Guest essay by Viv Forbes
No doubt we will hear how the current heatwaves in Australia are “unprecedented” and evidence of dangerous man-made global warming.
They are neither “global” nor “unprecedented”.
In the great heatwave of 1896, with nearly 200 deaths, the temperature at Bourke did not fall below 45.6 degC for six weeks, and the maximum was 53.3 degC. Bushfires raged throughout NSW and 66 people perished in the heat.
In 1897, Perth had an 18 day heatwave with a record of 43.3 degC. Other heatwaves were reported at Winton, 1891, Melbourne 1892, Boulia 1901, Sydney 1903, Perth 1906 and so on.
Why don’t we hear of these severe heatwaves from the past? Simple – the government Bureau of Meteorology conveniently ignores all temperature records before 1910.
However, that does not excuse our media for neglecting the written records such as these preserved in newspapers of the past.
Could it be that both the BOM and some of the media are still trying to preserve the ailing global warming scare?
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Look, people, Australia can be hot, especially in summer, and especially in the north in the tropics.
It can also be cold, especially in winter in the south and in higher altitudes.
Australia can also be hotter or colder inland from the coast, depending on the summer or winter, the hour of the daytime or the night.
It has bugger all to do with CO2, and everything to do with the fact that Australia is a giant island subject to oceans and the atmosphere and the sun and prevailing global conditions, and volcanoes, and anything else one chooses to throw at it.
We don’t particularly care, we just get on with droughts and flooding rains, and go to the beach.
If persistent and frequent heat is the issue, in my region of Oz every single month of the year bar one had it’s record max between 1910 and 1919. The exception is August, which had its record max in 1946. In addition, 1902 was our driest year (as for all Oz) and 1915 was our second driest and also our record hottest year. If anyone is wondering how northern NSW could have caught fire in the winter of 1895, the 4 month mid-year drought of that year would have done credit to the Simpson desert. Just add August westerlies. (Now we’re told that fires in high Spring are “unprecedented”!)
None of this disproves any theories of general warming, but general warming itself proves nothing.
If Australia and the planet overall are a bit warmer these days, just wait a bit…and you’ll get something else. It’s called climate change, but most climate dogmatists wouldn’t notice a real climate change if it jumped into their laps and started tap dancing.
PRD says: @ur momisugly January 21, 2014 at 5:44 am
……It’s really all about the Joule’s and calories rather than the temperature.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
And that is why temperature is the wrong measurement for determining what is happening to earth’s climate. It is the humidity that is a killer. Cold and wet is just as bad. Give me minus 30°C and dry over 0°C and drizzling any day of the week.
So, given that the uncorrected records are available, can someone run the numbers, and demonstrate how the BoM has deceptively lowered the past temperature record? If someone can lay this our, I’d be fascinated to examine what can be shown.
UHI, ‘adjustments’ and more money please, the piper will play thy tune. See links above on BOM.
out*.. I can’t spell. Who designed this comment/communication system anyway…
“UHI, ‘adjustments’ and more money please, the piper will play thy tune. See links above on BOM.”
Can you explain for me? I only have a little brain.. Lay out the basics for me.
Thanks KenB for the tip about the Weather Watchers (history of BOM). How reliable were the temperature measurements after 1907 (BOM founding) and before 1907????
Have you been taking something banned? Look for yourself, I shan’t be doing your homework for you. It’s out there.
But I will give you a start.
http://joannenova.com.au/tag/bom/
I think drumphil is working in BOM. LOL. Never mind, the funding will soon dry up for Climastrology.
I don’t know… Maybe it’s just me, but if If I’m going to assert something, I make damn sure I can actually explain it myself, to the level of detail actually necessary to make a reasonable determination of the issue. Otherwise I defer to the experts in the field.
But I am crazy…..so take that as you will.
drumphil, RSS shows no warming in Australia since the start of the satellite record. Satellites V thermometers.
http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/rss-shows-no-warming-in-australia/
Working for the BoM?? My qualifications are in the fields of IT and contemporary music.
“Have you been taking something banned? Look for yourself, I shan’t be doing your homework for you. It’s out there.”
Maybe my ego will never match your glorious status, but I wont be asserting anything if that is the best I can do to support my assertions.
Heatwaves are nothing new to Australia,
But 2013 was a year of record temperatures and certainly is something new – and well outside the normal climate variability.
Satellites tend you have long-term stability issues, and ground stations can give much more accuracy over a long period.
Peter
“I think drumphil is working in BOM. LOL. Never mind, the funding will soon dry up for Climastrology.”
Is this the usual method of engaging in genuine discussion of these issues round here? Really?
Gail Combs says:
January 21, 2014 at 5:43 am
Unmentionable says: @ur momisugly January 20, 2014 at 9:38 pm
The wimps should try 38C in 90% humidity. I’ll take 42C with very low humidity any day of the week. At least I won’t feel like I am drowning and I will be able to see without wiping my face every ten seconds.
__
Indeed Gail, I’ve been in those conditions several times and much prefer >45 C in dry air. Very high humidity at 38C gets dangerous.
drumphil:
I often post on WUWT but I have not posted to this thread because it is about Australia so I read it to learn.
I am writing to offer you some friendly advice by answering your question.
At January 21, 2014 at 7:53 am you ask
No. It is the usual method of pouring contempt on people who post unsubstantiated assertions and ignore information which refutes the assertions.
If you want to be taken seriously here then you need to engage in genuine discussion. Provide information (preferably with a link) as evidence for what you say, and address information put to you in rebuttal of what you say. Assertion and logical fallacies (e.g. Appeal to Authority) do not cut it here.
I hope that helps so you can now engage in genuine discussion.
Richard
drumphil says: @ur momisugly January 21, 2014 at 7:07 am
So, given that the uncorrected records are available, can someone run the numbers…
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I already gave you links to Jo Nova. Mystery black-box method used to make *all new* Australian “hottest” ever records
and the rest of the articles: HERE.
Here are more from WUWT:
The Smoking Gun At Darwin Zero
More bad siting in Australian weather stations
Also see: On the “march of the thermometers”
There is tons of information on this subject at DiggingintheClay and CHIEFIO but I am not going to dig it out. You can do a search yes as easily as I can.
To drumphil and Peter. The bad siting issues (thermometer sitting in an asphalt parking lot, net to a/C exhaust…) has been looked at over the years by volunteers. The Urban Heat Island effect is very real.
I had this as an example:
Here is a quick look at the only city & close by airport listed for North Carolina. The city is on the North Carolina/Virgina border and right on the ocean. Take a look at the city vs the airport. Norfolk City and
Norfolk International Airport
The airport showed increasing temperature over time while the city does not. Unfortunately the data base is down and with luck it is not being “Adjusted” again.
Anthony has many many more. Look up the SUrface station project.
Steve Goddard has a good essay on “Adjustments” HERE.
In a word, the data is absolute CRAP!
At 2:52 am “John Of Cloverdale WA, Australia says:”
“the 1890′s, when CO2 levels were 20 times less,
Can someone explain this? Thanks.
Alert to my friends in Alberta. The Alberta Premier is planning to meet with Al Gore to discuss climate change. Get your woolies and shovels ready cause it is about to snow and get really cold 😮 /sarc off
KenB says: January 21, 2014 at 6:30 am
‘Note folks that this Nick Stokes is a dissembler, I didn’t quote as Stokes implies cleverly
” from the Commonwealth year Book of 1913?’
This is a very odd thing to get excited about. The Commonwealth Meteorologist used to write a report every year which went into the Commonwealth Yearbook. I thought that is what you were quoting from. But apparently it was a separate publication. Mea culpa, but what is the “clever implication”?
But on substance, what you say has been totally unreliable, starting with the nonsense about ” for those that have lived there for 40 to 60 years, they know that you often get 4 consecutive days in excess of 104 degrees F”. And you’re continuing with this:
“When you check temperatures as you drive into greater Melbourne their is on average a 3 degrees celcius difference from the rural “
Melbourne’s heat was not due to UHI. Surrounding places were as hot or hotter. Geelong Racecourse had temps 44.9, 40.6, 42.5 and 45.4. Sheoaks (quite rural, but nearby) 43.5, 41.6, 42.6, 42.8.
But for those who continue to baselessly claim that BoM has been adjusting daily temp records downward, the numbers you quote from a 1913 publication can be checked against the GHCN Daily file, which uses BoM data.
“Melbourne record spell of heat from 15th to 20th January 1908, the successive maxima at the Weather Bureau being 102.0 F 106.7 F, 109.3 F,104.1 F, 105.7 F “
GHCN gives:
39.9,42.8,44.2,40.0,41.1,42.7 which translates to:
103.82 109.04 111.56 104.00 105.98 108.86°F. They are a bit different, partly because the Hunt quote seems to leave off the final number. But where there is a difference, the current BoM figure is higher. There’s no evidence of adjusting downward.
Mick in the Hills – “these trees are going: “hey, it’s time to burn – let’s get some kindling on the ground“. I noticed that too last year. In a single very hot day, all the work we had done clearing the fuel was undone. Last winter we removed all gum trees from upwind of the house and planted deciduous trees. If everyone did the same we might get a lot less pain and none of the “leave and live” rubbish. I can’t answer your question, but you may find the historical part of this item interesting: http://www.talkingnature.com/2010/02/biodiversity/nothofagus/
John F. Hultquist – re “the 1890′s, when CO2 levels were 20 times less” – may have meant emissions not levels.
Captain Cook mentioned the hot weather a few times in his journal during his voyages in the 18th century. The only specific temperature he game was from a 119 F day in Tahiti. The heat index must have been unprecedented.