Daily Mail
" Russian scientists believe the Sun emits less heat every 200 years -
Cooling period could cause Earth's temperature to fall by several degrees -
Last time was between 1650 and 1850, known as the ‘Little Ice Age’ -
The period of low solar activity could start between 2030 and 2040 ......‘The period of low solar activity could start between 2030 and 2040 but it won’t be as pervasive as in the late 17th century.’
And Vladimir Kotlyakov, from the Russian Academy of Sciences, said: ‘There are no grounds to claim that global warming will continue till the end of this century.
‘Climate moves in natural cycles of warmer and colder, as well as drier and more humid times.
‘Early signs of cooling are already there and the trend may pick up in coming years.
‘Human activity and industrial discharges do have a great impact on the environment, but forces of nature are far more powerful.’
Tuesday, 30 April 2013
Monday, 29 April 2013
New paper finds IPCC climate models unable to reproduce solar radiation at Earth's surface
The Hockey Schtick
"A new paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres finds the latest generation of IPCC climate models were unable to reproduce the global dimming of sunshine from the ~ 1950s-1980s, followed by global brightening of sunshine during the 1990's. These global dimming and brightening periods explain the observed changes in global temperature over the past 50-60 years far better than the slow steady rise in CO2 levels. The authors find the models underestimated dimming by 80-85% in comparison to observations, underestimated brightening in China and Japan as well, and that "no individual model performs particularly well for all four regions" studied. Dimming was underestimated in some regions by up to 7 Wm-2 per decade, which by way of comparison is 25 times greater than the alleged CO2 forcing of about 0.28 Wm-2 per decade. The paper demonstrates climate models are unable to reproduce the known climate change of the past, much less the future, that the forcing from changes in solar radiation at the Earth surface is still far from being understood and dwarfs any alleged effect of increased CO2."
"A new paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres finds the latest generation of IPCC climate models were unable to reproduce the global dimming of sunshine from the ~ 1950s-1980s, followed by global brightening of sunshine during the 1990's. These global dimming and brightening periods explain the observed changes in global temperature over the past 50-60 years far better than the slow steady rise in CO2 levels. The authors find the models underestimated dimming by 80-85% in comparison to observations, underestimated brightening in China and Japan as well, and that "no individual model performs particularly well for all four regions" studied. Dimming was underestimated in some regions by up to 7 Wm-2 per decade, which by way of comparison is 25 times greater than the alleged CO2 forcing of about 0.28 Wm-2 per decade. The paper demonstrates climate models are unable to reproduce the known climate change of the past, much less the future, that the forcing from changes in solar radiation at the Earth surface is still far from being understood and dwarfs any alleged effect of increased CO2."
German Economics Magazine: “Trust In Climate Science Has Been Shaken…Scientists Have Embarrassed Themselves”!
NoTricksZone
"Media outlets in Europe are beginning to question all the global warming claims, especially as Central Europe reels from one of its coldest springs in living memory."
"Media outlets in Europe are beginning to question all the global warming claims, especially as Central Europe reels from one of its coldest springs in living memory."
New paper demonstrates temperature drives CO2 levels, not man-made CO2
The Hockey Schtick
"A recent paper published in Nature Climate Change finds a disconnect between man-made CO2 and atmospheric levels of CO2, demonstrating that despite a sharp 25% increase in man-made CO2 emissions since 2003, the growth rate in atmospheric CO2 has slowed sharply since 2002/2003. The data shows that while the growth rate of man-made emissions was relatively stable from 1990-2003, the growth rate of atmospheric CO2 surged up to the record El Nino of 1997-1998. Conversely, growth in man-made emissions surged ~25% from 2003-2011, but the growth rate of atmospheric CO2 has flatlined since 1999 along with global temperatures. The data demonstrates temperature drives CO2 levels due to ocean outgassing, man-made CO2 does not drive temperature, and that man is not the primary cause of the rise in CO2 levels."
"A recent paper published in Nature Climate Change finds a disconnect between man-made CO2 and atmospheric levels of CO2, demonstrating that despite a sharp 25% increase in man-made CO2 emissions since 2003, the growth rate in atmospheric CO2 has slowed sharply since 2002/2003. The data shows that while the growth rate of man-made emissions was relatively stable from 1990-2003, the growth rate of atmospheric CO2 surged up to the record El Nino of 1997-1998. Conversely, growth in man-made emissions surged ~25% from 2003-2011, but the growth rate of atmospheric CO2 has flatlined since 1999 along with global temperatures. The data demonstrates temperature drives CO2 levels due to ocean outgassing, man-made CO2 does not drive temperature, and that man is not the primary cause of the rise in CO2 levels."
The mental effect of the ’97% consensus’ myth spans politics
WUWT
"But, we all know that 97% consensus talking point is simply based on a handful of actual climate responding to a broad questionnaire combined with some statistical spin to give the desired result. Apparently, that’s good enough for low information folks, even the researcher in this story, MSU’s Aaron M. McCright is taken in by the spin. ..."
"But, we all know that 97% consensus talking point is simply based on a handful of actual climate responding to a broad questionnaire combined with some statistical spin to give the desired result. Apparently, that’s good enough for low information folks, even the researcher in this story, MSU’s Aaron M. McCright is taken in by the spin. ..."
Sunday, 28 April 2013
What To Expect When CO2 Hits 400 PPM
Real Science
"The climate doesn’t care about human neuroses or political agendas. Corals evolved with CO2 levels above 4,000 PPM CO2.400 PPM CO2 means nothing – other than another meaningless number for clueless people to get hysterical about. CO2 is at historically low levels in the geological record."
"The climate doesn’t care about human neuroses or political agendas. Corals evolved with CO2 levels above 4,000 PPM CO2.400 PPM CO2 means nothing – other than another meaningless number for clueless people to get hysterical about. CO2 is at historically low levels in the geological record."
MoS Comment: Green zealots and a sinister power grab
Mail on Sunday
"Since the days when coal was delivered in sacks, the arrangement has been simple. The householder pays for the fuel he needs and can afford. That is how things work in free societies. But now, thanks to the Establishment’s wholesale embrace of Green dogma, this is no longer so. The authorities are seriously considering plans which will allow them to reach into our houses and reduce the flow of power to our appliances. We will pay for these complex and faintly sinister arrangements, as we already pay for forests of grossly subsidised and unreliable wind turbines, so forcing up the price of energy once more. These increased costs are all driven by the ever-more questionable belief that reducing carbon emissions will save the planet. Even if this is so, the rising economies of the East are paying no attention, and are blithely continuing to open coal-fired power stations, as we shut ours. This mess could be avoided if we reintroduced rationality into our energy policy, cancelling the closure of perfectly serviceable power plants, building new gas and nuclear generators, and exploiting the shale gas which lies beneath our feet. All that is needed is a return to sanity in the political class, which – if it understands nothing else – must see the cost and intrusion of the ‘energy-saving’ scheme will be deeply unpopular with voters."
"Since the days when coal was delivered in sacks, the arrangement has been simple. The householder pays for the fuel he needs and can afford. That is how things work in free societies. But now, thanks to the Establishment’s wholesale embrace of Green dogma, this is no longer so. The authorities are seriously considering plans which will allow them to reach into our houses and reduce the flow of power to our appliances. We will pay for these complex and faintly sinister arrangements, as we already pay for forests of grossly subsidised and unreliable wind turbines, so forcing up the price of energy once more. These increased costs are all driven by the ever-more questionable belief that reducing carbon emissions will save the planet. Even if this is so, the rising economies of the East are paying no attention, and are blithely continuing to open coal-fired power stations, as we shut ours. This mess could be avoided if we reintroduced rationality into our energy policy, cancelling the closure of perfectly serviceable power plants, building new gas and nuclear generators, and exploiting the shale gas which lies beneath our feet. All that is needed is a return to sanity in the political class, which – if it understands nothing else – must see the cost and intrusion of the ‘energy-saving’ scheme will be deeply unpopular with voters."
Saturday, 27 April 2013
The mercury is falling, but our MPs are full of hot air
Christopher Booker,Telegraph
" Last week it was reported that 3,318 places in the USA had recorded their lowest temperatures for this time of year since records began. Similar record cold was experienced by places in every province of Canada. So cold has the Russian winter been that Moscow had its deepest snowfall in 134 years of observations. Here in Britain, where we had our fifth freezing winter in a row, the Central England Temperature record – according to an expert analysis on the US science blog Watts Up With That – shows that in this century, average winter temperatures have dropped by 1.45C, more than twice as much as their rise between 1850 and 1999, and twice as much as the entire net rise in global temperatures recorded in the 20th century.
But, hang on, it wasn’t meant to be like this. Weren’t we told that, thanks to all that carbon dioxide we are pumping into the air, the world was faced with global warming; that, according to the computer models, temperatures were due to rise by at least 0.3C every decade; and that snowfall in Britain was “a thing of the past”? ......"
" Last week it was reported that 3,318 places in the USA had recorded their lowest temperatures for this time of year since records began. Similar record cold was experienced by places in every province of Canada. So cold has the Russian winter been that Moscow had its deepest snowfall in 134 years of observations. Here in Britain, where we had our fifth freezing winter in a row, the Central England Temperature record – according to an expert analysis on the US science blog Watts Up With That – shows that in this century, average winter temperatures have dropped by 1.45C, more than twice as much as their rise between 1850 and 1999, and twice as much as the entire net rise in global temperatures recorded in the 20th century.
But, hang on, it wasn’t meant to be like this. Weren’t we told that, thanks to all that carbon dioxide we are pumping into the air, the world was faced with global warming; that, according to the computer models, temperatures were due to rise by at least 0.3C every decade; and that snowfall in Britain was “a thing of the past”? ......"
One million useless solar panels
JoNova (Australia)
"Only five years ago Australia had a mere 20,000 solar systems installed on homes across the country. Now thanks to a Gonzo-Big-Daddy-Government we have over one million solar systems, almost all of them producing electricity that could have been made for something like a fifth of the price with coal. ......If we have spent $3 billion on solar power we could have bought the same electricity from coal instead and had $2 billion to spare for medical research. Buying inefficient solar panels from China is not going to make us a world leader, and it isn’t going to cool the planet. Are we doing it in the hope that the profits from the fake solar market will help someone somewhere “invent” solar power that works? If so, why not just spend the money on research ourselves? We might even discover something worth using and selling."
"Only five years ago Australia had a mere 20,000 solar systems installed on homes across the country. Now thanks to a Gonzo-Big-Daddy-Government we have over one million solar systems, almost all of them producing electricity that could have been made for something like a fifth of the price with coal. ......If we have spent $3 billion on solar power we could have bought the same electricity from coal instead and had $2 billion to spare for medical research. Buying inefficient solar panels from China is not going to make us a world leader, and it isn’t going to cool the planet. Are we doing it in the hope that the profits from the fake solar market will help someone somewhere “invent” solar power that works? If so, why not just spend the money on research ourselves? We might even discover something worth using and selling."
Good news! Elevated CO2 may extend interglacial, prevent next ice age
WUWT
"A movable trigger: Fossil fuel CO2 and the onset of the next glaciation. David Archer and Andrey Ganopolski Published in G3 Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems Research Letter Volume 6, Number5 5 May 2005 .....We predict that a carbon release from fossil fuels or methane hydrate deposits of 5000 Gton C could prevent glaciation for the next 500,000 years, until after not one but two 400 kyr cycle eccentricity minima. The duration and intensity of the projected interglacial period are longer than have been seen in the last 2.6 million years."
"A movable trigger: Fossil fuel CO2 and the onset of the next glaciation. David Archer and Andrey Ganopolski Published in G3 Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems Research Letter Volume 6, Number5 5 May 2005 .....We predict that a carbon release from fossil fuels or methane hydrate deposits of 5000 Gton C could prevent glaciation for the next 500,000 years, until after not one but two 400 kyr cycle eccentricity minima. The duration and intensity of the projected interglacial period are longer than have been seen in the last 2.6 million years."
79% Of The US Below Normal Temperature in 2013
Real Science
"Thirty three percent of the US is more than two degrees below normal. Nine percent is more than four degrees below normal. Three percent is more than six degrees below normal."
"Thirty three percent of the US is more than two degrees below normal. Nine percent is more than four degrees below normal. Three percent is more than six degrees below normal."
Thursday, 25 April 2013
Temperature change in perspective
WUWT
"The UK Met Office long term Central England Temperature record[1] has kept a continuous and consistent data set since the 1660s. It appears to be reliable and to have maintained its quality. It has not been adjusted as have so many other official temperature records.Although the CET record covers only a small part of the northern hemisphere, it has shown a consistent rise since the end of the little ice age in 1850 at a rate of about +0.45°C / century or about +0.67°C in the last 150 years. This rise accords well with other temperature records. However since the year 2000, diminishing solar activity in solar cycle 24, moving back towards little ice age patterns, appears to be having an real effect."
"The UK Met Office long term Central England Temperature record[1] has kept a continuous and consistent data set since the 1660s. It appears to be reliable and to have maintained its quality. It has not been adjusted as have so many other official temperature records.Although the CET record covers only a small part of the northern hemisphere, it has shown a consistent rise since the end of the little ice age in 1850 at a rate of about +0.45°C / century or about +0.67°C in the last 150 years. This rise accords well with other temperature records. However since the year 2000, diminishing solar activity in solar cycle 24, moving back towards little ice age patterns, appears to be having an real effect."
Analysis finds the Sun explains climate change, not CO2
The Hockey Schtick
""There is little need to ascribe a unique cause to late 20th-century global warming (such as elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations), as this latest warming is merely a run-of-the-mill relative warming, sitting atop a solar-induced baseline warming that has been in progress for the past four centuries."
""There is little need to ascribe a unique cause to late 20th-century global warming (such as elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations), as this latest warming is merely a run-of-the-mill relative warming, sitting atop a solar-induced baseline warming that has been in progress for the past four centuries."
Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) ..and 'Climate Change' ....
Daily Mail
"How ironic that the prime focus of IPSA so far seems to have been on empire-building. Its budget for operating costs in 2010-11 was £6.36 million, whereas the cost of previous arrangements, under the aegis of the House of Commons Fees Office, was said to be £2 million. IPSA’s HQ, in Portland House, was refurbished at a cost to the taxpayer of £267,000. The bill included 71 ‘visitor seats’ at £242 each, six stools for £265 each, another seven £538 chairs, £837 for a table, fourteen £465 ‘relaxer’ loungers and 25 cabinets costing £2,295 each. A spokesman says: ‘We walked into a shell of an office and needed to equip it. There is a cost associated in doing so. We purchased a number of chairs for guests; these cost more than standard office chairs.’ While MPs lost public sympathy over the abuse of expenses, it must be galling for them to see the body brought in to impose austerity adorning itself in this way. The political blogger Iain Dale says: ‘It’s the plushest office I’ve been in for a good long time. I dread to think what the square-foot cost and the fit-out cost of this place [is]. I’ve never been into a government office that has looked so like a big multinational company.’The organisation also shows all the signs of being over-bureaucratic, with a bizarre note in its annual accounts on climate change: ‘The need to adapt to climate change is taken into account when IPSA is designing its policies. A risk assessment will be made of how climate change could affect a policy, programme or project.’
"How ironic that the prime focus of IPSA so far seems to have been on empire-building. Its budget for operating costs in 2010-11 was £6.36 million, whereas the cost of previous arrangements, under the aegis of the House of Commons Fees Office, was said to be £2 million. IPSA’s HQ, in Portland House, was refurbished at a cost to the taxpayer of £267,000. The bill included 71 ‘visitor seats’ at £242 each, six stools for £265 each, another seven £538 chairs, £837 for a table, fourteen £465 ‘relaxer’ loungers and 25 cabinets costing £2,295 each. A spokesman says: ‘We walked into a shell of an office and needed to equip it. There is a cost associated in doing so. We purchased a number of chairs for guests; these cost more than standard office chairs.’ While MPs lost public sympathy over the abuse of expenses, it must be galling for them to see the body brought in to impose austerity adorning itself in this way. The political blogger Iain Dale says: ‘It’s the plushest office I’ve been in for a good long time. I dread to think what the square-foot cost and the fit-out cost of this place [is]. I’ve never been into a government office that has looked so like a big multinational company.’The organisation also shows all the signs of being over-bureaucratic, with a bizarre note in its annual accounts on climate change: ‘The need to adapt to climate change is taken into account when IPSA is designing its policies. A risk assessment will be made of how climate change could affect a policy, programme or project.’
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Cold and snow wave grips the USA, nearly 10,000 cold and snow records set in the last six weeks
WUWT
"If this were a month of a heatwave across thus USA, like last July, you can bet it would be MSM headlines all over the place and breathless stories from AP’s Seth Borenstein and pronouncements from the Mannian climate cartel about how all this is connected to global warming, er climate change, er climate disruption."
"If this were a month of a heatwave across thus USA, like last July, you can bet it would be MSM headlines all over the place and breathless stories from AP’s Seth Borenstein and pronouncements from the Mannian climate cartel about how all this is connected to global warming, er climate change, er climate disruption."
Dr. Roy Spencer on Global Warming, 'No one knows'
Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
"SPENCER: There has been no increase in "superstorms" or tornadoes, by any objective long-term measure. It is an urban myth. Sandy-class storms occur every year...they just don't happen to hit high population density areas. But sea levels have indeed increased, which probably is a sign of warming. But sea levels were rising long before we could have been to blame, since well before 1900. So, once again, it is difficult to attribute the current rate of rise, which is very slow, to humans when we don't know how much of the rise is natural. .......SPENCER: The consensus is only that humans are contributing to warming...even I would probably agree with such an innocuous statement. But even if a majority of scientists think manmade global warming is a serious problem, only a very small number of those scientists know enough about such a detailed subject to have an informed opinion on the subject. Only a few of us actively working on questions "how sensitive is the climate system?" know the dirty details of this business and how much uncertainty there is. Most climate researchers simply assume recent warming is manmade, but human causation is only one possible explanation out of several." (h/t Tom Nelson)
"SPENCER: There has been no increase in "superstorms" or tornadoes, by any objective long-term measure. It is an urban myth. Sandy-class storms occur every year...they just don't happen to hit high population density areas. But sea levels have indeed increased, which probably is a sign of warming. But sea levels were rising long before we could have been to blame, since well before 1900. So, once again, it is difficult to attribute the current rate of rise, which is very slow, to humans when we don't know how much of the rise is natural. .......SPENCER: The consensus is only that humans are contributing to warming...even I would probably agree with such an innocuous statement. But even if a majority of scientists think manmade global warming is a serious problem, only a very small number of those scientists know enough about such a detailed subject to have an informed opinion on the subject. Only a few of us actively working on questions "how sensitive is the climate system?" know the dirty details of this business and how much uncertainty there is. Most climate researchers simply assume recent warming is manmade, but human causation is only one possible explanation out of several." (h/t Tom Nelson)
How Can Home Insulation Keep Your House Warmer, When It Cools Your House?!
Roy W. Spencer, Ph. D.
"...After all, how can cooler insulation further heat the inside of the house? Does heat flow from cold insulation to warmer temperatures? No! "
"...After all, how can cooler insulation further heat the inside of the house? Does heat flow from cold insulation to warmer temperatures? No! "
Poor being thrown off Ugandan land for carbon credits
CFACT
"When you think about the effects of global warming hysteria, you might think of higher electricity prices, not people being thrown off their land and having their homes burned down. But that is exactly what’s been happening in the East African country of Uganda, where a British company called New Forests has been seizing land to grow trees and then sell the so-called “carbon credits” for a profit that could reach nearly $2 million per year. According to reports published in the New York Times and Telegraph of London, New Forests is backed by the World Bank and has been using armed troops, with the government’s permission, to forcibly evict over 20,000 poor people from their homes. This certainly gives terrible new meaning to the concept of Green neo-colonialism."
"When you think about the effects of global warming hysteria, you might think of higher electricity prices, not people being thrown off their land and having their homes burned down. But that is exactly what’s been happening in the East African country of Uganda, where a British company called New Forests has been seizing land to grow trees and then sell the so-called “carbon credits” for a profit that could reach nearly $2 million per year. According to reports published in the New York Times and Telegraph of London, New Forests is backed by the World Bank and has been using armed troops, with the government’s permission, to forcibly evict over 20,000 poor people from their homes. This certainly gives terrible new meaning to the concept of Green neo-colonialism."
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
The real deniers of climate change
The Washington Times
"The Northern Hemisphere is experiencing unusually cold weather. Snow cover last December was the greatest since satellite monitoring began in 1966. The United Kingdom had the coldest March weather in 50 years, and there were more than a thousand record low temperatures in the United States. The Irish meteorological office reported that March “temperatures were the lowest on record nearly everywhere.” Spring snowfall in Europe was also high. In Moscow, the snow depth was the highest in 134 years of observation. In Kiev, authorities had to bring in military vehicles to clear snow from the streets. Cold-weather extremes are a natural climatic variation, and this is exactly the point. If the world were experiencing a climate crisis owing to global warming, there shouldn’t be a single record low temperature anywhere in the world. ........With each passing year, it is becoming increasingly clear that global warming is not a scientific theory subject to empirical falsification, but a political ideology that has to be fiercely defended against any challenge. It is ironic that skeptics are called “deniers” when every fact that would tend to falsify global warming is immediately explained away by an industry of denial." (h/t Climate Depot)
"The Northern Hemisphere is experiencing unusually cold weather. Snow cover last December was the greatest since satellite monitoring began in 1966. The United Kingdom had the coldest March weather in 50 years, and there were more than a thousand record low temperatures in the United States. The Irish meteorological office reported that March “temperatures were the lowest on record nearly everywhere.” Spring snowfall in Europe was also high. In Moscow, the snow depth was the highest in 134 years of observation. In Kiev, authorities had to bring in military vehicles to clear snow from the streets. Cold-weather extremes are a natural climatic variation, and this is exactly the point. If the world were experiencing a climate crisis owing to global warming, there shouldn’t be a single record low temperature anywhere in the world. ........With each passing year, it is becoming increasingly clear that global warming is not a scientific theory subject to empirical falsification, but a political ideology that has to be fiercely defended against any challenge. It is ironic that skeptics are called “deniers” when every fact that would tend to falsify global warming is immediately explained away by an industry of denial." (h/t Climate Depot)
Here we go again. The IPCC prepares for a scare. GG, too
Andrew Bolt,Herald Sun (Australia)
"Strange. An Australian paper claiming unprecedented warming of our part of the world is quickly exposed as having made a howler that causes it to be withdrawn. Yet slabs of it seem now to have been included in the IPCC’s upcoming review of global warming. Too convenient to exclude? "
"Strange. An Australian paper claiming unprecedented warming of our part of the world is quickly exposed as having made a howler that causes it to be withdrawn. Yet slabs of it seem now to have been included in the IPCC’s upcoming review of global warming. Too convenient to exclude? "
Monday, 22 April 2013
MET office now admits Arctic sea ice didn't cause unusually cold weather
The Hockey Schtick
" In a new report entitled "Why was the start to spring 2013 so cold?," the chief of the UK MET Office now admits that decreased Arctic sea ice or "Arctic amplification" was not responsible for the unusually cold spring 2013 in Europe, finding "little evidence from the comparison between the cold spring of 1962 and this year that the Arctic has been a contributory factor in terms of the hypothesis" of "an increased probability of extreme weather events that result from prolonged conditions, such as drought, flooding, cold spells, and heat waves."
" In a new report entitled "Why was the start to spring 2013 so cold?," the chief of the UK MET Office now admits that decreased Arctic sea ice or "Arctic amplification" was not responsible for the unusually cold spring 2013 in Europe, finding "little evidence from the comparison between the cold spring of 1962 and this year that the Arctic has been a contributory factor in terms of the hypothesis" of "an increased probability of extreme weather events that result from prolonged conditions, such as drought, flooding, cold spells, and heat waves."
HADCET – March 2013 is tied for 12th coldest March Since 1659
sunshine hours
"The HADCET dataset is the longest instrumental record of temperature in the world. One of the minor problems with HADCET is they calculate anomalies from the 1961-1990 average. This is HADCET (March Only) with anomalies calculated from the most recent 30 years average: 1981 to 2010."
"The HADCET dataset is the longest instrumental record of temperature in the world. One of the minor problems with HADCET is they calculate anomalies from the 1961-1990 average. This is HADCET (March Only) with anomalies calculated from the most recent 30 years average: 1981 to 2010."
WaPo Trashes Europe’s Green Energy Policy…Calling It A “Green-Energy Basket Case”
NoTricksZone
"The Washington Post lashes out at Europe’s failure to impose a continent-wide cap and trade scheme designed to make carbon fuels more expensive, calling European governments “incompetent central planners” and the continent as a whole a “green energy basket-case“. The Post laments that Europe has blown a big opportunity to become a greener economy."
"The Washington Post lashes out at Europe’s failure to impose a continent-wide cap and trade scheme designed to make carbon fuels more expensive, calling European governments “incompetent central planners” and the continent as a whole a “green energy basket-case“. The Post laments that Europe has blown a big opportunity to become a greener economy."
Europe is becoming a green-energy basket case
Washington Post
"FOR YEARS, European leaders have flaunted their unwavering commitment to fighting climate change — and chastised the United States for lagging behind. But last week brought yet more confirmation that the continent has become a green-energy basket case. Instead of a model for the world to emulate, Europe has become a model of what not to do."
"FOR YEARS, European leaders have flaunted their unwavering commitment to fighting climate change — and chastised the United States for lagging behind. But last week brought yet more confirmation that the continent has become a green-energy basket case. Instead of a model for the world to emulate, Europe has become a model of what not to do."
Sunday, 21 April 2013
Met Office on the cold in March
Bishop Hill
"The Met Office has issued a news release on the reasons for the cold March, together with a more detailed technical explanation for climate and weather geeks. While Lord Hunt's "cold caused by melting Arctic" line is repeated, other possible causes are explained in full as is the existence of precedents for this kind of weather. A balanced briefing from the Met Office? Whatever next? "
"The Met Office has issued a news release on the reasons for the cold March, together with a more detailed technical explanation for climate and weather geeks. While Lord Hunt's "cold caused by melting Arctic" line is repeated, other possible causes are explained in full as is the existence of precedents for this kind of weather. A balanced briefing from the Met Office? Whatever next? "
Coming Ice Age…According To Leading Experts, Global Mean Temperature Has Dropped 1°C Since 1990!
NoTricksZone
"Climate science/renewable energy critic Rainer Hoffmann has researched the literature on mean global surface temperature. Stunningly, he shows that something is not right with the figures coming from the world’s leading climate experts. The figures tell us the mean global surface temperature has dropped 1°C over the last 25 years. At that rate, we’ll be in an ice age by the year 2100!"
"Climate science/renewable energy critic Rainer Hoffmann has researched the literature on mean global surface temperature. Stunningly, he shows that something is not right with the figures coming from the world’s leading climate experts. The figures tell us the mean global surface temperature has dropped 1°C over the last 25 years. At that rate, we’ll be in an ice age by the year 2100!"
Saturday, 20 April 2013
MEPs’ vote leaves Britain alone to face soaring electricity bills
Christopher Booker,Telegraph
" Two events last week again highlighted how ludicrously Britain’s energy policy is going off the rails. The first was a shock vote in the European Parliament, carried by Tory MEPs in defiance of David Cameron’s orders, further exposing a massive miscalculation by George Osborne that puts British industry at a huge disadvantage against its European competitors and will eventually double the bill we all pay for electricity.
On Tuesday, by just 19 votes, MEPs threw out a European Commission bid to save the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS), the world’s largest “carbon market”, which since 2005 has forced electricity users to pay hundreds of billions of pounds for the carbon dioxide they emit. When, back in 2010, Mr Osborne announced that, on top of this, Britain’s electricity companies would, from this month, have to pay an additional “carbon tax”, increasing the cost of emissions to a “floor price” of £16 a ton, rising to £70 by 2030, he assumed that the ETS price would also be racing upwards. So the additional cost of his “carbon tax” would not be very great.
Since then, however, the ETS market has collapsed. Last Tuesday’s vote, just after Mr Osborne’s tax had come into force, sent the price per ton plummeting to a record low of just £2.25, meaning that Britain’s electricity users must now pay far more for “carbon emissions” than anyone else in Europe. And this is a gap due to widen rapidly, to nearly £30 by 2020 and £70 thereafter. On the basis of the CO2 emitted by Britain’s coal- and gas-fired power stations, this alone will eventually almost double our electricity bills. ....."
" Two events last week again highlighted how ludicrously Britain’s energy policy is going off the rails. The first was a shock vote in the European Parliament, carried by Tory MEPs in defiance of David Cameron’s orders, further exposing a massive miscalculation by George Osborne that puts British industry at a huge disadvantage against its European competitors and will eventually double the bill we all pay for electricity.
On Tuesday, by just 19 votes, MEPs threw out a European Commission bid to save the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS), the world’s largest “carbon market”, which since 2005 has forced electricity users to pay hundreds of billions of pounds for the carbon dioxide they emit. When, back in 2010, Mr Osborne announced that, on top of this, Britain’s electricity companies would, from this month, have to pay an additional “carbon tax”, increasing the cost of emissions to a “floor price” of £16 a ton, rising to £70 by 2030, he assumed that the ETS price would also be racing upwards. So the additional cost of his “carbon tax” would not be very great.
Since then, however, the ETS market has collapsed. Last Tuesday’s vote, just after Mr Osborne’s tax had come into force, sent the price per ton plummeting to a record low of just £2.25, meaning that Britain’s electricity users must now pay far more for “carbon emissions” than anyone else in Europe. And this is a gap due to widen rapidly, to nearly £30 by 2020 and £70 thereafter. On the basis of the CO2 emitted by Britain’s coal- and gas-fired power stations, this alone will eventually almost double our electricity bills. ....."
The low carbon fairy story
Bishop Hill
"It seems there were actually two debates on climate at Westminster last week. In second, on the subject of Low Carbon Cooperation with China, Lilley was again on fine form:
Mr Peter Lilley (Hitchin and Harpenden) (Con): Criminologists have observed that the victims of confidence tricksters are often willing—indeed, eager—to believe the story to which they fall victim. The more absurd, fantastic or fabulous the story, the more willing they are to believe it.
This Select Committee report - Low Carbon Cooperation with China - and the government's reply prove that Ministers and Members will willingly believe any delusion as long as it is sufficiently fabulous. It contains all the characteristics necessary for the sort of fairy tale in which one wants to believe: it has a faraway country, mysterious powers that we attribute to ourselves, and pots of gold—green gold—at the end of the rainbow. ......"
"It seems there were actually two debates on climate at Westminster last week. In second, on the subject of Low Carbon Cooperation with China, Lilley was again on fine form:
Mr Peter Lilley (Hitchin and Harpenden) (Con): Criminologists have observed that the victims of confidence tricksters are often willing—indeed, eager—to believe the story to which they fall victim. The more absurd, fantastic or fabulous the story, the more willing they are to believe it.
This Select Committee report - Low Carbon Cooperation with China - and the government's reply prove that Ministers and Members will willingly believe any delusion as long as it is sufficiently fabulous. It contains all the characteristics necessary for the sort of fairy tale in which one wants to believe: it has a faraway country, mysterious powers that we attribute to ourselves, and pots of gold—green gold—at the end of the rainbow. ......"
New paper finds another non-hockey-stick in Iceland, 12C decrease in temperature over past 8,000 years
The Hockey Schtick
"A paper published today in Quaternary Science Reviews reconstructs temperatures over the past 10,000 years from two lakes in Iceland and finds temperatures peaked during the Holocene Climate Optimum 8,000 years ago, but have since declined by a remarkable ~ 12C to the end of the record in the year 2000."
"A paper published today in Quaternary Science Reviews reconstructs temperatures over the past 10,000 years from two lakes in Iceland and finds temperatures peaked during the Holocene Climate Optimum 8,000 years ago, but have since declined by a remarkable ~ 12C to the end of the record in the year 2000."
Mother Of German Green Weeklies, Die Zeit, Shocks Readers…Now Casts Doubt On Global Warming!
NoTricksZone
"After a foray in a cult, one of the first steps on the path back to reality is the process of deprogramming. Could it be that this step is now being self-administered by the German mainstream media? It appears so."
"After a foray in a cult, one of the first steps on the path back to reality is the process of deprogramming. Could it be that this step is now being self-administered by the German mainstream media? It appears so."
The Unraveling of Global Warming is Accelerating
WUWT
"Uh oh, somebody in Germany in a position to influence others in the Green movement has started thinking for himself, shrugging off suggestions from a climate scientist that “its all in his head”.
"Uh oh, somebody in Germany in a position to influence others in the Green movement has started thinking for himself, shrugging off suggestions from a climate scientist that “its all in his head”.
Thursday, 18 April 2013
Time to shoot the husky, Dave
Telegraph
"Anyway, where were we? Oh, yes, that's right: having a good old dance on the grave of EU's carbon emissions policy. Here's what Walter Russell Mead has to say about its significance:
The EU has been the global laboratory testing the green agenda to see how it works. Today’s story means that the guinea pig died; the most important piece of green intervention in world history has become an expensive and embarrassing flop. It’s hard to exaggerate the importance of this for environmentalists everywhere; if the EU can’t make the green agenda work, it’s unlikely that anybody else will give it a try.
I think he's right. The knock-on effects are going to be cataclysmic – in places like Australia, for example, which had been relying on the rigged EU carbon trading market to prop up Julia Gillard's carbon emissions scam. And within the vast, overinflated bubble which is the green industry generally. No one will be safe in this sector: seriously, if you're in renewables – as I know at least one of our regular trolls below does: he's an adviser to the wind industry and graduated, I kid you not, from the environmental sciences department at the UEA – I would now think very hard about getting yourself a proper job."
"Anyway, where were we? Oh, yes, that's right: having a good old dance on the grave of EU's carbon emissions policy. Here's what Walter Russell Mead has to say about its significance:
The EU has been the global laboratory testing the green agenda to see how it works. Today’s story means that the guinea pig died; the most important piece of green intervention in world history has become an expensive and embarrassing flop. It’s hard to exaggerate the importance of this for environmentalists everywhere; if the EU can’t make the green agenda work, it’s unlikely that anybody else will give it a try.
I think he's right. The knock-on effects are going to be cataclysmic – in places like Australia, for example, which had been relying on the rigged EU carbon trading market to prop up Julia Gillard's carbon emissions scam. And within the vast, overinflated bubble which is the green industry generally. No one will be safe in this sector: seriously, if you're in renewables – as I know at least one of our regular trolls below does: he's an adviser to the wind industry and graduated, I kid you not, from the environmental sciences department at the UEA – I would now think very hard about getting yourself a proper job."
It's insane that we're fleeced by the energy giants AND help them avoid tax!
Daily Mail
"The energy companies are as avaricious, selfish and remote as were the big banks before the crash. Arguably, they are even worse. Without any apparent restraint from the Government — or are they encouraged? — they have continued to increase their prices during an economic downturn. According to the industry regulator Ofgem, the profits of the big six energy suppliers will reach £100 per household over the next 12 months. While much of the rest of the country is mired in recession, it’s boom-time for the energy giants. They have increased their profit margins from 3.3 per cent in 2011 to 7 per cent a mere two years later. During this time of falling incomes, an average dual-fuel domestic bill — for gas and electricity — has risen from £1,095 to £1,352. .......With 90 per cent of wind farms in foreign ownership, this means companies based abroad could receive in the region of £100 billion in subsidies over the 20-year lifespan of a turbine, according to the Renewable Energy Foundation. By the way, these turbines are only just beginning to make their mark. Nine huge wind farms are being built in the seas around Britain. This year, 763 turbines are planned to be built onshore, an increase of 60 per cent over last year. Thousands more have been approved. They are being partly paid for by you and me, as taxpayers and consumers. ........And I haven’t even mentioned the other insanity — of closing down perfectly serviceable coal-fired power stations as a result of absurd European Union diktats on climate change. It is possible that we may not be left with enough capacity to stop the lights going out in the next few years. Nor has this Government or its predecessor shown any urgency in adopting a plan to replace our ageing nuclear power stations. It finds itself with a single remaining potential partner in French government-controlled EDF, with which it may well be unable to strike a satisfactory deal. ...........Moreover, it has proved a great mistake to hand over four of our six big energy suppliers into foreign hands. They have become even more high-handed and detached than they would have otherwise been. A further problem has been a Department of Energy and Climate Change (led first by one Lib Dem, Chris Huhne, and now another, Ed Davey) obsessed with renewable energy, despite its high cost and very marginal usefulness, and happy to pile extra green taxes on already hard-pressed consumers. I wonder whether David Cameron fully grasps the growing resentment of people who watch the energy companies lining their pockets while those consumers have to pay more and more. All of us know that our ever-growing bills reflect far more than the rising costs of energy. If Labour were not itself even more blindly in love with renewable energy, and more than a little responsible for our existing predicament, it might have the gumption to mount a compelling case against the Coalition over its disastrous policies."
"The energy companies are as avaricious, selfish and remote as were the big banks before the crash. Arguably, they are even worse. Without any apparent restraint from the Government — or are they encouraged? — they have continued to increase their prices during an economic downturn. According to the industry regulator Ofgem, the profits of the big six energy suppliers will reach £100 per household over the next 12 months. While much of the rest of the country is mired in recession, it’s boom-time for the energy giants. They have increased their profit margins from 3.3 per cent in 2011 to 7 per cent a mere two years later. During this time of falling incomes, an average dual-fuel domestic bill — for gas and electricity — has risen from £1,095 to £1,352. .......With 90 per cent of wind farms in foreign ownership, this means companies based abroad could receive in the region of £100 billion in subsidies over the 20-year lifespan of a turbine, according to the Renewable Energy Foundation. By the way, these turbines are only just beginning to make their mark. Nine huge wind farms are being built in the seas around Britain. This year, 763 turbines are planned to be built onshore, an increase of 60 per cent over last year. Thousands more have been approved. They are being partly paid for by you and me, as taxpayers and consumers. ........And I haven’t even mentioned the other insanity — of closing down perfectly serviceable coal-fired power stations as a result of absurd European Union diktats on climate change. It is possible that we may not be left with enough capacity to stop the lights going out in the next few years. Nor has this Government or its predecessor shown any urgency in adopting a plan to replace our ageing nuclear power stations. It finds itself with a single remaining potential partner in French government-controlled EDF, with which it may well be unable to strike a satisfactory deal. ...........Moreover, it has proved a great mistake to hand over four of our six big energy suppliers into foreign hands. They have become even more high-handed and detached than they would have otherwise been. A further problem has been a Department of Energy and Climate Change (led first by one Lib Dem, Chris Huhne, and now another, Ed Davey) obsessed with renewable energy, despite its high cost and very marginal usefulness, and happy to pile extra green taxes on already hard-pressed consumers. I wonder whether David Cameron fully grasps the growing resentment of people who watch the energy companies lining their pockets while those consumers have to pay more and more. All of us know that our ever-growing bills reflect far more than the rising costs of energy. If Labour were not itself even more blindly in love with renewable energy, and more than a little responsible for our existing predicament, it might have the gumption to mount a compelling case against the Coalition over its disastrous policies."
Video from the EU Parliament debate: 'The man-made global warming hypothesis is dead in the water! It's face down!'
The Hockey Schtick
"In video from the lively debate yesterday in the EU Parliament, UK representative Godfrey Bloom emphatically declares, "The man-made global warming hypothesis is dead in the water! It's face down! ... We know that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere always follows periods of global warming, we know that the hypothesis that man-made global warming was going to cause totally apocryphal boiling in 2015 is now complete nonsense... There has been no statistically significant global warming now for over 15 years. There isn't a single independent scientific institution which doesn't acknowledge that fact. So all this debate is a lot of nonsense because it simply isn't happening." Bloom then asks why the Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard is in denial over these facts. Following the debate, the EU Parliament apparently agreed with Bloom and torpedoed Europe's flagship CO2 emissions trading scheme by voting against a measure to support the price of carbon dioxide permits."
"In video from the lively debate yesterday in the EU Parliament, UK representative Godfrey Bloom emphatically declares, "The man-made global warming hypothesis is dead in the water! It's face down! ... We know that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere always follows periods of global warming, we know that the hypothesis that man-made global warming was going to cause totally apocryphal boiling in 2015 is now complete nonsense... There has been no statistically significant global warming now for over 15 years. There isn't a single independent scientific institution which doesn't acknowledge that fact. So all this debate is a lot of nonsense because it simply isn't happening." Bloom then asks why the Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard is in denial over these facts. Following the debate, the EU Parliament apparently agreed with Bloom and torpedoed Europe's flagship CO2 emissions trading scheme by voting against a measure to support the price of carbon dioxide permits."
Booker: verba non sap
EU Referendum/Christopher Booker, 18/04/2013
"I don't know whether Lord Waldegrave ever read the nine pages of her book, headed "Hot air and global warming", and I very much doubt whether he has ever read anything written by Prof. Lindzen - let alone much else written in recent years by those scores of other eminent scientists and other experts who have questioned every one of the a priori assumptions used to promote the belief in CO2-induced global warming.
Much easier, in deference to the fashionable orthodoxy, just to imply that Lady Thatcher's later views were no more than the senile ravings of an old woman in her retirement, and to place against them the ex cathedra pronouncements of his fellow-pillars of the establishment such as Lord May and Lord Rees, each carrying with him all the unimpeachable authority which goes with being a President of the Royal Society.
But as those of us who have followed this debate rather more closely than Lord Waldegrave are aware, Lord May and Rees have in recent years presided over the transformation of the Royal Society from an institution respected down the centuries for championing the scepticism inseparable from proper scientific enquiry (symbolised in its motto nullius in verba, "take no one’s word for it") into a quite shameless lobby group for the warmist orthodoxy.
Neither Lord May, a specialist in population biology, nor Lord Rees, an astronomer, have ever shown any understanding of the scientific debate over the warming theory - any more than has their successor at the head of the Royal Society, the geneticist Sir Paul Nurse."
"I don't know whether Lord Waldegrave ever read the nine pages of her book, headed "Hot air and global warming", and I very much doubt whether he has ever read anything written by Prof. Lindzen - let alone much else written in recent years by those scores of other eminent scientists and other experts who have questioned every one of the a priori assumptions used to promote the belief in CO2-induced global warming.
Much easier, in deference to the fashionable orthodoxy, just to imply that Lady Thatcher's later views were no more than the senile ravings of an old woman in her retirement, and to place against them the ex cathedra pronouncements of his fellow-pillars of the establishment such as Lord May and Lord Rees, each carrying with him all the unimpeachable authority which goes with being a President of the Royal Society.
But as those of us who have followed this debate rather more closely than Lord Waldegrave are aware, Lord May and Rees have in recent years presided over the transformation of the Royal Society from an institution respected down the centuries for championing the scepticism inseparable from proper scientific enquiry (symbolised in its motto nullius in verba, "take no one’s word for it") into a quite shameless lobby group for the warmist orthodoxy.
Neither Lord May, a specialist in population biology, nor Lord Rees, an astronomer, have ever shown any understanding of the scientific debate over the warming theory - any more than has their successor at the head of the Royal Society, the geneticist Sir Paul Nurse."
Another paper finds lower climate sensitivity
WUWT
"Yesterday we talked about the new paper from Nic Lewis, now Troy Masters has a new paper in press at Climate Dynamics here. ......Dr. Judith Curry sums it up pretty well: In weighing the new evidence, especially improvements in the methodology of sensitivity analysis, it is becoming increasing difficult not to downgrade the estimates of climate sensitivity. All this blows the laughable Skeptical Science claim Climate Sensitivity Single Study Syndrome, Nic Lewis Edition out of the water. Dana should quit while he’s ahead, because his arguments aren’t convincing."
"Yesterday we talked about the new paper from Nic Lewis, now Troy Masters has a new paper in press at Climate Dynamics here. ......Dr. Judith Curry sums it up pretty well: In weighing the new evidence, especially improvements in the methodology of sensitivity analysis, it is becoming increasing difficult not to downgrade the estimates of climate sensitivity. All this blows the laughable Skeptical Science claim Climate Sensitivity Single Study Syndrome, Nic Lewis Edition out of the water. Dana should quit while he’s ahead, because his arguments aren’t convincing."
The silliness of the precautionary principle
Telegraph
"The precautionary principle was dreamed up by eco-warriors as a way to thwart wicked corporates. It was always, if you think about it, a slightly silly concept, since it puts people in the impossible position of having to prove a negative. Now though – see above clip – those scheming capitalists have turned the notion back on its authors. The main winners, as usual, are Brussels regulators."
"The precautionary principle was dreamed up by eco-warriors as a way to thwart wicked corporates. It was always, if you think about it, a slightly silly concept, since it puts people in the impossible position of having to prove a negative. Now though – see above clip – those scheming capitalists have turned the notion back on its authors. The main winners, as usual, are Brussels regulators."
Wednesday, 17 April 2013
New paper finds another non-hockey-stick in Antarctica, temperature decline over past 2000 years
The Hockey Schtick
"A new paper published in Nature Geoscience reconstructs temperatures of the West Antarctic ice sheet from ice cores and shows that temperatures have declined over the past 2,000 years. The proxy for temperature, an isotope of oxygen [d18O], shows a decline over the past 2,000 years [figure 3 below], and thus indicates a decrease in temperature. A blowup of the past 200 years [figure 2 below] shows that the d18O temperature proxy at the end of the record in ~2010 had been exceeded many times over the past 200 years, including during the 1800's, 1940's, and 1990's."
"A new paper published in Nature Geoscience reconstructs temperatures of the West Antarctic ice sheet from ice cores and shows that temperatures have declined over the past 2,000 years. The proxy for temperature, an isotope of oxygen [d18O], shows a decline over the past 2,000 years [figure 3 below], and thus indicates a decrease in temperature. A blowup of the past 200 years [figure 2 below] shows that the d18O temperature proxy at the end of the record in ~2010 had been exceeded many times over the past 200 years, including during the 1800's, 1940's, and 1990's."
Game Changer? EU carbon price hits “Junk Status”. (Australian Govt hits $10b Black Hole)
JoNova(Australia)
"The EU is a basket-case, teetering, so when the European Parliament had the chance to “fix” the carbon market yesterday, they surprised everyone and chose not to. Being unfixed, it’s free to collapse, which it did and by 40%. The Economist headline today is “Carbon Trading Below Junk Status”.
"The EU is a basket-case, teetering, so when the European Parliament had the chance to “fix” the carbon market yesterday, they surprised everyone and chose not to. Being unfixed, it’s free to collapse, which it did and by 40%. The Economist headline today is “Carbon Trading Below Junk Status”.
EU climate change policy in crisis after MEPs vote against high CO2 prices
Telegraph
"The European Union's climate change policy is on the brink of collapse today after MEPs torpedoed Europe's flagship CO2 emissions trading scheme by voting against a measure to support the price of carbon permits."
"The European Union's climate change policy is on the brink of collapse today after MEPs torpedoed Europe's flagship CO2 emissions trading scheme by voting against a measure to support the price of carbon permits."
Watching the death of the EU Carbon Market
WUWT
Europe’s New Anti-Green Majority Scores Huge Victory EU Parliament Refuses To Save Its Dying Carbon Market"
Europe’s New Anti-Green Majority Scores Huge Victory EU Parliament Refuses To Save Its Dying Carbon Market"
Tuesday, 16 April 2013
Climate changing for global warming journalists
Financial Post
"The overwhelming consensus on global warming among journalists may be cracking. Last week, the world’s most prestigious newsmagazine – The Economist – backed away from its past alarmist position, saying that “If climate scientists were credit-rating agencies, climate sensitivity would be on negative watch.” The Economist now discounts the high-end estimates of warming coming from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as being unlikely if not far-fetched. .......For the journalists who are now reading this, and especially for those without a scientific grounding who understandably feel they must rely on authority, here is what needs to be known to cut through the scientific bafflegab and be confident as skeptics.
1. All of the scary global warming scenarios are based on computer models.
2. None of the models work.
3. There is and has been no scientific consensus."
"The overwhelming consensus on global warming among journalists may be cracking. Last week, the world’s most prestigious newsmagazine – The Economist – backed away from its past alarmist position, saying that “If climate scientists were credit-rating agencies, climate sensitivity would be on negative watch.” The Economist now discounts the high-end estimates of warming coming from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as being unlikely if not far-fetched. .......For the journalists who are now reading this, and especially for those without a scientific grounding who understandably feel they must rely on authority, here is what needs to be known to cut through the scientific bafflegab and be confident as skeptics.
1. All of the scary global warming scenarios are based on computer models.
2. None of the models work.
3. There is and has been no scientific consensus."
Another paper finds that climate sensitivity is low
Bishop Hill
"Nic Lewis has had a paper published in Journal of Climate. It's a reworking of the Forest et al 2006 paper on climate sensitivity, but removing the warm bias of Forest's uniform prior, as well as dealing with some data issues."
"Nic Lewis has had a paper published in Journal of Climate. It's a reworking of the Forest et al 2006 paper on climate sensitivity, but removing the warm bias of Forest's uniform prior, as well as dealing with some data issues."
Revisiting Temperature Reconstructions used in Climate Change Modeling
WUWT
"When considering historical temperature reconstruction there are three areas which need further examination; historical instrument readings and adjustments for UHI, tree-ring proxies, other paleoclimate proxies and ice-core proxies. To predict the future of climate it is necessary to have a very good reconstruction of past information. .....In conclusion; current knowledge levels of the climate are not robust enough for the political decisions which are being based on this understanding. The political decisions with regard to the Climate Change Act and Energy policy are based on dubious science tantamount to homeopathy."
"When considering historical temperature reconstruction there are three areas which need further examination; historical instrument readings and adjustments for UHI, tree-ring proxies, other paleoclimate proxies and ice-core proxies. To predict the future of climate it is necessary to have a very good reconstruction of past information. .....In conclusion; current knowledge levels of the climate are not robust enough for the political decisions which are being based on this understanding. The political decisions with regard to the Climate Change Act and Energy policy are based on dubious science tantamount to homeopathy."
Monday, 15 April 2013
Back To The Penalty Box…Chinese Paleo-Climatolgists Slap Down High-Sticking Michael Mann!
NoTricksZone
"A Chinese team of scientists led by He YuXin of the University of Hong Kong, however, took a very close look at Mann’s liberally interpreted data and his postulated Central Eurasian cold zone. Using sediment cores extracted from two different lakes and using the so-called alkenone method, the Chinese scientists reconstructed the temperature development over the past 2000 years for the northern Tibetan Plateau, which according to Mann was significantly colder 1000 years ago. .....The surprise was big when the new, hard data showed the opposite was in fact true. It turns out that the region of the theoretical cold in the northern Tibetan Plateau during the Medieval Warm Period was indeed not colder but was warmer than today, see Science Bulletin. In their paper, YuXin and his colleagues made yet another interesting discovery. In the abstract they write: ‘Further, our temperature reconstructions, within age uncertainty, can be well correlated with solar irradiance changes, suggesting a possible link between solar forcing and natural climate variability, at least on the northern Tibetan Plateau.’
"A Chinese team of scientists led by He YuXin of the University of Hong Kong, however, took a very close look at Mann’s liberally interpreted data and his postulated Central Eurasian cold zone. Using sediment cores extracted from two different lakes and using the so-called alkenone method, the Chinese scientists reconstructed the temperature development over the past 2000 years for the northern Tibetan Plateau, which according to Mann was significantly colder 1000 years ago. .....The surprise was big when the new, hard data showed the opposite was in fact true. It turns out that the region of the theoretical cold in the northern Tibetan Plateau during the Medieval Warm Period was indeed not colder but was warmer than today, see Science Bulletin. In their paper, YuXin and his colleagues made yet another interesting discovery. In the abstract they write: ‘Further, our temperature reconstructions, within age uncertainty, can be well correlated with solar irradiance changes, suggesting a possible link between solar forcing and natural climate variability, at least on the northern Tibetan Plateau.’
On the scales of warming worry magnitudes–part 1
WUWT
"... the whole concept of global warming and climate change has nothing to do with science but everything to do with a very desperate attempt to connect temperatures with a few molecules of CO2 that have been generated by burning fossil fuels, while ignoring vast majority of CO2 molecules that have been generated by nature itself."
"... the whole concept of global warming and climate change has nothing to do with science but everything to do with a very desperate attempt to connect temperatures with a few molecules of CO2 that have been generated by burning fossil fuels, while ignoring vast majority of CO2 molecules that have been generated by nature itself."
Margaret Thatcher: On two of the great issues, the lady was indeed for turning
Christopher Booker,Telegraph
"She was famed for sticking to her guns, but on Europe and climate change the former prime minister in fact executed U-turns ........Thus, long before it became fashionable, Lady Thatcher was converted to the view of those who, on both scientific and political grounds, have become ever more sceptical of the entire climate change ideology. How odd it is that, even today, so few people realise what a key role she played in helping to promote that scare in the first place. But even fewer realise how she eventually came to make as great a U-turn on this issue as any in her life."
"She was famed for sticking to her guns, but on Europe and climate change the former prime minister in fact executed U-turns ........Thus, long before it became fashionable, Lady Thatcher was converted to the view of those who, on both scientific and political grounds, have become ever more sceptical of the entire climate change ideology. How odd it is that, even today, so few people realise what a key role she played in helping to promote that scare in the first place. But even fewer realise how she eventually came to make as great a U-turn on this issue as any in her life."
Judge gives energy firms the right to build wind farms 350 metres from homes
Telegraph
" The judge decided that a council's attempt to impose a minimum distance of 1.2km (three quarters of a mile) between wind farms and people's homes was unlawful, in a test case that could have far-reaching consequences for national planning laws. Milton Keynes Borough Council in Buckinghamshire tried to prevent the wind energy firm RWE Npower Renewables Ltd from erecting 125 metre high turbines less than 1,217 metres from homes after it put in planning applications for two wind farms in the borough. The firm took the council to court, arguing that the "emerging policy" of imposing a sliding scale of minimum distances, based on the height of turbines, contradicted its existing local development plan, which recommends a minimum distance of 350m. "
" The judge decided that a council's attempt to impose a minimum distance of 1.2km (three quarters of a mile) between wind farms and people's homes was unlawful, in a test case that could have far-reaching consequences for national planning laws. Milton Keynes Borough Council in Buckinghamshire tried to prevent the wind energy firm RWE Npower Renewables Ltd from erecting 125 metre high turbines less than 1,217 metres from homes after it put in planning applications for two wind farms in the borough. The firm took the council to court, arguing that the "emerging policy" of imposing a sliding scale of minimum distances, based on the height of turbines, contradicted its existing local development plan, which recommends a minimum distance of 350m. "
Chatham House on biofuels
Bishop Hill
"A new report from the Royal Institute of International Affairs has found that biofuels are pretty much a disaster. Author Rob Bailey declares that they are not sustainable, they are hugely expensive, they are not a cost-efficient way of reducing emissions, and that the EU is going to insist that production is ramped up anyway. Since the biofuels mandate comes from the EU Commission (which was subverted by the farm lobby), it is, of course, impossible for national governments to do much about this appalling situation. Roger Harrabin tweets that governments will not want to do anything about biofuels anyway because they fear that if they do business will not support future government initiatives. One wants to weep at the corruption of it all."
"A new report from the Royal Institute of International Affairs has found that biofuels are pretty much a disaster. Author Rob Bailey declares that they are not sustainable, they are hugely expensive, they are not a cost-efficient way of reducing emissions, and that the EU is going to insist that production is ramped up anyway. Since the biofuels mandate comes from the EU Commission (which was subverted by the farm lobby), it is, of course, impossible for national governments to do much about this appalling situation. Roger Harrabin tweets that governments will not want to do anything about biofuels anyway because they fear that if they do business will not support future government initiatives. One wants to weep at the corruption of it all."
Sunday, 14 April 2013
Germany, wasting 130 billion $ on ‘alternative’ energy. Guess who pays the price.
Petrossa's blog
"Goodnight Sunshine Germany is cutting solar-power subsidies because they are expensive and inefficient. In the words of the German Association of Physicists, “solar energy cannot replace any additional power plants.” On short, overcast winter days, Germany’s 1.1 million solar-power systems can generate no electricity at all. The country is then forced to import considerable amounts of electricity from nuclear power plants in France and the Czech Republic. Indeed, despite the massive investment, solar power accounts for only about 0.3 percent of Germany’s total energy. This is one of the key reasons why Germans now pay the second-highest price for electricity in the developed world (exceeded only by Denmark, which aims to be the “world wind-energy champion”). Germans pay three times more than their American counterparts."
"Goodnight Sunshine Germany is cutting solar-power subsidies because they are expensive and inefficient. In the words of the German Association of Physicists, “solar energy cannot replace any additional power plants.” On short, overcast winter days, Germany’s 1.1 million solar-power systems can generate no electricity at all. The country is then forced to import considerable amounts of electricity from nuclear power plants in France and the Czech Republic. Indeed, despite the massive investment, solar power accounts for only about 0.3 percent of Germany’s total energy. This is one of the key reasons why Germans now pay the second-highest price for electricity in the developed world (exceeded only by Denmark, which aims to be the “world wind-energy champion”). Germans pay three times more than their American counterparts."
Is The UK Grid Approaching Instability?
E M Smith
"As I understand it, there is an intent to shut down some large coal and nuclear units in the next few years. That, IMHO, looks like it will be a complete disaster on any of: Very high demand days, very low demand days, very high wind days, very low wind days. And lord help you when a very cold very high demand day shows up without wind. “Dark and cold” are not a good combination…"
From the comments -"Germany is way ahead in that front. The grid is so unstable due to wind/solar that their neighbors installed special circuits to block Germany’s overflow.So all in all they invested 140 billion euros to replace a few nuclear reactors, with as a result that energy prices skyrocket, the grid becomes unstable and they have to run coal and gas fired power plants at full steam anyway."
"As I understand it, there is an intent to shut down some large coal and nuclear units in the next few years. That, IMHO, looks like it will be a complete disaster on any of: Very high demand days, very low demand days, very high wind days, very low wind days. And lord help you when a very cold very high demand day shows up without wind. “Dark and cold” are not a good combination…"
From the comments -"Germany is way ahead in that front. The grid is so unstable due to wind/solar that their neighbors installed special circuits to block Germany’s overflow.So all in all they invested 140 billion euros to replace a few nuclear reactors, with as a result that energy prices skyrocket, the grid becomes unstable and they have to run coal and gas fired power plants at full steam anyway."
April Arctic Sea Ice Area Increasing
Real Science
"Over the past decade, April Arctic sea ice area has been increasing – with four of the five highest years occurring after 2008."
"Over the past decade, April Arctic sea ice area has been increasing – with four of the five highest years occurring after 2008."
Global Warming Grips North America!
NoTricksZone
"Here’s more proof that global warming causes cooling. I guess all that heat up there in the Arctic really does disrupt and cause the northern hemisphere to cool. The models also (now) say so."
"Here’s more proof that global warming causes cooling. I guess all that heat up there in the Arctic really does disrupt and cause the northern hemisphere to cool. The models also (now) say so."
Obama gears up for a Carbon (Dioxide) Tax [part 2]
Joint U.S.-China Statement on Climate Change
"The two countries took special note of the overwhelming scientific consensus about anthropogenic climate change and its worsening impacts, including the sharp rise in global average temperatures over the past century, the alarming acidification of our oceans, the rapid loss of Arctic sea ice, and the striking incidence of extreme weather events occurring all over the world. Both sides recognize that, given the latest scientific understanding of accelerating climate change and the urgent need to intensify global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, forceful, nationally appropriate action by the United States and China – including large-scale cooperative action – is more critical than ever. Such action is crucial both to contain climate change and to set the kind of powerful example that can inspire the world."
U.S.-Japan Fact Sheet on Climate Change Cooperation
"The United States and Japan share the view that anthropogenic climate change represents a threat to the security and economic development of all nations. On the occasion of their meeting today in Tokyo, Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida expressed serious concern about anthropogenic climate change and its worsening impacts."
ED: This is just alarmist rhetoric (that has been de-bunked by the historic data or is a mis-representation of natural events) to install a TAX
"The two countries took special note of the overwhelming scientific consensus about anthropogenic climate change and its worsening impacts, including the sharp rise in global average temperatures over the past century, the alarming acidification of our oceans, the rapid loss of Arctic sea ice, and the striking incidence of extreme weather events occurring all over the world. Both sides recognize that, given the latest scientific understanding of accelerating climate change and the urgent need to intensify global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, forceful, nationally appropriate action by the United States and China – including large-scale cooperative action – is more critical than ever. Such action is crucial both to contain climate change and to set the kind of powerful example that can inspire the world."
U.S.-Japan Fact Sheet on Climate Change Cooperation
"The United States and Japan share the view that anthropogenic climate change represents a threat to the security and economic development of all nations. On the occasion of their meeting today in Tokyo, Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida expressed serious concern about anthropogenic climate change and its worsening impacts."
ED: This is just alarmist rhetoric (that has been de-bunked by the historic data or is a mis-representation of natural events) to install a TAX
Saturday, 13 April 2013
Less Than Half in U.S. and Britain Believe in Man-Made Climate Change
Angus Reid Public Opinion
"In Britain, fewer than half of respondents across the five main regions agree with man-made climate change. London (48%) has the highest numbers, followed by Midlands and Wales (47%), the South of England (46%), Scotland (also 46%) and the North (42%). .......In Britain, no survey conducted in the past five years has yielded a majority of respondents expressing belief in man-made climate change, although the proportion of respondents who claim global warming is an unproven theory has dropped from a high of 27 per cent in April 2010 (during the University of East Anglia’s Independent Climate Change Email Review) to 19 per cent this year." (h/t Guido Fawkes)
"In Britain, fewer than half of respondents across the five main regions agree with man-made climate change. London (48%) has the highest numbers, followed by Midlands and Wales (47%), the South of England (46%), Scotland (also 46%) and the North (42%). .......In Britain, no survey conducted in the past five years has yielded a majority of respondents expressing belief in man-made climate change, although the proportion of respondents who claim global warming is an unproven theory has dropped from a high of 27 per cent in April 2010 (during the University of East Anglia’s Independent Climate Change Email Review) to 19 per cent this year." (h/t Guido Fawkes)
Tibetan Temperature Reconstruction Shows Medieval Warm Period Was Warmer Than Today!
NoTricksZone
"Our records show that the regional temperatures during the MWP exceeded those in the recent warm period. The estimated warmth during the MWP optimum relative to the recent level could be bracketed by the ~1.9°C estimated from Lake Gahai and ~0.5°C from Lake Qinghai. Therefore, the MWP warmth was probably in a climate state beyond the climate variability captured by the recent warm period, joining a growing body of such evidence elsewhere."
"Our records show that the regional temperatures during the MWP exceeded those in the recent warm period. The estimated warmth during the MWP optimum relative to the recent level could be bracketed by the ~1.9°C estimated from Lake Gahai and ~0.5°C from Lake Qinghai. Therefore, the MWP warmth was probably in a climate state beyond the climate variability captured by the recent warm period, joining a growing body of such evidence elsewhere."
At long last the mainstream media are paying attention to global warming sceptics
Spectator
"The failure of the Earth to warm since the start of the century has been a talking point for global warming sceptics for many years, but it is only in the past few months that the mainstream media have started to pay attention too. In recent weeks the Economist, Channel Four News, and even ultra-green writers like the Telegraph’s Geoffrey Lean have sat up and taken notice. And on top of the pause, a series of recent studies of how fast temperature will rise in response to carbon dioxide emissions has produced estimates that are decidedly un-scary.
Together with the plateau in global temperatures these estimates have a profound impact on energy policy: less warming means less damage and lower costs in the future, and of course it is much harder to justify spending to avoid a low cost than a large one. In particular, it is likely that wind farms, which may well fail a cost/benefit analysis on the old, higher estimates of global warming, will become absurdly expensive when those estimates are reduced.
The global warming movement is not going to take this lying down though and the kickback has already begun. In an opinion piece published at the website of ABC News in Australia, the famous climatologist Michael Mann and his sidekick Dana Nucitelli have written an extraordinary critique of the Economist’s article."
"The failure of the Earth to warm since the start of the century has been a talking point for global warming sceptics for many years, but it is only in the past few months that the mainstream media have started to pay attention too. In recent weeks the Economist, Channel Four News, and even ultra-green writers like the Telegraph’s Geoffrey Lean have sat up and taken notice. And on top of the pause, a series of recent studies of how fast temperature will rise in response to carbon dioxide emissions has produced estimates that are decidedly un-scary.
Together with the plateau in global temperatures these estimates have a profound impact on energy policy: less warming means less damage and lower costs in the future, and of course it is much harder to justify spending to avoid a low cost than a large one. In particular, it is likely that wind farms, which may well fail a cost/benefit analysis on the old, higher estimates of global warming, will become absurdly expensive when those estimates are reduced.
The global warming movement is not going to take this lying down though and the kickback has already begun. In an opinion piece published at the website of ABC News in Australia, the famous climatologist Michael Mann and his sidekick Dana Nucitelli have written an extraordinary critique of the Economist’s article."
English Winters Back To Normal–Julia Blames Global Warming!
WUWT
"So just how cold have Britain’s winters become? Well, according to the Central England Temperature series, not very! The winter just gone ranks an unremarkable 187th coldest in the 354 years since the index started in 1660. Figure 1 shows just how unremarkable it has been. The 2012/13 winter finished at 3.83C, a fraction above the mean over the whole record of 3.72C."
"So just how cold have Britain’s winters become? Well, according to the Central England Temperature series, not very! The winter just gone ranks an unremarkable 187th coldest in the 354 years since the index started in 1660. Figure 1 shows just how unremarkable it has been. The 2012/13 winter finished at 3.83C, a fraction above the mean over the whole record of 3.72C."
Thursday, 11 April 2013
Fool Me Once: Munich Re's Thunderstorm Claims
Roger Pielke Jr.'s Blog
"As one looks a little bit closer at the public representations made by Munich Re about the paper and the paper itself, one quickly finds -- as is all too common in climate science -- that the strong public claims simply cannot be supported by the actual research, and the paper suffers from an obvious fatal error. Let's have a look. ..........Misleading public claims. An over-hyped press release. A paper which neglects to include materially relevant and contradictory information central to its core argument. All in all, just a normal day in climate science! "
"As one looks a little bit closer at the public representations made by Munich Re about the paper and the paper itself, one quickly finds -- as is all too common in climate science -- that the strong public claims simply cannot be supported by the actual research, and the paper suffers from an obvious fatal error. Let's have a look. ..........Misleading public claims. An over-hyped press release. A paper which neglects to include materially relevant and contradictory information central to its core argument. All in all, just a normal day in climate science! "
Climate Science: The Constructing Explanations Phase
sunshine hours
"What is really happening is that climate scientists are just making these explanations up because us “deniers” have been mocking them and making them look really really stupid. So scientists being well funded by the AGW industry have started constructing explanations to attack the deniers attacks on the old stupid obviously wrong predictions climate scientists made in the past.
So … we are now in the Constructing Explanations Phase of climate science. In essence they are trying to cover up their horrible predictions with bogus excuses."
"What is really happening is that climate scientists are just making these explanations up because us “deniers” have been mocking them and making them look really really stupid. So scientists being well funded by the AGW industry have started constructing explanations to attack the deniers attacks on the old stupid obviously wrong predictions climate scientists made in the past.
So … we are now in the Constructing Explanations Phase of climate science. In essence they are trying to cover up their horrible predictions with bogus excuses."
The Medieval Warm Period was global & explains the Current Warm Period
The Hockey Schtick
" Evidence of a Medieval Warm Period in Antarctica Was there a Medieval Warm Period somewhere in the world in addition to the area surrounding the North Atlantic Ocean, where its occurrence is uncontested? This question is of utmost importance to the ongoing global warming debate, for if the Medieval Warm Period is found to have been a global climatic phenomenon, and if the locations where it occurred were as warm in medieval times as they are currently, there is no need to consider the temperature increase of the past century as anything other than the natural progression of the persistent millennial-scale oscillation of climate that regularly brings the earth several-hundred-year periods of modestly higher and lower temperatures that are totally independent of variations in atmospheric CO2 concentration. Consequently, we here review the findings of several studies that have found evidence for the Medieval Warm Period in a region that is as far away from lands bordering on the North Atlantic Ocean as one could possibly get, i.e., Antarctica."
" Evidence of a Medieval Warm Period in Antarctica Was there a Medieval Warm Period somewhere in the world in addition to the area surrounding the North Atlantic Ocean, where its occurrence is uncontested? This question is of utmost importance to the ongoing global warming debate, for if the Medieval Warm Period is found to have been a global climatic phenomenon, and if the locations where it occurred were as warm in medieval times as they are currently, there is no need to consider the temperature increase of the past century as anything other than the natural progression of the persistent millennial-scale oscillation of climate that regularly brings the earth several-hundred-year periods of modestly higher and lower temperatures that are totally independent of variations in atmospheric CO2 concentration. Consequently, we here review the findings of several studies that have found evidence for the Medieval Warm Period in a region that is as far away from lands bordering on the North Atlantic Ocean as one could possibly get, i.e., Antarctica."
Russian Academy Of Sciences Experts Warn Of Imminent Cold Period: “Global Warming Is A Marketing Trick”
NoTricksZone
"You’ll notice that this Voice of Russia report is more than a month old, and so one wonders why it was never picked up by the western mainstream media. The article writes that Russian scientists are predicting that “a little ice age will begin in 2014“. The article adds: They reject the claim of global warming and call it a marketing trick.”
"You’ll notice that this Voice of Russia report is more than a month old, and so one wonders why it was never picked up by the western mainstream media. The article writes that Russian scientists are predicting that “a little ice age will begin in 2014“. The article adds: They reject the claim of global warming and call it a marketing trick.”
Those who don’t learn from Yamal, are condemned to repeat it – Marcott’s YAD061
WUWT
"You’d think academics in the upside down Mann climate proxy world would pay attention, and not repeat the same mistakes of the past. Apparently not. WUWT readers surely recall the Yamal YAD06 (The most influential tree in the world) and the core sample YAD061...Steve McIntyre points out the YAD061 equivalent in Marcott et al, where a single sample contributed the majority of the uptick."
"You’d think academics in the upside down Mann climate proxy world would pay attention, and not repeat the same mistakes of the past. Apparently not. WUWT readers surely recall the Yamal YAD06 (The most influential tree in the world) and the core sample YAD061...Steve McIntyre points out the YAD061 equivalent in Marcott et al, where a single sample contributed the majority of the uptick."
Wednesday, 10 April 2013
FOIA obtained Met Office document shows them to be clueless about what affects our climate, and, in particular, what caused the unusual weather last year
WUWT
"Following the wet summer in the UK last year, the Met Office provided the Environment Agency with a briefing document, giving an overview of the weather. This was discussed at the September Board Meeting of the Environment Agency, which Met Office officials attended. As far as I know, this document, which I obtained through FOI, has never entered the public domain. It is brutally honest in admitting how little the Met’s scientists understand about what affects our climate, and, in particular, what caused the unusual weather last year. This is in stark contrast to many of the hyped up claims, made in public statements in the recent past by, among others, the Met Office themselves."
In Summary
The Met openly admit that neither they, nor climate science in general, have any real understanding about the basic processes that affect our climate. It is surely time that they, DEFRA and others admitted this in public, instead of continually repeating the same old speculations that every bit of bad weather is linked to global warming."
"Following the wet summer in the UK last year, the Met Office provided the Environment Agency with a briefing document, giving an overview of the weather. This was discussed at the September Board Meeting of the Environment Agency, which Met Office officials attended. As far as I know, this document, which I obtained through FOI, has never entered the public domain. It is brutally honest in admitting how little the Met’s scientists understand about what affects our climate, and, in particular, what caused the unusual weather last year. This is in stark contrast to many of the hyped up claims, made in public statements in the recent past by, among others, the Met Office themselves."
In Summary
The Met openly admit that neither they, nor climate science in general, have any real understanding about the basic processes that affect our climate. It is surely time that they, DEFRA and others admitted this in public, instead of continually repeating the same old speculations that every bit of bad weather is linked to global warming."
More Direct Words From Hans von Storch: Climate Science’s “Almost Medieval Political Understanding”
NoTricksZone
'With climate activity, countless factors interact with each other, and lots of explanations are possible. Using models it has been shown that this special mechanism could function that way. But that does not mean in any way that it is the deciding factor' -- Can the cause of the cold winters be identified? HvS: 'One has to ask why are such explanations first found after the event appears. It indeed would have been much nicer if someone had said already in the year 2000: By the way, you have to expect harder winters in Europe because the Arctic ice is retreating in the summer. This claim today then would have been far more convincing. But it was the other way around: We noticed that something strange had happened, and then an explanation was constructed. Other explanations would also be possible'
'With climate activity, countless factors interact with each other, and lots of explanations are possible. Using models it has been shown that this special mechanism could function that way. But that does not mean in any way that it is the deciding factor' -- Can the cause of the cold winters be identified? HvS: 'One has to ask why are such explanations first found after the event appears. It indeed would have been much nicer if someone had said already in the year 2000: By the way, you have to expect harder winters in Europe because the Arctic ice is retreating in the summer. This claim today then would have been far more convincing. But it was the other way around: We noticed that something strange had happened, and then an explanation was constructed. Other explanations would also be possible'
Detailed information about the fuels used to generate electricity (UK)
British Gas
Coal 13.7%
Natural gas 50.0%
Nuclear 26.5%
Renewables 7.9%
Other fuels 1.8%
NPower
Coal 29%
Natural Gas 55%
Nuclear 2%
Renewable 12%
Other 2%
Coal 13.7%
Natural gas 50.0%
Nuclear 26.5%
Renewables 7.9%
Other fuels 1.8%
NPower
Coal 29%
Natural Gas 55%
Nuclear 2%
Renewable 12%
Other 2%
Tuesday, 9 April 2013
On birds and fracking
Bishop Hill
"At the end of last year, the great hope of the UK shale industry Cuadrilla Resources was in hot water after apparently allowing drilling operations to continue beyond a deadline put in place to protect wintering birds. The wish to protect the local birdlife seems to have been a contributory factor in the the company's decisions to postpone futher drilling into 2014. ........ Cuadrilla's drilling work is to take place right next to a brick factory! If you look at the satellite image of the area you can see the scale of these operations: ......This is rather extraordinary. How is it that fracking, taking place thousands of feet below the surface, has to stop for overwintering birds, while brickmaking, taking place above ground and on a much bigger scale can continue?"
"At the end of last year, the great hope of the UK shale industry Cuadrilla Resources was in hot water after apparently allowing drilling operations to continue beyond a deadline put in place to protect wintering birds. The wish to protect the local birdlife seems to have been a contributory factor in the the company's decisions to postpone futher drilling into 2014. ........ Cuadrilla's drilling work is to take place right next to a brick factory! If you look at the satellite image of the area you can see the scale of these operations: ......This is rather extraordinary. How is it that fracking, taking place thousands of feet below the surface, has to stop for overwintering birds, while brickmaking, taking place above ground and on a much bigger scale can continue?"
Monday, 8 April 2013
Climate Depot Round Up: ‘The great warmist retreat has officially begun. The mainstream media cannot maintain the official man-made global warming narrative any longer’
Climate Depot
"Climate Depot Note: “The mainstream media cannot maintain the official man-made global warming narrative any longer. With the lack of warming and the failure to shift the climate debate to “extreme weather”, warmists are now losing once stalwart members of the media in promoting man-made climate fears. These are not good times for the promoters of global warming. Earth is failing to follow global warming predictions and the new study claiming current temperatures are the “hottest ever” may be facing a full scientific retraction. The great warmist retreat has officially begun.”
"Climate Depot Note: “The mainstream media cannot maintain the official man-made global warming narrative any longer. With the lack of warming and the failure to shift the climate debate to “extreme weather”, warmists are now losing once stalwart members of the media in promoting man-made climate fears. These are not good times for the promoters of global warming. Earth is failing to follow global warming predictions and the new study claiming current temperatures are the “hottest ever” may be facing a full scientific retraction. The great warmist retreat has officially begun.”
The Big Green Insane Con – Half Of European “Renewables” is filthy, smoky, high CO2 Wood!
sunshine hours
"The big green con continues in Europe. While the USA is burning more and more clean natural gas, Europe is burning more wood! “Which source of renewable energy is most important to the European Union? Solar power, perhaps? (Europe has three-quarters of the world’s total installed capacity of solar photovoltaic energy.) Or wind? (Germany trebled its wind-power capacity in the past decade.) The answer is neither. By far the largest so-called renewable fuel used in Europe is wood."
"The big green con continues in Europe. While the USA is burning more and more clean natural gas, Europe is burning more wood! “Which source of renewable energy is most important to the European Union? Solar power, perhaps? (Europe has three-quarters of the world’s total installed capacity of solar photovoltaic energy.) Or wind? (Germany trebled its wind-power capacity in the past decade.) The answer is neither. By far the largest so-called renewable fuel used in Europe is wood."
“Potsdam, We Have A Problem!”…As Observed Reality Diverges From Models, Europe’s Major Media Grows Skeptical
NoTricksZone
"Doubts over climate science are snowballing among the elite media in Europe."
"Doubts over climate science are snowballing among the elite media in Europe."
The BBC and the great levelised costs lie
Bishop Hill
"When watching Matt Briggs' lecture on the use and misuse of statistics by climatologists and social scientists, I was struck by his summary of the problems with the use of p-values, namely the view within the field that since everybody uses them, it doesn't matter that doing so is silly."
"When watching Matt Briggs' lecture on the use and misuse of statistics by climatologists and social scientists, I was struck by his summary of the problems with the use of p-values, namely the view within the field that since everybody uses them, it doesn't matter that doing so is silly."
Sunday, 7 April 2013
Meteorologist Joe Bastardi: The Whole CO2 “Argument Is Tiresome And Absurd…Warmists Living In A Fantasy World”
NoTricksZone
"Joe Bastardi of weatherbell.com/ kindly took the time to write a comment, and so I think it deserves being upgraded to a post. It’s one whole semester of meteorology summed up (edited by PG)!"
"Joe Bastardi of weatherbell.com/ kindly took the time to write a comment, and so I think it deserves being upgraded to a post. It’s one whole semester of meteorology summed up (edited by PG)!"
Government bureaucrats delay life-saving road projects, but let wind turbines butcher bats
WUWT
"Supposedly “eco-friendly” wind turbines in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands kill tens of thousands of bats annually. The Fowler Ridge and Meadow Lake facilities in northwestern Indiana already have 475 gigantic turbines on 75,000 acres; an additional 150 wind turbines are planned; and all are in the middle of prime Indiana bat habitat.
Even worse, long after the slaughter began, the USFWS is evaluating whether to grant Fowler Ridge a 22-year “incidental take” permit, so that the turbines can continue decimating bats – and the operators can continue being exempted from laws and penalties that apply to everyone else.
Of course, bats aren’t the only victims. Numerous rare, vital and endangered bird species are also at risk from wind turbines – including whooping cranes, hawks, falcons, and bald and golden eagles."
"Supposedly “eco-friendly” wind turbines in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands kill tens of thousands of bats annually. The Fowler Ridge and Meadow Lake facilities in northwestern Indiana already have 475 gigantic turbines on 75,000 acres; an additional 150 wind turbines are planned; and all are in the middle of prime Indiana bat habitat.
Even worse, long after the slaughter began, the USFWS is evaluating whether to grant Fowler Ridge a 22-year “incidental take” permit, so that the turbines can continue decimating bats – and the operators can continue being exempted from laws and penalties that apply to everyone else.
Of course, bats aren’t the only victims. Numerous rare, vital and endangered bird species are also at risk from wind turbines – including whooping cranes, hawks, falcons, and bald and golden eagles."
Global Sea Ice Hits 10-Year Spring High…At Same Level As 1981, Just After Satellite Measurements Began!
NoTricksZone
"Over the long-term, the Arctic is a sort of climate barometer, but one that lags the overall northern hemisphere mean temperature trend. What we saw last fall in the Arctic is in part only a consequence of the warm 2000s decade. By the end of the current decade, chances are good that we will see the Arctic recovering strongly, in response to an overall cooling of the northern hemisphere."
"Over the long-term, the Arctic is a sort of climate barometer, but one that lags the overall northern hemisphere mean temperature trend. What we saw last fall in the Arctic is in part only a consequence of the warm 2000s decade. By the end of the current decade, chances are good that we will see the Arctic recovering strongly, in response to an overall cooling of the northern hemisphere."
Saturday, 6 April 2013
Baltic Sea Sets March Ice Record…”Never Seen This Much Ice This Late In The Season”
NoTricksZone
" ‘Since record keeping began in the sixties, we’ve never encountered anything like this before,’ ice breaker Ulf Gulldne told the local newspaper Örnsköldsviks Allehanda. On March 29th, 176,000 square kilometers of the Baltic Sea was covered in ice, a record for the time of year.” To blame is the long protracted winter with its unusually cold temperatures. The Local quotes a captain of an ice-breaker: I’ve never seen this much ice this late in the season,” said Karl Herlin, captain of the icebreaker Atle."
" ‘Since record keeping began in the sixties, we’ve never encountered anything like this before,’ ice breaker Ulf Gulldne told the local newspaper Örnsköldsviks Allehanda. On March 29th, 176,000 square kilometers of the Baltic Sea was covered in ice, a record for the time of year.” To blame is the long protracted winter with its unusually cold temperatures. The Local quotes a captain of an ice-breaker: I’ve never seen this much ice this late in the season,” said Karl Herlin, captain of the icebreaker Atle."
Beware the wrong kind of Leafs on the road
Christopher Booker,Telegraph
"While David Cameron and the BBC promote battery-charged electric cars, do they realise how dotty and ineffective they are? ........the recent visit by David Cameron to the Nissan car plant in Sunderland, to acclaim these “cars of the future” as he celebrated the launch of the first all-electric Leaf made in Europe. Nissan hopes to sell these vehicles to British drivers at £24,460 a time, plus a £5,000 subsidy from us taxpayers.
What would never have been guessed from either Mr Davis or the Prime Minister was that lurking behind all this is a huge story, involving one of the most dottily fanciful schemes even the EU has ever put its hand to. We are all familiar with what makes this obsession with electric cars so curious. For up to £30,000 or more you get a battery-operated vehicle which, if driven quite slowly with the lights and heating off, can travel up to 100 miles before its battery needs several hours of recharging. Two years ago, after the BBC broadcast yet another of its propaganda puffs – showing how it had taken four days to drive an electric car from London to Edinburgh, involving recharging stops of up to 10 hours – I noted that in the 1830s, a stagecoach could do the same journey in half the time."
"While David Cameron and the BBC promote battery-charged electric cars, do they realise how dotty and ineffective they are? ........the recent visit by David Cameron to the Nissan car plant in Sunderland, to acclaim these “cars of the future” as he celebrated the launch of the first all-electric Leaf made in Europe. Nissan hopes to sell these vehicles to British drivers at £24,460 a time, plus a £5,000 subsidy from us taxpayers.
What would never have been guessed from either Mr Davis or the Prime Minister was that lurking behind all this is a huge story, involving one of the most dottily fanciful schemes even the EU has ever put its hand to. We are all familiar with what makes this obsession with electric cars so curious. For up to £30,000 or more you get a battery-operated vehicle which, if driven quite slowly with the lights and heating off, can travel up to 100 miles before its battery needs several hours of recharging. Two years ago, after the BBC broadcast yet another of its propaganda puffs – showing how it had taken four days to drive an electric car from London to Edinburgh, involving recharging stops of up to 10 hours – I noted that in the 1830s, a stagecoach could do the same journey in half the time."
Let's lose the dodgy climate advice - and save £165,000
Christopher Booker,Telegraph
" Last week, as Britain and much of Europe were struggling through the coldest spring in decades, Sir John Beddington marked his retirement from his £165,000-a-year post as the Government’s chief scientific adviser by touring the television and radio studios to terrify us all once more with his all-too-familiar message of how we are threatened by runaway global warming. Thanks to climate change, the litany runs, we now face ever more disruption to our weather, ever more floods, droughts, hurricanes, blizzards and all the rest. Whether it is too cold or too hot, too wet or too dry, we are meant to believe that it’s all our fault and we must bring the climate back under control.
In fact, it is far from clear why Sir John, as an expert in population biology, should be regarded as having any authority to pronounce on such matters. A year or two back, for instance, he was telling us that by the end of this century we can expect the warmest days in Europe to be 8C hotter than they are now, and that in America they will be 11C hotter – claims that exceed even the wildest predictions of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
What is it about these chief scientific advisers that, one after another, they are expected to come up with the same old claptrap about the future of the climate, even though their scientific specialisms give them no more obvious qualification to sound off on this subject than a chap holding forth in the pub?"
" Last week, as Britain and much of Europe were struggling through the coldest spring in decades, Sir John Beddington marked his retirement from his £165,000-a-year post as the Government’s chief scientific adviser by touring the television and radio studios to terrify us all once more with his all-too-familiar message of how we are threatened by runaway global warming. Thanks to climate change, the litany runs, we now face ever more disruption to our weather, ever more floods, droughts, hurricanes, blizzards and all the rest. Whether it is too cold or too hot, too wet or too dry, we are meant to believe that it’s all our fault and we must bring the climate back under control.
In fact, it is far from clear why Sir John, as an expert in population biology, should be regarded as having any authority to pronounce on such matters. A year or two back, for instance, he was telling us that by the end of this century we can expect the warmest days in Europe to be 8C hotter than they are now, and that in America they will be 11C hotter – claims that exceed even the wildest predictions of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
What is it about these chief scientific advisers that, one after another, they are expected to come up with the same old claptrap about the future of the climate, even though their scientific specialisms give them no more obvious qualification to sound off on this subject than a chap holding forth in the pub?"
Global warming: time to rein back on doom and gloom?
Telegraph/ Geoffrey Lean
"It also raises the possibility that carbon dioxide may be less potent than has been thought in heating the planet. Again, this is not to say, as some sceptics attest, that it is innocent – the science showing that it is a greenhouse gas has been established for more than 150 years and accords with the very laws of physics. But it may be less guilty than once supposed. And this is reinforced by recent findings that emissions of soot, or black carbon – which patient readers may remember I have been banging on about for years – are causing twice as much warming as previously estimated, meaning that the contribution of CO2 must be correspondingly less."
ED: This is the sound of retreat,but it is very painful for alarmists to do, so expect much by way of excuses...
"It also raises the possibility that carbon dioxide may be less potent than has been thought in heating the planet. Again, this is not to say, as some sceptics attest, that it is innocent – the science showing that it is a greenhouse gas has been established for more than 150 years and accords with the very laws of physics. But it may be less guilty than once supposed. And this is reinforced by recent findings that emissions of soot, or black carbon – which patient readers may remember I have been banging on about for years – are causing twice as much warming as previously estimated, meaning that the contribution of CO2 must be correspondingly less."
ED: This is the sound of retreat,but it is very painful for alarmists to do, so expect much by way of excuses...
Full retreat?
Bishop Hill
"When even zealots like Lean are in retreat it's fair to say that something significant has changed. One can only wonder whether this change of tune is a function of the Economist's coverage of the issue or of what Lean's contacts are whispering to him about the Fifth Assessment Report."
"When even zealots like Lean are in retreat it's fair to say that something significant has changed. One can only wonder whether this change of tune is a function of the Economist's coverage of the issue or of what Lean's contacts are whispering to him about the Fifth Assessment Report."
Friday, 5 April 2013
The reef that regenerated: Researchers find corals in Northern Australia healed themselves in just 12 years
Daily Mail
"The new research shows that an isolated reef off the northwest coast of Australia that was severely damaged by a period of warming in 1998. It was hit by coral bleaching, caused by higher water temperatures that break down the coral's symbiotic relationship with algae that provide food for coral growth. However, the team found Scott reef has regenerated in a very short time to become nearly as healthy as it was before."
"The new research shows that an isolated reef off the northwest coast of Australia that was severely damaged by a period of warming in 1998. It was hit by coral bleaching, caused by higher water temperatures that break down the coral's symbiotic relationship with algae that provide food for coral growth. However, the team found Scott reef has regenerated in a very short time to become nearly as healthy as it was before."
Warming and worry go AWOL
WUWT
"Some stories this week that show global warming aka climate change is beginning to fade away as an issue. From the 3C Headlines blog: Global satellite temperatures confirm hiatus of global warming, while the general public and mainstream press are beginning to recognise what climate sceptics long ago identified…global temperatures are trending towards cooling, not accelerating higher. ...Per The Economist magazine and other major mainstream media outlets, it’s now obvious the conventional, “consensus” global warming meme promulgated by taxpayer-funded researchers is no longer robust – even for the MSM press-release puppets it would appear."
"Some stories this week that show global warming aka climate change is beginning to fade away as an issue. From the 3C Headlines blog: Global satellite temperatures confirm hiatus of global warming, while the general public and mainstream press are beginning to recognise what climate sceptics long ago identified…global temperatures are trending towards cooling, not accelerating higher. ...Per The Economist magazine and other major mainstream media outlets, it’s now obvious the conventional, “consensus” global warming meme promulgated by taxpayer-funded researchers is no longer robust – even for the MSM press-release puppets it would appear."
Thursday, 4 April 2013
Ex-professor tells senators climate data manipulated
EnergyCentral
" Ranker and Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane, took issue with Easterbrook's assertion that NASA, the National Science Foundation and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration would "manipulate" climate data and create a false impression that climate change is real and that global temperatures are rising. They argued there is an apparent consensus in scientific literature. "They have frankly tampered with the data ... Mine is the original data,'' Easterbrook said at one point. Pressed on this by Ranker, he added it wasn't anything "scurrilous" done by the science panels but he insisted that data had been "adjusted" in ways that made it less accurate than his interpretations.
His own reading of data, Easterbrook said, showed there were 20 periods of global cooling and heating over the past 500 years with the most recent cooling trend beginning in 1998 and likely to last up to 25 or 30 years. He asserted that his work was peer reviewed and indicated that he could provide that information to Ranker. Among Easterbrook's assertions: that polar ice caps are not melting or shrinking; that sea level not is rising in many places including Neah Bay; that sea water is not becoming acidic due to carbon dioxide, although he said oceanic and Puget Sound waters may be becoming less alkaline as a result of pollutants; and that carbon dioxide is too scarce in the planet's atmosphere to produce climatic change. All were point-by-point refutations of claims Inslee had made in his own testimony on the bill."
" Ranker and Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane, took issue with Easterbrook's assertion that NASA, the National Science Foundation and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration would "manipulate" climate data and create a false impression that climate change is real and that global temperatures are rising. They argued there is an apparent consensus in scientific literature. "They have frankly tampered with the data ... Mine is the original data,'' Easterbrook said at one point. Pressed on this by Ranker, he added it wasn't anything "scurrilous" done by the science panels but he insisted that data had been "adjusted" in ways that made it less accurate than his interpretations.
His own reading of data, Easterbrook said, showed there were 20 periods of global cooling and heating over the past 500 years with the most recent cooling trend beginning in 1998 and likely to last up to 25 or 30 years. He asserted that his work was peer reviewed and indicated that he could provide that information to Ranker. Among Easterbrook's assertions: that polar ice caps are not melting or shrinking; that sea level not is rising in many places including Neah Bay; that sea water is not becoming acidic due to carbon dioxide, although he said oceanic and Puget Sound waters may be becoming less alkaline as a result of pollutants; and that carbon dioxide is too scarce in the planet's atmosphere to produce climatic change. All were point-by-point refutations of claims Inslee had made in his own testimony on the bill."
Climate Science Humiliated…Earlier Model Prognoses Of Warmer Winters Now Today’s Laughingstocks
NoTricksZone
"Over more than two decades we were told again and again that everywhere was warming faster than everywhere else – especially winters were warming up quickly. Snow was becoming a thing of the past and children soon weren’t going to know what it is. “The warm winters that we are seeing are just a harbinger of what’s to come,” the media declared just a couple of years ago. The scientists were cock-sure.
Today we are finding that precisely the exact opposite is happening. Winters in Europe have turned colder and more severe. Central Europe has seen its 5th consecutive colder than normal winter in a row – a record since measurements began in the 19th century."
"Over more than two decades we were told again and again that everywhere was warming faster than everywhere else – especially winters were warming up quickly. Snow was becoming a thing of the past and children soon weren’t going to know what it is. “The warm winters that we are seeing are just a harbinger of what’s to come,” the media declared just a couple of years ago. The scientists were cock-sure.
Today we are finding that precisely the exact opposite is happening. Winters in Europe have turned colder and more severe. Central Europe has seen its 5th consecutive colder than normal winter in a row – a record since measurements began in the 19th century."
Biofuels debate
Bishop Hill
"Earl Attlee recently answered questions on biofuels from members of the House of Lords. The Hansard record is here, and it gives a flavour of the pressure for the government to wave its magic wand and make the industry viable. In other words poor people must subsidise the rich, the wasteful and the inefficient: ..."
"Earl Attlee recently answered questions on biofuels from members of the House of Lords. The Hansard record is here, and it gives a flavour of the pressure for the government to wave its magic wand and make the industry viable. In other words poor people must subsidise the rich, the wasteful and the inefficient: ..."
Jobs and junkets are on the line. Abbott could axe Flannery and the climate commission
JoNova(Australia)
"No wonder Flannery and co. are playing double or nothing. While headlines have shouted for years that vested interests of the fossil fuel players dominate this debate, few journalists point out that the renewables industry, carbon trading markets, and the climate-scary-science-campaign have an all-or-nothing interest in propagating alarm."
"No wonder Flannery and co. are playing double or nothing. While headlines have shouted for years that vested interests of the fossil fuel players dominate this debate, few journalists point out that the renewables industry, carbon trading markets, and the climate-scary-science-campaign have an all-or-nothing interest in propagating alarm."
How the Hockey Stick Crumbled: A Post Mortem
Powerline
"This appears to be one more in a long series of frauds and hoaxes perpetrated by climate alarmists. This one unravelled faster than most; nevertheless, it served its purpose. Newspapers and magazines around the world trumpeted Marcott’s findings, and reproduced his hockey stick graph, as though it were solid evidence of catastrophic anthropogenic global warming. Now the question is, will they leave their readers with this false impression, or will they publicize the fact that they were had, once again, by climate alarmists?"
"This appears to be one more in a long series of frauds and hoaxes perpetrated by climate alarmists. This one unravelled faster than most; nevertheless, it served its purpose. Newspapers and magazines around the world trumpeted Marcott’s findings, and reproduced his hockey stick graph, as though it were solid evidence of catastrophic anthropogenic global warming. Now the question is, will they leave their readers with this false impression, or will they publicize the fact that they were had, once again, by climate alarmists?"
We’re not screwed?
Financial Post/Ross McKitrick
"11,000-year study’s 20th-century claim is groundless ....The 20th-century uptick was the focus of worldwide media attention, during which the authors made very strong claims about the implications of their findings regarding 20th-century warming. Yet at no point did they mention the fact that the 20th century portion of their proxy reconstruction is garbage."
"11,000-year study’s 20th-century claim is groundless ....The 20th-century uptick was the focus of worldwide media attention, during which the authors made very strong claims about the implications of their findings regarding 20th-century warming. Yet at no point did they mention the fact that the 20th century portion of their proxy reconstruction is garbage."
Climate Change Endgame In Sight?
Powerline
"That day appears to have arrived. The new issue of The Economist has a long feature on the declining confidence in the high estimates of climate sensitivity. That this appears in The Economist is significant, because this august British news organ has been fully on board with climate alarmism for years now. A Washington-based Economist correspondent admitted to me privately several years ago that the senior editors in London had mandated consistent and regular alarmist climate coverage in its pages."
"That day appears to have arrived. The new issue of The Economist has a long feature on the declining confidence in the high estimates of climate sensitivity. That this appears in The Economist is significant, because this august British news organ has been fully on board with climate alarmism for years now. A Washington-based Economist correspondent admitted to me privately several years ago that the senior editors in London had mandated consistent and regular alarmist climate coverage in its pages."
Wednesday, 3 April 2013
Lies, damned lies and hockey sticks
Spiked
"On Easter Sunday, Marcott and his colleagues published a response on the Real Climate blog. Most notable was this comment: ‘Our global paleotemperature reconstruction includes a so-called “uptick” in temperatures during the twentieth century. However, in the paper we make the point that this particular feature is of shorter duration than the inherent smoothing in our statistical averaging procedure, and that it is based on only a few available paleo-reconstructions of the type we used. Thus, the twentieth-century portion of our paleotemperature stack is not statistically robust, cannot be considered representative of global temperature changes, and therefore is not the basis of any of our conclusions.’
Wow.
In other words, all that stuff about having the highest temperatures for millennia and about eye-popping warming over the past 100 years appears to have no basis in the paper’s actual temperature reconstruction. As climate policy expert Roger Pielke Jr points out, that correction/clarification needs to be trumpeted as loudly as the original claims were. Remove the twentieth-century portion of the reconstruction and it merely shows that temperatures have been falling overall for the past few thousand years. That doesn’t exactly support the case for urgent action on climate change, does it?"
"On Easter Sunday, Marcott and his colleagues published a response on the Real Climate blog. Most notable was this comment: ‘Our global paleotemperature reconstruction includes a so-called “uptick” in temperatures during the twentieth century. However, in the paper we make the point that this particular feature is of shorter duration than the inherent smoothing in our statistical averaging procedure, and that it is based on only a few available paleo-reconstructions of the type we used. Thus, the twentieth-century portion of our paleotemperature stack is not statistically robust, cannot be considered representative of global temperature changes, and therefore is not the basis of any of our conclusions.’
Wow.
In other words, all that stuff about having the highest temperatures for millennia and about eye-popping warming over the past 100 years appears to have no basis in the paper’s actual temperature reconstruction. As climate policy expert Roger Pielke Jr points out, that correction/clarification needs to be trumpeted as loudly as the original claims were. Remove the twentieth-century portion of the reconstruction and it merely shows that temperatures have been falling overall for the past few thousand years. That doesn’t exactly support the case for urgent action on climate change, does it?"
What the Auditor Didn’t Say
Donna Laframboise (Canada)
"So how is this for a depressing thought: the annual pool of carbon offset money is really just a green slush fund – a mechanism by which the BC government siphons money from hospitals and gives that money to its friends."
"So how is this for a depressing thought: the annual pool of carbon offset money is really just a green slush fund – a mechanism by which the BC government siphons money from hospitals and gives that money to its friends."
Thin clouds drove Greenland’s record-breaking 2012 ice melt
JunkScience
"Thin clouds drove Greenland’s record-breaking 2012 ice melt......“The July 2012 event was triggered by an influx of unusually warm air, but that was only one factor,” says Dave Turner, physical scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Severe Storms Laboratory. “In our paper we show that low-level clouds were instrumental in pushing temperatures up above freezing.”
"Thin clouds drove Greenland’s record-breaking 2012 ice melt......“The July 2012 event was triggered by an influx of unusually warm air, but that was only one factor,” says Dave Turner, physical scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Severe Storms Laboratory. “In our paper we show that low-level clouds were instrumental in pushing temperatures up above freezing.”
Spiegel Stops Believing…”Hot Debate Over Climate: How Reliable Are The Prognoses?” Growing Doubts Over Models!
NoTricksZone
"Spiegel has stopped believing. The flagship news magazine writes: Global warming has stalled for 15 years. Experts thus are having doubts on the reliability of their prognoses. The temperature development is moving along the lowest margins of the UN scenarios.”
"Spiegel has stopped believing. The flagship news magazine writes: Global warming has stalled for 15 years. Experts thus are having doubts on the reliability of their prognoses. The temperature development is moving along the lowest margins of the UN scenarios.”
Global Warming: Was It Just A Beautiful Dream After All?
Forbes
"Like most of you, I yearn for shorter winters, more shirt-sleeve weather, less lashing from frigid winds. As a confirmed New Yorker, I’m not willing to do what millions have done: move to the sunbelt. I want warmer weather here in the Big City. But I’ve grown old waiting for the promised global warming. I was 35 when predictions of a looming ice age were supplanted by warmmongering. Now I’m 68, and there’s still no sign of warmer weather. It’s enough to make one doubt the “settled science” of the government-funded doom-sayers."
"Like most of you, I yearn for shorter winters, more shirt-sleeve weather, less lashing from frigid winds. As a confirmed New Yorker, I’m not willing to do what millions have done: move to the sunbelt. I want warmer weather here in the Big City. But I’ve grown old waiting for the promised global warming. I was 35 when predictions of a looming ice age were supplanted by warmmongering. Now I’m 68, and there’s still no sign of warmer weather. It’s enough to make one doubt the “settled science” of the government-funded doom-sayers."
Mafia caught laundering $1.7b through “renewables”
JoNova(Australia)
"Real markets have real customers, who notice when things don’t add up. Fake markets are an invitation to criminals. The state forced payments from citizens for the wrong reasons, to solve a non-problem with the wrong method. In this case, state organized crime meets independent organized crime."
"Real markets have real customers, who notice when things don’t add up. Fake markets are an invitation to criminals. The state forced payments from citizens for the wrong reasons, to solve a non-problem with the wrong method. In this case, state organized crime meets independent organized crime."
Tuesday, 2 April 2013
Biofuels producer Ensus takes UK plant offline due to poor wheat quality
Telegraph
"From the comments: After a decade of screaming at anyone who thought biofuels were a bad idea the Greens have now come to the same conclusion. No CO2 saved (as if that was a real concern), more rainforest felled to grow palm-oil and the like, food prices forced up due to some idiots burning food, elephants in Burma poisoned because they were straying into palm-oil growing areas. According to the UN around 200,000 deaths a year in the third world as collatural damage to a Green ideal. Greenpeace and FofE have much blood on their hands but then many of them don't care about people, just the planet!!!!"
"From the comments: After a decade of screaming at anyone who thought biofuels were a bad idea the Greens have now come to the same conclusion. No CO2 saved (as if that was a real concern), more rainforest felled to grow palm-oil and the like, food prices forced up due to some idiots burning food, elephants in Burma poisoned because they were straying into palm-oil growing areas. According to the UN around 200,000 deaths a year in the third world as collatural damage to a Green ideal. Greenpeace and FofE have much blood on their hands but then many of them don't care about people, just the planet!!!!"
German Weather Service (DWD) Meteorologist Claims Accelerating Global Warming…”New Highs Every Year”
NoTricksZone
"Europe’s winter refuses to let up as large areas saw a white Easter accompanied by record lows and snowfall amounts. Media outlets are warning that this year could the year without a spring. Germany’s number 1 daily by circulation Bild writes here that the cold weather may be around even until Pentecost (mid-May)! ..."
"Europe’s winter refuses to let up as large areas saw a white Easter accompanied by record lows and snowfall amounts. Media outlets are warning that this year could the year without a spring. Germany’s number 1 daily by circulation Bild writes here that the cold weather may be around even until Pentecost (mid-May)! ..."
Waiting for warming
Andrew Bolt,Herald Sun (Australia)
"The pause in global warming continues. The UAH satellite data, updated for March: .."
"The pause in global warming continues. The UAH satellite data, updated for March: .."
Global Cooling – Methods and Testable Decadal Predictions
WUWT
"3. Summary
Significant temperature drop at about 2016-17
Possible unusual cold snap 2021-22
Built in cooling trend until at least 2024
Temperature Hadsst3 moving average anomaly 2035 - 0.15
Temperature Hadsst3 moving average anomaly 2100 – 0.5
General Conclusion – by 2100 all the 20th century temperature rise will have been reversed, By 2650 earth could possibly be back to the depths of the little ice age.
The effect of increasing CO2 emissions will be minor but beneficial - they may slightly ameliorate the forecast cooling and help maintain crop yields .
Warning !! There are some signs in the Livingston and Penn Solar data that a sudden drop to the Maunder Minimum Little Ice Age temperatures could be imminent – with a much more rapid and economically disruptive cooling than that forecast above which may turn out to be a best case scenario."
"3. Summary
Significant temperature drop at about 2016-17
Possible unusual cold snap 2021-22
Built in cooling trend until at least 2024
Temperature Hadsst3 moving average anomaly 2035 - 0.15
Temperature Hadsst3 moving average anomaly 2100 – 0.5
General Conclusion – by 2100 all the 20th century temperature rise will have been reversed, By 2650 earth could possibly be back to the depths of the little ice age.
The effect of increasing CO2 emissions will be minor but beneficial - they may slightly ameliorate the forecast cooling and help maintain crop yields .
Warning !! There are some signs in the Livingston and Penn Solar data that a sudden drop to the Maunder Minimum Little Ice Age temperatures could be imminent – with a much more rapid and economically disruptive cooling than that forecast above which may turn out to be a best case scenario."
Global warming’s ‘fatal conceit’
Washington Times
"Much of Northern Europe, including Britain, is suffering under the coldest winter and spring of the last 30 to 100 years. The Northeastern part of the United States has had a record cold March. The record cold in Europe has killed thousands and cost billions. It was not supposed to be this way. .......Germany has spent more than 100 billion euros ($130 billion) on subsidizing the solar industry; yet, as Der Spiegel reported, "the 1.1 million solar systems have generated almost no power" this winter, and Germany is forced to import power from elsewhere. They are paying three or four times the U.S. rate for electricity, making many of their industries noncompetitive. The U.S. has been equally stupid. Even The New York Times has acknowledged that the U.S. ethanol experiment has been a disaster. It has actually increased carbon emissions and the price of fuel and world food, which really whacks the poor — all because of a "fatal conceit."
"Much of Northern Europe, including Britain, is suffering under the coldest winter and spring of the last 30 to 100 years. The Northeastern part of the United States has had a record cold March. The record cold in Europe has killed thousands and cost billions. It was not supposed to be this way. .......Germany has spent more than 100 billion euros ($130 billion) on subsidizing the solar industry; yet, as Der Spiegel reported, "the 1.1 million solar systems have generated almost no power" this winter, and Germany is forced to import power from elsewhere. They are paying three or four times the U.S. rate for electricity, making many of their industries noncompetitive. The U.S. has been equally stupid. Even The New York Times has acknowledged that the U.S. ethanol experiment has been a disaster. It has actually increased carbon emissions and the price of fuel and world food, which really whacks the poor — all because of a "fatal conceit."
IPCC plays hot-spot hidey games in AR5 — denies 28 million weather balloons work properly
JoNova(Australia)
"It’s hot-spot hidey games and PR tricks In the new extra-tricky AR5 version, the IPCC “quote the critics” and ignore them at the same time. That way they can say they include the McIntyre’s, McKitrick’s, Douglass’, and Christy’s: the words are on the page, but that doesn’t mean the information is used in the conclusions. The models have failed and they bury that undeniable result under the clutter. (You’ll need to read the fine print). There is no acknowledgement that this issue of the “hot spot” drives more amplification of predicted warming in their models than any other point (though that is obvious and implicit in Fig 9.44, and you can see that below). Which policymaker exactly is going to notice that?"
"It’s hot-spot hidey games and PR tricks In the new extra-tricky AR5 version, the IPCC “quote the critics” and ignore them at the same time. That way they can say they include the McIntyre’s, McKitrick’s, Douglass’, and Christy’s: the words are on the page, but that doesn’t mean the information is used in the conclusions. The models have failed and they bury that undeniable result under the clutter. (You’ll need to read the fine print). There is no acknowledgement that this issue of the “hot spot” drives more amplification of predicted warming in their models than any other point (though that is obvious and implicit in Fig 9.44, and you can see that below). Which policymaker exactly is going to notice that?"
Monday, 1 April 2013
New Climate Scandal Exposed
GWPF
"Roger Pielke Jr documents the gross misrepresentation of the findings of a recent scientific paper via press release which appears to skirt awfully close to crossing the line into research misconduct."
"Roger Pielke Jr documents the gross misrepresentation of the findings of a recent scientific paper via press release which appears to skirt awfully close to crossing the line into research misconduct."
The Marcott Filibuster
Climate Audit
"Marcott et al have posted their long-promised FAQ at realclimate here. Without providing any links to or citation of Climate Audit, they now concede: 20th century portion of our paleotemperature stack is not statistically robust, cannot be considered representative of global temperature changes, and therefore is not the basis of any of our conclusions. ..."
"Marcott et al have posted their long-promised FAQ at realclimate here. Without providing any links to or citation of Climate Audit, they now concede: 20th century portion of our paleotemperature stack is not statistically robust, cannot be considered representative of global temperature changes, and therefore is not the basis of any of our conclusions. ..."
Fixing the Marcott Mess in Climate Science
Roger Pielke Jr.'s Blog
"However, here I document the gross misrepresentation of the findings of a recent scientific paper via press release which appears to skirt awfully close to crossing the line into research misconduct, as defined by the NRC. I recommend steps to fix this mess, saving face for all involved, and a chance for this small part of the climate community to take a step back toward unambiguous scientific integrity. The paper I refer to is by Marcott et al. 2013, published recently in Science.
.....Let me be perfectly clear -- I am accusing no one of scientific misconduct. The errors documented here could have been the product of group dynamics, institutional dysfunction, miscommunication, sloppiness or laziness (do note that misconduct can result absent explicit intent). However, what matters most now is how the relevant parties respond to the identification of a clear misrepresentation of a scientific paper by those who should not make such errors."
"However, here I document the gross misrepresentation of the findings of a recent scientific paper via press release which appears to skirt awfully close to crossing the line into research misconduct, as defined by the NRC. I recommend steps to fix this mess, saving face for all involved, and a chance for this small part of the climate community to take a step back toward unambiguous scientific integrity. The paper I refer to is by Marcott et al. 2013, published recently in Science.
.....Let me be perfectly clear -- I am accusing no one of scientific misconduct. The errors documented here could have been the product of group dynamics, institutional dysfunction, miscommunication, sloppiness or laziness (do note that misconduct can result absent explicit intent). However, what matters most now is how the relevant parties respond to the identification of a clear misrepresentation of a scientific paper by those who should not make such errors."
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