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?
Kaku’s been holding forth on Yellowstone Caldera too. Either a renaissance man or
he is outside the envelope….
My wife had Regis Philbin on and his sidekick mentioned El Nina as the cause of the snow. It is amazing how this kind of junk science spreads.
They (and Kaku) still cannot predict anything.
And besides all that, Warming causes Cooling insults right down to the level of the common man on the streets.
Kaku, Gore et al are bluffing: Flim-Flam at it’s finest, banking on the fact that there’s a sucker born every second that will buy into the wildest of scams.
I think Kaku and Gore should take their act to Las Vegas and start a second career as a comedy duo…
By the way, if someone like Dr. Roy Spencer had given a similar interview, I’m sure C-BS would have had a second segment to provide “an opposing viewpoint” from one of the usual climate publicity hounds (Schmidt, Mann, Hansen, Romm etc.).
Good to see you sitting on the fence Ryan. (lol).
Kaku joins Brian Cox, Paul Nurse and many other well known science celebrities in expressing opinions in support of the ‘settled science’ when it is obvious they have not investigated the subject themselves.
How embarrassed they will be in 10 years or less and will they apologise.
“El Niña”
Tolerance people, for our transgendered oscillations!
Anthony.
I’m afraid of making political comments in our beloved WWUT.
Analogy,
useful idiot was used to describe Soviet sympathizers in Western countries
“Elements within the British establishment were notoriously sympathetic to Hitler. Today the Islamists enjoy similar support. In the 1930s it was Edward VIII, aristocrats and the Daily Mail; this time it is left-wing activists, The Guardian and sections of the BBC. They may not want a global theocracy, but they are like the West’s apologists for the Soviet Union — useful idiots.” (wiki)
Full idiot…..Garbage in,….recycles…. garbage out…..recycles….. extra pure garbage is obtained.
Not only was the British aristocracy. Who surrendered to the charms of a clean planet ….
Every day, day by day is the same creed.
Clearly, Michio Kaku. He wants to transform the planet into an eternal Monday.
No, No, No
El Niña….??????
Of course the alarmists have been saying AGW causes severe cold and snow, just look at the film The Day After Tomorrow. The only thing is though, the hypercane is hitting Australia but the snow and cold is in the northeast US. WUWT?
I liked Kaku when he dealt with science fiction issues, like SETI, aliens, string theory, etc. I liked his delivery, but now see that he is a teleprompter celebrity, like someone else I know.
It will be difficult now to suspend disbelief as I watch his shows on science channel or discovery.
the warmist are denier of the true
Douglas DC said “Kaku’s been holding forth on Yellowstone Caldera too. Either a renaissance man or he is outside the envelope….”
Douglas DC . . . . a link to what you are referring to would be nice . . . . please! That way we don’t have to search the whole site . . .
The Ghost Of Big Jim Cooley says:
February 2, 2011 at 11:16 am
Hawking comes to mind, he being a warmer. With a mind like his you would think he could cut through the BS in no time. But maybe he is watching which way the wind blows.
Mike says:
February 2, 2011 at 11:23 am
““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!”
Common sense would, of course, throw out relativity and quantum physics. Can’t bank on that. How about honest solid observational data and sound statistical analysis? Have not seen much of that in the AGW camp.
Well, well Mr. Kaku, you talk about lots of cold air and cold water… then tell us, where is the heat gone then?
Does it help you if I tell you that Kaku is a favourite of the BBC?
KAKU: “Similar. El Nina, cold weather around the equator, is contributing to what’s happening in Australia. ”
Is Kaku saying cold Weather around the equator is similar to cold Weather in the northern & southern hemispheres?
I don’t understand this! is he saying the Earths climate is cooling therefore creating colder weather, causing similar weather patterns as if the Earths climate was warming therefore the earths climate is warming?
KAKU: “Yes. It seems to violate common sense.”
If it seems to violate common sense then there is something wrong with the logic behind your argument.
Where KAKU seems to be getting it wrong is when the climate is warming he says it’s man made global warming and when the climate is cooling he is also saying its man made global warming.
“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.”
Just once I’d like to see the reference where a proponent of AGW predicted this BEFORE it happened. Seems to me there are a lot of Monday morning quarterbacks on the AGW side.
I have mixed up the responses of Michio Kaku in random sentences in no particular order and no matter how much I have mixed them up they still sound like the mad ramblings and gibberish of a religious nutcase who knows how to say the words but does not know what they mean. Please try it yourselves and you find it comes together exactly the same as the original, its weird and and counter intuitive but somehow it works.
Please read the original and have it fixed as best you are able in some kind of order and then compare it with my ‘mix of the month’.
“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. But, hey, get used to it. 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. more extremes, and swings. Flooding in one area and ice-cold temperatures in another.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.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. Flooding in one area and ice-cold temperatures in another. We’re going to have more energy sloshing around the Earth. Remember, last year was the hottest year ever recorded in the history of science 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.”
Aaaah I see it all clearly now, CAGW is simply a mixed bag of words shaken and then showered out onto the table in no particular order, it all means the same thing because its really not meant to mean anything and at the same time it means anything you want it to mean. This is Alice through the looking glass stuff, random sentences with no meaning become the wisdom of the ages, you could call it ‘word spaghetti’ speaking in tongues and the language of the Gods. Words to fill the vacuum of ignorance, words to fill the void, like trying to build a house of sand by the teaspoonful. My favourite gibberish of the piece? I am going to have to go with this little gem myself, whats yours?
“We’re going to have more energy sloshing around the Earth, ” Huuuuh! I myself not being a scientist am not familiar with this technical phrase.
Sonci,
partially correct – the oceans are big heat sinks which tend to minimize the extremes. The primary reason, however, is that the eccentricity of Earth’s orbit combines with the precession of the Earth’s rotation to favor the NH getting more sunlight. It’s actually a pretty nifty piece of geometry if you like that sort of thing, but the short form is that summer in the NH is about 9 days longer than summer in the SH and NH spring is about 6 days longer than SH spring, with the SH getting corresponding longer winter and fall.
The great man has feet of clay, he is not alone.
Several years back Kaku hitched his wagon to the nuclear power/ weapons proliferation debate. At the time I was a long time activist in the UK Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).
I was perusing his latest book, can’t remember the title, in my local bookshop. Expecting ‘pearls of wisdom’ all I found was ignorant mistakes. Needless to say I didn’t buy the book and have had a low opinion of him ever since.
It’s rather sad – I have enjoyed some of his QM string theory material and he did seem to string (excuse unintentional pun) a good argument together but he is way way out of his depth here methinks. Perhaps he is either broke, just trying to secure funding or jumping on the AGW bandwagon to ensure future dinner invitations! In any event I find this display very very sad and his scientific standing and credibility has dropped through the basement.
Kaku-sensei is in need of attending an undergraduate course on thermodynamics.
It is pretty clear that Kaku fails as an exponent of the theory that AGW is causing the current weather pattern of snow storms and cold weather in th
Having intently watched the Atlantic basin for hurricane activity over the past decade, I have concluded that the one thing that stops or reduces cyclogenesis is wind shear.
Screaming trades or local wind patterns tear the tops from the rising thunderstorms that fuel the strength and velocity of these weather phenomena. As a means of distributing excess heat they are good, but not as good, perhaps (I see a research paper coming… ) as high velocity winds going from one region to another.
Warm water temperatures notwithstanding, shear can take them all out or its absence can allow the formation of monsters like Yasi. In a global warming world, I gather that the models show less heat difference between the poles and the equator (ie less shear so more hurricanes) but the models have been wrong before. The PDO and the other oceanic cycles certainly seem to have the upper hand on historical [CO2] levels no matter how you present it.