Thanks Neil, Michael, and Buzz

20 07 2009

http://z.about.com/d/history1900s/1/7/Q/C/1/apollo11.jpg

America, and the world, is in your eternal debt.

My fond memories from this time would not be complete without the mention of another person. Read the rest of this entry »





Governmental environmental tax soon to be up your…

20 07 2009

From Planet Gore, this has to be the poop de grace of bureaucratic achievement in the climate and ecology category.

Not a Square to Spare [Chris Horner]

toilet_paper_terrorWhere are the Beatles when you need them? Someone inside EPA has brought to my attention how Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer has proposed legislation calling on a federal agency to define toilet paper.

Really. It says it right in the bill, the “Water Resources Protection Act” (I know, I know — you were expecting it to be called the Protecting Infrastructure and Sewer Systems Act): Read the rest of this entry »





And now, the most influential station in the GISS record is …

20 07 2009

Guest post by John Goetz

#17 - Selinsgrove, PA (in 2003)

The GISS temperature record, with its various adjustments, estimations, and re-estimations, has drawn my attention since I first became interested in the methods used to measure a global temperature. In particular, I have wondered how the current global average can even be compared with that of 1987, which was produced using between six and seven times more stations than today. Commenter George E. Smith noted accurately that it is a “simple failure to observe the standard laws of sampled data systems.” GISS presents so many puzzles in this area, it is difficult to know where to begin.

My recent post on the June, 2009 temperature found that the vast majority of temperatures were taken from airports and urban stations. This would cause some concern if the urban heat island (UHI) effect were not accounted for in those stations. GISS does attempt to filter out UHI from urban stations by using “nearby” rural stations – “nearby” meaning anything within 1000 KM. No attempt is made to filter UHI from airports not strictly listed as urban.

If stations from far, far away can be used to filter UHI, then it stands to reason some stations may be used multiple times as filters for multiple urban stations. I thought it would be amusing to list which stations were used the most to adjust for UHI. Fortunately, NASA prints that data in the PApars.statn.use.GHCN.CL.1000.20 log file.

The results were as I expected – amusing. Here are the top ten, ranked in order of the number of urban stations they help adjust: Read the rest of this entry »





Quote of the Week #15

20 07 2009

qotw_cropped

There are so many to choose from in this interview, I suppose I’ll just have to list them all. But #3 is the most profound.

From the Atlantic:
An Interview With Nobel Prize-winning economist Thomas Schelling, Part Two – Conor Clarke

#1 …And what I don’t know is whether Americans are really willing to understand that and do anything for the benefit of the unborn Chinese. Read the rest of this entry »