Reality check: Who believes Hurricane Sandy was/was not caused by global warming?

This list of who’s who is instructive to review. It says a lot about credibility of the “Sandy was caused by global warming” argument being pushed by activists and media.

Compare who’s pushing the agenda versus who isn’t buying into the hype.  See below. 

Links to their statements are designated with an asterisk * – click on the * to see the story

Says Global Warming IS the cause of Hurricane Sandy Says Global Warming IS NOT the cause of Hurricane Sandy
Name affiliation/link Name affiliation/link
Al Gore activist Climate Reality Project * Dr. Martin Hoerling NOAA *
Joe Romm activist CAP  * Dr. Roger Pielke Jr. UC *
Bill McKibben activist 350.org * Dr. Karsten Brandt donnerwetter *
Chris Mooney activist and blogger, Grist * Dr. Chris Landsea NOAA NHC *
Roseann Barr actress/singer Pres.candidate * Dr. Ryan Maue Weatherbell *
Meghain McCain no known credentials * Dr. Patrick Michaels VA state climo/ Cato *
Dr.Katharine Hayhoe Texas Tech * Dr. Judith Curry Georgia Tech *
Dr. Michael Oppenheimer activist EDF * Dr.Norman Page PhD – Geology *
Jennifer Granholm TV host/fmr governor * Dr.Gerald North Texas A&M *
Dr. George Lackoff Berkeley * Eric Berger Houston Chronicle SciGuy *
Dr. James Hansen activist, NASA GISS * Tom Chivers UK Telegraph *
Van Jones apologist and activist * Andrew Revkin New York Times *
 Chris Matthews  Hardball * Deniers are pigs. Dr. Roy Spencer UAH *
 Bill Clinton  #42 *  Joe Bastardi  WeatherBELL*
 Dr. Stephan Lewandowsky  Pollster *
Michael Moore  Sicko (on CNN)
UNSURE/ASK ANOTHER/ DIFFERENT QUESTION: COMPLETELY OFF TARGET POOR GEOGRAPHY
Dr. Randall Dole (NOAA):Dr. Peter Stott of the UK Met OfficeDr. Kevin Trenberth (NCAR)   *  Dr. Michio Kaku *
Dr. Kerry Emanuel (MIT)  *

From this comparison it seems clear that activists are pushing the idea that Hurricane Sandy is cased by AGW/Global Warming.But what about the hundreds of other storms?

Readers are invited to submit other entries in comments.

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lurker passing through, laughing
October 30, 2012 5:00 pm

The question is leading to odd answers. It is not at all clear what the believers are actually saying they believe.

October 30, 2012 5:02 pm

George Lackoff (rhymes with…) Oops! I digress.
I am a degreed chemical engineer and am reasonably confident that global warming/climate change had nothing to do with Hurricane Sandy,

October 30, 2012 5:02 pm

It makes me sad that Dr. Hayhoe is associated with Texas Tech, they have such a wonderful Wind Research Center. Meggie Mac, well, she’s the daughter of Senator McCain. Fruit, trees, and all that.

October 30, 2012 5:10 pm

It can’t have been caused by AGW as there has been no recent global warming…but then maybe that’s too hard for them to comprehend; sigh.

andy
October 30, 2012 5:11 pm

Imagine if the Galveston 1900 storm came again. The alarmist machine would melt.

October 30, 2012 5:11 pm

The very obvious conclusion is that storms that do a lot of damage are the ones that are caused by AGW!
Hence Katrina, Sandy et al all qualify.
Other storms that take place away from ill protected areas full of ill prepared people and web cams to document the scary pictures simply don’t qualify and don’t need a mention.

Jason
October 30, 2012 5:12 pm

Global warming can now align different weather systems at the perfect time. It can also cause the moon to be full at high tide for added effect. There is now nothing global warming can’t do. I am in awe! Now I know how the true believers feel. It’s almost …………..divine!

Roger Knights
October 30, 2012 5:12 pm
R. Shearer
October 30, 2012 5:13 pm

I blame B.ush

David L
October 30, 2012 5:14 pm

I discovered a new positive climate feedback. Burning fossil fuels releases CO2 which causes global warming. Global warming causes hurricanes. Hurricanes hit populated areas and knock out the power grid. All the people that believe in global warming then run gasoline powered generators, releasing more CO2, until the power grid comes back on.

dp
October 30, 2012 5:15 pm

Mosh is on record at Dr. Curry’s blog as a definite yes at http://judithcurry.com/2012/10/30/frankenstorm/#comment-262146

The frankenstorm is directly tied to global warming.

. I’m a definite we don’t have enough information yet to say something that foolish. Solve the feedbacks first then look for secondary effects.

October 30, 2012 5:15 pm

Recall how only professional scientists had a right to an opinion of this sort? That would kinda cut the left side down a bit, don’t you think?

October 30, 2012 5:18 pm

It was a butterfly here in San Diego – darn thing flapped its wings before I could swat it… Sorry ’bout that.

October 30, 2012 5:19 pm

Says Global Warming IS the cause of Hurricane Sandy:
Governor of New York State Andrew Cuomo
Well, that was inferred from his recent (today’s) comment when he says something is causing ‘these extreme weather events”. As a politician he has probably not specifically come out on either side excepting his ‘posturing’ to what looks like on the surface as support for conclusions congruent with CAGW philosophy.
.

Charlie A
October 30, 2012 5:20 pm

Most things in life are not black and white. It is quite possible that anthropogenic CO2 has affected the climate, and therefore hurricane Sandy in some way.
What’s not clear is the magnitude or type of effect. I think it was Judith Curry that noted that one probably effect of warmer Atlantic ocean is to move the formation of hurricanes over closer to Africa, which would cause a higher percentage of hurricanes to stay mid-Atlantic rather than have USA landfall.
So for all I know at this point, increased CO2 has protected the USA.
Another blog post to remind everyone at this point is the BS Button post of Roger Pielke, Jr that reports on the IPCC SREX findings. http://rogerpielkejr.blogspot.com/2012/03/handy-bullshit-button-on-disasters-and.html

eyesonu
October 30, 2012 5:22 pm

I think a list of this nature to be expanded to a greater degree or time frame would be a good idea.
When one sees his/her name clearly in the CAGW camp and published as such it would be a wake up call.
To find that one’s opinions and views are being compiled into a format that reveals where they stand / their beliefs on this issue may seperate the “me too” s to think rationally. I can see a lot of value in this approach.

October 30, 2012 5:22 pm

R. Shearer says: October 30, 2012 at 5:13 pm
I blame B.ush
That one has been used so often, it should have its own domain, like .com, .net, .edu… .booooosh!

Peter Miller
October 30, 2012 5:23 pm

Of course, Hurricane Sandy was caused by global warming.
We should have all learned by now that global warming is the cause of everything bad in our world from acne to toe fungus to populist politicians..
The greatest hurricane of all time – at least in recorded history – probably occurred in 1780 in the middle of the LIA. Obviously, just another inconvenient fact to be ignored by alarmists.
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=hurricane%20greatest%20caribbean&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FGreat_Hurricane_of_1780&ei=Q26QUMz7IaSf0QX_kYHwBw&usg=AFQjCNHwqUMhscis34x30EfOOozXfD4kKw

October 30, 2012 5:24 pm

I would hope we could all agree that storm frequency should decrease in a (for the sake of argument) warming world, since the temperature gradient from tropics to poles should presumably decrease. As noted on this blog recently, colder planets have higher wind speeds.
If (again FTSOA) tropical & temperate zone ocean temperatures increase, the strength of the less frequent storms could increase. However, late season Sandy formed over cooler water & when it made landfall was not hurricane strength (wind speed in 50 kt range, not 72). Not to mention that subtropical Atlantic SSTs don’t show any more warming than the planet as a whole these long 16 years & counting. (Please correct me if wrong about these regional data.)
What made it (in popular imagination) a Frankenstorm was its collision with an unseasonably early cold air mass. This half of the equation does not compute with global warming, except via hilarious gymnastic contortions (associated with the need for “climate change” rather than “global warming” to maintain the myth of human culpability, hence grant dollars, Euros, etc).
In fact, it’s history is no different, indeed less dramatic than earlier pre-human carbonated air storms. To me, this looks like QED, but maybe that’s just me.

Sceptical Lefty
October 30, 2012 5:25 pm

Such a poll may provide useful information as to INFLUENCE in the real world, but it is irrelevant to any determination of objective truth.
It is also interesting to note the absence of the word “anthropogenic”. Are the goalposts shifting again?

zefal
October 30, 2012 5:27 pm

Some of the statements about hurricane Sandy made by Brian Williams of NBC
The new normal.
Is New York the new Amsterdam?
From New York to LA people are wondering what is going on?

pat
October 30, 2012 5:30 pm

***NOT RELUCTANT:
30 Oct: Sydney Morning Herald: Peter Hannam with Reuters: Sandy has lessons for Australia, BoM says
Scientists are ***reluctant to attribute any single weather event to the effects of global warming. Climate models, though, predict fewer – but more intense – major storms such as cyclones or hurricane
“This is the sort of thing we’re warning about increasing over time,” Dr Braganza said. “We are breaking records across metrics where we’d expect to break records as the planet warms.”…
Dr Will Steffen, a member of the Australian Climate Commission, noted that Sandy is only a category 1 hurricane, but the damage will likely be significant because of its huge size and the fact that its landing coincided with a high tide.
“Sea-level rises – the observed sea-level rise around the world over the past century, and the projections for further rises – are related to climate change,” Dr Steffen said.
“It is the combination of sea-level rise, storm surge (like the one coming in from Sandy on the eastern USA coast) and high tides that lead to the worst flooding events.”
“The point here is that even modest rises in sea-level – of just tens of centimetres – can lead to much higher probabilities of high sea-level events,” Dr Steffen said.
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/sandy-has-lessons-for-australia-bom-says-20121030-28gyg.html

David Ball
October 30, 2012 5:40 pm

Has it been established that Sandy was a “Hurricane”?

Goldie
October 30, 2012 5:41 pm

How does global warming affect the moon?

RayG
October 30, 2012 5:52 pm

bikermailman says:
October 30, 2012 at 5:22 pm
R. Shearer says: October 30, 2012 at 5:13 pm
I blame B.ush
That one has been used so often, it should have its own domain, like .com, .net, .edu… .booooosh!
The domain names iblamebush.com and .net are available. go to whois.com to claim them.

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