The Week That Was: 2020-02-08 (February 8, 2020)
Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)
The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week: “Judges ought to be more leaned than witty, more reverent than plausible, and more advised than confident. Above all things, integrity is their portion and proper virtue.” – Francis Bacon
Number of the Week: Exceeds in Six of Seven Categories.
THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Expanding the Orthodoxy: Writing a post on Project Syndicate, Johan Rockström, Lars Heikensten, and Marcia McNutt announced:
“…the Nobel Foundation is hosting its first-ever Nobel Prize Summit, with the theme ‘Our Planet, Our Future,’ in Washington, DC, from April 29 to May 1. The summit – supported by the US National Academy of Sciences, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and the Stockholm Resilience Centre/Beijer Institute – will bring together more than 20 Nobel laureates and other experts from around the world to explore the question: What can be achieved in this decade to put the world on a path to a more sustainable, more prosperous future for all of humanity?”
Johan Rockström is Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), known for extreme views on the dangers of carbon dioxide and climate change. Lars Heikensten is Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation. And Marcia McNutt is President of the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Ms. McNutt came from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), a highly politicized organization that ignores the scientific method as described by Richard Feynman, discussed in last week’s TWTW.
In 1990, the once premier publication of AAAS, Science Mag, published the ground-breaking work of Roy Spencer and John Christy on using data collected by satellites to calculate temperature trends. In the mid-1990s it became clear that the atmosphere was not warming in an alarming manner, even after small errors in orbital change were corrected. Then Science Mag instituted a policy of not publishing research that contradicted claims that carbon dioxide (CO2) would cause dangerous global warming. Perhaps the billions of dollars that began to flow from Washington to universities during the Clinton/Gore Administration played a role in this decision, but one would hope not.
Nonetheless in the mid-1990s one can see a sharp divergence between what models forecast / project / predict and what is actually occurring in the atmosphere. This divergence continues after twenty-five years, indicating that US climate modelers do not adhere to the scientific method of testing the results of their models against all physical evidence.
Further, when McNutt was an editor of Science Mag. it published a fawning review of “Merchants of Doubt, a book by Oreskes and Conway that accused four distinguished US scientists of distorting research in order to personally profit with payments from various companies, particularly tobacco companies. But the book produced no evidence of such bribery. Instead, it implied the evidence can be found in the footnoted references. The evidence does not exist.
Science Mag. promptly rejected a rebuttal by SEPP Chairman emeritus, S. Fred Singer, the only surviving one of the four accused, stating there was no room to publish his short rebuttal.
Thereby, Science Mag. showed it is a leader in the politicization of American science following the well-established practice in politics – accusations count, no evidence needed.
One cannot expect much but more than propaganda from the Nobel Prize Summit. But we can hope that the political theme of “no evidence needed” will not carry on in the awarding of the Nobel Prizes in the physical sciences. See links under Expanding the Orthodoxy.
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Life Begets Life: Writing on his website, Roy Spencer brings up an interesting concept:
“Maybe when it comes to photosynthesis, more life begets still more life, leading to a slowly increasing ability of the biosphere to remove excess CO2 from the atmosphere.”
But the question he asks needs to be explored. Is it possible that human emissions of CO2 will not eventually double CO2 concentration in the atmosphere because increasing photosynthesis will prevent a doubling of CO2? The increase in photosynthesis is evident in 30 plus years of photos showing a greening of the earth.
The concept of life begetting life with increasing CO2 is different from the pessimistic theory of population growth expressed by Thomas Malthus that population growth will always outrun economic growth, particularly for agriculture, resulting in subsistence living for most humans. According to Malthus, population increases in geometric progression, while the means of subsistence will increase in only an arithmetic progression. Or put differently, food production will increase at a constant (or possibly decreasing rate) while population, unless checked by deaths, will increase at an increasing rate. The Malthus concept pervades in current international thinking such as the “Limits of Growth.”
Also, there is significant physical evidence of increasing photosynthesis reducing carbon dioxide. During the early formation of earth’s atmosphere including oxygen, great bursts in photosynthesis by micro-organisms such as cyanobacteria consumed CO2 and produced oxygen, part of which formed iron oxides. Later, the atmosphere was dramatically transformed from CO2 being an abundant gas and oxygen a trace gas to CO2 being a trace gas and oxygen an abundant one. The remarkable transformation occurred as multicellular life emerged.
Spencer’s concept is thought provoking and should be explored by those organizations claiming to research climate change, but it is doubtful it will be. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Tampering with Surface Data: Every year we listen to claims that X was the hottest day / month / year ever. Writing on his website, ICECAP, meteorologist Joseph D’Aleo explains why we simply do not know whether such claims are true. He states:
“Temperatures over oceans, which covered 71% of the globe, were measured along shipping routes mainly in the Northern Hemisphere erratically and with varying measurement methods. Despite these shortcomings and the fact that absolutely no credible grid level temperature data existed over the period from 1880 to 2000 in the Southern Hemisphere’s oceans (covering 80.9% of the Southern Hemisphere), global average surface temperature data estimation and publication by NOAA and NASA began in the early 1990s.
“To illustrate the problem, on January 16, 2020, the WSJ published a lead article by Robert Lee Hotz stating: ‘NASA, NOAA ranked 2019 as the second-hottest year in tracking data to 1880. The world experienced near-record global temperatures in 2019, federal climate scientists said. —.’ This claim was made despite the fact that absolutely no credible temperature data exists over this period for more than 40% of the planet
“After 2000, there were diving buoys. But when the best technology designed specifically for the purpose, the ARGO buoys, disappointed by showing no upward trend, the data from the buoys was ‘adjusted.’ John Bates, data quality officer with NOAA admitted ‘They had good data from buoys…and ‘corrected’ it by using the bad data from ships. You never change good data to agree with bad, but that’s what they did – so as to make it look as if the sea was warmer.’ He retired after that change was made.
[Has graph showing the significant adjustments yielding a warming trend, after adjustments.]
That was just the latest example of data manipulation. Initially, this global data had a cyclical pattern similar to previously reported Northern Hemisphere data (high in the 1930s and 40s, low in the 70s). Then, as time progressed, the previous officially reported GAST data history was modified, removing the cycle and creating a more and more strongly upward sloping linear trend in each freshly reported historical data set.
Tony Heller posted additional graphics showing how data was changed which he titled the Superbowl Of Data Tampering.
Jennifer Marohasy shows that the same has occurred in Australia. She writes:
“It is not disputed that Blair Trewin under the supervision of David Jones (both working at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology) remodel all the historical temperature data generating trends and statistics that look quite different from the actual measurements.”
It is clear the entities of NOAA, NASA and Australian BOM do not practice rigorous adherence to the scientific method as described by Richard Feynman and advocated by other physical scientists. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy and Measurement Issues – Surface
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Preparing for Glasgow: Since the Paris Agreement in 2015, every Conference of Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change has been deemed a failure by those advocating adherence to UN warnings of dangerous CO2-caused climate change (global warming). Physical evidence that CO2 is causing dangerous warming is exceedingly thin. Much of it has been tampered with, as shown immediately above. But that does not stop those who desire an international government from trying, such as the effort by executives of PIK, Nobel Foundation, and NAS discussed above.
COP-26 is being hosted by the UK government and will be located in Glasgow. This is bringing its own set of problems, among them that the UK just withdrew from the European Union, creating conflict between the UK and the EU, as well as political conflict within the UK. Paul Homewood brings attention to a new report by the UK Climate Coalition claiming greater dangers from floods due to climate change. It states in the foreword:
“As this report shows so graphically, the consequences of climate change such as increased flood risk are already having devastating effects on people and businesses.
“Adapting to the inevitable changes in our climate is vital, and we are taking robust action to improve the resilience of our people, economy and environment, including by investing £2.6 billion over six years to better protect our communities from flooding and erosion.
“Tackling climate change and the impact on our environment is both a national and international priority. The UK is already leading the way by delivering on our world-leading target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. We will ask our partners to match the UK’s. [whatever that means.]
No doubt, many more such reports will appear in the UK over this year. After presenting contradicting data Homewood concludes:
“The idea that cutting UK emissions will make Britain’s weather better belongs in the kindergarten, and not real science.”
See links under After Paris! Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up, and Problems in the Orthodoxy
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T-Shirt Weather: Outside the Antarctic Circle, 66.5 degrees S, the Esperanza Base (63 degrees 24 min S) is one of only two civilian settlements in Antarctica. Built in 1953 by Argentina, it is on the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and has a population of about 55. [The other civilian base is also on the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, Villa Las Estrellas (62 degrees 12 minutes S). It was built by Chile and has a winter population of 80.] In January and February, the daily mean temperature of Esperanza is above freezing. According to initial reports, Esperanza reached 18.3 degrees Celsius (65 Fahrenheit) on February 7, almost a full degree above the previous high set five years ago. Of course, representatives of Greenpeace found the news “shocking.”
Given its isolated position, subject to winds and ocean currents, extrapolating temperature data from Esperanza to the Antarctic land mass is thoughtless. But apparently that is what the World Meteorological Organization (WMO, a parent organization of the IPCC) is doing. It claims Antarctica is among the fastest-warming regions on the planet. Yet, it has no thermometers covering the main part of the inland land mass. See links under Defending the Orthodoxy.
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Changing Seas: The fear of sea level rise hit the news again. Certainly, ground subsidence is a problem in many areas along the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. Where it is a major problem, such as in the Norfolk-Newport News area, efforts to minimize ground water extraction by using desalination should be undertaken. Apparently, such low-cost alternatives for fresh water are being ignored.
Looking at the North American Continent, tidal gages along most of the Gulf of Alaska, and Churchill, Canada, on the Hudson Bay, show sea levels are dropping by at least 9 mm/yr. or 3 feet/century. This is likely rebound from the last Ice Age or for the Gulf of Alaska the Pacific plat slipping north and subducting, thereby raising the land. There here is little to be feared from the Hudson Bay or the Gulf of Alaska draining empty in the next few years. The fear of sea level rise largely stems from the illogical category of “Hasty Generalization.” See links under Changing Seas and https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/sltrends/sltrends.html?stnid=970-141]
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Additions and Corrections: Last week, TWTW discussed cargo cult science from a lecture on scientific integrity by Richard Feynman. Geologist Clifford Ollier stated Feynman did not fully understand the cargo cult. He wrote:
“I have lived and worked in Papua New Guinea (PNG) for years, so I think I have a better idea. My first trips were in the 1960s, when the people were more primitive than now.
“They were amazed by many things, like bicycles and aeroplanes, but I’ll start with just tinned meat. How can you find the material that the can is made of? How can you carve it so thin? And how do you get the meat on the inside? No, they must be made in heaven. Who lives in heaven? Our Ancestors. Who are they sending the cargo to? Us. But who has the cargo? Whitey!
So, the basic belief is that the whites are intercepting the cargo that was sent to them. They went to great lengths to find out how. The aeroplane story is of an attempt to intercept the cargo for themselves.
“It is almost impossible to put the story into perspective, but when the University of PNG was set up the Vice Chancellor (a man with great experience of the country) explained to the early staff (about a third each from England, Australia and New Zealand) that they should remember that for most PNG natives the first time they saw a wheel it was on an aeroplane.”
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Number of the Week: Exceeds Standards in Six of Seven Categories. A questionable study claiming one-third of Americans experienced poor air quality due to pollution prompted efforts to find the basis for the claim. The abstract of a paper in Nature, Climate Change stated:
“New analyses based on Earth system modelling show that reducing ozone from the energy, industrial and transportation sectors could mitigate climate change by enhancing the ability of vegetation to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis.”
The article stated:
“That year, [apparently 2018] 108 million Americans lived in areas where ground-level ozone or particulate pollution was above the level that the Environmental Protection Agency says presents ‘little to no risk,’ according to a report from the Environment America Research and Policy Center.”
But TWTW was unable to find evidence substantiating the claims beyond a press release using EPA numbers. Since CO2 is called a pollutant by the EPA, it is surprising any Americans experience suitable air quality.
However, a review of the latest air quality data on category pollutants, including PM 2.5, revealed that for six of the seven category pollutants the natural average has been below the national standard for years. These category pollutants include carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, PM 10, PM 2.5, and sulfur dioxide. and that in 2018 the US average ozone just reached the national standard based on 196 sites. The decrease from 1980 to 2018 was 31%. In other words, the improvement in air quality is exceeding standards set decades ago. https://www.epa.gov/air-trends/ozone-trends#oznat
It appears there are no generally recognized data substantiating the claims in Nature, Climate Change and other articles. Unlike with NOAA and NASA, to the knowledge of TWTW no one has produced evidence that EPA is tampering with the data. See links under Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism?
NEWS YOU CAN USE:
Commentary: Is the Sun Rising?
A Solar Science Timeline – sunspots, cycles, and solar wind
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Feb 5, 2020
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/02/05/a-solar-science-timeline-sunspots-cycles-and-solar-wind/
Censorship
The Fight-Back Begins: Education Minister Gives British Universities Final Warning On Free Speech
By Staff, The Times, Via GWPF, Feb 7, 2020
Fraser Nelson: The British Public Are Fighting Back Against The Digital Mob
By Fraser Nelson, The Daily Telegraph, Via GWPF, Feb 2, 2020
https://www.thegwpf.com/fraser-nelson-the-british-public-are-fighting-back-against-the-digital-mob/
Challenging the Orthodoxy — NIPCC
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science
Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2013
https://www.heartland.org/media-library/pdfs/CCR-II/CCR-II-Full.pdf
Summary: http://www.nipccreport.org/reports/ccr2a/pdf/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts
Idso, Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2014
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/climate-change-reconsidered-ii-biological-impacts/
Summary: https://www.heartland.org/media-library/pdfs/CCR-IIb/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Fossil Fuels
By Multiple Authors, Bezdek, Idso, Legates, and Singer eds., Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, April 2019
http://store.heartland.org/shop/ccr-ii-fossil-fuels/
Download with no charge:
Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming
The NIPCC Report on the Scientific Consensus
By Craig D. Idso, Robert M. Carter, and S. Fred Singer, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), Nov 23, 2015
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/
Download with no charge:
https://www.heartland.org/policy-documents/why-scientists-disagree-about-global-warming
Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate
S. Fred Singer, Editor, NIPCC, 2008
http://www.sepp.org/publications/nipcc_final.pdf
Global Sea-Level Rise: An Evaluation of the Data
By Craig D. Idso, David Legates, and S. Fred Singer, Heartland Policy Brief, May 20, 2019
https://www.heartland.org/_template-assets/documents/publications/SeaLevelRiseCCRII.pdf
Challenging the Orthodoxy
On the fatal flaw of climate alarmism
By Joseph D’Aleo, CCM, ICECAP, Feb 4, 2020
The Superbowl Of Data Tampering
By Tony Heller, Real Climate Science, Feb 3, 2020
https://realclimatescience.com/2020/02/the-superbowl-of-data-tampering/
Will Humanity Ever Reach 2XCO2? Possibly Not
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Feb 1, 2020
http://www.drroyspencer.com/2020/02/will-humanity-ever-reach-2xco2-possibly-not/
Corrected RCP Scenario Removal Fractions
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Feb 6, 2020
http://www.drroyspencer.com/2020/02/corrected-rcp-scenario-removal-fractions/
CLINTEL Manifesto blasts climate scaremongering
By David Wojick, CFACT, Jan 29, 2020
2020 State Of The Climate Report
By Tony Heller, Real Climate Science, Feb 6, 2020
https://realclimatescience.com/2020/02/2020-state-of-the-climate-report/
In video: https://realclimatescience.com/2020/02/state-of-the-climate-address/
[SEPP Comment: A history of false predictions.]
Climate Science Was Corrupted, Says Award Winning Climate Scientist
By Timothy Ball, H. Sterling Burnett, Heartland Institute, Feb 6, 2020
Defending the Orthodoxy
It’s T-Shirt Weather in Antarctica as Temperature Breaks Record
By Laura Millan Lombrana, Bloomberg, Feb 7, 2020 [H/t Bill Balgord]
Analysis: Why coal use must plummet this decade to keep global warming below 1.5C
By Simon Evans, Carbon Brief, Feb 6, 2020
“The next 10 years are crucial for tackling climate change, with widespread recognition that CO2 emissions must fall 45% by 2030 to keep global warming below 1.5C.”
“Either action to tackle emissions from fossil-fuel burning must be rapidly stepped up, or the global community must accept warming beyond the levels deemed dangerous in the Paris Agreement – as adopted by consensus among more than 190 countries in 2015.”
Questioning the Orthodoxy
New Study: Greenland Was ‘4–5 °C Warmer Than Today’ ~9000 Years Ago…When The Arctic Was Nearly Sea-Ice Free
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Feb 6, 2020
Link to paper: Holocene changes in sea-ice cover and polynya formation along the eastern North Greenland shelf: New insights from biomarker records
By Nicole Syring, et al. Quaternary Science Reviews, Mar 1, 2020
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379119304238
[SEPP Comment: Hesitate generalizing for all of Greenland.]
New paper says Baffin Bay polar bears may have been affected by less summer sea ice
By Susan Crockford, Polar Bear Science, Feb 5, 2020
Link to paper: Interrelated ecological impacts of climate change on an apex predator
By Kristin Laidre, et al., Ecological Applications, 2020
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eap.2071
Crockford states: “In other words, because no other factor besides sea ice cover was considered in this study, no definitive conclusions can be drawn from the results of the study. Correlation of body condition and litter size declines with sea ice decline does not prove that sea ice decline is the cause of those declines. It’s just been made to look that way, which was apparently acceptable to the journal that published the paper.” [Emphasis in original]
Longest-Ever S. Hemisphere Tree-Ring Reconstruction Finds The 1700s-1800s Were Warmer Than Today
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Feb 3, 2020
Link to paper: +A 5680-year tree-ring temperature record for southern South America
By A. Lara, et al., Quaternary Science Reviews, Jan 15, 2020
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379119306924
“Recent warming is not exceptional in the context of the last five millennia in SSA.”
Global Fossil Fuel Emissions Up 0.6% In 2019
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 6, 2020
“[Note that this article was written in December 2019]”
“Given that global carbon dioxide emissions are now 14% higher than when the abortive Copenhagen summit was held in 2009, and when we were told we had ten years to save the planet, the odd half a percent change up or down is utterly irrelevant.
“And the reason is perfectly clear – the world needs fossil fuels, for the simple reason that nothing else can replace them.”
Climate doomsayers keep putting sell-by dates on their credibility
By Toby Young, Spectator, UK, Feb 1, 2020
Global Warming’s 50 Years of Fraud
By Jack Hellner, American Thinker, Feb 7, 2020
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/02/global_warmings_50_years_of_fraud.html
[SEPP Comment: More false predictions.]
Dry, hot summers could become ‘common’ in Scotland-Or maybe not!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 4, 2020
“The latest junk science courtesy of the Met Office and BBC:”
Poisoned Chalice: Green Tories Decline Invitation To Chair Toxic UN Climate Conference
By Staff, The Times, Via GWPF, Feb 4, 2020
Climate change summit chief Claire Perry O’Neill sacked by Boris Johnson
By Staff, MSN, Feb 1, 2020
Climate War Against Boris: Sacked Climate Summit Chief May Sue UK Government
By Staff, The Times, Via GWPF, Feb 2, 2020
https://www.thegwpf.com/climate-war-against-boris-sacked-climate-summit-chief-may-sue-uk-government/
“Allies said she became frustrated that the COP26 unit had failed to produce a proper plan for the summit and that the estimated costs had nearly doubled from £250m to £450m because of poor estimates by other departments.”
Change in US Administrations
Secret Science Under Attack — Part 3
By Kip Hansen, WUWT, Feb 2, 2020
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/02/02/secret-science-under-attack-part-3/
Link to proposed rule: Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science
A Proposed Rule by the Environmental Protection Agency on 04/30/2018
https://www.epa.gov/osa/strengthening-transparency-regulatory-science
Trump credits economic progress to environmental rollbacks
By Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, Feb 4, 2020
Trump administration finalizes plans to shrink Bears Ears, Grand Staircase monuments
By Rachel Frazen, The Hill, Feb 6, 2020
BLM leadership expanded oil drilling in Colorado over local staff objections
By Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, Feb 6, 2020
Coercing China on climate change?
By Derek Scissors, AEIdeas, Feb 5, 2020
https://www.aei.org/foreign-and-defense-policy/asia/coercing-china-on-climate-change/
World misses symbolic February deadline to ratchet up climate action before Cop26
The 2015 Paris Agreement seeks to raise global ambition every five years. But only three nations have issued upgraded climate plans nine months before Cop26 in Glasgow
By Alister Doyle, Climate Home News, Feb 7, 2020 [H/t WUWT]
“Of almost 200 governments, only the Marshall Islands, Suriname and Norway, which issued a new plan on 7 February, have provided new NDCs to rein in their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt their economies to ever more heatwaves, droughts, more powerful storms and rising sea levels.”
Seeking a Common Ground
Breaking down the last decade of climate change in 7 charts
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Feb 8, 2020
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/02/08/breaking-down-the-last-decade-of-climate-change-in-7-charts/
David Simon on Climate Alarmism (Julian Simon lives!)
By Robert Bradley Jr. Master Resource, Feb 4, 2020
https://www.masterresource.org/simon-julian/julian-simon-an-appreciation/
Science, Policy, and Evidence
Stop using inadequate climate models for policy making
By David Wojick, C-FACT, Feb 5, 2020
https://www.cfact.org/2020/02/05/stop-using-inadequate-climate-models-for-policy-making/
America Needs a Comprehensive Energy Strategy
By Jakob Puckett, Real Clear Energy, Feb 6, 2020
[SEPP Comment: The US had one in the 1970s when coal was the miracle fuel to replace oil and gas.]
An Academic Theory Fit for Burning
By Neil Burrows and Rick Sneeuwjagt, Quadrant, Feb 4, 2020
https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2020/02/an-academic-theory-fit-for-burning/
“Fuel reduction burning is not designed to ‘stop wildfires’. The purpose is to make them easier, safer and cheaper to control.”
Caption under aerial photo: “On the left, green forest that escaped the flames. On the right, blackened destruction of a heavy-fuel inferno. And in the centre, a fuel-reduced strip where the fire simply ran out of puff.”
Australian bushfire season 2019-2020 – Severity, reasons and conclusions
By Pasi Autio, WUWT, Feb 3, 2020
Why didn’t Tilligerry burn?
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Feb 5, 2020
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2020/02/05/why-didnt-tilligerry-burn/
On social media, debate rages on bushfires’ cause
Climate change, arson blamed
By Rod McGuirk, AP, Feb 1, 2020 [H/t GWPF]
https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2020/feb/01/on-social-media-debate-rages-on-bushfir/
The Government’s Hybrid Car Fiasco Shows The UK Is Nowhere Near A Coherent Environmental Policy
By Emma Revell, The Daily Telegraph, Via GWPF, Feb 7, 2020
Review of Recent Scientific Articles by CO2 Science
Five Decades of Severe Storm and Hail Days in the Tibetan Plateau
Zou, T., Zhang, Q., Li, W. and Li, J. 2018. Responses of hail and storm days to climate change in the Tibetan Plateau. Geophysical Research Letters 45: 4485-4493. Feb 5. 2020
http://www.co2science.org/articles/V23/feb/a2.php
A Recent Analysis of Ecosystem Water Use Efficiency [WUE] Trends in an Old-growth Forest
Jiang, Y., Still, C.J., Rastogi, B., Page, G.F.M., Wharton, S., Meinzer, F.C., Voelker, S. and Kim, J.B. 2019. Trends and controls on water-use efficiency of an old-growth coniferous forest in the Pacific Northwest. Environmental Research Letters 14: 074029. Feb 3, 2020
http://www.co2science.org/articles/V23/feb/a1.php
“In light of the above findings, it is expected that rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations in the years and decades ahead will continue to exert a positive influence on the ecosystem WUE of this old-growth forest. And this increasing influence of atmospheric CO2 may well increasingly offset and overpower those influences that act to reduce WUE, such as drought or low soil moisture.”
Models v. Observations
Economic impact of energy consumption change caused by global warming
By Peter Lang and Ken Gregory, Climate Etc. Feb 8, 2020
“We recommend that the FUND energy impact functions be modified and recalibrated against best available empirical data. Further, we recommend that the validity of the non-energy impact functions be tested.”
Cooling the Past: Made Easy for Paul Barry
By Jennifer Marohasy, Her Blog, Feb 6, 2020
https://jennifermarohasy.com/2020/02/cooling-the-past-made-easy-for-paul-barry/
Measurement Issues — Atmosphere
UAH Global Temperature Update for January 2020: +0.56 deg. C
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Feb 5, 2020
http://www.drroyspencer.com/2020/02/uah-global-temperature-update-for-january-2020-0-56-deg-c/
Link to: January 2020 Global Temperature Report, Lower Troposphere
By Staff Earth System Science Center, University of Alabama in Huntsville
Map https://www.nsstc.uah.edu/climate/2020/january2020/202001_Map.png
Graph https://www.nsstc.uah.edu/climate/2020/january2020/202001_bar.png
[SEPP Comment: The claimed, calculated surface warming of Antarctica does not appear in atmospheric measurements.]
Measurement Issues — Tropics
Hurricane experts should look to the water, not the wind for accurate predictions, new study says
By Joe Mario Pedersen, phys.org, Jan 29, 2020 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://phys.org/news/2020-01-hurricane-experts-accurate.html
Changing Weather
On average bushfires burn an amazing 50 million ha every year in Australia
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Feb 4, 2020
On cue — after droughts and fires, then come the floods
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Feb 7, 2020
http://joannenova.com.au/2020/02/on-cue-after-droughts-and-fires-then-come-the-floods/
Amazing Murk, Very Wet on the Cascade Slopes, and an Unusual Atmospheric River
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, Feb 6, 2020
https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2020/02/amazing-murk-very-wet-on-cascade-slopes.html
Changing Seas
Global ocean circulation is accelerating from the surface to the abyss
By Staff Writers, Washington DC (SPX), Feb 07, 2020
Link to paper: Deep-reaching acceleration of global mean ocean circulation over the past two decades
By Shijian Hu, et al. Science Advances, Feb 5, 2020
https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/6/eaax7727
From the abstract: “Although possibly influenced by wind changes associated with the onset of a negative Pacific decadal oscillation since the late 1990s, the recent acceleration is far larger than that associated with natural variability, suggesting that it is principally part of a long-term trend.”
[SEPP Comment: The IPCC used to insist that at least thirty years of data are needed.]
Claim: Climate Change is Speeding Up Global Ocean Currents
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Feb 8, 2020 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/02/08/claim-climate-change-is-speeding-up-global-ocean-currents/
[SEPP Comment: See link immediately above!]
Sea Level Rose at Almost All of US Coasts in 2019
By Sandy Fitzgerald, Newsmax, Feb 3, 2020 [By Bill Balgord]
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/sea-level-ice-melt/2020/02/03/id/952507/
[SEPP Comment: Hasty generalization! Why were some coasts excluded, are they not on the ocean? At most tidal gages in Alaska sea levels are dropping by at least 9 mm/yr or 3 feet/century. https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/sltrends/sltrends.html?stnid=970-141]
Sea-level Variation in Hudson Bay, Canada, from Tide-Gauge Data
By William Gough and Carol Robinson, Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, May 2, 2018
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15230430.2000.12003371
From abstract: Long-term changes, particularly an increase in the rate of sea-level drop from 1970 to 1985, is not likely the result of changes in local discharge, but is possibly the result of thermal contraction of the world ocean due to short-term cooling from 1960 to 1975. We speculate that changes in atmospheric conditions related to the North Atlantic Oscillation since 1970 may also affect sea-level changes in Hudson Bay.
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
1901: Scientists Think Break-Off Of Antarctic Icebergs Due To Volcanic Activity
By Staff, GWPF, Feb 1, 2020
“There must evidently be a force sufficient to break off the icebergs, which are slowly forming on shore, and to do it at irregular periods, separated by many years. Such a force seems to reside in the volcanoes of the Antarctic Continent, when they burst forth in eruption and earthquake, and so shake the foreshores that the icebergs are broken off from the glaciers, and set adrift to float we know not where.”
Arctic Ice Melt Is Changing Ocean Currents
By Staff Writers, Pasadena CA (JPL), Feb 07, 2020
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Arctic_Ice_Melt_Is_Changing_Ocean_Currents_999.html
“Using 12 years of satellite data, scientists have measured how this circular current, called the Beaufort Gyre, has precariously balanced an influx of unprecedented amounts of cold, fresh water – a change that could alter the currents in the Atlantic Ocean and cool the climate of Western Europe.” [Boldface added]
[SEPP Comment: Similar scientists ignore 40 years of satellite temperature data!]
The Insignificance of Greenland’s Ice Mass Loss in Five Easy Charts…
By David Middleton, WUWT, Feb 5, 2020
Link to Exhuming the Glacier Girl
By Alan bellows, May 21, 2006
https://www.damninteresting.com/exhuming-the-glacier-girl/
“The two men found that in the forty-six years since the planes had crash-landed, an astonishing 268 feet of ice had accumulated over them, and they had been carried three miles by the drifting glacier.”
Lowering Standards
The Tip of a JCU’s Junk Science Iceberg
By Walter Starck, Quadrant, Feb 5, 2020
https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2020/02/the-tip-of-a-jcus-junk-science-iceberg/
“Being adept at obtaining grants has become a highly skilled and demanding ability, too valuable to waste time on actual research.
Swedish Lawmakers Nominate Climate Activist Greta Thunberg For A Nobel Peace Prize
By Chris White, Daily Caller, Feb 3, 2020
https://dailycaller.com/2020/02/03/greta-thunberg-nobel-peace-prize/
Even Privatisation May Come Too Late To Save An Increasingly Irrelevant BBC
By Allister Heath, The Daily Telegraph, Via GWPF, Feb 6, 2020
https://www.thegwpf.com/even-privatisation-may-come-too-late-to-save-an-increasingly-irrelevant-bbc/
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism?
One-third of Americans experienced poor air quality due to pollution in 2018: study
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, Jan 28, 2020
Link to paper: Cleaner air is a win–win
By Benjamin S. Felzer, Nature Climate Change Jan 27, 2020
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-019-0685-4
Aussie ABC: “Are economists globally understating or overstating the cost of climate change?”
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Feb 5, 2020
German “Leftist” Journalists Go Undercover – Infiltrate, Set Up Heartland Institute’s James Taylor
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Feb 7, 2020
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
How the ocean is gnawing away at glaciers
By Staff Writers, Bremerhaven, Germany (SPX), Feb 04, 2020
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/How_the_ocean_is_gnawing_away_at_glaciers_999.html
Link to paper: Bathymetry constrains ocean heat supply to Greenland’s largest glacier tongue
By Janin Schaffer, Nature Geoscience, Feb 3, 2020
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0529-x
“Abstract: Mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has increased over the past two decades, currently accounting for 25% of global sea-level rise. This is due to increased surface melt driven by atmospheric warming and the retreat and acceleration of marine-terminating glaciers forced by oceanic heat transport. We use ship-based profiles, bathymetric data and moored time series from 2016 to 2017 of temperature, salinity and water velocity collected in front of the floating tongue of the 79 North Glacier in Northeast Greenland.” [Boldface added]
[SEPP Comment: Using a two-year time series to draw great conclusions? Very little of the Greenland ice is involved in a glacial tongue!]
Let’s Not Hype the Effect of Climate on the Economy
By David Bahnsen, National Review, Jan 14, 2020
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/01/lets-not-hype-the-effect-of-climate-on-the-economy/
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
UK Facing Heightened Flood Risks, Claims New Report
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 7, 2020
Link to report: Home Truths: How climate change is impacting UK homes
By Staff, The Climate Coalition,
The first potentially invasive species to reach the Antarctica on drifting marine algae
By Staff Writers, Barcelona, Spain (SPX), Feb 03, 2020
Link to paper: Invasive marine species discovered on non–native kelp rafts in the warmest Antarctic island
By Conxita Avila, et al. Nature, Scientific Reports, Jan 31, 2020
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-58561-y
Quote from the article: “Tourism, maritime transport and scientific research are some human activities that favoured the expansion of non-native organisms -insects, plants, etc.- in the fragile terrestrial ecosystems of the Antarctica.”
[SEPP Comment: Describing the ecosystem of Antarctica as fragile?]
Time Magazine: Climate Change Will Make Lethal Coronavirus Epidemics More Likely
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Feb 6, 2020
Communicating Better to the Public – Go Personal.
Bob Ward Resorts To Little Known Journal
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 5, 2020
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2020/02/05/bob-ward-resorts-to-little-known-journal/
[SEPP Comment: In attacking GWPF]
German “Environmental Expert”/Activist Suggests Humans Need Draconian “Behavior Change”
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Feb 4, 2020
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda on Children
Former “Fridays For Future” Teen Activist Reveals “Cult-Like Control”, “Hostility”, “Leftist Infiltration
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Feb 5, 2020
Communicating Better to the Public – Protest
Enough Is Enough: London Radio Starts Campaign Against Extinction Rebellion
By Nick Ferrani, Daily Telegraph, Via GWPF, Feb 3, 2020
https://www.thegwpf.com/enough-is-enough-london-radio-starts-campaign-against-extinction-rebellion/
Expanding the Orthodoxy
Not a Decade to Spare for Climate Action
By Johan Rockström, Lars Heikensten, and Marcia McNutt, Project Syndicate, Feb 4, 2020
“This is why the Nobel Foundation is hosting its first-ever Nobel Prize Summit, with the theme ‘Our Planet, Our Future,’ in Washington, DC, from April 29 to May 1.”
Climate Action Ready Universities Offer Us their Geopolitical Leadership
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Feb 5, 2020
Brussels Tells UK: Report To Us On Climate Change Or Forget Brexit Trade Deal
By Staff, Daily Telegraph, Via GWPF, Feb 4, 2020
Questioning European Green
The Decline and Fall of Britain’s Energy Regulator, Ofgem
By John Constable, GWPF, Feb 4, 2020
https://www.thegwpf.com/the-decline-and-fall-of-britains-energy-regulator-ofgem/
“The dramatic reduction in offshore wind costs demonstrates that in the long term, low carbon energy can be cheaper than traditional fossil fuels.”
[SEPP Comment: When the costs of maintaining reliable generation are included?]
Economic Cost of Higher EU Climate Ambition Comes Under Scrutiny
By Ewa Krukowska, Bloomberg Green, Feb 4, 2020 [H/t GWPF]
More Hardship For German Consumers, Poor…Power Companies Announce More Rate Hikes Averaging 8.1%!
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Feb 2, 2020
[SEPP Comment: The more “free” electricity from wind and solar, the higher the costs to the consumer.]
German Weekly ‘FOCUS’: German Wind Energy On The Verge Of “Collapse”…”Protests Booming”
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Feb 1, 2020
“For example, the 10H rules are in effect in Bavaria. Here, wind turbines cannot be located near residents at a distance that is closer than 10 times its height, making many wind projects in the south German state impossible.”
The government’s eco-edict that all new cars be electric in 15 years is doomed to backfire – because old bangers can be greener, says JOHN NAISH
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 5, 2020
“Come 2033, when I’m finally in the market for a new car, I predict that technological advances will have made fossil-fuel engine motors significantly cleaner.
“The signs are already there in the technical journals. One of the most promising developments is in the world of . . . wait for it . . . cleaner diesel engines with far fewer emissions.
“You couldn’t make it up. But actually, that’s what the Government is doing with its ‘greener’ motoring policies.”
Questioning Green Elsewhere
Brief Details How The ‘Green New Deal’ Would Be An Environmental Disaster
By Tim Benson, Heartland Institute, Via WUWT, Feb 4, 2020
The Political Games Continue
House Energy and Commerce Democrats Release Omnibus Climate Bill
By Myron Ebell, CEI, Feb 3, 2020
https://cei.org/blog/house-energy-and-commerce-democrats-release-omnibus-climate-bill
Litigation Issues
A Juliana Ruling Repeat? Five Things to Know Before California Cities’ Public Nuisance Lawsuit Heads Back to Court
By Patrick Hall, Energy in Depth, Jan 30, 2020
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
Wind’s PTC Receives 12th Extension (competitive not)
By Robert Bradley Jr. Master Resource, Feb 6, 2020
https://www.masterresource.org/production-tax-credit-ptc/wind-ptc-extension-twelve/
[SEPP Comment: Review of 28 years of “temporary” tax credit subsidy needed by the “infant” industry.]
Energy Issues – Non-US
Foolish Climate Obsession Threatens To Turn Drivers and Voters Against Boris
By Paul Hudson, Daily Telegraph, Via GWPF, Feb 5, 2020
OFGEM [Britain’s energy regulator] Wants To Rip Out Your Central Heating & Put 10m EVs On The Road By 2030
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 3, 2020
“Well I did warn you!!”
Energy Issues — US
Fuel Economy Chaos – What Is it, Who Caused it, What’s the Cure
By Marlo Lewis, CEI, Feb 5, 2020
https://cei.org/blog/fuel-economy-chaos-what-it-who-caused-it-whats-cure
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
Everybody Wants To Rule The World – What’s Ahead For OPEC-Plus’s Crude Supply Management?
By Bob Tippee, RBN Energy, Feb 4, 2020
Return of King Coal?
Japan Races to Build New Coal-Burning Power Plants, Despite the Climate Risks
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 4, 2020
[SEPP Comment: Not mentioned in the NYT article is that modern coal-fired technology is far superior to older coal plants that are being retired.]
Oil Spills, Gas Leaks & Consequences
Report finds 10 oil refineries with benzene above EPA’s ‘action level’
By Rachel Franzin, The Hill, Feb 6, 2020
“The Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) examined the monitoring reports of more than 100 refineries and identified 10 whose fence line benzene levels were higher than the EPA’s ‘action level’ as of the third quarter of 2019.”
Nuclear Energy and Fears
Nuclear Power and Climate Hysteria
By Donn Dears, Power For USA, Feb 4, 2020
https://ddears.com/2020/02/04/nuclear-power-and-climate-hysteria/
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
How much electricity may produce a $1 Billion Solar Plant backed by the Obama Energy Department?
By Albert Parker, WUWT, Feb 4, 2020
Energy & Environmental Newsletter: February 3, 2020
By John Droz, Jr. Master Resource, Feb 3, 2020
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles
BEV Report Card for 2019
By Donn Dears, Power For USA, Feb 7, 2020
https://ddears.com/2020/02/07/bev-report-card-for-2019/
“BEVs could make economic sense in the future, since it’s more efficient to convert natural gas to electricity with Natural Gas Combine Cycle power plants having an efficiency of 63%, than to burn gasoline in an internal combustion engine which has an efficiency of less than 30%. Fewer component parts in a BEV could eventually result in lower cost BEVs.”
[SEPP Comment: For 2019 in the US, sales of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) were up slightly while sales of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) were down by almost a third.]
Petrol and diesel car sales ban brought forward to 2035
By Staff, BBC, Feb 4, 2020
Banning gas cars? It’s a ‘fringe crazy bill’ no longer
By Danny Westneat, Seattle Times, Feb 5, 2020 [H/t Ken Schlichte]
The Green New Deal
By Tony Heller, Real Climate Science, Feb 4, 2020
https://realclimatescience.com/2020/02/the-green-new-deal/
“IONITY, a European EV charging network owned by BMW, Daimler, Ford, Hyundai, Kia, and VW Group (with Audi and Porsche) has announced that prices will be going up over 500% starting January 31 as they transition to a pay-per-kWh system.”
Electric cars and the error of ‘picking losers’
By Tim Worstall, CapX, Feb 5, 2020 [H/t GWPF]
https://capx.co/electric-cars-and-the-error-of-picking-losers/
“All the bright people in government planning the world for us doesn’t work. Partly because all the bright people don’t go into government, partly because the planning is done on political, not economic, grounds and mostly because there’s no way that government can take account of the complexities of that world out there, the multitude of ways in which any specific point or problem can be solved.”
Electric car-sharing scheme scrapped in London after poor uptake
By Jonathan Prynn, Evening Standard, Feb 1, 2020
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/electric-carsharing-scheme-london-scrapped-a4349836.html
EVs Remain Much More Expensive Than Petrol Cars
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 5, 2020
ROD LIDDLE So when will Boris Johnson’s government tell us that hybrid cars are the new diesel?
By Rod Liddle, The Sun, Feb 6, 2020 [H/t GWPF]
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10902935/boris-johnson-tell-us-hybrid-diesel/
Carbon Schemes
Energy secretary announces coal research initiative
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, Feb 7, 2020
House Panel Hears Testimony on USE IT Act
By Marlo Lewis, Jr., CEI, Feb 7, 2020
https://cei.org/blog/house-panel-hears-testimony-use-it-act
Health, Energy, and Climate
Wuhan Virus Science Is Amazing. And It Might Not Matter.
By Josh Bloom, ACSH, Feb 3, 2020
https://www.acsh.org/news/2020/02/03/wuhan-virus-science-amazing-and-it-might-not-matter-14553
“There is no quick fix here. We need the best science, a lot of luck, and maybe a little cooperation from the virus. In the absence of a pleasant surprise, it is unlikely that Wuhan will be under control anytime soon. But on a positive note, from what I’m reading, the prospects for a vaccine aren’t bad.”
Stinks: Slow WHO let Corona Virus run. But Ethiopian WHO chief was part of China’s debt trap diplomacy
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Feb 3, 2020
Wuhan Revisited
By Marion DS Dreyfus, American Thinker, Feb 2, 2020
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/02/wuhan_revisited.html
Environmental Industry
Notes From Meeting at Rockefeller Mansion Shed Light on Climate Politics
By Chris Horner, Real Clear Energy, Jan 31, 2020
Killing Birds
By Kip Hansen, WUWT, Feb 4, 2020
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/02/04/killing-birds/
Other Scientific News
Big Trouble with Spiders
By Kip Hansen, WUWT, Feb 6, 2020
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/02/06/big-trouble-with-spiders/
[SEPP Comment: Review of some of the published poor science.]
Other News that May Be of Interest
Thais spike China-led plan to dredge Mekong river
By Staff Writers, Bangkok (AFP), Feb 5, 2020
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Thais_spike_China-led_plan_to_dredge_Mekong_river_999.html
Rest in Peace my dear friend, Dr. Richard Keen
By Joseph D’Aleo, CCM, ICECAP, Feb 4, 2020
http://icecap.us/index.php/go/political-climate/rest_in_peace_my_friend_dr_richard_keen2/
BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE:
Global cooling after nuclear war would harm ocean life
Seafood production also may be impacted by increased acidification
Press Release, Rutgers University, Feb 5, 2020
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-02/ru-gca020420.php
Link to letter: The Potential Impact of Nuclear Conflict on Ocean Acidification
By Nicole Lovenduski, et al. Geophysical Research Letters, Jan 21, 2020
“Abstract We demonstrate that the global cooling resulting from a range of nuclear conflict scenarios would temporarily increase the pH in the surface ocean by up to 0.06 units over a 5-year period, briefly alleviating the decline in pH associated with ocean acidification.”
Friday Funny: Manntastic claims require Manntastic evidence
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Feb 7, 2020
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/02/07/friday-funny-manntastic-claims-require-manntastic-evidence/
Sugar ants’ preference for pee may reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Press Release, University of South Australia, Feb 6, 2020 [H/t WUWT]
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-02/uosa-sap020620.php
“This is not the last we will hear about these sugar ants – they could open up a whole new field of research.”
ARTICLES
Protesting students get a personal lesson about fossil fuels.
Editorial, WSJ, Feb 2, 2020
https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-heated-oxford-education-11580680180?mod=hp_opin_pos_1
TWTW Summary: Begins with the image of Oxford made of bright minds debating the existence of God or quantum physics, then continues:
“But even the brainiest sometimes need a lesson in common sense.
“That’s exactly what the bursar at St. John’s College—the most richly endowed college at Oxford—delivered when he responded to students occupying his 15th-century quadrangle and refusing to leave until the college divested its oil-company shares. The students want the college to sell the more than $10 million of its endowment now invested in Shell and BP, and they want it now.
“The Times of London reports that bursar Andrew Parker made them a counteroffer. ‘I am not able to arrange any divestment at short notice,’ he wrote. ‘But I can arrange for the gas central heating in college to be switched off with immediate effect. Please let me know if you support this proposal.’
“The idea that the students themselves make a fossil-fuel sacrifice did not go over well. One protest organizer complained that Mr. Parker was being flippant, noting that ‘it’s January and it would be borderline dangerous to shut off the central heating.’ Another suggested Mr. Parker was being provocative.
“Again the bursar responded with wisdom: ‘You are right that I am being provocative but I am provoking some clear thinking, I hope. It is all too easy to request others to do things that carry no personal cost to yourself. The question is whether you and others are prepared to make personal sacrifices to achieve the goals of environmental improvement (which I support as a goal).’
“Surely a worthy lesson applicable far beyond the colleges of Oxford.”
Again a large increase in galactic radiation. There is a minimum of solar activity.
Just noticed that myself. Also of interest, the last max on Oulo in 2009 coincided with the devastating Haiti quake. The Oulo min coincided with Mt Pinatubo. Are we about to have a major quake/eruption?
“Quote of the Week: “Judges ought to be more leaned than witty,”
Leaned definition, to incline or bend from a vertical position.
NO we have enough bent judges thank you !
I’ve got a couple items that would seem to fit in this category, they are validation reports recently completed by a couple of notable individuals: (1) Dr. Mark Nansteel, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley and (2) Dr. Stephen Tse, Ph.D. , Rutgers University.
Dr. Mark Nansteel is a heat transfer expert and Dr. Stephen Tse, Ph.D. is in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. These new validation reports follow a validation report by Dr. Randy Booker, Physics Chairman, University of North Carolina-Ashville issued in January.
The validation report by Dr. Mark Nansteel on a 200 kW power production ‘run’ by a BrLP’s hydrino plasma reaction can be found here: https://brilliantlightpower.com/pdf/Nansteel_Molten_Metal_Calorimetry_Data_and_Analysis_Jan_2020.pdf
The validation report by Dr. Stephen Tse on a 340 kW power ‘run’ can be found here: https://brilliantlightpower.com/pdf/Tse-Validation-Report-Brilliant-Light-Power.pdf
These reports include descriptions of the test apparatus and test procedure, the systematic development of the proper forms of energy conservation to be applied in the calorimetric measurement, experimental calibration of the heat losses in the tests, and analysis of the thermal and electrical data to obtain the calorimetric measurement of plasma energy release.
The thermal Tests were performed on four-inch cubical stainless-steel plasma cells, each incorporating a 2.5-3.4 kg internal mass of liquid gallium.
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Full disclosure: I, _Jim have no relationship to or with BrLP or the principals therein.
One has to ask, “What do 20 Nobel laureates know about ‘sustainability’?” And do they know any more, or is their advice any more valuable than, say, 20 celebrities?
Just before Christmas we had a visitor from a highly regarded engineering department in an eastern U.S. school. He is a materials science researcher, and would be considered an authority or expert on many matters by most people. He made a blanket statement that we have to eliminate our use of metals because their use is not “sustainable”. I pointed out that metals are highly recyclable, and many are nearly 100% recycled now (lead and aluminum being two prime examples). Moreover, the plastics he studies and promotes depend on petroleum and might not be very economic without the market size of those dreaded dreaded fossil fuels. It took all of about five minutes of rational discussion for him to admit that there were factors he had not considered. So, no matter their credentials, a reasonable first question in any debate is, what value should we place on someone’s expert opinion?
By the way, NWS missed the prediction of overnight low by about +17F. No doubt a consequence of global warming as the skiers are now repeating around here.
It should be pointed out regarding Spencer’s work, discussed above, that people tend to assume there is some sort of equilibrium regarding CO2 in the atmosphere. If you look at the atmospheric CO2 concentrations over the last 600 million years, it is tending to zero. There are mineralization processes that are constantly working to remove CO2 from circulation and it is probably mainly vulcanism that keeps adding more to the atmosphere. The oceans store an enormous amount of CO2 and warming events would be a lifesaver. Now, we humans are finding ways to free up some of this fixed CO2 and put it back in circulation.
We need to be worried that CO2 might actually go below 200 ppm, at which point plants stop growing and below which they start dying, and us along with them.
We must immediately drop the CO2 as climate change cause dogma. The only final result is total slavery for all. If we don’t man’s inhumanity to man will lead to tragedy. The seeds are already planted so quick action makes ultimate sense! Carbon dioxide has been vilified for far too long–the pushers of climate change have zero unmolested empirical data to back their play. It is a play, a play for ultimate power–a perverted blood thirst for power and wealth. It is beyond time for this monsterous, obscene, evil movement to die.R
Valentine’s Day will be very cold in the east of North America.
On February 14, the temperature in eastern Canada will drop to -40 F (-40 C).
Subzero temperatures combined with a brisk north wind will send AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures plummeting to dangerously cold levels Thursday morning.
?w=632
The tropical cyclone is already close to the east coast of Australia.
http://tropic.ssec.wisc.edu/real-time/mtpw2/webAnims/tpw_nrl_colors/ausf/mimictpw_ausf_latest.gif?fbclid=IwAR17HrelH84aUlIlYyaTFeEcQoZ1tRnTqQcLLtPNWbDjGesMttvr1p2Kaj8
Excess ozone over North America indicates a strong stratospheric intrusion and an unusual drop in temperature.
If not for the Earth’s strong magnetic field (as of today), temperature changes on Earth would be extremely susceptible to changes in space weather. The decrease in the strength of the geomagnetic field in the Western Hemisphere clearly confirms this.
Changes in Earth’s magnetic field from January to June 2014 as measured by the Swarm constellation of satellites. These changes are based on the magnetic signals that stem from Earth’s core. Shades of red represent areas of strengthening, while blues show areas of weakening over the 6-month period.
http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2014/06/Magnetic_field_changes