by Dr. Ryan N. Maue
Kaku showed up on the CBS Early Morning show on Groundhog day, and it sure felt like it. Essentially parroting his CNN.com opinion blog from last week, Kaku eloquently, as if reading from the Presidential TelePrompter, butchered the field of climate science in his tortured explanation of global warming fueled snowstorms. Please, someone from the Climate Change Rapid Response Team issue a press release with all of your names on it repudiating this nonsense.
And, someone tell Kaku that El Niña does not exist. Go back to talking about aliens and supervolcanoes on Coast to Coast AM instead of trying to raise your profile, push your book, and make money off of the extreme cold weather hurting millions of Americans. West of the Rockies…
CBS Early Show: Video of Extreme Winter Weather Explained
Kyle Drennen at the Media Research Center helpfully provides a transcript of the video nonsense, with a very helpful host Chris Wragge participating:
CHRIS WRAGGE: Here to explain why we’re having such extreme weather is physics professor Michio Kaku of the City University of New York and author of the upcoming book, ‘Physics of the Future’ Doctor, good to have you with us. I think everyone wants to know, very simply, nine storms in seven weeks, why is this happening? Why is this happening?
MICHIO KAKU: Well, snowstorms take place when dry, ice-cold weather from Canada and Alaska bump up into moist, warm air from the Gulf of Mexico. Monster storms like this are caused by fluctuations which draw more icy weather from the north and there’s more moist air in the Gulf of Mexico because of increased temperature.
[X] No. The Gulf of Mexico does not have “increased temperature”. It is actually historically, anomalously cold right now. Does he know that the non-stop infiltration of Arctic cold blasts actually chills the Gulf of Mexico? The La Nina has cooled the entire planet due to changes in the tropical eastern Pacific. It’s anomalously cold as well, as cold as it ever was in the past 30-years or maybe more.
WRAGGE: What are some of the theories behind this extreme weather, though?
KAKU: One theory says it’s random, natural fluctuations in the weather. For example, we have something called El Nina in the Pacific around the equator, which is helping to divert cold air into the United States. And also the North Atlantic oscillations, air currents in the North Atlantic, which again is helping to pull down, pull down more cold air into North America.
[X] Random? El Nina? Divert cold air. North Atlantic oscillations helping to pull more cold air down. WTF is this?
WRAGGE: I think a lot of people* want to talk about global warming and thinking that that may actually come into play here. Is that accurate? Is that having an effect on what’s going on?
KAKU: Yes. It seems to violate common sense, but as the Earth begins to heat up, that means more moist air in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico on average. Which creates more precipitation, and eventually more snow. So global warming is caused when sunlight hits the Earth, and turns into infrared, red radiation, heat radiation shown here, and it’s sort of like a roach motel, light checks in but the heat does not necessarily escape.
[*] Editor’s note: Only the liberal media and Democrat Party wants to talk about global warming during the coldest winter in a long time, in order to further their job “killing” green policies.
[X] When you say something violates common sense, then it probably does! More moist air in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico on average: well, not this year. Roach motel?
WRAGGE: So I think the other big question people have, is this going to – I mean is this going to continue? Or is there a light at the end of the tunnel?KAKU: Global warming simply says more oscillations. So we have fluctuations, but on average, temperatures are going to rise. Remember, last year was the hottest year ever recorded in the history of science, next to 2005, since 1880. So the Earth is heating up. We can debate exactly what’s driving it. But, hey, get used to it. We’re going to have more energy sloshing around the Earth, more extremes, and swings. Flooding in one area and ice-cold temperatures in another.
[X] More oscillations? Where is he pulling this out of? So, global warming is going to cause the same weather events we have seen since time immemorial?
WRAGGE: Is this the same weather pattern, though, that’s affecting us that’s affecting other regions around the world? You’ve had problems in Brazil with mud slides, Australia’s going through some weather issues now. Is this the same?KAKU: Similar. El Nina, cold weather around the equator, is contributing to what’s happening in Australia. And I was in Brazil just two weeks ago, where they had monster mud slides, killed hundreds of people because of flooding. Massive flooding. And it’s summertime now in Brazil.
WRAGGE: In El Nina, what are the patterns here? Is it every couple of years?
KAKU: Yeah, El Nina and the North Atlantic oscillations go back and forth every few years and they last a few months. And so we have both effects helping to bring down cold air from the north, while the Earth itself is heating up, creating more moisture in the Gulf of Mexico. And when the two meet, watch out.
Garbage in, garbage out. However, when you combine an all-knowing theoretical physcist with a book to push and the liberal media, you get more than garbage — you get “unadulterated trash”.
Open question: the use of the term “denier” is used as a pejorative by alarmist climate scientists to describe those that do not buy their prescriptive policies for “saving the planet”. If the shoe fits wear it — as Trenberth said at AMS. In this era of new civility, instead of “alarmist”, should the politically correct term of “Useful Idiot” be investigated for potential inclusion into the scientific discourse?
Speaking of Groundhog Day, how can he see his shadow on a rainy/snowy day? I CALL SHENANIGANS/SHAM!
And he has a doctorate, in what, finger painting?
AH – hahaha!
“LA NINA”
Priceless!
roach motel?
just product placement – better check his product endorsements.
evidence one side is being funded by big pest control
The shameful thing is that one of our national news hours; at a time when the middle east could erupt into serious trouble, North Korea nearly caused war, China is leaving us in the dust economically, and the nation still has no federal budget… is asking why snow is falling.
I never really wondered what a nation being almost systematically lied to looked like. It’s interesting watching from the inside and seeing real stories, important stories, ignored one by one for such nonsense as cats rescued from trees, winds blowing, and make-believe missile launches. Thank god the internet came into it’s own as a source before this despicable media we have in the developed world became completely incompetent.
Thanks Dr. Maue for “turning on the light so we can see all of the roaches…”
This guy must have attended the same science classes as Al Gore.
It’s annoying when someone whom you have previously respected suudenly starts talking BS. I found this out many years ago when a old client of mine, whom I had liked for his opinions, suddenly revealed his Christian beliefs. I also once read a fascinating book by Martin Rees (Royal Society), then discovered that he had been infected by the warming disease. Michio Kaku’s knowledge on multi-universes and space-time have been interesting to read. Then this.
I am suprised Dr. Maue that at the 1:55 mark you missed “last year was the hottest year ever in the history of science next to 2005 since 1880”
WHAT?
[ryanm: i had to leave some low hanging fruit for others to gorge on 😉 ]
Jeez. El Nina? Is that a kind of transsexual weather system or something? The hermaphrodite sibling of La Nina and El Nino?
Kaka is getting weirder by the day.
[remember, civility]
He should definitely stick to his day job. I think that he will be embarassed when he checks to see what he has said and the feedback he receives.
Michio Kaku is an expert on global warming the same way I’m an expert on astrophysics. Meaning not at all. Come to think of it he’s not an expert on anything.
At least I’m a pretty good programmer.
Who is this guy’s handler or publicist? Same person that is advising Al Gore? WTF
And, remember WTF means “Win the Future”
“When you say something violates common sense, then it probably does!”
Common sense: The sun goes around the Earth.
Galileo: Nope. Careful observations and mathematical analysis show just the opposite.
Common sense: Heavier objects fall faster than lighter objects.
Galileo: When controlling for shape and size heavier objects fall at the same rate a lighter ones.
And then there is quantum mechanics. Guess we will have to chuck that bit of nonsense right out the window!
He’s not a useful idiot. Useful idiots unknowingly act against their own interests. He has a book to sell
Confirmation that the default position needs to be that they are lying. This has generally been the position within the scientific community, it just needs to be more widely appreciated. Nothing special really.
Dr. Maue
Glad someone is taking him to task on this. I sometimes listen to his radio show and generally like it. But he has bought the AGW party line hook, line, and sinker. I heard him interview Michael Mann concerning his 2008 proxy study. Not only did he stroke Mann’s ego by mentioning “deniers” several times, but he didn’t even bother to ask about upside-down Tiljander, a known problem that was pointed out be the “deniers” and later retracted (sort of) in a corrigendum.
I have a somewhat related question. As I mentioned in previous correspondence, I’m a long time observer of the AGW debate, since 1992 (when I got to see Carl Sagan at a seminar)… And I just realized there is something interesting in the trends for which I’ve not seen an explanation. On channel 5 global temp readings, Northern Hemisphere temps dominate. Why are NH summers – June, July, August – hotter than Southern Hemisphere summer months of November, December and January. Is it because the NH contains more land, or is there some other answer?
Thanks for your previous correspondence, and thanks for posting.
Mike @ur momisugly Sonicfrog.net
No no, you got it all wrong, Kaku is a climate genius – he discovered the El Nina phenomena, it is completely different from El Nino and La Nina, and it is of course caused by global warming.
Ugh, seriously though, I wish I could’ve been that reporter for 5 minutes and tore into Kaku’s ignorance.
if you look on youtube you can find Kaku 20 year ago making some ridiculous predictions
No one that knew better would publicly make this big of a fool of themselves….
…so the only other choice is that he really is that stupid
This is actually not that surprising from theoretical physicists in general. I’ve met a few and known a handful. Some of them are truly out-to-lunch. I get the sense that they start spending so much of their brain time in pure abstraction that they lose some touch with reality. The good physicists always keep their imaginations rooted in what the data says, but some get blown off the reservation and frankly lose it.
Hawking, for instance, was celebrated greatly for his theories on black holes initially. When one of his conclusions was shown to be false, he essentially spun the issue by saying that what he theorized could be true if there are multiple universes, so he then theorized that there are multiple universes. It’s kinda sad. You want to admire these guys, but they just want the fame of being the next Einstein so much that they destroy their credibility sometimes.
It’s always better to just admit when you’re wrong. People will respect you more.
“KAKU: Yes. It seems to violate common sense, but as the Earth begins to heat up, that means more moist air in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico on average. Which creates more precipitation, and eventually more snow. So global warming is caused when sunlight hits the Earth, and turns into infrared, red radiation, heat radiation shown here, and it’s sort of like a roach motel, light checks in but the heat does not necessarily escape.”
He says it but does not understand – heating is followed by cooling, and weather is cyclical
Dr. Ryan N. Maue
“Open question:” . . . . ok I’m a useful idiot, I’ll bite . . . what’s the Open question?
“El Niña” wow. Sure we all make mistakes and sometime words get twisted, but that is right up there with Gore’s million’s of degrees.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/11/16/gore-has-no-clue-a-few-million-degrees-here-and-there-and-pretty-soon-were-talking-about-real-temperature/
If this had been one of few television interviews given, I’d have given Kaku a pass for simply being nervous in front of TV cameras. It happens.
But he’s a 20+ year veteran of being on TV, so there’s no excuse.
I think his hair is tinfoil…. I could be mistaken… or maybe the aliens are making me type this.