Monthly Archives: October 2007

Halloween Weirdness in Space – The Great Pumpkin

Posted on October 31, 2007 by

I mentioned this a couple of posts back, exploding Comet 17P/Holmes is one of the strangest things in the sky ever but it gets stranger…Last night, astrophotographer Alan Friedman of Buffalo, NY, took a close-up picture of the comet’s core. “A strong … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Watching Noel

Posted on October 30, 2007 by

There is a lot of intense interest out there in watching TS Noel to see if this disorganized system turns into a Hurricane when it hits the warmer waters of the Gulf Stream. Click on the image for an animated … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Upcoming TV special on the Sun – worth watching

Posted on October 28, 2007 by

  Given that the sun is so quiet lately (click image – no sunspots) and there is talk of an ebb in its next solar cycle 24, it bears looking into the details of our primary climate driver.  The National Geographic Channel has a TV … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

Things that go boom in the sky

Posted on October 28, 2007 by

Here’s something you don’t see every day; an exploding comet.  In fact the last time this comet did this was in 1892. Comet 17P/Holmes is now larger than Jupiter. Astronomer Eric Allen of Quebec’s Observatoire du Cégep de Trois-Rivières combined … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Helio, La Niña, and bad winters, awww nuts!!

Posted on October 27, 2007 by

While doom and gloom predictions continue about CO2 induced global warming, saying that it now is the largest driver of climate, overwhelming any influences of the suns variation, there appear to be other things happening. There are forecasts emerging for … Continue reading →

Posted in climate_change, local_issues | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments

Hurricane season 2007 is near the record low of 1977

Posted on October 24, 2007 by

Florida State University’s COAPS (Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies) says that hurricane season 2007, which ends November 30th, is looking well below normal, in fact they are calling it “historic inactivity”. According to COAPS: “Unless a dramatic and perhaps historical … Continue reading →

Posted in climate_change, Science, weather | 21 Comments

How Not to Measure Temperature, Part 33

Posted on October 23, 2007 by

Until now, most of the surface temperature measurement stations I’ve highlighted as substandard locations for measuring temperature accurately have been in the USA. Today, courtesy of Geoff Sherrington, we are treated to the sight of the main Australian historic site, Melbourne … Continue reading →

Posted in weather_stations | 27 Comments

Projects Page Updated

Posted on October 22, 2007 by

According to my stat counter, the Projects Page tab above has been getting a regular stream of interest, so it has been updated with relevant content as of today 10/22/07

Posted in Announcements

ABC’s 20/20 John Stossel on Climate Change “Give me a break!”

Posted on October 22, 2007 by
Posted in climate_change | 6 Comments

My Surfacestations.org project “down under”

Posted on October 22, 2007 by

This was forwarded to me by Russ Steele over at NCWatch. Titled: Climate Change – Is CO2 the cause?  It’s a compelling presentation by Bob Carter of the facts of climate change to a recent public forum in Australia.  He … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments

Pipe Dream or Viable Energy?

Posted on October 19, 2007 by

I’m a proponent of alternate energy sources, mostly to get us disengaged from Middle East Oil. Often there are schemes floated to produce alternate energy that just don’t balance out when you sum up the energy in versus energy out. … Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 46 Comments

Earth’s Albedo Tells an Interesting Story

Posted on October 17, 2007 by

Thanks to one of our commenters (thanks Henry), this unique project called “Earthshine” being done at the Big Bear Solar Observatory has been brought to my attention. The project is simple in concept: The Earth’s climate depends on the net … Continue reading →

Posted in climate_change, Science | Tagged , , , , , , | 42 Comments

All Quiet Alert

Posted on October 15, 2007 by

“All Quiet Alert” – That sounds like an oxymoron, and maybe it is, but the sun is extremely quiet right now, so much in fact that the Solar Influences Data Center in Belgium has issued an “All quiet alert” on … Continue reading →

Posted in climate_change, Science | Tagged , , , , | 51 Comments

BBC Video on False Claims in Gore’s Inconvenient Truth

Posted on October 13, 2007 by

As a followup to my post Et tu, Gorus, here is a BBC News report on the 9 items that a British High Court deemed to be false claims in the documentary,  An Inconvenient Truth.

Posted in climate_change, politics | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Et tu, Gorus?

Posted on October 12, 2007 by

Gore wins the Nobel Peace Prize, and even more surprising, the IPCC also shares the award. Why? Why would a committee award such a prestigious prize right on the heels of his documentary being proven inaccurate and prone to exaggerations? Coming in … Continue reading →

Posted in Al Gore, climate_change, politics | 34 Comments

USHCN Station Surveys – Completion by State

Posted on October 11, 2007 by

www.surfacestations.org volunteer Gary Boden has provided me an updated version of the Excel speadsheet I use to chart this project. This version calculates the completion of USHCN surveys by state, as seen below.We could really use some help in Arkansas, … Continue reading →

Posted in weather_stations | 3 Comments

Surfacestations.org updated, now at 800 mark

Posted on October 10, 2007 by

With 421 stations surveyed, we now stand at 800 stations remaining to be surveyed. The rate of surveying slowed during the month of September, which is to be expected as people end summer vacations, start school, and other end of … Continue reading →

Posted in weather_stations | 6 Comments

Camille Paglia on “fancy-pants, speculative, climate models”

Posted on October 10, 2007 by

Camille Paglia is listed as one of the top 100 intellectuals in the world today, in fact she’s at number 20.  So, it is with some surprise that I read her response to a question on climate change in a column on … Continue reading →

Posted in climate_change | Tagged , , , , , | 16 Comments

Biofuels hit the wall

Posted on October 9, 2007 by

Just a short while ago, biofuels seemed like they’d be a great alternative for some petroleum based fuels. But in the last year, we’ve seen the demand for corn skyrocket, and issues are being raised about balance between biofeuls and … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | 16 Comments

Gore to share Nobel Peace Prize with Canadian

Posted on October 9, 2007 by

According to Investors Business Daily, Al Gore will be awarded the Nobel Peace prize and share it with Canadian climate researcher Sheila Watt-Cloutier. IBD writes: “…a couple of global warming alarmists. With dozens of wars raging, the committee couldn’t find … Continue reading →

Posted in Al Gore, Uncategorized | 17 Comments

New milestone at Surfacestations.org – 309 !

Posted on October 8, 2007 by

Today, I registered the 309th volunteer observer, Geoff Sherrington,  and over the weekend, we passed the 300 mark of registrants. A couple of people have written in, some worried, that I have not “updated” the main web page of surfacestations.org … Continue reading →

Posted in Announcements | 14 Comments

California Climate, PDO, LOD, and Sunspot Departure

Posted on October 7, 2007 by

Above: Length of Day Compared to Global Temperature since 1890 Below is a paper by former California State Climatologist, Jim Goodridge. Jim  has been quietly working on a  number of rainfall and climate projects both for himself, and as a … Continue reading →

Posted in climate_change | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

My 20th Anniversary in Chico

Posted on October 5, 2007 by

Today, October 5th marks my 20th year here in Chico California. What I’ve learned so far: 1- It’s a better place to live than many parts of California 2- People here can be very nice 3- Politics here can be … Continue reading →

Posted in local_issues | 1 Comment

Detailed Comments on An Inconvenient Truth

Posted on October 4, 2007 by

Foreword by the blog moderator: One of the things that often happens once your blog and effort is well known is that people start sending you things to look at and/or do. That’s the case here. There has been much discussion web-wide … Continue reading →

Posted in Al Gore, climate_change | 148 Comments

Arctic Sea ice loss – “it’s the wind” says NASA

Posted on October 3, 2007 by

A science blogger named Tamino, in a post he made here, challenged me to “explain it or shut up” related to the loss of northern hemisphere Arctic ice this season which he claimed was …” undeniable, that it’s not natural variation” in contrast … Continue reading →

Posted in climate_change | 21 Comments