt-hours per hour on average: just about enough to drive an electric toothbrush."
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