Parents, please encourage your children to become “science experts.” The perks are excellent – prestige, travel, publicity, conferences – your fifteen minutes of fame. And all you have to do is make bigger claims than the last expert.
Here are a few favorite gems :
March 10, 2006: It’s official: Solar minimum has arrived. Sunspots have all but vanished. Solar flares are nonexistent. The sun is utterly quiet.
This week researchers announced that a storm is coming–the most intense solar maximum in fifty years. The prediction comes from a team led by Mausumi Dikpati of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). “The next sunspot cycle will be 30% to 50% stronger than the previous one,” she says. If correct, the years ahead could produce a burst of solar activity second only to the historic Solar Max of 1958.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/10mar_stormwarning.htm
Dec. 21, 2006: Evidence is mounting: the next solar cycle is going to be a big one.
see captionSolar cycle 24, due to peak in 2010 or 2011 “looks like its going to be one of the most intense cycles since record-keeping began almost 400 years ago,” says solar physicist David Hathaway of the Marshall Space Flight Center. He and colleague Robert Wilson presented this conclusion last week at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/21dec_cycle24.htm
OSLO, Feb. 29, 2008 (Xinhua) — The polar cap in the Arctic may well disappear this summer due to the global warming, Dr. Olav Orheim, head of the Norwegian International Polar Year Secretariat, said on Friday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/01/content_7696460.htm
27-Aug-2007
Will oceans surge 59 centimetres this century – or 25 metres?
When Al Gore predicted that climate change could lead to a 20-foot rise in sea levels, critics called him alarmist. After all, the International Panel on Climate Change, which receives input from top scientists, estimates surges of only 18 to 59 centimetres in the next century. But a study led by James Hansen, the head of the climate science program at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York and a professor at Columbia University, suggests that current estimates for how high the seas could rise are way off the mark – and that in the next 100 years melting ice could sink cities in the United States to Bangladesh
Glaciers on Snowdon’ warning by climate expert
Jan 12 2010 by Rhodri Clark, Western Mail
THIS winter’s prolonged cold spell could be a taste of things to come for Wales – with glaciers a possibility within 40 years. That’s the chilly message from a leading Welsh climate expert who has warned that global warming could paradoxically trigger a collapse in temperatures in western Europe.
The Cooling World
Newsweek, April 28, 1975
Climatologists are pessimistic that political leaders will take any positive action to compensate for the climatic change, or even to allay its effects. They concede that some of the more spectacular solutions proposed, such as melting the Arctic ice cap by covering it with black soot or diverting arctic rivers, might create problems far greater than those they solve. But the scientists see few signs that government leaders anywhere are even prepared to take the simple measures of stockpiling food or of introducing the variables of climatic uncertainty into economic projections of future food supplies. The longer the planners delay, the more difficult will they find it to cope with climatic change once the results become grim reality.
http://www.denisdutton.com/cooling_world.htm
Proof of life on Mars by year-end, says NASA expert
Washington, Jan 16, 2010 (PTI) Is there life on Mars? The most intriguing question for everyone on the Earth would be answered by American space scientists by the end of this year, a NASA expert has claimed.
According to David McKay, chief of astrobiology at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston, the fact that Mars has bred life will be confirmed this year and the historic discovery will not be made on the Mars, but here on Earth using the chunks of the red planet.
http://www.ptinews.com/news/471015_Proof-of-life-on-Mars-by-year-end–says-NASA-expert
4 January 2007
2007 – forecast to be the warmest year yet
2007 is likely to be the warmest year on record globally, beating the current record set in 1998, say climate-change experts at the Met Office. http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporate/pressoffice/2007/pr20070104.html
Hot summer on the way, predicts Met
Sunday 8 April 2007
Britain set to enjoy another sizzling summer after new evidence from the Met Office suggested above average temperatures for the season. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/apr/08/weather.theobserver
Climate could warm to record levels in 2010
10 December 2009
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporate/pressoffice/2009/pr20091210b.html
From The Sunday Times January 10, 2010
“This will be the warmest winter in living memory, the data has already been recorded. For your information, we take the highest 15 readings between November and March and then produce an average. As November was a very seasonally warm month, then all the data will come from those readings.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/dominic_lawson/article6982310.ece
Jan, 2008
Under my plan of a cap and trade system electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket, even, you know, regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad, because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal powered plants, you know, natural gas, you name it, whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydqg7ThZB04
November, 2009 GORE: It definitely is, and it’s a relatively new one. People think about geothermal energy – when they think about it at all – in terms of the hot water bubbling up in some places, but two kilometers or so down in most places there are these incredibly hot rocks, ’cause the interior of the earth is extremely hot, several million degrees, and the crust of the earth is hot …
Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past Monday, 20 March 2000 According to Dr David Viner, a senior research scientist at the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia,within a few years winter snowfall will become “a very rare and exciting event”. “Children just aren’t going to know what snow is,” he said. http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/snowfalls-are-now-just-a-thing-of-the-past-724017.html
1998 Was Warmest Year Of Millenium, Climate Researchers Report ScienceDaily (Mar. 4, 1999) — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Researchers at the Universities of Massachusetts and Arizona who study global warming have released a report strongly suggesting that the 1990s were the warmest decade of the millennium, with 1998 the warmest year so far. Researchers have also found that the warming in the 20th century counters a 1,000-year-long cooling trend. The study, by Michael Mann and Raymond Bradley of the University of Massachusetts and Malcolm Hughes of the University of Arizona, appears in the March 15 issue of Geophysical Research Letters, published by the American Geophysical Union. The research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/03/990304052546.htm
December 14, 2008 “The time for delay is over; the time for denial is over,” Obama said on Tuesday after meeting with former Vice President Al Gore, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on global warming. “We all believe what the scientists have been telling us for years now that this is a matter of urgency and national security and it has to be dealt with in a serious way.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/14/obamas-global-warming-cha_n_150947.html
March 24, 2006 London ‘under water by 2100’ as Antarctica crumbles into the sea http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article694819.ece
February 20th, 1969
NYT: Expert Says Arctic Ocean Will Soon Be an Open Sea http://wattsupwiththat.com/2008/07/24/nyt-expert-says-arctic-ocean-will-soon-be-an-open-sea/
Arctic Ice Cap to Become an Open Sea in 10 years Oct 14, 2009 http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/280517
What are some of the reader’s favorites?
h/t to Steve Goddard
Vincent (10:12:49) :
Warming oceans could cause Earth’s axis to tilt in the coming century, a new study suggests.
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Ha ha ha. I almost believed you…that there was a real study suggesting this. Not far off from some of the tripe being spewed out by the alarmists though.
Davidmhoffer @ur momisugly (12:09:51)
Unadulterated science is a wholesome pursuit.
But when science and politics go to bed together, science will always wake up with a very bad headache.
Um, who are you blaming here? Don’t assume the scientists are always to blame. Most recieve little or no media training (and OK more than a few have less common sense than is wise in dealing with the media).
Ever watched a media interview with a colleague and been horrified when the journalist jumps on an irrelevant aside and asks for elaboration, then that ends up as the focus of the final cut because it was something that might light a fire under people?
Of course there are plenty (of scientists) who seem to relish the chance to air their pet theory or latest finding… I wonder how many of them wail afterwards to colleagues “Oh, but they took that out of context..”
Dominic Lawson’s prediction was satire. He’s Nigel Lawson’s son.
@Katie
“We have a constant one here in Queensland, Australia.
The Great Barrier Reef
One week – its coral bleaching, then acidity in the seas, then global warming will kill the coral. I will try to find the media releases, but most seem to come from Universities in Central Qld
Everytime its something different”
Yes, I remember this one. I remember being concerned when I was about 10, in the 1960s. Then it was ‘Crown of Thorns’ starfish that were eating the Reef, and major investment was needed in research and action to stop them. The Nat Geog ran a special on it…. So the Universities are still running on that scare, are they? It would be interesting to document all the scares and all the money spent… And it would be interesting to see how the scientists and the politicians backed out of the situation when it became clear there was no real problem….
Red Green (12:18:44) :
Vincent (10:12:49) :
Warming oceans could cause Earth’s axis to tilt in the coming century, a new study suggests.
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Ha ha ha. I almost believed you…that there was a real study suggesting this. Not far off from some of the tripe being spewed out by the alarmists though.
Not so fast there Red!!!
Global Warming Might Create Lopsided Planet
http://www.livescience.com/environment/050629_lopsided_planet.html
Has the world gone completely mad? (rhetorical question)
“Old foolish man, what can you NOT be made to believe.”
Adam Weishaupt
…and Sciencedaily spelt Millennium wrong.
Leif Svalgaard (10:33:03) :
“Me too. But almost any PR has scientists shocked, puzzled, stumped, stumbling, etc, otherwise there would be no reason for the PR, would there?. How about this PR: “NASA announces that no new shocking discovery has been made today”.”
The drive for attention/PR has clearly perverted the system, such that scientist feel like they must have sensational results in order to garner additional funding. We must change the way research funds are granted so that scientists can focus on discovery and PR agents can focus on Brittany and Miley again. I posted this vid a while ago, but it seems apropos to the root cause of all of the senationalism, i.e. when news became entertainment…
From The Sunday Times January 10, 2010
“This will be the warmest winter in living memory, the data has already been recorded. For your information, we take the highest 15 readings between November and March and then produce an average. As November was a very seasonally warm month, then all the data will come from those readings.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/dominic_lawson/article6982310.ece
I’m told this one is a hoax and it was originated by somebody who does not work for the Met Office. Either that or somebody there has become a “denier” of a different sort in order to save face.
Ref – ShrNfr (12:02:09) :
@ur momisugly Pascvaks (11:38:49) :
Ref – Stacey (11:13:04) :
“Modelling the latest data puts a ceiling on the likely number of vCJD cases.”
_______________________
Wheuuuuuuu…. Can’t tell you what that means. Been holding my breath for the past 24 years.
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It means you can now have your Big Mac safely.
________________________
No, don’t think it was Big Mac.
Ain’t life a bite (sometimes), and I thought that was such a great tour too. East Anglia, Lakenheath, Mildenhall, Cambridge, London, York, Edinbura’h, et al. Eggs, beans, tomatoes, sausage, and fried toast for breakfast – none of that continental stuff; and beer, great beer. Then vCJD. Well something’s going to kill you. Right?
What does it take to be a Science expert?
Just one thing – the understanding that if you cant stun them with science baffle them with bullsh*t
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/06/southern_california.php
Southern California may be in danger of succumbing to a “perfect drought” if actions aren’t taken soon to help remedy the situation, according to a recent article in Guardian Unlimited. Leading climatologists, environmentalists and city planners have warned that the use of water may need to be severely curtailed in light of the drought-like conditions prompted by the lowest amount of rainfall (only 8.15 cm in the year ending June 30) since 1877.
Hope you’re homes don’t dry slide into the ocean, with recent weather events.
I have to say that “Arctic Ice Cap to Become an Open Sea in 10 years” is my favorite. In forty or so years we forget that glaciers become wet mountains next to lakes when they melt and think that Ice Cap means sea ice. Outlandish prediction AND factual error!
How did climate ‘expert’ Joe Romm’s climate caused bridge collapse miss the honor roll after this many additions?
Did Climate Change Contribute To The Minneapolis Bridge Collapse?
August 6, 2007
http://climateprogress.org/2007/08/06/did-climate-change-contribute-to-the-minneapolis-bridge-collapse/#more-1120
“The question remains, do we need to climate-proof our bridges, does a connection exist between climate change and the collapse of the I-35W bridge?”
…
“Certainly climate change will have the biggest infrastructure impact on our coastal cities, water and sewage systems, levees, and electric grid. But given that a remarkable 70,000 other bridges in the country are also structurally deficient, we should seek to learn whether such troubled bridges can take the ever-growing stresses generated by global warming. “
O/T : Something’s going on. In search of more ridiculous hype i used news.google.com and entered “global warming” together with various buzzwords. What i noticed was a tenfold explosion in the number of news items with sceptical viewpoints or mentioning of a sceptic position compared to the same search a number of days ago.
WUWT went viral. Congrats.
Great post!
I was just thinking along these lines for the past couple of days.
Has anyone kept up with all the tipping points? LOL
An oldie but goodie:
There was much debate amongst scientists about the thickness of dust on the moon. Some speculated that there would be very thick dust into which astronauts and their spacecraft might ‘disappear’.
These aren’t scientist’s predictions but,……….
Fat people causing climate change, says Sir Jonathan Porritt
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/5436335/Fat-people-causing-climate-change-says-Sir-Jonathan-Porritt.html
I thought that one was a hoot.
Some experts call the genocide in Darfur the world’s first conflict caused by climate change.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=can-climate-change-cause-conflict
This one just saddened me.
Posted 9/15/2005 2:01 PM
Experts say global warming is causing stronger hurricanes
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/2005-09-15-globalwarming-hurricanes_x.htm
Climate Change May Be Causing Winds To Slow
Posted on: Wednesday, 10 June 2009, 12:45 EDT
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1703467/climate_change_may_be_causing_winds_to_slow/
Well, maybe the winds got stronger and then later slower because of AGW. Kinda like when the earth gets colder because of global warming. Sigh
Science expert? When applied to climate science it’s an oxymoron. There are no climate science experts. The quest to become an expert in any field is ongoing but eventually reached only after we have a good understanding of the field. Climate science is in the very immature phase.
“Climate Change Caused Widespread Tree Death In California Mountain Range, Study Confirms…”
AND it has caused some people to forever quit wearing argyle socks. What all this produces is a strong body of evidence that we are not living in a codified world. But something closer to make-believe.
Hollybush berries predict severe UK winters two years in a row!
Following record berry crops, rare European bird visitors have systematically stripped red berries from English gardens as icy polar weather heads south-east over the UK. Flocks of starving? fieldfares and redwings from Scandinavia and Russia have invaded British gardens as far south as Bournemouth and Brighton, while native birds shiver in the prolonged icy weather.
“”” Yarmy (12:42:50) :
Dominic Lawson’s prediction was satire. He’s Nigel Lawson’s son. “””
Well don’t stop there when it is just starting to get interesting. Whom else’s son is he; and who the blazes is Nigel Lawson; sounds awfully RAF like to me Old Chap !
‘Garvin pointed out that bats aren’t typically looked for until around April 1. Finding a bat infected with rabies in early March could be an indication of global warming.’
In Texas, of course!
Ref:
http://www.banderabulletin.com/articles/2009/04/08/news/564.txt
Great fun. How about a headline contest. Pick 10 random headlines from Scrappleface, The Onion, and a few newspapers and see if people can tell the source without looking it up. Or see if they can tell the difference.
Like this one:
Beer Production Threatened By Climate Change
or this
UN: Millions Not Suffering AIDS Now Doomed to Drown
Just a thought
Terry