Two Stories for you, one about the snow itself, and the other about climate law being debated and passed in the middle of the unusual snow.- Anthony
London has first October snow in over 70 years
From the Guardian
Cold snap causes flight cancellations while a motorway accident kills one driver and causes severe disruption
Parts of south-east England had more than an inch of snow last night while London experienced its first October snowfall in more than 70 years as winter conditions arrived early.
Snow settled on the ground in parts of the capital last night as temperatures dipped below zero. A Met Office spokeswoman said it was London’s first October snow since 1934.
For greater south-east of England it was the first October snow since 1974. High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire had 3cm (1.2 inches). One of the coldest temperatures recorded was -4.1C in Benson, Oxfordshire.
“It is unusual to have snow this early,” the Met spokeswoman said. “In October 2003 sleet and snow was recorded in Northern Ireland, Wales, south-west, north-west and north-east England and the Midlands, but it was mainly over higher ground.”
read the entire story here
How Parliament passed the Climate Bill (in spite of the weather)
Posted in Government, 29th October 2008 12:35 GMT
Excerpt: Snow fell as the House of Commons debated Global Warming yesterday – the first October fall in the metropolis since 1922. The Mother of Parliaments was discussing the Mother of All Bills for the last time, in a marathon six hour session.
In order to combat a projected two degree centigrade rise in global temperature, the Climate Change Bill pledges the UK to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. The bill was receiving a third reading, which means both the last chance for both democratic scrutiny and consent.
The bill creates an enormous bureaucratic apparatus for monitoring and reporting, which was expanded at the last minute. Amendments by the Government threw emissions from shipping and aviation into the monitoring program, and also included a revision of the Companies Act (c. 46) “requiring the directors’ report of a company to contain such information as may be specified in the regulations about emissions of greenhouse gases from activities for which the company is responsible” by 2012.
Recently the American media has begun to notice the odd incongruity of saturation media coverage here which insists that global warming is both man-made and urgent, and a British public which increasingly doubts either to be true. 60 per cent of the British population now doubt the influence of humans on climate change, and more people than not think Global Warming won’t be as bad “as people say”.
Read the rest of the story at the Register, here
A little off topic —
I was just watching the Weather Channel, and the man said that the New England snow storm was caused by Global Warming. WOW!!! I was wondering how soon that tie in would be made. I guess that all these world wide cold records are just more proof of AGW.
Didn’t get this in my last post.
http://www.iceagenow.com/2008_Other_Parts_of_the_World.htm
We have all heard about the Al Gore effect. Earlier in the year when the ceremony for the Australian of the Year was held, at which Tim Flannery Australia’s own AGW fanatic was present, the weather was unseasonably cold. And now this.
If Gore, Hansen, Monbiot, Suzuki, Flannery, all those Hollywood and pop music celebreties who support AGW, along with the UK government go and camp out at the North Pole their presence could cause the artic ice pack to expand even faster than it currently is. Come on Al and company a small sacrifice from you can save the polar bear.
In 204-05 (I recall) the UK had a measure of “excess winter death” of 34000. 34000 died in the winter above what could be expected (this is on the Office of National Statistics Website). I hate to think what will happen this year, especially with fuel price increases.
Well, you all must be right: all these scientists are plain idiots and all the politicians are much more stupid than you are. Actually, very smart people do not even try to do science or politics – they leave this to the common minds.
A lot of the usual bru ha ha and conspiracy theorising from people who, it seems, don’t know the difference between weather and climate (or, more likely, choose not to know for propaganda purposes).
I’m from the UK. The weather is indeed cold atm, and may stay so for several days – I see no need to deny that reality. But, so far this year temperatures have averaged out above average, and we’ve seen several of the warmest years on record in the past ten – that’s another reality I don’t deny.
Hey guys, what’s the big deal? It’s just weather. And when the Thames freezes over? Just weather… And when 10,000 pensioners die freezing in their domiciles…
And when a great nation is brought to her knees, who will take care of her poor?
It’s just weather.
Fascinating!
The British parliament should instead of passing a bill on how to combat a hypothetical global temperature increase of 2 C during the next century, set up plan how to adapt to the real possibility of a global temperature drop of 2C during the next decade.
Well I don’t know what you are all on about! We here in the UK have been passing laws and regulations on CO2 emissions for a few years now, and sure enough the temperature has gone down. Our policies have cooled the climate so much we can now look forward to a white Xmas. Quite clearly, these laws have worked!
All we need now is for our illustrious and dear leader to save the world on the credit crunch.
Nurse, nurse, the screens. And please take these sharp objects away.
Obviously I’ve underestimated the bureaucrats’ potential for folly.
How naive of me.
I always thought just another 0.5°C more cooling, and pols would drop the AGW nonsense like a hot potato.
Now it looks as if it will take another 1 or 2°C, i.e. a LIA, before these government dimwits wake up.
So never underestimate the potential for blithering absurdity by government.
Just when you think bureaucrats are about to see the light, do they go ahead and double their stupidity.
Over ingestion of Dihydrogen Monoxide kills faster than lead, radiation, asbestos, cancer, mercury, in fact just about most things, let’s get the wretched stuff banned for ever.
As to deliberate killings, this of course is nothing new historically although I would refrain from suggesting the current incumbent in Buck House is guilty. After the Spanish Armada was defeated by stout seamanship, skilled gunnery, better local knowledge, & bad weather used to advantage, the English fleet was left anchored at sea for months on the grounds that another “threat” could come at ant time. However, the Crown had to pay the seaman but only when they had done their “duty”, & keeping them at sea doing their “duty”, they wouldn’t be paid. More men died from sickness & disease as a direct result of this action, than were killed by Spanish canon! The “Crown” saved a fortune, so no news there then.
This country is just about washed up now, no other nation seems to be as bothered about CC/AGW. Unless the people can elect a decent opposition which does not have a AGW bent or fixation, then we’re done for. Law & order is in chaos, with AGWers allowed to break it at liberty without fear of legal redress, just because they alone have a God given right to save the planet! Sadly it will be the poor, elderly, & needy who will suffer, not the middle-class intellectual elitists who perpetuate this rubbish.
Stand firm America, but brace yourselves for some tough (dare I say ridiculous) times.
It is truly amazing how scientific fact gets in the way of pseudo science, & is then used as evidence to support the pseudo science! It rather reminds one of The Life of Brian, when the crowd, clearly looking for some direction & leadership, start following Brian around, claiming everything & anything is a “sign”. Sadly, this little comedy run will not end so amusingly I fear.
AtB
PS Last night’s repeat of Top Gear was wonderful – when they took a modified Toyota pick-up to the north pole rifle & all + a trained marksman to keep the PB’s at bay in 2007, summertime, you know when all the ice melted like never before, they got there in the end despite the horrendously difficult terrain. My goodness it looked a very beautiful, but very, very, very, cold & forbidding place! Curiously they didn’t see one British canoeist or sailor on the way.
As a Brit, a retired physicist and an AWG sceptic I despair of our government and its official opposition passing this dangerous piece of legislation, What really surprises me is that our political leaders are so incredibly stupid not to, at least, leave themselves room for manoeuvre. Surely they know that mean global temperatures are stable now or even falling. Surely they have been advised of the serious scientific work that has produced clear evidence of solar and oceanic effects on climate. I cannot be the only one who has taken the trouble to write to his MP and the Energy and Climate Secretary Ed Miliband. I cannot believe that at least one scientific adviser has not drawn at least one senior politician’s attention to the possibility that the earth is entering a decadal period of cooling. And that they might just possibly be faced with a serious energy crisis, not in 40 or 50 years but in 2 or 3, and they could face the wrath of the population as they see aged relatives dying of hypothermia.
Just how can an entire assembly of over 600 politicians, barring 3 or 4, be so stupid as to believe without question the ravings of a crooked ex US vice president and the politically driven UN IPCC and not, at least, provide for a fall back position? Forget the science, this is just plain bad politics.
Peter Hearnden (01:22:24) : ” … and we’ve seen several of the warmest years on record in the past ten…”
you may want to check those records carefully before spouting “… the usual bru ha ha and conspiracy theorising…”
It makes me weep with frustration when I witness our elected representatives acting en masse against the interests of the country they purportedly represent.
It’s useless threatening to “vote for the other lot” because they’re all equally culpable. And when the ramshackle edifice of AGW collapses around their ears like the wonky house of cards that it is, they’ll just blame ‘the other lot’ and walk away from the whole sorry mess.
Such are politicians.
You are so missing the point. This isn’t England, it’s Camelot and these area our aims:
It’s true! It’s true! The crown has made it clear.
The climate must be perfect all the year.
A law was made a distant moon ago here:
July and August cannot be too hot.
And there’s a legal limit to the snow here
In Camelot.
The winter is forbidden till December
And exits March the second on the dot.
By order, summer lingers through September
In Camelot.
Camelot! Camelot!
I know it sounds a bit bizarre,
But in Camelot, Camelot
That’s how conditions are.
The rain may never fall till after sundown.
By eight, the morning fog must disappear.
In short, there’s simply not
A more congenial spot
For happily-ever-aftering than here
In Camelot.
Camelot! Camelot!
I know it gives a person pause,
But in Camelot, Camelot
Those are the legal laws.
The snow may never slush upon the hillside.
By nine p.m. the moonlight must appear.
In short, there’s simply not
A more congenial spot
For happily-ever-aftering than here
In Camelot.
Quote.
” those who are to smart to engage in politics, are punished by being governed by idiots.”
Plato 424-347 BC
massive snow in swiss alpes
over 50 cm at 1000m locally (and over 1 m at 2000m)
http://www.wzforum.de/forum2/read.php?8,1448508
..sweet..
ake two pails of water; fill one with hot water and the other one with cold water, and put them in the freezer. The hot one would be frozen before the cold one. But wait, you say, that’s counterintuitive: wouldn’t the hot water have to cool down to the temperature of the cold water before proceeding to freezing temperature, whereas the cold one has “less to go” before freezing?
—————-
niki
Drug Rehabilitation Programs
Per Strandberg (02:05:43) : said
“The British parliament should instead of passing a bill…..set up plan how to adapt to the real possibility of a global temperature drop of 2C during the next decade”
It dawns on me that, in fact, a lot of the technology, infrastructure, insulation, fuel efficiency etc is what you need to make the most of energy reserves during the next “LIA”.
All you have to do is drop the taxation aspect….Oh! Silly me, I knew there would be a catch!
Phillip Bratby (00:32:45) :
You are absolutely correct in drawing attention to Professor Stott’s article. You beat me to it. His comments put me in mind of the old canard about how King Canute sat in a throne and commanded the sea to retreat in order to point out to his entourage of lickspittles and hangers on, that the king’s powers were those of a man and not of a super human, or even a deity’s. MPs cannot vote to change climate. It’s like claiming wet roads cause rain to fall. There is no feedback mechanism.
Thus, five UK MPs voted against the Climate Change Bill, demonstrating that only they have the wisdom of Canute and those ******* throwbacks have only the wisdom and knowledge of —– wait for it —–Cnuts.
Cnut being the alternative spelling for Canute. Clever eh? well I thought so, because to the pure in mind, all things are pure! The corollary being that one has to be corrupted to find offence in my post. I wish Smilies were available! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canute_the_Great
Perry
Extremely early and massive snow in northern Spain!
Madrd has 5 degrees C.
Danish news:
http://vejret.tv2.dk/nyt/article.php/id-17381788.html
This is so depressing. Did no one in Parliament question the basic reason behind this bill i.e. dangerous man-made warming? If the science were sound then this extraordinary irony – Parliament passing this bill when London experiences October snowfall for the first time in three quarters of a century – would be just that: an irony. But I can find no credible evidence to prove strong AGW. All the credible historical and scientific evidence shows that the climate is always changing and that the recent warming was not unprecedented but actually inevitable. And all the signs are that the warming that we enjoyed in the last century has ground to a halt and that the earth may be entering a cold period.
How can scientists and politicians get it so spectacularly wrong? Unfortunately it’s only too easy to answer that question, in fact with hindsight it was almost predictable.
Still, the recent Observer opinion poll showed that the majority of Britons don’t believe in AGW, and that they think that many scientists don’t believe, too. A recent poll in the US shows the same. The organisations that commissioned the polls are strongly pro-AGW, so the results are even more significant.
So there may be hope, but don’t hold your breath. Not so long ago I thought that evidence pointing toward another possible Little Ice Age might have been enough. But now it looks like we’ll have to descend into the next full Ice Age before these dangerous idiots come to their senses.
Chris
Perhaps the Gulf Stream is shutting down due to too much fresh water being injected from the Arctic ice melt over the last two years. That would certainly change the weather in the UK(I am waiting with steamy breath to hear that). Or perhaps it’s just ol’ Mother Earth acting the way it has been for millions of years (Not holding my breath to hear that one). Right about now, with the colder air in SW Florida, I could use a whole lot of warming. I think I’ll go out and chop down some trees and burn them.
UK “Climate Change Bill”.
It really does look as though the lunatics have taken over the asylum.
I’m surprised they didn’t agree to cut the greenhouse gas emissions by 100% and have done with it. Rationality is in short supply in parliament.
The UK is acutely short of electricity generating capacity it would only take a severe cold snap or the Russians to cut gas supply to result in power cuts THIS YEAR
The government wants to build 10,000 3MW of shore windmills to generate 20% of the UK’s electricity (as required by the EU) this requires that’s 2 windmills/day are installed between now and 2020 and there is currently only one ship worldwide that can do this and no available construction capacity. The government conveniently ignores that 3MW is the installed capacity and that wind farms rarely exceed 25% practical efficiency thus 40,000 windmills would be required even if the wind could be encouraged to blow with the right strength at the right time.
We sell all our nuclear generating capacity to the French on the assumption that they will generously build enough new nuclear capacity to meet the UK’s needs
We allow that idiot Hansen to appear to defend the anti- coal protesters. Coal, clean or otherwise, is the only resource available quickly enough to meet the UK’s short/medium term energy requirements
Like Nero I think we might fiddle while Rome burns
The UK has no energy policy of any merit and will face an acute energy shortage over the next 10 years and has no rational politicians who could solve the problems.
Never mind we will all be forced to use low energy light bulbs by 2010 maybe this will solve all our problems :o(