Bullseye Over Boulder – Another “Weather is not Climate” Story

18 04 2009

Guest post by Steven Goddard


“April comes in like a lion, and stays that way.”

The University Of Colorado in Boulder and nearby Colorado State University are hotbeds of climate science activity.  Famous climate names from both sides of the AGW aisle like NCAR, NSIDC, the Pielkes, Bill Gray and Chris Landsea are associated with these universities.  Earlier this extended winter WUWT reported on one forecast by a CU geography professor :

University of Colorado-Boulder geography professor Mark Williams said Monday that the resorts should be in fairly good shape the next 25 years, but after that there will be less snowpack – or no snow at all – at the base areas

No doubt that a geography professor would have the correct skill set to be making ski forecasts 25 years in the future, and that 25 years from now the climate will make a radical switch.  It appears that Dr. Williams forecast is correct so far, as Colorado is getting lots of snow.

Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 324 Comments »

Categories : weather

What happens to Steig et al’s warming when you divide Antarctica into two distinct climate zones?

18 04 2009

A week ago I made this comment to Jeff Id on The Air Vent regarding his reconstruction of the Steig et al Antarctic temperature trends paper. The idea was to treat Antarctica as two distinct climate zones. I should point out that this idea has not been accepted yet, but there are some good reasons to consider it.

Köppen world climate classification

Köppen world climate classification

As seen in the map above, currently Antarctica is classified per the Köppen climate classification system entirely as EF, or “Ice Cap”. But here is what it might look like if the peninsula was classified differently.

antarctic_climate_zones1

I’ve made some enhancements with inline images and links to my original comment on The Air Vent for WUWT readers:

Jeff, in looking at your output maps above something occurred to me about the climate the Antarctic peninsula.

The biggest problem I see with Antarctica in either yours or Steig’s reconstructions is the treatment of the continent as a single climate zone, when in fact the climate of the peninsula has a significantly different set of temperature and precipitation norms than the majority of the main continent.

Going back to basic climatology one can recall the Köppen climate classification system. Antarctica has been classified as EF

EF =Ice Cap Climate – All twelve months have average temperatures below 0 °C (32°F) Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 64 Comments »

Categories : Antarctic, climate data

Only 34% of USA Voters Now Blame Humans for Global Warming

18 04 2009
rasmussen_table

Note the reversal from just one year ago

On the day the EPA declares CO2 a “dangerous pollutant” we have the from Rasmussen Reports

Just one-out-of-three voters (34%) now believe global warming is caused by human activity, the lowest finding yet in Rasmussen Reports national surveying. However, a plurality (48%) of the Political Class believes humans are to blame.

Forty-eight percent (48%) of all likely voters attribute climate change to long-term planetary trends, while seven percent (7%) blame some other reason. Eleven percent (11%) aren’t sure.

These numbers reflect a reversal from a year ago when 47% blamed human activity while 34% said long-term planetary trends.

Most Democrats (51%) still say humans are to blame for global warming, the position taken by former Vice President Al Gore and other climate change activists. But 66% of Republicans and 47% of adults not affiliated with either party disagree.

Sixty-two percent (62%) of all Americans believe global warming is at least a somewhat serious problem, with 33% who say it’s Very Serious. Thirty-five percent (35%) say it’s a not a serious problem. The overall numbers have remained largely the same for several months, but the number who say Very Serious has gone down.

Forty-eight percent (48%) of Democrats say global warming is a Very Serious problem, compared to 19% of Republicans and 25% of unaffiliateds. Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 135 Comments »

Categories : climate_change, politics