Posting will be light this weekend through Monday. Guest posters are welcome to submit stories. Enjoy your holiday (and don’t forget to honor those who gave the ultimate price on memorial day)! – Anthony
Posting will be light this weekend through Monday. Guest posters are welcome to submit stories. Enjoy your holiday (and don’t forget to honor those who gave the ultimate price on memorial day)! – Anthony
What a pleasure to read so many intelligent posts.
I’ve recently read a small book of 3 lectures which were given by the amazing genius/physicist/teacher Richard P. Feynman. (Book (released for publishing by his children): The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen Scientist). Some notable quotes: “This freedom to doubt is an important matter in the sciences and, I believe, in other fields.” “All scientific knowledge is uncertain. This experience with doubt and uncertainty is important. I believe that it is of very great value, and one that extends beyond the sciences. I believe that to solve any problem that has never been solved before, you have to leave the door to the unknown ajar.” And so on……..
DJ says: “…Imagine[,] if these [seismologists] are held responsible for not warning the public, should not scientists be held equally liable for alarming the public with incorrect predictions? Like warning of a tipping point that results in billions of dollars in expense to the public, a warning that turns out to be totally false?”
Many alarmist scientists are hoping, of course, that, should that happen, the New World Order will have already been installed by a frightened populace. The NWO will, short of a too-obvious Ice Age, prevent the truth from becoming available in the already compliant media, thus keeping the scientists safe. On the other hand, New World Orders are famous for killing off the intellectuals that backed them in the first place. Climatologists might be most convenient scapegoats if an Ice Age results in mass starvation. I think they’d better get it right–the Precautionary Principle, and all that!
Cate Blanchett to front carbon tax campaign in Australia. She may be a great actress, but I wont be going to see any more of Cate Blanchett’s films after this.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/business-wants-low-carbon-starting-price/story-fn59niix-1226064883425
Is Bill Nye smarter than a 5th grader? After that liquid to vapor statement you’ve got to wonder.
Jimbo says:
May 28, 2011 at 1:14 pm
“No thanks! What next, fire it up into thunderstorms?”
Of course one is free to respond in whatever manner [subject to moderators] that one wishes to any given post, but I simply wonder …why the flippant remark? It seems to me that applying that much energy to a tornado funnel would possibly be capable of disrupting a tornado funnel vortex? A more seriously framed negative [or positive] response would have been welcomed.
6:45pm, eastern edge of the Sierra, 4900ft elevation, Reno, Nevada.
It’s been snowing for an hour now. I thought snow was soon to be a thing of the past, and spring is coming earlier and earlier each year??
jorgekafkazar:
This should be interesting to watch as it unfolds! I think you’re right, they will bite the hand that feeds them.
Holding the alarmists to account (from an Australian political perspective):
From Andrew Bolt’s show on Channel 10 Australia this morning.
News reports that Harrison Schmitt (former astronaut and Senator from New Mexico) is proposing that NASA be shut down, and its space exploration duties moved to a new agency to recover the “youthful vigor” of the old NASA, and cut it free from the bureaucracy of an old agency that has gotten off message and lost its focus in other areas.
Larry
B.Stockwell says:
May 28, 2011 at 4:09 pm
I’ve recently read a small book of 3 lectures which were given by the amazing genius/physicist/teacher Richard P. Feynman.
Good for you! Not all complex physics the AGW/IPCC portrays needs to be so complex if viewed correctly while staying simple, that is if a few souls are willing to allow it to be stay simple. I’ve tried many times here but the other commentators let the agw/ipcc trolls guide the conversation away, every time. That is a sad note. Feynman was one of the rare souls who could take the deepest subject in physics and bring it to incedible simplicity as it should be viewed. Physics at the core level IS simplicity itself, it is the few dishonest people that force it to remain in complexity, that is their sole shield.
I agree with everything wayne says above, but that’s probably because wayne is one of my favorite commentators. The only difference of opinion might be wayne’s comment that ‘commentators let the agw/ipcc trolls guide the conversation away, every time.’
Not every time. This commentator holds climate alarmists’ feet to the fire – and they don’t like it. But I don’t let their bullshit pass unchallenged. I’m not one to buy their pig in a poke.
Great open threads with tons of info.. I love it!
Mean while here in Vancouver BC. Canada. Home to king of the warming melons live large David Suzuki and the rag blog De Smog blog.com and a full complement of whacked out alarmist ect… were off to the real Hockey (stick) finals with Boston next week. Go Canucks Go!!!.
Its still bloody cold here with the local mountains chocked full of snow only 10 minutes from downtown. I skied my buns off today, tomorrow I’m snowboarding. The local travel industry is booming with 30+% travel increase to Hawaii or anywhere warm, thank you CO2.
Keep up the great postings from all over the world and check out Andrew Bolt (rc says:) from Australia he really hammers these warmist with there own come back to haunt them statements its classic got you stuff.
Over and out.
Oh Smokey… darn, I forgot to leave you out! No, really, I mean that. You are one of the shining lights every single time. I wish I had Willis’s smooth words and your pure logic and ability to see ’em coming!
Tonight on the 5 O’Clock news on KCNC Channel 4 in Denver, the newscasters reported that the snowpack in Colorado was 232% of normal and A Basin ( a ski resort on I-70 east of the Continental Divide) received 53 inches of snow in May. Where I live on the Eastern Plains, today it was a cloudy 63 degrees F and normal is 76 degrees F. Then the newscasters reminded us that Xcel Energy’s two tier rate plan would go into effect on June 1, because of the increase in electrical demand in the summer. Shoot. Except for 3 days last week, my furnace has run everyday since last fall. I hope it warms up enough so I don’t have to pay summer rates to HEAT my house…
TonyB.,
Though I happen to believe it is more likely than not than human activity, including the emission of GH gases, is affecting the earth’s climate, I am not one that has ever advocated for large government programs to try and “fix” things. I especially am opposed to any sort of geoengineering. This, I believe is both a huge waste of money but also quite dangerous. When you start mucking with a chaotic system that you don’t fully understand, you run the very likely risk of unintended consequences. Like it or not, the massive use of fossil fuels is what has allowed the human population to swell to 7+ billion. If we are altering the earth’s climate because of this very use of fossil fuels, and that alteration eventually leads to such changes that we can no longer support and feed all those 7+ billion, then the problem will take care of itself. Spending massive amounts of tax dollars on forced green programs only benefits those companies in that business, with the benefits, economic or environmental, hard to immediately see. I think small is beautiful, and each individual should be given the opportunity to go green on their own terms when the marketplace makes it reasonable to do so. I’ve saved thousands of dollars by investing in a greenhouse to grow food year round and by adding some energy efficiencies to my home and business. I took no government money to do these things, though I could have. I am excited about the next generation of solar cells and scour the marketplace and the physorg.com website looking for what is new or just over the horizon. Over time, I think the natural efficiencies of the market and rapid advances in technology will allow us to greatly reduce our use of fossil fuels for energy, but when it comes to massive forced government programs, I am not a fan and, especially in the case of geoengineering, I would actively oppose such efforts.
Reality intrudes on the proceedings at last:
Kyoto deal loses four big nations
DEAUVILLE, France: Russia, Japan and Canada told the G8 they would not join a second round of carbon cuts under the Kyoto Protocol at United Nations talks this year and the US reiterated it would remain outside the treaty, European diplomats have said.
The future of the Kyoto Protocol has become central to efforts to negotiate reductions of carbon emissions under the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change, whose annual meeting will take place in Durban, South Africa, from November 28 to December 9.
Developed countries signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. They agreed to legally binding commitments on curbing greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.
Those pledges expire at the end of next year. Developing countries say a second round is essential to secure global agreements.
But the leaders of Russian, Japan and Canada confirmed they would not join a new Kyoto agreement, the diplomats said.
They argued that the Kyoto format did not require developing countries, including China, the world’s No. 1 carbon emitter, to make targeted emission cuts.
At last Thursday’s G8 dinner the US President, Barack Obama, confirmed Washington would not join an updated Kyoto Protocol, the diplomats said.
The US, the second-largest carbon emitter, signed the protocol in 1997 but in 2001 the then president, George W. Bush, said he would not put it to the Senate for ratification.
From: Agence France-Presse at http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/kyoto-deal-loses-four-big-nations-20110528-1f9dk.html
R Gates
your 10.27
Thanks for your intersting reply. I would positively welcome a forum on this site where we could debate the practicalties of using renewables and general domestic energy efficiency as well as the broader picture.
Fortunately I saw the last three severe winters (i the UK) coming and substantially upgraded my house insulation. I have an electric bike which I recharge through a solar panel. My heating bills will have doubled within a few years through the extra taxes imposed to pay for renewables that mostly don’t work when needed and are hideously inefficient.
Horses for courses, and different energy systems will work best according to an individuals countries geographic position and infrastructure. Alternative forms of energy for the householders use are expensive here, even though subsidised by the govt which of course then merely imposes that subsidy by way of taxes on those least able to affiord it.
Being able to discuss solar panels, heat pumps, domestic windmills, electric vehicles etc etc would I believe be a useful service to those who aren’t automatically anti renewables.
At present I get the impression that govts are blundering around wasting a great deal of our time and money without really knowing the cause and effect. Rallying behind cost effective renewables that bring energy security and cut costly imports shoudn’t be controversial but has become so because of the pseudo science and muddled thinking that surounds the co2 debate.
best regards
Tonyb
Poliotical Junkie
We haven’t specfically targetted warmist sites but intend to once we can ascertain some tighter boundaries on the estimates. The IPCC may be satisfied with endorsing an enormous spread of possible scenarios but I believe that if the science is so certain and maths is logical, that we should be able to home in on a tighter estimate than from one tenth to one degree centigrade.
Both are extremely small when seen in context, but even so one is ten times smaller than the other, hence my attempts to get some greater certainty, not helped by those capable of making such calculations being unwilling to divulge them. Hence my growing suspicions that they don’t like their own answers.
DirkH
Thanks for your interesting comment and links.
Tonyb
“2011 Atlantic tropical storm season forecast”
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/news/releases/archive/2011/2011-hurricane-forecast
“26 May 2011 – Our forecast for this year’s North Atlantic tropical storm season states it is likely to be quieter than the very active season in 2010.”
“Our forecast for the 2011 season is for 13 tropical storms between June and November”
RE: F. Ross (May 28, 2011 at 12:07 pm)
“Open thread conjecture…
I wonder if any entity in the megajoule laser research establishment has considered using this type weapon against tornadoes?”
I believe the problem here is probably the huge amount of energy that would be required and the amount of energy in a major tornado.
I have sometimes wondered if it might be possible to construct “tornado towers,” tall aerodynamic spires with special ground level airfoils, which would act like lightning rods to force and trap tornado activity in designated areas, but this idea is probably an unworkable fantasy.
Perhaps the best option is a building code that requires underground shelters for every home.
British scientists experiment with members of the public, rewarding them with fruits and vegtables for green behaviour, and find that this works.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13523552
Oh the joys of being a scientist in the EU in the 21st century.
Begging the indulgence of those who are not Americans; may all you Americans have a wonderful Memorial Day.
It is good to remember those who have sacrificed for our nation. As a veteran, a retired Marine, I am pleased to have someone thank me for my service. I take it as a belated apology for the way we were treated in the 1960s and 70s. It is a nice gesture.
But it would be a far greater tribute to do what you can to keep our nation one worth fighting for. Read again the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Federalist Papers. Reflect on the principles that made this nation great. Help renew the respect for each individual and the determination to make each individual secure in person and property.
It would be a great tragedy to pay respect to those who have died in defense of our country at the same time we let the greatness of our country wither from within.
Nah. Domehomes will do just fine, and are cheaper to build than frame or brick, etc.
R. Gates;
If you do indeed scour the internet for new developments, check out LPP.com , and then watch closely over the next 5 yrs. If they succeed, the world changes, and AGW and renewables are rendered moot and uninteresting.
Brian H says:
May 29, 2011 at 4:23 am
> If you do indeed scour the internet for new developments, check out LPP.com ,
Are you sure about that site? Lois Paul & Partners (LP&P) is a high tech PR agency headquartered in Boston that specializes in strategic and digital communications for technology, healthcare, and clean tech companies.
Perhaps you meant http://www.lawrencevilleplasmaphysics.com/
Suggestion: cut and paste URLs. Don’t trust your fingers.
Personally, I’ll be keeping an eye on Rossi’s ECat device, e.g. hey – a new blog I’ll have to watch – http://www.e-catworld.com/
One of the major arguments of the warmists centers upon their claim that any uncertainty regarding the potential consequences of global warming argues conclusively for the need for action. If there is any chance of catastrophic warming, they argue, we must act in the strongest ways possible to mitigate it. One thing there is little if any uncertainty about is that there will be another extreme glacial epoch. If that is a given, shouldn’t we act in the strongest ways possible to mitigate it? Which leads to the question: what would have a more catastrophic effect on life, another epoch of exteme glaciation or high levels of global warming? The answer to that would suggest which path of mitigation to pursue…