Weekend Open Thread

Heard today that Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to run for POTUS in 2016. He said he’s ready to start lobbying to change the Constitution and also preparing a lawsuit.
Clearly he’s not content with running Califailure into the ground.

Edohiguma says:
October 19, 2013 at 12:05 pm
“Heard today that Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to run for POTUS in 2016.”
Dis shall be de moment ven se ocean stopped to rise and se planet began to heal. Kome viz me if you vont to live.

The Coming Unobtanium Crisis
 As retirement draws ever closer, I’ve arrived at a new means of supplementing my income, and hopefully avoid the job as a Walmart greeter.
 After examining all the data carefully, it appears the time is right for the newest global threat to life as we know it, and that is the release of Unobtanium into our atmosphere and water by our mere existence. I’ve chosen Unobtanium, since all the other good GHG’s and trace elements have already been by taken by other groups, and I didn’t want something that hasn’t worked out so well for them.
 The first order of business was to recruit my chief modeler, 11 year old Tommy B. from Grand Rapids. Tommy was first runner-up in the regional Lego competition, so he’s uniquely qualified for this position and brings keen insight to the task ahead. He will construct two models, one for runaway warming, and a second for runaway cooling. This is crucial, inasmuch as nobody knows at this point which direction it will eventually strongly trend. I’m shipping 2 flats of cherries to be used in these models, since they are essential to reinforcing which ever postulate we wish to advance. When the models are completed, they will be  cryogenically stored in the vessel next to the one that contains Ted Williams’ head.
 Next, I’ve brought in an onionchronologist, who will reconstruct climate data by onion ring proxy. Now I know what you’re thinking, that an onion can only give you about 6 weeks worth of data at most, but not to worry, Tommy’s models will faithfully hind-cast thousands of years in the past, and forecast hundreds of years into the future.
 As part of the public relations angle, I’ve been watching “B-movie babes who were hot 30 years ago”, and making up my short list of candidates to handcuff themselves to the White House fence, along with yours truly.
 The simple logistics of the matter dictated that I purchase several cases of talking points, and I got the best available. Micro-honed and ready to imbed themselves into those lacking intellectual curiosity, they activate whenever the wearer is speaking. Glassy eyes and a little drooling are the only side effects which will go largely unnoticed in today’s political climate.
 Concurrent with that I also set out to procure some coal mine canaries for press releases. I had no idea they would be so difficult to find. Apparently the unemployment rate for these little guys is less than half a percent, and demand is going up, what with the UN group doubling down on their warming meme.
 On my way to the community center to write this, an ash blew off my expensive imported cigar and set my straw man alight in the front seat of my Prius. I was forced to pull over and leave him smoldering against a fire plug, muttering his last words “denying women their reproductive rights”…. I had little worry of pollution, since straw men are constructed of mostly hot air and lofty platitudes. When I replace him, I’m getting the new X-10 model, the same one the administration uses, because it’s completely invulnerable to media scrutiny.
 I realize this is not going to be an easy task to move to the front of the line with a new catastrophic narrative.  I shall have to battle acidic oceans, methane balls exploding, and heat mysteriously disappearing into the depths, but I still think I’m on fairly safe ground since Unobtanium, like dark matter and phantom heat, cannot be observed.
 As much as I’d like to stay and chat, I have an Esperanto class at the community center shortly.
Yours in his new career,
Luke Warmist

Peer Review.
Not climate related but interesting. A biologist called Michael Eisen, at UC Berkeley and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute says in his own words:
“In 2011, after having read several really bad papers in the journal Science, I decided to explore just how slipshod their peer-review process is. I knew that their business depends on publishing “sexy” papers. So I created a manuscript that claimed something extraordinary – that I’d discovered a species of bacteria that uses arsenic in its DNA instead of phosphorus. But I made the science so egregiously bad that no competent peer reviewer would accept it. The approach was deeply flawed – there were poor or absent controls in every figure. I used ludicrously elaborate experiments where simple ones would have done. And I failed to include a simple, obvious experiment that would have definitively shown that arsenic was really in the bacteria’s DNA. I then submitted the paper to Science, punching up the impact the work would have on our understanding of extraterrestrials and the origins of life on Earth in the cover letter. And what do you know? They accepted it! ”
http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/?p=1439

Wow, I was going to try to be funny, but there is no way I can compete today!
I will have to try some sciency stuff–
If you have an “ideal” absorber the same distance from the Sun as the Earth, you can use Stefan-Boltzmann directly, with no “adjustments” other than albedo.
For example: S = (sigma)T^4
Use S = 1365 W/m^2, and albedo of 0.3 (“New” S now = 955.5 W/m^2)
Then T = 360K (87ºC, 188ºF)
Wait, maybe that is kinda funny….

Norwegian to english

Reviving the most robust and helpful philosophy of science, and related ideas in politics and economics. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=rafe+champion

Jon says:
October 19, 2013 at 1:15 pm
Use Google translator on this? It’s UNFCCC not conform and will be shortly be removed?
No problem, after some 10+ trips to Scandinavia, mainly Norway, decided to learn Norwegian…
But interesting story anyway. Not only in Svalbard some plant debris from 1100 years ago – the warm Medieval Period – comes out from under the ice, but also from Svartisen (Norway mainland) and from under glaciers in Austria human artefacts are found that are 3000-6000 years old, proving that the glaciers were much shorter in these periods…
Mange hilsener fra Flandern/Belgia

There was a very interesting comment made on one of Bob Tisdale’s threads a few days ago, by Hunter (don’t know who you are, sorry):
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/10/14/will-their-failure-to-properly-simulate-multidecadal-variations-in-surface-temperatures-be-the-downfall-of-the-ipcc/#comment-1447452
The point made is that, just as early Christianity had to adapt away from an expectation of the imminent Second Coming of Jesus, so the Alarmists will surely adapt in order to survive. Perhaps this will prolong the agony of their influence beyond what many people, myself included, currently think.This lead to a sudden realisation of the importance of falsifiability in any belief structure. I have written more on this on my own blog:
http://jonathanabbott99.wordpress.com/2013/10/19/true-believers/

Jesus Green, that’s an excellent article on peer review. I’ve bookmarked it for future reference. Thanks.

Tim Osborn has posted an engaging comment regarding CO2 forcing at Climate Audit. It’s surprising to see a charter member of the Hockey Team venture in to enemy territory. 🙂
http://climateaudit.org/2013/10/08/fixing-the-facts-2/#comment-443928

Luke Warmist – one of the best satires I’ve read in a long time. I loved it. Thanks!

Mark says:
October 19, 2013 at 2:11 pm
: “What exactly is the human contribution to increased atmospheric CO2?
I’ve anywhere from 100% (unlikely) to as little as between 6% and 12%. Is there a supportable data based number?”
The number I see quoted most often is in the 2-4 percent range, but sadly I can’t cite anybody/anything. This makes my observation anecdotal which is always highly suspect.
(……now I’m wondering what the real number is.)