“Yid with Lid” ran this scathing headline (in the screencap below) yesterday, and pointed out why Nye just doesn’t have a clue. The tornado data following eviscerates Nye’s claims, who seems unable (or maybe unwilling) to Google his own claims for accuracy before bloviating them on CNN.
The screencap source at “Yid with Lid” is here, and the article goes on to explain and prove the headline correct. But, while Nye is taunting Inhofe, his own claims go up in flames with a simple examination of data.
When Nye Tweeted Monday he’d be on CNN with Piers Morgan, I gave him some advice:
Which he promptly ignored, from The Blaze:
During CNN’s live coverage of the deadly Oklahoma tornado on Monday night, host Piers Morgan and Bill Nye speculated on the possible role of climate change in the disaster.
“As a scientist, when you hear about the size, scale, power, devastation of this tornado, what does it tell you about the ongoing debate about climate change?” Morgan asked his guest.
Nye said climate change has to be considered after a catastrophic weather event like the devastating tornado in Oklahoma. He also claimed 10 of the last 12 years are the “warmest years recorded.”
“Thunderstorms are driven by heat and a tornado is a super thunderstorm — result of a super thunderstorm. So you’ve got to figure that if there’s more heat driving the storm then there’s going to be more tornadoes. Now this is the kind of thing that is worth investigating,” he added.
Watch the video at the Blaze here
I agree, it is worth investigating, all you need is about 20 seconds on Google to figure out Nye’s claim is totally unsupportable.
Dr. Roger Pielke Jr. Points out on Twitter, the map we carried in this post: The 2013 Moore Oklahoma Tornado – a synopsis
Fact of the day: In US 1953-1982 saw 38 F5/EF5 tornadoes (30 yrs) from 1983-2013 (30 5/12 yrs) there were 20. Source: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/f5torns.html …
From NOAA SPC:
This is a map and list of tornadoes since 1950 which the National Weather Service has rated F5 (before 2007) or EF5 (equivalent, 2007 onward, the most intense damage category on the Fujita and Enhanced Fujita damage scales. The tornadoes are numbered in the order they happened since 1950; so the numbers run from the bottom up. NOTE: Since the (E)F-scale is a subjective damage assessment tool, official NWS ratings (as logged in Storm Data and in the NSSFC/SPC database) may differ on occasion from those of other tornado databases, such as those of the Tornado Project or University of Chicago.
[Note: I’ve made the post 1983 F5 tornadoes blue, and the pre 1983 F5 tornadoes red in the table below – Anthony]
================================================= NUMBER DATE LOCATION ====== ===================== =========================== 59 May 20, 2013 Moore OK 58 May 24, 2011 El Reno/Piedmont OK 57 May 22, 2011 Joplin MO 56 April 27, 2011 Rainsville/Sylvania AL 55 April 27, 2011 Preston MS 54 April 27, 2011 Hackleburg/Phil Campbell AL 53 April 27, 2011 Smithville MS 52 May 25, 2008 Parkersburg IA 51 May 4, 2007 Greensburg KS 50 May 3, 1999 Bridge Creek/Moore OK 49 April 16, 1998 Waynesboro TN 48 April 8, 1998 Oak Grove/Pleasant Grove AL 47 May 27, 1997 Jarrell TX 46 July 18, 1996 Oakfield WI 45 June 16, 1992 Chandler MN 44 April 26, 1991 Andover KS 43 August 28, 1990 Plainfield IL 42 March 13, 1990 Goessel KS 41 March 13, 1990 Hesston KS 40 May 31, 1985 Niles OH 39 June 7, 1984 Barneveld WI 38 April 2, 1982 Broken Bow OK 37 April 4, 1977 Birmingham AL 36 June 13, 1976 Jordan IA 35 April 19, 1976 Brownwood TX 34 March 26, 1976 Spiro OK 33 April 3, 1974 Guin AL 32 April 3, 1974 Tanner AL 31 April 3, 1974 Mt. Hope AL 30 April 3, 1974 Sayler Park OH 29 April 3, 1974 Brandenburg KY 28 April 3, 1974 Xenia OH 27 April 3, 1974 Daisy Hill IN 26 May 6, 1973 Valley Mills TX 25 February 21, 1971 Delhi LA 24 May 11, 1970 Lubbock TX 23 June 13, 1968 Tracy MN 22 May 15, 1968 Maynard IA 21 May 15, 1968 Charles City IA 20 April 23, 1968 Gallipolis OH 19 October 14, 1966 Belmond IA 18 June 8, 1966 Topeka KS 17 March 3, 1966 Jackson MS 16 May 8, 1965 Gregory SD 15 May 5, 1964 Bradshaw NE 14 April 3, 1964 Wichita Falls TX 13 May 5, 1960 Prague OK 12 June 4, 1958 Menomonie WI 11 December 18, 1957 Murphysboro IL 10 June 20, 1957 Fargo ND 9 May 20, 1957 Ruskin Heights MO 8 April 3, 1956 Grand Rapids MI 7 May 25, 1955 Udall KS 6 May 25, 1955 Blackwell OK 5 December 5, 1953 Vicksburg MS 4 June 27, 1953 Adair IA 3 June 8, 1953 Flint MI 2 May 29, 1953 Ft. Rice ND 1 May 11, 1953 Waco TX ============================================================
Let’s look at the NOAA plot of F3+ tornadoes:
Now compare that chart with US temperature data for the same period:
Source: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/time-series/us/tmp/ytd/110/00/12/1953-2013?base_prd=true&begbaseyear=1901&endbaseyear=2000&trend=true&trend_base=10&begtrendyear=1895&endtrendyear=2012
The majority of violent tornadoes occurred in the cooler periods of US history.
So, no matter how you look at it, Nye’s claim of…
““Thunderstorms are driven by heat and a tornado is a super thunderstorm — result of a super thunderstorm. So you’ve got to figure that if there’s more heat driving the storm then there’s going to be more tornadoes.”
…gets flattened with a simple inspection of temperature and tornado data.
If Bill Nye really is a “Science Guy”, you’d think he’d want to check his claims against real-world data before going on international TV, especially after being admonished to do so. Apparently not.
As Yid With Lid points out, “Perhaps his Bow Tie is on a bit too tight.”
Of course, this seems to be a pattern for Nye, who made unsupportable claims in a paid video production for Al Gore, and got flattened by the recreation of the “high school physics” experiment. He still hasn’t come clean on that one. See:
Al Gore and Bill Nye FAIL at doing a simple CO2 experiment
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His twitter profile says “Science Educator seeks to change the world..”, rather than to educate about science.
Time for WUWT to talk with Piers Morgan?
Just another low-information (and not caring) activist.
In general, colder conditions produce more storminess, due to steeper temperature gradients.
Glacial phases of ice ages are stormier than interglacials, such as now. In the solar system, the colder the planet, the higher its winds.
Nye is not a scientist. He was a mechanical engineer and training presenter at Boeing during the day and a local standup comedian in Seattle when he was tagged the “science guy” while being a know-it-all spelling nazi with a local television show’s host. The host, btw, was actually funny – Nye not so much. Disney later exploited the science guy meme and Nye’s popularity as the nouveau Mr. Wizard was settled among the facts challenged.
It would be best for all to not take this guy too seriously. He has no qualifications in climate science or any other science that prepares him to speak as an authority on climate matters.
So, as those soothsayers of Game of Thrones say: Winter is coming. 🙂
Reblogged this on gottadobetterthanthis and commented:
Bill Nye used to be funny, and he used to make cool shows about science for kids. Now he just acts like a juvenile and rambles on in incoherent ways that would be funny if he were on a Monty Python skit. Of course, as is, while laughable and ridiculous, it is mostly just sad. It makes me wonder if he is being paid to act so pathetically.
To Anthony, thanks for the ready compilation of references and facts.
Is the end for Bill as “the Science Guy” nigh?
John from the EU says May 23, 2013 at 7:43 am
“Time for WUWT to talk with Piers Morgan?”
Will U take him back?
Please?
Bill Nye, if you’re reading this, you came across much better when you were skeptical of human-induced global warming. Yup, I recall you on CNN not so many years ago.
Interesting, pre-1983 EF5 tornadoes were February through December, post-1983, March through July.
Long before Bill Nye got national exposure, he was on Seattle’s “Almost Live”, where half the time his science demonstrations failed on live TV. He was better as one of the High Fivin’ White Guys or as the semi superhero Speed Walker. Those roles were supposed to be pathetic.
Paul Homewood, on his site http://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2013/05/22/bill-nye-makes-a-fool-of-himself-again/ carries out a fairly detailed examination of Nye’s claim against the data. That’s also worth a look.
I have often thought of stroms in terms of a heat engine. What is important in the thermodynamics of heat engines is not absolute temperature per se, but the temerature difference available to convert heat energy to mechanical energy. The claim that storms will get more violent with “global warming” is not logically (or scientifically) supported by their (the global warming zealots) very own general circulation models which universally predict that the poles will warm more than the tropics, in which case the temperature differences available to make big storms will be smaller. From the apparent evidence in the tornado count shown above I interpret that it is likely that the converse proposition, that cooler “global” temperatures create larger available temperature differences that will make storms more violent, is more likely.
Bil Nye really is an apology for a human being. How disgusting for anyone to be selling their false beliefs off the back of the victims of this natural weather event. What does this say about any TV channel that allows this person to invade our screens. If advertisers are not offended by this then they should be.
We don’t want Piers Morgan back.
Favourite Piers story: He Tweets “I was disapointed that Bradley Wiggis didn’t remove his cap for the National Anthem”. Bradley Wiggins Tweets “I was sorry Piers Morgan didn’t go to jail for insider dealing an phone tapping, but hey…”
In the June issue of Popular Mechanics, there is a tribute to Fathers, for Fathers Day, article with snippets from the standard go to establishment spokes-mouths, including the “science guy” for the Sesame Street set. The Nye guy’s dad….”called himself Ned Nye, Boy Scientist. His life was changed and shaped by four years in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in World War II.” It is sad that Ned apparently did not adequately describe this Hell, or that Bill has not invested any time into the elite stage setting that created that Hell, the previous Hells and the worlds pending Hell. The Japanese imperialism was created, nurtured and maintained by Euro elites, first to counter Russian expansion, then to destabilize China, who’s leaders had traded a millennium of silk and spices with Europe, but only for GOLD. This one way exchange had depleted western Gold stocks, and every effort was made to ‘recapture’ this economic base material. As Japan closed in on this stockpile, the Chinese emperor loaded six US battleships with gold and sent it to Ft Knox for ‘safe keeping’. To understand the economic hand that directs our puppet show reality, see the your tube video “All Wars Are Bankers Wars” and read “The Creature from Jekyll Island” by G Edward Griffin. AGW is puppet science will remain unaffected by empirical evidence until exposed as elitist directed manipulation.
Ned had no access to watches as a prisoner, so developed an interest in sundials, later patenting the “Sand-dial” for beach goers who didn’t want their Timex to take a licking. Bill honors his dad by saying….”his love of sundials stuck with me. I think he’d be proud to know I helped put the first sundials on Mars”.
No Bill….i think your dad would be proud if you discovered the lies that created his four years of Hell and did ALL THAT YOU COULD DO TO PROMOTE TRUTH. Placing a token time piece on a remote planet is of no value to anyone.
Lying propoganda hack.
Clueless brainwashed zombie.
Shameless cynical gold-digger.
Narcissistic cognitively-dissonant piehole flapper (or “media celebrity” for short).
Choose at least one.
@ur momisugly 8:24 Bob Tisdale provides a clue; “. . .you came across much better when you were skeptical . . .”
Bill had his moments of fame many years ago and was on the wane. He gets invited places now, makes friends with ex-vice presidents and other rich and famous folks, and has a re-invigorated career. What’s not to like? Sure, someone figuratively stomps on him now and then, but the old adage fits:
“Sticks and stones will break my bones
But words will never harm me.”
In following up on a claim by James Elsner on the DotEarth blog, I came across this:
http://prezi.com/0epprab1wsit/the-increasing-intensity-of-the-strongest-tornadoes/
which claims a trend of increasing severity in strong tornadoes.
Does anyone know if this is reviewed work, or have any other comments? The rpub link is broken.
I see the 1977 climate shift too in the floor as well as the spikes..we should be shifting back I’m guessing
Bill Nye, the “science” guy. There, fixed it for you.
When he utters his conflab on CNN, he does so with his eyes closed. Notice that? A sure sign of deception.
Shameless, not clueless.
Here’s a prime example of someone who really should ‘take the 5th’… forever.
Caught his speech at the Lehigh University commencement on Monday, where he proclaimed that there is probably a virtual “endless supply of fossil fuels” for at least a couple of centuries and that we shouldn’t waste them. He left his most caustic comments for nuclear energy.
“When a tree falls in a lonely forest, and no animal is near by to hear it, does it make a sound? Why?”
=====
It used to be, that birds twittered.