Is Seth Borenstein a reporter or a swivel-eyed activist? Sometimes I wonder with dumb tweets like this:
At this moment Helsinki at 5 pm is 84 dF same as miami at 10 am while Washington is 81. Another example of jet stream weirding. #WCSJ2013
— @borenbears (@borenbears) June 26, 2013
Seth, Google is your friend when it comes to checking what is weird and what isn’t. Ten seconds of effort would have told you this:
@borenbears Helsinki summer climate varies between maritime & continental temps range 15-30°C (86F) 84F is NOT weird. http://t.co/k7HyT273FD
— Watts Up With That (@wattsupwiththat) June 26, 2013
From the climate report on Helsinki:
Weather in Helsinki enjoys a climate varying between maritime and continental. In summer (June to September), temperatures range 15 to 30°C (59 to 86F), with plenty of sunshine. A cool autumn (October to November) leads into a very cold winter (December to March), when there is lots of snow, it is dark almost all day long and the sea can freeze over. The spring (April to May) is short but cool, fresh and vibrant.
The all time high temperature record in June for Helsinki is 89.6F, so you still have a few degrees to go from 84F to start claiming “weird”. Note also that four months, May, June, July, and August all contain records higher than the 84F you consider “weird”.
Soruce: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki#Climate
Seth is slated to attend a conference in Helsinki on “weird weather”, so I guess he’s just practicing being one of the gang rather than being a reporter who checks facts first.
More at: http://wcsj2013.org/weird-weather-global-climate-change-media/
I think Seth’s motto must be: Tweet first, ask questions later.
Wonder if he’ll acknowledge it?
Is this the journalist from Kazachstan who appears in funny movies? I thought his name was Borat but I might be mistaken.
Nearly every report on global warming and climate change that I’ve seen from Associated Press – the news cooperative that feeds a lot of stories into your local and national newspapers – is written by their Environment reporter Seth. He seems to have strayed quite far from the objective reporter to the activist reporter.
Helsinki is about 60 degrees north latitude, so of course summer days there are quite long. Wonder why such did not occur to Mr. Borenstein?
When the term “jet-stream weirding” is used, we are no longer in the rational-scientific realm, and have entered the realm of the knuckle-heads.
Present North Atlantic jet stream map doesn’t seem to show an overwhelming pattern.
http://i.imgur.com/5l1qrfL.gif
O/T Aus. Gillard stepping down!
New paper finds nothing unusual or unprecedented about the North Atlantic jet stream
http://hockeyschtick.blogspot.com/2013/06/new-paper-finds-nothing-unusual-or.html
Seth needs to get it together and start reporting on the bug respiration. Like real Scientists do!
But seriously, do you guys think that the jet stream hasn’t been wonky for the last few years? Because the people who study it do.
Ryan~ please demonstrate your proofs that such things have NEVER happened before in the history of this planet.
I’ve been in Helsinki in May and it’s just beautiful and warm and sunny. The sun barely drops under the horizon at midnight and it doesn’t get really dark, then it rises again very very slowly. A very long dusk followed by a very long dawn.
Science Journalists? Ha, ha, ha! This is my new favorite oxymoron. Why am I not surprised there is a world conference of these oxy-‘morons’. Since when are “Weird” and “Extreme” clearly defined scientific terms for describing the weather?
Every enlightened culture knows the only way to combat Weird” and/or “Extreme” weather is to sacrifice money or virgins.
Ryan says:
June 26, 2013 at 9:49 am
“But seriously, do you guys think that the jet stream hasn’t been wonky for the last few years? Because the people who study it do.”
Lots of people here including me think it is a consequence of very low solar activity. Helsinki being warm in June, nah, that’s just a consequence of very long days and basically non existent nights.
Back in the 1970’s they found
alternating extremes of temperature and precipitation
And guess what they were caused by?
That’s right. Changes in the jet stream.
http://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/global-cooling-causes-more-extreme-weatherworld-meteorological-organisation-1975/
Seth has earned his credentials of belonging to the mother earth worshiping weird club.
Vaclav Klaus exposed the inner workings of this weird club in:
Blue Planet in Green Shackles: What Is Endangered: Climate or Freedom?
For the antidote to such weirdness, see The Cornwall Alliance
There’s lots of climate talk at the conference with Thursday being particularly heavy:
http://wcsj2013.org/thursday-27-june/
Poor Seth,
He is confusing the whistling wind sound that is happening in the space between his ears with jet stream weirding.
This all assumes that Borenstein is actually a ‘Journalist’ and not just another ‘sustainability’ mouthpiece with ‘access’.
As time and ‘Climate Science’ move on, Google will become just another ‘Fossil Fuel Funded’ purveyor of ‘disinformation’ concerning the rightness of the sustainability agenda. Seth will move on to new fields and we will be left with nothing to discuss.
Ignorance is bliss and these activists/journalists are combining it with shear bad faith.
At least it’s not as bad as the “drunken” jet stream he described yesterday.
“But lately it’s been wobbling and weaving like a drunken driver, wreaking havoc as it goes. It’s a relatively new phenomenon that scientists are still trying to understand.”
I’m surprised you didn’t catch this. It truly has to be one of the dumbest comments Borenstein has ever typed.
REPLY: Well, I’m not the NSA, I don’t see everything. But I agree, pretty dumb.- Anthony
Joe Rohm was a guest on On Point this AM with the warmists new big lie “Carbon Pollution” repeated every other sentence. The outright lies and appeal to (dubious) authority was maddening. David Kreutzer was excellent in rebuttal, but it was still difficult to listen to.
The best part were the many callers who weren’t buying it at all.
So is Global Warming/Climate Disruption/Climate Change now to be called Weird Weather? I’m having problems keeping track.
Temperatures flatlining the past 17+ years despite C02’s continued rise is weird. In fact, temperatures and C02 don’t seem to have a whole lot to do with each other, which is weird. The climate not responding at all like the models say it should certainly is weird. Face it, we have a weird climate which doesn’t behave at all like it’s supposed to.
Must be all the C02 we’re putting in the air.
Can I have my grant money now?
You might have pointed out that 84F is almost 20F above average. That’s fairly unusual. Certainly if it was running 20F above average where I live (as it might in a couple of days) we’d all be complaining about the oppressive heat. And you in Chico would be running for the beach because it would be pushing 110.
REPLY: But we routinely reach up to 110F in Chico, nobody (except climate zealots) considers it “weird” even though it is above average. – Anthony
I happen to live 50 km from Helsinki. It’s 8 pm and temp outside is 25 C after a few drops of rain. Weather is warm because wind has been blowing from southeast – that is, Russia. The highest temps ever recorded in Finland have always been associated with eastern or southeastern winds. Interestingly, the previous highest temp record broken in 2010 was from 1914. I guess jet stream was weirding also back then.
Extremely superstitious people as well as fanatics will see evidence or proofs of the object of their superstition/extremism in the most ordinary of events.
Being informed by a fanatical faith or raw superstition, they are not likely to take the time to critically review, much less think about what they are claiming.
timothy sorenson says:
June 26, 2013 at 9:44 am
———————————-
Hope Oz’ going back to the future with Rudd works out better than in California with Brown. Media give Jerry credit for a CA miracle, but tell that to the citizens & non-citizens of the BK CA towns & cities.
Living close to Oslo (Norway) at the same latitude as Helsinki, I can attest that summer weather is highly variable. Temperatures in the 30+ range (deg C) are not uncommon, neither are spells of cold below 10 deg C. Our car air conditioning system needs to do both cooling and heating between April and October. My personal experience extends back more than 50 years, and there is nothing new in this (except the airconditioned car).
It’s sickening the way the media and elected officials cite an increase in tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, floods and general extreme weather as justification for taxing, borrowing and spending billions on reducing “carbon” emissions. They throw climate “facts” around as if they are indisputable and bully anyone who dares cite evidence that proves them wrong. Borenstein and many others are simply part of the propaganda arm of the Federal Government.
The great experiment in Liberty has been hijacked.
Well Anthony, you once spanked (snipped) me for remarks about Mr. Boringstern. I have to thank you, however. You taught me how to spell cretin.
Bennett In Vermont
[…] The best part were the many callers who weren’t buying it at all.
Perhaps one of the bright lights in the struggle is that ‘Joe Six Pack’ is not as dim as some would like. Cooling as the new warming simply doesn’t pass the public ‘smell test’.
One doesn’t have to be a decorated climate scientist in order to realise that something is wrong with the cause. Sure, the hardcore will find all that ‘missing heat’ is appearing just beyond our current sensor range but the public, give them their dues, will call BS when they see it.
Finnish Meteorological Institute has daily high temperature records for Finland available in their web page:
http://ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/kesakuu
As you can see only one daily record has been broken during this June in Finland.
Mr. Rudd has just ousted Gillard as leader of the majority party in Australia. Good bye carbon tax!!
Rattus Norvegicus,
Nobody in Chico is going to go running for the beach no matter how hot it gets, simply because the beach is approximately a 3-hour drive away. Swimming pool yes, Big Chico Creek yes, beach no.
MangoChutney says:
June 26, 2013 at 10:00 am
There’s lots of climate talk at the conference with Thursday being particularly heavy:
http://wcsj2013.org/thursday-27-june/
Janne I. Hukkinen (Finland), professor of environmental policy, University of Helsinki
One of the key objectives of the World Federation of Science Journalists is to build the capacity of media professionals to undertake engaging and accurate science journalism. Science professionals need exactly the same ethos when tackling the most urgent environmental crises humanity is facing today, such as climate change and biodiversity loss. It is not enough for a scientific message about human-environmental interaction to be accurate. It should be emotionally engaging as well, or run the risk of losing its intended policy impact. Relying on recent advances in cognitive sciences, Hukkinen explores ways in which scientific messages can be both empirically valid and cognitively attractive.
This is activism (propaganda support) dressed up as journalism. Where can one find honest reporting?
8th World Conference of Science Journalists: Science Journalism: Critical Questioning in the Public Sphere.
One can only laugh. At least they have a flair for unconscious self-sarcastic irony.
Ryan @ 9:49 am said”
“But seriously, do you guys think that the jet stream hasn’t been wonky for the last few years? Because the people who study it do.”
But the people who study it said:
“When viewed in this longer term context the variations of recent decades do not appear unusual, and recent values of jet latitude and speed are not unprecedented in the historical record.”
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/qj.2197/abstract
The jet streams were also similarly variable in the 1950s as they are now, 60 years later. Essentially all of the 1950s extreme weather events, such as tornados, were similar to current events. History is a great teacher. The problem is that most people think the world started the day they were born, so therefore think that any change is unusual. For a well written read on weird jet streams in 1989, go to:
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/16/science/diverted-jet-stream-creates-weird-weather-patterns.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
When was the last time that an AP article mentioned the 17-year pause in global temps. Probably never. Said it before, will say it again: Borenstein is the worst!
milodonharlani says:
June 26, 2013 at 10:31 am
timothy sorenson says:
June 26, 2013 at 9:44 am
———————————-
Hope Oz’ going back to the future with Rudd works out better than in California with Brown. Media give Jerry credit for a CA miracle, but tell that to the citizens & non-citizens of the BK CA towns & cities.
=================================
Combet too, and I think this is not so O/T as, hopefully, this shameful fraud will catch up with Borenstein too.
http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2013/06/26/australian-pm-falls-in-leadership-tilt-climate-change-minister-treasurer-also-resign/
hunter says:
June 26, 2013 at 10:29 am
Extremely superstitious people as well as fanatics will see evidence or proofs of the object of their superstition/extremism in the most ordinary of events.
Being informed by a fanatical faith or raw superstition, they are not likely to take the time to critically review, much less think about what they are claiming.
———————–
You mean that’s not the Virgin Mary on my toast?
Science Journalist Conference Planning Committee Minutes – 2004
***
President: Any new business?
Site Selection Sub-committee Chairperson: Yes. The Strategic Change of Venue project sub-sub-committee has come up with its recommendation. We formed this committee, as most of you know, because [hyuck, hyuck] it isn’t getting any warmer and hasn’t for about 8 years, now. Most people in the world think of Finland as a perpetually cold place. Most do not realize that it is often very warm in June there. Thus, if we hold our conference in Helsinki, we get actual proof that global warming is real. [sarcastic chuckle —- No, the Science “Journalist” leadership does not really believe their own nonsense].
The Finns also agreed to throw in free sauna time. That will come in handy for our speakers. They will all come straight from the sauna [sound of suggestive laughter]… Oh, no, no, [chuckle] they’ll put on clothes, first. That way they’ll look hot and miserable on the videos. Nice little special effect.
President: Discussion?
Membership: Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah………..
Some Member: I move the question… [moved, seconded, aaaand, “the ‘aye’s’ have it”… ]
[In 2011, they decided to re-re-name their crisis: “Wierding” — same old story, same villain, HUMANS.]
**********************************
@Larry Hamlin (11:02 AM today) — THAT’S TERRIFIC NEWS! HURRAH FOR AUSTRALIA!
Isn’t it amazing how stupid and paranoid the general population is?
…has Guam tipped over yet?
Seth, there’s also this alternative explantion: It’s called SUMMER, you maroon.
MangoChutney says:
June 26, 2013 at 10:00 am
“Janne I. Hukkinen (Finland), professor of environmental policy, University of Helsinki
[…]
Relying on recent advances in cognitive sciences, Hukkinen explores ways in which scientific messages can be both empirically valid and cognitively attractive.”
Let me guess – they have discovered dramatic music helps them deliver their lies?
Jet stream wierding, a new technical term (and a new verb). Like fifty years ago it was a perfect circle and we have caused it to get all wanky. Senores, the jet stream does not cause anything, it merely follows the gradient between huge blobs of sinking and rising air. If they wanted to argue that we are somehow affecting these blobs it would be interesting, but that would require actual thought. The twits prefer tweeting.
Current temperatures are indeed nothing out of the ordinary here in Finland. But may… it was something! With a honest heart I can tell you that this has been the most fantastic summer (no matter what comes next month) of my life, right after one of the most horrible winter/spring of my life. And I happened to be on a parental leave right through this amazing summer.
I’ll remember this summer with tears in my eyes even as a senior citizen. Thant you, mister wheatherman! I can’t thank you enough!
I’m ashamed of you guys. When you’ve got a name like Seth Borenstein you need sympathy not sarcasm.
Afraid Seth won’t be able to attend the conference..it say its for “SCIENCE JOURNALISTS”
Seth lost any thing to do with those two fields a long time ago! And the only thing weird is that Seth still has the affront to call himself a science journalist.
Hope your going to offset all those carbon miles Seth from the USA to Europe!!! lots of tree planting for you!!
Can Watts up post a top 10 evidences of no man made climate change?
And is there any current effort for an ‘open letter to the President’ or something such, that can be signed by anyone and everyone who is concerned about false alarmism – experts and famous at the top of course. We need a John Hancock moment…
/Ryan~ please demonstrate your proofs that such things have NEVER happened before in the history of this planet./
I’m pretty sure they have, because the Arctic has melted before. But this time it’s a bit quick, and like the other times it will probably be accompanied by significant species turnover.
I thought that was the whole premise of Twitter?
This reminded of a news report I heard, I’m Swedish, during the first UN environmental conference in Stockholm in 1972.
It was reported that a police was stopped by a delegate from an African country on a quiet street during wee hours in the morning fearing for his life.
His question was, when is it going to be night?
Of course the conference was held in June near midsummer and then the sky never gets completely dark in Stockholm.
Yes, it happens even above the polar circle the temperature sometimes gets above 30 C during summer, although not every year.
A good advice to Seth is to be better informed than that of that UN delegate back then.
you mean: tweet first, ask questions never.
Well, if there’s anything climate related you’d like to argue about using the weather, you definitely should come over here (Finland, that is), because the weather here, it just keeps on giving. As mentioned, we get most of our weather either from the North Atlantic in the form of wetness, or as blocking highs from Siberia. Depending on the season the results can be anything, and often quite interesting…
Seth might have been much more surprised a few weeks ago when the northern Lapland, well above the Polar Circle, was the hottest place in Europe at around that same 30C (which admittedly was an all-time high). However, the all-time lows for the same locations, set sometime in the 90’s, are around -56C – that means that the difference between all time high and all time low in the same spot is around 85 degrees Celsius. 85! Can you imagine that?
Just now we are enjoying nice summer weather here, a bit on the warm side, but after a long winter which just kept on lingering… The last time I went skiing this year was the last week of March, and I live on the West Coast where we have the least snow in the country and shortest winters overall. Another year kids might be picking the first coltsfoot flowers on the same week.
I remember one mid-December a few years ago when some columnist in a local greenies paper (or website, don’t remember) was peeing her pants over violets flowering in her balcony in Helsinki. We were doomed. Well, it just so happened that the VERY NEXT DAY the winter started, and what kind of winter! If I recall right, it was the snowiest winter for years in Helsinki, with subzero temperatures stretching something like two months or even more in a row.
Personally I have driven hundreds of kilometers across the country when the coldest reading in the car’s thermometer was -39C, in complete darkness and our first kid as one-year-old in the back seat, as well as enjoyed a two-week long heat wave a few years ago with temperatures staying well over that “weird” 30C. Enjoyed both very much, but somehow wasn’t quite able to pinpoint the 0.4C (or whatever) of climate change in either case 🙂
“When you’ve got a name like Seth Borenstein you need sympathy not sarcasm.” [Mike Mellor 12:58PM 6/26/13]
I think you may be right…
“They’re just like you an’ me. The only difference is they live in a tree.” LOL.
“… And I happened to be on a parental leave … .” [Hannuko at 12:43PM 6/26/13]
I am happy for you, Hannuko! Congratulations on your new baby. Was it a boy or a girl? Yes, I am sure that you will, indeed, “remember this summer with tears in [your] eyes even as a senior citizen… .”
Glad you’ve been blessed with lovely weather to boot.
Good point, Per Strandberg (at 1:20PM 6/26/13).
WUWT is such a COOL site! What a privilege to hear from wonderful people like you from all over the WORLD.
Just checked the weather app for Helainki. The projected high for the next 7-8 days is 22C. A high of 25C in projected for the next 2 weeks.
Weird or What?
groovyman67 says:
June 26, 2013 at 1:05 pm
You cannot prove a negative. The only way one could be sure of no man made climate change would be if the climate was perfectly unchanging. Based on historical observations we know that earth’s climate fluctuates naturally without man’s intervention. One can only accumulate data showing that our climate fluctuations are either consistent or not consistent with observations of historical climate.
Scientific theory points to the reasonable hypothesis that man influences the earth’s climate. The question is whether the effect is detectable and distinguishable from the noise signal in climate observations. So groovyman67 would be more correct in asking for the “top 10 evidences” of man made climate change.
Talk about wierd weather… Here in Phoenix we were at a below normal high of 102F on Monday and on Friday we’ll be at an above normal 117F. That’s a pretty big climate change! I think our local power companies have fired up their coal-fired plants to release as much CO2 as possible before Obama’s EPA shuts them down.
Yeah… that explains it!
ryan~ proof please, that the Arctic has NEVER melted at this rate before.
JR, I finally went back and read and enjoyed your informative post. Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences and knowledge with us all. I hope you are enjoying summer in your lovely land.
groovyman67 says:
June 26, 2013 at 1:05 pm
“Can Watts up post a top 10 evidences of no man made climate change?
And is there any current effort for an ‘open letter to the President’ or something such, that can be signed by anyone and everyone who is concerned about false alarmism – experts and famous at the top of course. We need a John Hancock moment…”
Here’s a rather nice writeup. (Evans)
http://mises.org/daily/5892
Ryan @ 9:49 am said”
“But seriously, do you guys think that the jet stream hasn’t been wonky for the last few years? Because the people who study it do.”
Zis is a textbook case of vot vee Psychcologists call Varmist Observational Compression Syndrome. VOCS.
You see a rational person understands zat ze Jet Stream vos only discovered durink Vorld Var Two.
It was first mapped end observed only during zee fifties end sixties.
Only since ze satellite era hes it been possible to vatch its behaviour on a daily basis.
So I vould say to Ryan…’vonky’ compared to vot exactly?
Varmism is a special kind of psychological disturbance, Ryan is projecting his enexiety onto external processes he simply does not understand, he should seek help, possibly therapy – my number is ..
So I’m here and Seth like tweets from Helsinki and I’m like wow dude is that u? So I’m like Hello! We have this weird weather here and then it changes. Like totally! It’s completely rad. So I’m like this is weird. I mean like scientific.
I remember when Warmists kept telling me that snow in the Amazon was just weather and not the climate. They said the same thing about Tunisian sand dusted in snow as well as the Mediterranean. Why have they now done a U-turn and calling bad or unusual weather down to
global warmingclimate change? No joking aside, they would still blame another Little Ice Age on MAN-MADE CLIMATE CHANGE. This is how you know you are dealing with con clumsy artists.There are lots of news stories about cold and snow in unusual places, but these tricksters like cherries tooooo much.
Has anyone else noticed that the climate now is a lot like 1934?
Whenever you want cold weather stories to counteract the heatwave CAGW propaganda just visit:
http://iceagenow.info
The website dedicated to cold and snow news from around the world.
Per Strandberg (@LittleIceAge) says: “It was reported that a police was stopped by a delegate from an African country on a quiet street during wee hours in the morning fearing for his life. His question was, when is it going to be night?…A good advice to Seth is to be better informed than that of that UN delegate back then.”
The same thing happened to Seth a few years later. The policeman told him, “Just shut your eyes and pretend.” And that’s how Borenstein has performed as a journalist ever since.
If Seth is incapable of using Google, then maybe he should try “Let me google that for you” ….. http://lmgtfy.com/
Rattus Norvegicus says:
June 26, 2013 at 10:22 am
You might have pointed out that 84F is almost 20F above average.
———————————————————————————————————————————
So “average” to you is really a rock solid 64F, therefore anything much above or below that number is considered abnormal. I believe that “average” means just what it says, that some days in that time period may be 84F (or 94F) and some days 44F (or 34F) to get an “average” of 64F over the years. Average doesn’t mean much really, just a guide to what “might” be expected.
Wait until Weird Seth sees this: Today in central Washington State the high temperature is 76° and next Tuesday the NWS thinks it might be 102° F. Oh wait. It’s summer. Never mind.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
@ Ryan 9:49
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence was a phrase made popular by Carl Sagan – so it is said.
I think claiming a “wonky” jet stream qualifies.
Corr: “Tweet first, Ask questions never.”
Thanks to the locals who posted about Finland’s weather. An 85C range is pretty impressive, especially as the alarmists claim that a 2C change would spell doom for the planet. They must breed ’em tough up there! You guys will rule the world if the IPCC is right.
I hope that Seth’s mum remembered to pack his crayons and plenty of paper.
http://drtimball.com/2013/government-weather-and-climate-science-is-a-proven-disaster/
As a Finn living in Helsinki at the moment I had a superb day yesterday but it never occurred to me it was actually weird weather day. It’s not so long ago when these kind of days were called summer days. How wrong we were back then…
I’m actually so tired of seeing every weather event tied to AGW/ACC. What next?
There are some who take the” Eye before Eee ‘cept after Sea” rule too literally. It’s Weird, not Wierd. Thou knowest who thou art.
For Billy Liar @11:10 am.
You can find objective reporting right HERE at WUWT.
Why would facts matter to a propagandist?
I really have a laugh about folks going on about “weird” temperatures and then quote an average as their proof. What they don’t realize is that without the another very important number (variance or standard deviation), average can’t tell you “weird”, but that number is never reported. I wonder why? (ok, there is just a little /sarc on the question)
“Thou knowest who thou art.” [Perry]
Indeed, I do. Thanks for the gracious reminder! #[:)]
stan stendera says:
June 27, 2013 at 12:54 am
I do! … I should have added in the lamentable MSM.
You don’t quite understand. These sort of comments are quite serious in the long run. The idea that weather is getting weirder is being inculcated into the minds of many. They may not remember what was weird but they are reminded over and over again that the weather is weird. It must, they keep hearing it over and over again.
It doesn’t matter if there is no empirical evidence of weirdness. There is always a storm, a flood, a heat wave, tornado whatever happening. For those who have no sense of history, no sense that there is no normal with weather, everything is weird. The uncritical masses are easily convinced that whatever is happening now is weird, it must be: it has never happened quite like this before.
And of course, when you have that settled you can start to promote your solutions.
There is something very dangerous afoot.