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
Flanagan (07:29:47) :
I did not hide beneath any consensus, where did I say this? I simply said that I’m amazed some blog-reading nobodys are convinced they are smarter than anyone else, smarter than a whole bunch of PhDs working for years on climate modelling. I try to remain modest, and do not qualify as “stupid” people who do not think like me – I just say some of them here are obviously so self-satisfied they do not admit others could be right.
I recall Joel Shore posting something like this recently. The implication, obviously, is that all intelligent people have PHD’s, and those who don’t are ignorant. Usually followed by, “How many papers have you published in peer reviewed literature.” Being someone who has two suma cum laude post-graduate degrees who left school for a high-paying job working on proprietary (Flanagan, this means used, manufactured, or sold by a person or company with an exclusive property right such as a patent or trademark) research, I have neither a PHD, nor an extensive list of computer modeling publications, similar to most of my intelligent friends. I therefore take considerable umbrage at being lumped in your sub-par grouping. Considering the logic of your posts, look in the mirror.
I congratulate Air France for becoming the new airline of Britain.
Leon Brozyna (22:03:39)
A principle in use by certain members of the US Congress says: “even though factual information is absent, the seriousness of the charge demands action” – the principle of Preemptive Supposition.
[…] long term global warming is not incompatible with short period of cooling, it is hard to ignore record cold temperatures, especially when they just happen to coincide with an abnormally quiet […]
the harried, hapless Hohenstaufen Holy Roman Emperor
The very same!
I know it’s weather and not climate but this is a bit unusual for October in Devon (at low altitude as well) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7700167.stm The funny part of the report is that they aren’t blaming Global Warming
This must either the most stupid parliament since the mid 1800’s one which passed the act banning Brunel’s wonderful wide railway gauge, therebye sentencing practically everyone on earth to the misery of overcrowded, inefficient, narrow gauge trains.
It is either stupid or a parliament of timeservers, serving out there “yes boss” existence as they wait for their wonderful pensions.
The only good thing is, whereas the world took notice of the narrow railway gauge, and copied it, nobody else will take a blind bit of notice of the latest lunacy.
Flanagan,
How do explain the Roman and Medieval Climate Optimums without manmade CO2 to drive them?
What about the warming from 1900 to 1950 with record ice loss in the 1930s?
What about the glacial retreat that started in the late 1700s? Just look up Glacier Bay in Alaska. It was full of ice hundreds of meters thick in the 1700s and by 1900 over 65 miles of ice had melted – all before the Industrial Age began.
How do your supergenius PHDs explain that?
And for the record, I’ll bet I can write more and higher quality code than any of your PHDs. When I was working on my Masters, I offered to help my Professors modernize their systems and they backed down because their systems would then be very very fast and their peers “would not be able to duplicate” their work. LOL. They stayed with their old methods of copying files and hand-rolled tools rather than use a modern DB, modern tool suites, and clusters of servers.
I simply said that I’m amazed some blog-reading nobodys are convinced they are smarter than anyone else, smarter than a whole bunch of PhDs working for years on climate modelling.
Flanagan, how long have you been reading this blog? I don’t recognize you as a long-timer around here. So I’m assuming that your characterization of some of us as “blog-reading nobodys” has been formed on the basis of short time exposure to who many of us are, or what we know or don’t know. As such, I don’t know if you are just trying to be insulting, or what. But you are doing a good job of showing your ignorance.
“Relative humidity should be constant, and it is.”
You mean like this?
http://bp1.blogger.com/_4ify7vDXrDs/SFvKsbaDcAI/AAAAAAAAC00/rXH2TzvwcZA/s1600-h/_0_0_a_mi_GlobalRelativeHumidity300_700mb.jpg
“A people have the government they deserve…”
All right everyone, cut down your elk, deer and moose. We’re in need of empty meathooks all around!
Flanagan, there is no hot spot–don’t read Realclimate–read climate audit where wild modeling climate claims are debunked and Gavin Schmidt ends up with constant egg on his face thanks to Steve.
Flanagan also there is no “proof” the Arctic is doing anything unusual since we have only ~30yrs of satellite records. The Arctic had a large melt as recently as the 30’s–so yawn —nothing to see here move along
Flanigan: Bruce: an ad hominem attack refers to someone specific. Not necessarily. Your ad hominem was targeted toward, if not the entire group, then a subset of those who post here. Same thing.
Like when you accuse me of changing tactics or whatever.
Which is exactly what you did, in your attempt to re-characterize your original statement.
And please also stop generalizing people… The truth is, AGWers don’t have science on their side so continually resort to tactics such as those you engaged in. We see it all the time. If the shoe fits…
If there was only a way to tap the force of the irony being utilized in episodes like this and pretty much every Al Gore appearance that doesn’t occur during hurricane season, I would wager that much of our planet’s energy needs could be met.
Anthony, great picture! This is the best headline yet for those of us who hope for at least a Maunder Minimum to put Gore and his climate change cronies in the icebox!:] Living as I do in the heartland of socialism and global warming- Nancy Pelosi lives a few minutes walk from me-this gave me the biggest dose of cheer in many days!
Parliament demands action on global warming despite the fact that its snowing outside. Classic!!!
Seems like parliament is immune to facts and reason.
Flanagan, please confirm or disconfirm your claim in the other weather-thread that “temperatures at altitudes of about 36 000 feet [..] should be stable or slightly cooling over time.” Thanks.
[…] London had first October snow in 70 years two days ago, while Parliament debated (and passed) a climate bill to combat global warming. Amid all the support Member of Parliament Rob Marris, a member of Greenpeace, pointed out that it was a piece of political showboating doomed to failure. […]
When the UK Labour Government came to power in 1997, they pledged to cut CO2 emissions to 20% below 1990 levels by 2010. At the time UK CO2 emissions had already fallen 9% so they were almost halfway there with 13 years to go. Roll forward 9 years to the latest figures (2006) and UK CO2 emissions have risen by 9 million tonnes since the pledge.
Clearly it was the way they dealt with that target that has inspired our Government into this latest insanity.
Leif talks about people getting the government they deserve, but when it comes to AGW, all the UK parties vie with each other to be the greenest one of them all.
The vote was 463 to 3; it won’t matter who gets in at the next election, there is no one we can vote for that will be open-minded about the issue.
I concur Bill Marsh!
I expect it’s to do with the man-made stuff caused warming, & the natural stuff, caused by the mand-made stuff, causes cooling see! Easy. I heard of AGW scientists allegedly claim that they can distinguish between man-made CO2 & natural CO2 by its chemical composition. How they can do this when it is mixed with the air I don’t know? So could somebody enlighten me as to how this is done, I thought CO2 was CO2 was CO2, although I appreciate there is a difference between food-grade CO2 injected into drinks & natural stuff from landfill etc., but that is surely as result of controlled manufacture, as opposed to natural impuities within the gas?
RE:
Richard111 (22:41:29) :
Pensioners in the UK will die of cold because they can’t afford heating costs.
I am beginning to suspect this is deliberate. It will reduce pressure on
pension funds and the NHS and free up much needed housing.
The Sci Fi of the early 1970s may become reality (credit to Genesis, the song, “Get ’em Out By Friday”):
John Pebble of Styx Enterprises
“Get ’em out by Friday!
You don’t get paid till the last one’s well on his way.
Get ’em out by Friday!
It’s important that we keep to schedule, there must be no delay.”
Mark Hall of Styx Enterprises (otherwise known as “The Winkler”)
“I represent a firm of gentlemen who recently purchased this
house and all the others in the road,
In the interest of humanity we’ve found a better place for you
to go, go-woh, go-woh”
Mrs. Barrow (a tenant)
“Oh no, this I can’t believe,
Oh Mary, they’re asking us to leave.”
Mr. Pebble
“Get ’em out by Friday!
I’ve told you before, ‘s good many gone if we let them stay.
And if it isn’t easy,
You can squeeze a little grease and our troubles will soon run away.”
Mrs. Barrow
“After all this time, they ask us to leave,
And I told them we could pay double the rent.
I don’t know why it seemed so funny,
Seeing as how they’d take more money.
The winkler called again, he came here this morning,
With four hundred pounds and a photograph of the place he has found.
A block of flats with central heating.
I think we’re going to find it hard.”
Mr. Pebble
“Now we’ve got them!
I’ve always said that cash cash cash can do anything well.
Work can be rewarding
When a flash of intuition is a gift that helps you
excel-sell-sell-sell.”
Mr. Hall
“Here we are in Harlow New Town, did you recognise your block
across the square, over there,
Sadly since last time we spoke, we’ve found we’ve had to raise
the rent again,
just a bit.”
Mrs. Barrow
“Oh no, this I can’t believe
Oh Mary, and we agreed to leave.”
(a passage of time)
18/9/2012 T.V. Flash on all Dial-A-Program Services
This is an announcement from Genetic Control:
“It is my sad duty to inform you of a four foot restriction on
humanoid height.”
Extract from coversation of Joe Ordinary in Local Puborama
“I hear the directors of Genetic Control have been buying all the
properties that have recently been sold, taking risks oh so bold.
It’s said now that people will be shorter in height,
they can fit twice as many in the same building site.
(they say it’s alright),
Beginning with the tenants of the town of Harlow,
in the interest of humanity, they’ve been told they must go,
told they must go-go-go-go.”
Sir John De Pebble of United Blacksprings International
“I think I’ve fixed a new deal
A dozen properties – we’ll buy at five and sell at thirty four,
Some are still inhabited,
It’s time to send the winkler to see them,
he’ll have to work some more.”
Memo from Satin Peter of Rock Development Ltd.
With land in your hand, you’ll be happy on earth
Then invest in the Church for your heaven.
As soon as I saw this on Drudge, I checked here, and sure enough, you are repeating–again–right wing drivel.
You’re just a hack, Mr. Watts!
Let’s remeber too that the first signs of GW will be COOLING OF THE BRITISH ISLES!
Geez!
REPLY: Reporting on a record weather event earns me the title of “hack”? You forget that weather is my life and my business. I have reported on weather for over 25 years, and this is the very first time I’ve been called a “hack” for doing so. Please note that I said NOTHING ABOUT GW in that post, the press story did. Your quarrel is with them then.
Now if you really want to get yourself angry, why not take a look at the next story where I report on records that have been set nationwide. Also, not one mention of GW there in my posting, just the data direct from the National Climatic Data Center.
What derisive term shall you use to then once you read that? I urge you to get creative. We await your judgment. – Anthony
[…] Of course many of you that live in this weather already know this, but there is an early start to winter this year, not only in the USA, but also in London, where it snowed in October for the first time in over 70 years. […]
According to today’s Guardian: “Chancellor Demands Cheap Petrol …”
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/30/oil-royaldutchshell)
Let’s see. That’s the Climate Change Bill on Tuesday, business as usual on Thursday. At this rate by next week it’ll be: “UK Government demands 0% cut in CO2 by 2050”