McKibben must have set some sort of record for the number of absolute lies in a single paragraph in this LA Times story:
It’s time for fossil fuel companies to do the right thing – latimes.com
Sandy was off-the-charts terrible, a storm that broke every record in the books: for storm surge, for barometric pressure, for sheer size.
The reality of history blows his “off-the-charts terrible” claim right out of the water:
Deadliest World Tropical Cyclones | Weather Underground
1. Great Bhola Cyclone, Bangladesh 1970 Bay of Bengal 500,000 [deaths]
2. Hooghly River Cyclone, India and Bangladesh 1737 Bay of Bengal 300,000
3. Haiphong Typhoon, Vietnam 1881 West Pacific 300,000
3. Coringa, India 1839 Bay of Bengal 300,000
5. Backerganj Cyclone, Bangladesh 1584 Bay of Bengal 200,000
6. Great Backerganj Cyclone, Bangladesh 1876 Bay of Bengal 200,000
7. Chittagong, Bangladesh 1897 Bay of Bengal 175,000
8. Super Typhoon Nina, China 1975 West Pacific 171,000
9. Cyclone 02B, Bangladesh 1991 Bay of Bengal 140,000
9. Cyclone Nargis, Myanmar 2008 Bay of Bengal 140,000
11. Great Bombay Cyclone, India 1882 Arabian Sea 100,000
h/t to Tom Nelson
For the USA, the Galveston Hurricane in 1900 could be described as “off the charts terrible”:
On September 8, 1900, a hurricane struck Galveston. Winds estimated at 140 mph swept over the island, leaving devastation in their wake. After the storm surge of 15.7 feet subsided, Galvestonians left their shelters to find 6,000 of the city’s 37,000 residents dead and more than 3,600 buildings totally destroyed.
The 1900 Storm is still considered to be the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history. After the storm, Galveston constructed a seawall and raised the grade of the island to protect it from future hurricanes.
Now, set’s look at the other three claims he made in detail:
…for storm surge – FALSE
The Bathurst Bay Cyclone, also known as Tropical Cyclone Mahina, which struck Bathurst Bay, Australia on March 5, 1899, is generally credited with the world record for storm surge. The cyclone’s storm surge is variously listed at 13 – 14.6 meters (43 – 48 feet). The Category 5 cyclone was a monster–with sustained winds in excess of 175 mph and a central pressure between 880 and 914 mb. Mahina killed at least 307 people, mostly on pearling ships, and was the deadliest cyclone in Australian history. The eyewitness account of Mahina’s record storm surge was provided by Constable J. M. Kenny, who journeyed to Barrow Point on Bathurst Bay to investigate a crime on the day of the storm. While camped on a ridge 40 feet above sea level and 1/2 mile inland, Kenny’s camp was inundated by a storm wave, reaching waist-deep. On nearby Flinders Island, fish and dolphins were found on top of 15 meter (49 foot) cliffs. However, an analysis by Nott and Hayne (2000) found no evidence of storm-deposited debris higher than 3 – 5 meters above mean sea level in the region. They also cited two computer storm surge simulations of the cyclone that were unable to generate a surge higher than three meters.
Source: http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/surge_world_records.asp
…for barometric pressure – FALSE
Hurricane Sandy had the lowest pressure ever recorded for any storm north of North Carolina at 943 millibars just before it came in from the sea on Monday afternoon and hit the New Jersey coast, however, it remained at the weakest level of hurricane throughout its tempestuous tirade through over 1,000 square miles of land.
| Most intense Atlantic hurricanes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Hurricane | Season | Pressure | ||
| hPa | inHg | ||||
| 1 | Wilma | 2005 | 882 | 26.0 | |
| 2 | Gilbert | 1988 | 888 | 26.2 | |
| 3 | “Labor Day” | 1935 | 892 | 26.3 | |
| 4 | Rita | 2005 | 895 | 26.4 | |
| 5 | Allen | 1980 | 899 | 26.5 | |
| 6 | Katrina | 2005 | 902 | 26.6 | |
| 7 | Camille | 1969 | 905 | 26.7 | |
| Mitch | 1998 | 905 | 26.7 | ||
| Dean | 2007 | 905 | 26.7 | ||
| 10 | “Cuba” | 1924 | 910 | 26.9 | |
| Ivan | 2004 | 910 | 26.9 | ||
| Source: HURDAT | |||||
Source: National Hurricane Center National Hurricane Center; Hurricane Research Division; Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (April 2012). “Atlantic hurricane best track (Hurdat)”. United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research. Retrieved 2012-04-19.and The Examiner
…for sheer size – possibly true, but only during the satellite record*
Below are the five largest hurricanes (by gale diameter) ever observed in the Atlantic basin.
| Storm | Season | Diameter | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (mi) | (km) | |||
| Sandy | 2012 | 945 | 1,520 | |
| Igor | 2010 | 920 | 1,480 | |
| Olga | 2001 | 865 | 1,390 | |
| Lili | 1996 | 805 | 1,295 | |
| Karl | 2004 | 780 | 1,255 | |
| Sources:[1], [2], [3], [4] | ||||
* The satellite record only extends past TIROS1, launched in 1960. Prior to that, there was no way to gauge the diameter of hurricanes. Wind measurement transects to determine the breadth of gale diameter is also a recent technological innovation, hence the list is skewed to present day technology measurements.
As far as most intense hurricanes, here is the list, and Sandy isn’t in the top ten. But, that won’t stop emotional political activists like Bill McKibben from making false claims without looking at the real data first. He simply doesn’t care.
The Bay of Bengal seems to be a bad place to ride out a big storm.
There is often very little truth in propaganda and plus it looks like Obama’s win has made the loonies braver…
But we have to lie to get people to believe us!
We HAVE to!
They say the toughest market for any professional sports player is NY. Because the media is there. Sandy was not that bad of a storm, but the media is there. The cost is simply a function of the fact that there is more to lose there (how many high rises in Biloxi Mississippi?). In real terms, Sandy is just another weak storm. The carping comes from spoiled children that want their wants when they want them. And not adults looking to rebuild and get on with their lives.
He is emboldened by Obama’s success, it appear that lying works, so expect more lies.
I wrote earlier on the upside down flag article climate change is just beginning. None of this stuff here detracts from the obvious climate change legislation yet to come with a new Obama administration, believe me. Sandy is not some storm that happened to someone else; Sandy happened around an election gaining the highest possible profile and then combine that with New York and New Jersey facts mean nothing. That isn’t what’s in the news – death, destruction, and devastation in the heart of the motherland leads. Romney tried facts and lost. That doesn’t sell in America. But, if you were to ask what New York and New Jersey miss most – gas, lights, and power. Well, none of them are getting that without oil. Go figure. But, many said they voted for Obama because he was doing something about climate change – this is just beginning. And that was one heck of storm that late in the season – those in New York and New Jersey know that better then the rest of us do. I’m afraid all of our recent gains are being wiped out by Sandy in one day. Like MSNBC Chris Matthews said, he’s glad hurricane Sandy came along. He said that allowed Obama to get the traction he needed when he needed it. Go figure.
I could be wrong (and please feel free to correct me) but I believe the gale diameter ranking only extends back to 1988. See:
http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/research/tropical_cyclones/tc_extended_best_track_dataset/
I would also question this sentence:
“Below are the five largest hurricanes (by gale diameter) ever observed in the Atlantic basin.”
The storms, some of them immense and powerful, of the early to mid-20th century do not have a gale diameter measurement, but I doubt that they went unobserved.
Can anyone explain to me why this clown is even being read by anyone other then his mother?
The problem is that McKibben and his ilk get quoted in the MSM and WUWT contributers and kindred thinkers don’t.
And I haven’t the foggiest notion about how to correct this imbalance in reporting; but until it is corrected we are all shoveling s**t up hill.
I wish there were a way to nail these liars. Maybe we could fit him with a Pinocchio nose.
The problem is, simply put, his article will be read and referred to – thanks to the media – by several millions of the public as well as the handful in charge of the country. This well written and complete rebuttal will be read only by the relative few who frequent WUWT. The truth, in many areas, is buried by the sheer volume of lies.
You have to place the storm in its context, and that context is the place where it occurred. The fact that it hit so far North, as opposed to the usual southern coastlines, is what is giving Sandy its political clout.
If Bill McKibben had decided to conjure up a storm for his own propaganda purposes, he could hardly have done better than conjure up a Sandy. It was big. It was a “frankenstorm” (so someone at NASA said). It had a pretty low atmospheric pressure and that did cause a pretty big storm surge.
We can’t simply wave this away by citing the past. The damage has been done (politically) and the best counter is to explain that such events will always occur regardless. Was the atlantic warmer than usual? If so, is this the result of AGW or part of the 60 year AMO cycle.
Crucially though, the point must be made that these are random events and they are the result of other random events that combine in random ways. When events are so combined, there will be occasions when they combine in the worst possible way. And there will be occasions when their combinations almost cancel out each others effect.
In the world of probabilistic mathematics, another Sandy is guaranteed, whatever the current weather. But I would be the first to admit, it is not an easy message to get accross.
Everything BmK says is founded on a lie or speculation based on selected factoids taken out of context and turned into fiction. Any fool can take a piece of information or thought and extrapolate it into an absurdly calamitous scenario, and he’s the biggest fool out, but unfortunately, so are the MSM, without whom he would be nothing, and shown to be the fool he is.
Those who stand up for scientific truth against these lies have to win the MSM mindset battle, and the likely demise of Michael Mann will hopefully accelerate the process.
McKibben’s and the other warmists depends on keeping the scare alive. If one million people froze to death this winter they would still blame it on CO2-caused climate disruption.
Obama has shown the world that stupid lies DO work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Storm_of_the_Century
The winter storm of 1993 covered an area that extended from central America up into Ontario Canada. I think it was probably larger. Link is to the article showing a picture of the area of coverage. Also saddly more folks died in the 1993 strom than in Sandy.
It is time for the fossil fuel companies to do the right thing. Send more gasoline to those areas hardest hit. People are still without power eleven days after the storm.
“It is not propaganda’s task to be intelligent, its task is to lead to success.”
@ur momisugly Algebra
If Andrew Cuomo would remove the anti-gouging laws, the oil companies would already be doing that. But he entertains some notion that by price-fixing the market, he is taking the common man’s side.
One thing this proves to me is I’d much rather live on the New Jersey shore than the Bay of Bengal.
Perhaps the IPCC could be induced to hold their next climate alarmfest there?
Hmmmm. Might I suggest a storm ranking based not just on individual factors but on a combination of size and ferocity.
It’s to easy to game the comparisons if you compare just size by itself or compare just storm surge by itself or just barometric pressure by itself. That’s because its not valid to compare a very localized but intense storm with a very distributed but weak storm.
The better and commonly used comparison is storm energy. Any one want to bet that Bill McKibben was referring to a layman’s description of storm energy? And that his records referred to the USA and not the whole world?
…off-the-charts terrible…
*yawn.
“The Cleveland Superbomb” – 1979
http://moe.met.fsu.edu/cyclonephase/archive/1970s/gifs/superbomb1978/superbomb1978.a.ncep.16.png
“Ocean Ranger” Warm Seclusion Extratropical Cyclone – 1982
http://moe.met.fsu.edu/cyclonephase/archive/1980s/gifs/oranger1982/oranger1982.a.ncep.18.png
http://moe.met.fsu.edu/cyclonephase/archive/
The really scary thing is that BmK may well have Obama’s ear. If so, America is in serious trouble.
The “If I wanted America to fail” video script (well worth watching, on YouTube somewhere) could have been written for him, it describes him exactly.
Large winter storm – try January 10-12 1975 blizzard. One low in North America.
LazyTeenager says:
November 9, 2012 at 2:26 pm
“The better and commonly used comparison is storm energy. Any one want to bet that Bill McKibben was referring to a layman’s description of storm energy? And that his records referred to the USA and not the whole world?”
Don’t make me laugh. You think McKibben used actual numbers? He wouldn’t know a number if it flew up his nose and died there. He’s a journalist.
Attn. Anthony–You left this list out, at the end of your article:
“As far as most intense hurricanes, here is the list, and Sandy isn’t in the top ten.”