The Week That Was: 2014-24-05 (May 24, 2014) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week: The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge. By Daniel Boorstin, American Historian [Quoted by Lennart Bengtsson]
Number of the Week: Down 96%
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9th International Conference on Climate Change
July 7 – 9 — Las Vegas, Nevada
Includes the Findings of the New Report by the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC) Climate Change Reconsidered II
http://climateconference.heartland.org/
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SEPP’S APRIL FOOLS AWARD
THE JACKSON
The nominations and voting has ended. The results will be announced at the conference of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness in July.
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Due to travel commitments and necessary, but not threatening, surgery for Ken Haapala, there will be no TWTWs on May 31, June 7, and June 14.
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THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, Executive Vice President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Approaching a Common Ground? Noted Swedish meteorologist and climate modeler Lennart Bengtsson wrote an essay expressing his views of the deficiencies in the current status of climate research. The web site Uppsalainitiativet, which is hardly a site for skeptics, graciously posted the essay in English. Bengtsson notes the inappropriateness of detailed forecasts of future climate in various regions of Sweden (which also applies to the US National Climate Assessment). The weather and climate 80 years hence for a specific location cannot be forecasted. The state of the knowledge is inadequate.
Bengtsson considers that alarmists claim weather events are becoming more extreme is, itself, alarming. He states: Apart from a possible increase in precipitation and a possible intensification of tropical hurricanes that has not yet been detected, there are no indications of extreme weather in the model simulations, and even less so in current observations.
What is perhaps most worrying is the increased tendency of pseudo-science in climate research. This is revealed through the bias in publication records towards only reporting results that support one climate hypothesis, while refraining from publishing results that deviate. Even extremely cold weather, as this year’s winter in north Eastern USA and Canada, is regarded as a consequence of the greenhouse effect.
In discussing the current 17 year period with insignificant or no warming over the oceans, Bengtsson writes: My colleagues and I have been met with scant understanding when trying to point out that observations indicate lower climate sensitivity than model calculations indicate. Such behavior may not even be intentional but rather attributed to an effect that my colleague Hans von Storch calls a social construct.
Bengtsson hopes his essay explains his motivations for first agreeing to join the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), then resigning after intense personal attacks prevented him from focusing on his work.
In an interview published in Quadrant, Judith Curry, branded a heretic in the Scientific American, expresses similar views. Climategate, and weak response by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other scientists, motivated her to skeptically re-examine her support for the IPCC and its science. Her objections to the current status of the IPCC science include the failure to adequately explain the current 15 – 17 year pause in warming, there is no evidence that the missing heat is hiding in the deep oceans, and the weakness of the IPCC claim that humans are the cause of more than 50% of the recent warming.
She states: The IPCC has outlived its original usefulness. …Scientists do not need to be consensual to be authoritative. Authority rests in the credibility of the arguments, which must include explicit reflection on uncertainties, ambiguities and areas of ignorance and more openness for dissent. The role of scientists should not be to develop political will to act by hiding or simplifying the uncertainties, either explicitly or implicitly, behind a negotiated consensus.
In discussing the support the IPCC has among scientific societies, Curry suggests it is a topic for social psychologists. Perhaps this is similar to what Hans von Storch calls a social construct. Curry suggests the reasons why the issue is not debated are: 1) that establishment scientists do not what to appear to give legitimacy to the skeptics; and 2) the establishment scientists did poorly in the few debates they participated.
Economist Richard Tol expresses his views on what is wrong with the IPCC process. Tol stepped down from the team that produced the Summary for Policymakers of Working Group 2, which addresses impacts, adaptation and vulnerability from global warming/climate change.
Tol writes: The first rule of climate policy should be: do no harm to economic growth. But the IPCC was asked to focus on the risks of climate change alone, and those who volunteered to be its authors eagerly obliged. He considers that the Summary for Policymakers embodied the horsemen of the apocalypse: famine, pestilence, war, and death.
Further, Tol states the Summary for Policymakers of Working Group 3, mitigation, had another issue. Government reviewers eliminated every clause that could be used against government policy, thus making policy debate impossible. In Tol’s view, there is too much money, prestige, etc. at stake to disband the IPCC. But, it must be significantly reformed.
He writes: Away with the infrequent, massive set pieces. Away with alarmism – that has been tried for 25 years, with no discernible impact on emissions. Away with activists posing as scientists. Away with the freshman mistakes.
Just good, sober, solid science. Let the chips fall where they may.
Here we have three scientists who are familiar with the inner workings of the IPCC expressing views similar to those expressed by the lead authors of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), and other independent scientists. The IPCC reports overestimate the influence of atmospheric CO2 on climate, the models are failing, the findings in the Summaries for Policymakers are more political than scientific, and the entire process must be significantly changed or discarded.
Professor Vaclav Klaus, then-President of the Czech Republic, in a Sept 24, 2007 speech at the UN called for an independent review of IPCC science. Many others have also criticized the IPCC, including the prestigious InterAcademy Council, which in 2010, also called for an independent assessment of the scientific evidence, a kind of “second opinion.” NIPCC fulfills that role: Its creation was not supported by governments or any industry, but by private foundations and donations from citizens. See links under Approaching A Common Ground?
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NCA: The IPCC reports, with all their deficiencies, provide the foundation of the US National Climate Assessment (NCA). As stated in prior TWTWs (May 10 & 17), the NCA is prepared by US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), which has an annual budget of about $2.5 Billion. The USGCRP does not provide independent review of the IPCC work or independent testing of models. Instead, it tends to promote the most alarmist views of the IPCC. The NCA is a slick document (and web site) of limited scientific value and should not be the basis for any governmental policies.
A group of 15 scientists, including SEPP President and Chairman Fred Singer and SEPP Director Tom Sheahen, have published a substantial rebuttal to the NCA. The rebuttal specifically addresses 5 false claims in the NCA that provide the core of NCA’s justifications. The false claims are: 1) Fundamental Understanding of [Greenhouse] GH Gases; 2) Unusual Warming in Recent Decades; 3) The Climate Models; 4) Extreme Weather – Temperatures; and 5) Extreme Weather – Hurricanes, Droughts, and Floods. The rebuttal concludes: This NCA is so grossly flawed it should play no role in U.S. Energy Policy Analyses and CO2 regulatory processes. As this rebuttal makes clear, the NCA provides no scientific basis whatsoever for regulating CO2 emissions.
One can speculate if Lennart Bengtsson had the NCA in mind when he wrote: Even more alarming is the tendency of giving people the impression that weather events are becoming more extreme, and that this has actually already occurred. As stated above, he wrote that apart from an increase in precipitation and hurricanes, which has not been observed, there are no indications of extreme weather in the model simulations …
The NCA is being used for fund raising and propaganda purposes by the inaccurately-named Union of Concerned Scientists and by Oxfam. Oxfam claims that climate change will cause drastic increases in food prices and attacks major producers of food products for not doing enough to prevent climate change, as if they could. As discussed in the May 17, 2014 TWTW, a group of retired, senior military officers under the name of the CNA Military Advisory Board claim that climate change justifies more biofuels, which will increase food prices. Will Oxfam fight it out with the Military Advisory Board? The New York Times identified the Board as “a leading government-funded military research organization.” See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy, Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine and Un-Science or Non-Science?
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Military Readiness: In a report published by the Heartland Institute, three retired senior naval officers, who are not members of the CNA Military Advisory Board, assert that the Administration’s climate policy is weakening US military readiness. Adm. Thomas B. Hayward, (former Chief of Naval Operations), Vice Adm. Edward S. Briggs, and Capt. Donald K. Forbes (all USN retired) assert there is no scientific basis for claiming that human-caused global warming/climate change is a threat multiplier, and that the Pentagon’s development of wind, solar, and biofuels “diverts critical resources away from other missions at a time when there is less money available to meet our defense needs, including supporting troops by providing them with the hardware they need.” See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy. Note: Donald Forbes is a member of the SEPP Board.
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Words: In his essay, Lennart Bengtsson explained why he was reluctant to write articles for public media. A large part of my unwillingness to partake in public debate is connected to my friend Sven Öhman, a linguist who wrote about semantics and not least about the difficulties specialists run into when attempting to communicate with the public. Words and concepts have different meanings and are interpreted differently depending on one’s background and knowledge. Sometimes such misunderstanding can be disastrous.
Coincidently, SEPP Director Tom Sheahen wrote an essay clearly explaining how certain words have a specialized meaning to a scientist and a different meaning to the public. The use of the word “collapse” in discussing the West Antarctic ice sheet is one such example. Speaking in terms of geological time, would it be correct to say a giant ice sheet thousands of feet think is about to engulf Manhattan (within years or in several millennia)? See Article # 1 and link under Seeking a Common Ground.
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Gas Play: Russia and China announced an agreement whereby Russia will deliver to China 38 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas per year scheduled to be expanded to 60 bcm per year as pipeline capacity expands. The gas will come from fields in eastern Siberia that are yet to be developed. First delivery is expected to be in 2018 over a pipeline that is yet to be built. Given the high cost of transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG), including liquefying and regasifying, a pipeline delivery will be less costly to China than LNG. How this plays with the situation in the Ukraine is not clear. See links under Energy Issues – No US.
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Additions and Corrections: The May 17 TWTW had a discussion of the sensitivity of the planet’s climate to a doubling of CO2. The discussion stated that in AR-5 the IPCC failed to develop a credible subjective probability density function. Several readers asked if the term “subjective” should have been “objective.” An objective probability density function is developed from experimentation and observations, such as flipping a coin. A subjective probability density function is developed by asking a panel of experts to assess probability of X. In the past, the latter method is how the IPCC arrived at its probability statements. In AR-5, it did not even develop a subjective probability function for climate sensitivity – yet the Summary for Policymakers expresses 95% confidence that humans are primarily responsible for global warming/climate change?
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Hand-Out: Using publically available material, SEPP has developed a simple five-page handout, “Climate Fears and Finance.” The handout emphasizes the failure of the climate models and the enormous amounts of money the US has spent on global warming/climate change. The handout is available for downloading, without cost, on the SEPP website http://www.sepp.org/key_issues.cfm?whichyear=2014
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Number of the Week: Down 96%. According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, the US Energy Information Administration will announce that the estimated recoverable reserves of oil in the extremely large Monterey shale formation in California will be only 4% of the prior estimate. The oil bearing rock is still there, but it is a matter of extraction and costs. Due to plate tectonics, the rock is folded in multiple places. These folds prevent long-distance horizontal drilling with multi-port fracturing. Using current technology, the oil cannot be profitably extracted. Such a downgrade of recoverable reserves represents the difference between a natural resource as something that exists and a natural resource that can be utilized. The downgrading will be a caution against too much enthusiasm for shale formations that have not been properly explored. See link under Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
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ARTICLES:
For the numbered articles below, please see this week’s TWTW at: www.sepp.org. The articles are at the end of the pdf.
1. The specialized meaning of words in the ‘Antarctic ice shelf collapse’ and other climate alarm stories
By Tom Sheahen, Vice Chairman of the SEPP Board, WUWT, May 21, 2014
2. The EPA’s Carbon Capture Flip-Flop
One of the agency’s own regional offices and a panel of EPA judges have ruled that the policy is too expensive.
By Brian Potts, WSJ, May 22, 2014
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303480304579575993716327878?mod=trending_now_3
[SEPP Comment: No doubt the EPA and the Administration are seeking a way to circumvent the law. One trick the EPA has played in the past is to dismiss the judicial order as regional, and claim it does not apply to national regulations.]
3. ‘What’s the Worst That Can Happen?’
John Kerry makes a revealing statement in the form of a question.
Editorial, WSJ, May 21, 2014
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304198504579574383625245664?mg=reno64-wsj
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NEWS YOU CAN USE:
Approaching A Common Ground?
Guest post by Lennart Bengtsson: My view on climate research
By Lennart Bengtsson, Uppsalainitiativet, May 21, 2014
http://uppsalainitiativet.blogspot.se/2014/05/guest-post-by-lennart-bengtsson-my-view.html
Chatting With ‘A Climate Heretic’
By Tony Thomas, Quadrant, May 21, 2014
http://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2014/05/chatting-climate-heretic/
UN climate change expert reveals bias in global warming report
By Richard Tol, Fox News, May 20, 2014
Suppressing Scientific Inquiry
Are climate scientists being forced to toe the line?
By Judith Curry, Climate Etc. May 24, 2014
http://judithcurry.com/2014/05/24/are-climate-scientists-being-forced-to-toe-the-line/#more-15598
The Climate Wars and the University of Delaware
By Jan Blits, WUWT, May 19, 2014
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/05/19/the-climate-wars-and-the-university-of-delaware/
Tough questions about FOIA abuse to the University of Delaware
By Christopher Monckton, WUWT, May 21, 2014
Challenging the Orthodoxy — NIPCC
The changing climate: Here’s the reality
Editorial, Pittsburg, Tribune-Review, May 15, 2014
http://triblive.com/opinion/editorials/6106425-74/climate-warming-nipcc#axzz31uuoTsml
Challenging the Orthodoxy
Scientists Respond to the Obama Administration’s 2014 National Climate Assessment
Posted by Anthony Watts, WUWT, Mar 19, 2014
‘Unstoppable Collapse’ of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Is Not Happening
By Don Easterbrook, NCTSP, May 21, 2014
http://theclimatescepticsparty.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/unstoppable-collapse-of-west-antarctic.html
Report: Obama Global Warming Policy Weakens Military Readiness
By Jennifer Hickey, Newsmax, May 15, 2014
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/military-global-warming-climate-change/2014/05/15/id/571563/
Link to report: Climate Change, Energy Policy, and National Power
Thomas B. Hayward, Edward S. Briggs, Donald K. Forbes (UN Navy Retired) Heartland Institute, March 21, 2014
http://heartland.org/sites/default/files/climate_change_energy_policy_and_national_power.pdf
Atmospheric Layers, The Biosphere, The Boundary Layer, Microclimate and Inadequate IPCC Models
By Tim Ball, WUWT, May 19, 2014
The tribulations of science
By John Brignell, Number Watch, May 21, 2014
http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/2014_may.htm#tribulations
Science is built on the foundations of the achievements of our predecessors, but it depends on precious concepts such as openness and reproducibility.
Defending the Orthodoxy
Miami Will Likely Be Underwater Before Congress Acts on Climate Change
Why the struggle over climate is moving to the executive branch.
By Ronald Brownstein, National Journal, May 15, 2014 [H/t Timothy Wise]
Let’s tell the truth about extreme weather
By Jane Velez-Mitchell, CNN Opinion, May 18, 2014 [H/t Timothy Wise]
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/16/opinion/velez-mitchell-extreme-weather-climate-change/index.html
[SEPP Comment: The propaganda is effective on some.]
Questioning the Orthodoxy
Pseudoscientists’ eight climate claims debunked
By Christopher Monckton, WUWT, May 17, 2014
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/05/17/pseudoscientists-eight-climate-claims-debunked/
Why Global Warming Alarmism Isn’t Science
By John Hinderacker, Power Line, May 17, 2014 [H/t Timothy Wise]
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/05/why-global-warming-alarmism-isnt-science-2.php
Corbella: Pause in global warming upsets religious believers
By Licia Corbella, Calgary Herald, May 17, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
“These [explanations for the pause] are all new hypotheses,” points out [Ross] McKitrick, “yet the science was supposedly ‘settled’ over a decade ago.”
I’ll see your 97 percent, and raise you 3 percent
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, May 21, 2014
http://www.drroyspencer.com/2014/05/ill-see-your-97-percent-and-raise-you-3-percent/
100% of climate scientists don’t know how much of the warming in the last 50-100 years is natural versus human-caused
There is something very wrong with climatology
By Andrew Montford, The Spectator, May 19, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/andrewmontford/2014/05/there-is-something-very-wrong-with-climatology/
Where Did ’97 Percent’ Global Warming Consensus Figure Come From?
By Michael Bastasch, Daily Caller, May 16, 2014
http://dailycaller.com/2014/05/16/where-did-97-percent-global-warming-consensus-figure-come-from/
Link to counter paper: Climate Consensus and ‘Misinformation’: A Rejoinder to Agnotology, Scientific Consensus, and the Teaching and Learning of Climate Change
By David R. Legates, Willie Soon, William M. Briggs, Christopher Monckton of Brenchley, Science and Education, Aug 2013
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11191-013-9647-9
Breaking: The “97 Percent Climate Consensus” Canard
By Steven Hayward, Power Line, May 18, 2014
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/05/breaking-the-97-percent-climate-consensus-canard.php
Antarctic Melting Reports Omit Key Facts
By Larry Bell, Newsmax, May 19, 2014
http://www.newsmax.com/LarryBell/Obama-Antarctic-Climate-Change/2014/05/19/id/572105/
Sea level rise tipping points
By Rud Istvan, Climate Etc. May 18, 2014
http://judithcurry.com/2014/05/18/sea-level-rise-tipping-points/
New excuse for ‘the pause’ – the wrong type of El Niños
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, May 19, 2014
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/05/19/new-excuse-for-the-pause-the-wrong-type-of-el-ninos/
Ten Good Reasons Not To Worry About Polar Bears
By Susan Crockford, WUWT, May 18, 2014
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/05/18/ten-good-reasons-not-to-worry-about-polar-bears/
No, Global Warming Ignorance Doesn’t Justify Bigger Government
By James Taylor, The Federalist, May 16, 2014 [H/t Timothy Wise]
http://thefederalist.com/2014/05/16/no-global-warming-ignorance-doesnt-justify-bigger-government/
Time to get real about climate change
By Tom Harris, Garden Island, May 18, 2014
Problems in the Orthodoxy
UN Climate Talks In Bonn Set To Fail For The Second Time In 2014
By Tory Aardvark, His Blog, May 20, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
http://toryaardvark.com/2014/05/20/un-climate-talks-in-bonn-set-to-fail-for-the-second-time-in-2014/
Australia’s change of heart threatens UN climate treaty
By Laura Barron-Lopez, The Hill, May 23, 2014
Spiegel Sees “Shaken Science”, Collapsed Consensus In The Wake Of The Lennart Bengtsson Mobbing Scandal
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, May 19, 2014
Public interest in climate unshaken by scandal, but unstirred by science
By Staff Writers, Princeton NJ (SPX), May 23, 2014
CNN chief: People don’t watch climate coverage
By Timothy Cama, The Hill, May 21, 2014
[SEPP Comment: Decades of hyperbole is having an impact on the public.]
Public are terminally bored with climate. Anderegg denies devastating Climategate damage
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, May 20, 2014
The Hard Sell on Climate Change
Media outlets continue to push a crisis scenario, and the public isn’t buying.
By John Fund, National Review, May 23, 2014 [H/t Cooler Heads]
http://www.nationalreview.com/node/378653/print
Renewable energy won’t rid us of the horrors of coal
The Turkish disaster has brought home the grave costs of mining. But hysteria-led policies will only make matters worse
By Simon Jenkins, Guardian, May 15, 2014 [H/t Chris Horner]
Seeking a Common Ground
The specialized meaning of words in the ‘Antarctic ice shelf collapse’ and other climate alarm stories
By Tom Sheahen, Dir of SEPP, WUWT, May 21, 2014
Science and policy – reconciling the two cultures
By Judith Curry, Climate Etc. May 22, 2014
http://judithcurry.com/2014/05/22/science-and-policy-reconciling-the-two-cultures/
Link to speech: By Sir Peter Gluckman, Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of New Zealand, May 18, 2014
http://www.pmcsa.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/Arthur-E-Mills-Memorial-Oration-to-RACP.pdf
Hard vs. the Soft Sciences
By Steven Burnett, WUWT, May 20, 2014
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/05/20/hard-vs-the-soft-sciences/
See link immediately below.
Steve Burnett’s Hard vs. the Soft Sciences Essay; An Ongoing Debate Central To Climate
By Tim Ball, WUWT, May 23, 2014
See link immediately above.
Greening of Planet Earth: A Little Crowdsourcing Project
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, May 23, 2014
http://www.drroyspencer.com/2014/05/greening-of-planet-earth-a-little-crowdsourcing-project/
Review of Recent Scientific Articles by NIPCC
For a full list of articles see www.NIPCCreport.org
Global Sea Level Behavior of the Past Two Centuries
Reference: Jevrejeva, S., Moore, J.C., Grinsted, A., Matthews, A.P. and Spada, G. 2014. Trends and acceleration in global and regional sea levels since 1807. Global and Planetary Change 113: 11-22.
http://nipccreport.org/articles/2014/may/20may2014a1.html
The Ability of Marine Invertebrates to Survive Ocean Acidification
Reference: Pansch, C., Schaub, I., Havenhand, J. and Wahl, M. 2014. Habitat traits and food availability determine the response of marine invertebrates to ocean acidification. Global Change Biology 20: 765-777.
http://nipccreport.org/articles/2014/may/20may2014a3.html
What the World Needs Now is a Lot Less Poverty
Reference: Kintisch, E. 2014. In new report, IPCC gets more specific about warming risks. Science 344: 21.
http://nipccreport.org/articles/2014/may/20may2014a4.html
Perhaps these several observations suggest there may be a potential for both the IPCC and the NIPCC to agree on the core aspect of reducing poverty, as each moves forward in attempting to determine what is best for the biosphere – and humanity – as time marches on.
Looking for Progress in Modeling the Continental Indian Monsoon
Reference: Ramesh, K.V. and Goswami, P. 2014. Assessing reliability of regional climate projections: the case of Indian monsoon. Scientific Reports 4: 10.1038/srep04071.
http://nipccreport.org/articles/2014/may/21may2014a1.html
Models v. Observations
Tweaking the climate models: Researchers show emissions from forests influence very first stage of cloud formation
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, May 16, 2014
Model Issues
Is the climate computable?
By Ronald Brown, WUWT, May 21, 2014
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/05/21/is-the-climate-computable/
[SEPP Comment: Long, but the question posed is important.]
Changing Weather
Interesting graph – Fraction of the Globe in Drought: 1982-2012
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, May 22, 2014
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/05/22/interesting-graph-fraction-of-the-globe-in-drought-1982-2012/
NOAA predicts near-normal or below-normal 2014 Atlantic hurricane season
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, May 22, 2014
New paper finds more intense El Ninos since 1970’s due to natural variability
By Staff Writer, The Hockey Schtick, May 21, 2014
http://hockeyschtick.blogspot.com/2014/05/new-paper-finds-more-intense-el-ninos.html
Water: The Next Scapegoat, Pt 2
By Donn Dears, Power For USA, May 23, 2014
http://dddusmma.wordpress.com/2014/05/23/water-the-next-scapegoat-pt-2-2/
[SEPP Comment: Second of 2 parts, see part 1 on the link.]
Changing Climate
New paper finds SE Asian climate was much more extreme from 14th through 18th centuries than the present
By Staff Writer, The Hockey Schtick, May 22, 2014
http://hockeyschtick.blogspot.com/2014/05/new-paper-finds-se-asian-climate-was.html
Link to paper: Monsoon extremes and society over the past millennium on mainland Southeast Asia
By Brendan Buckley, et al., Quaternary Science Reviews, Jul 1, 2014
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379114001462
Changing Seas
Global Sea Level Behavior of the Past Two Centuries
By Sherwood, Keith, and Craig Idso, CO2 Science, May 14, 2014
http://www.co2science.org/articles/V17/N20/C1.php
Antarctica’s ice losses on the rise – with a sanity check
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, May 20, 2014
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/05/20/antarcticas-ice-losses-on-the-rise-with-a-sanity-check/
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet “Collapse”
By David Whitehouse, GWPF, May 16, 2014
http://www.thegwpf.org/the-west-antarctic-ice-sheet-collapse/
Climate alarmists make major blunder in reporting Antarctica ice loss results
By Larry Hamlin, WUWT, May 23, 2014
Record Antarctic Ice Extent Throws Cold Water On Global Warming Scare
By James Taylor, Forbes, May 16, 2014
Worried about Floods Due to Rising Sea Level? Forget It: Not Happening
By John Hinderaker, Power Line, May 22, 2014
2012 surface melt of Greenland ice sheet driven by combined effects of rising temperatures and ash from forest fires
Press Release, National Science Foundation, May 19, 2014
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=131422&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
Global warming threatens more deadly Everest-like avalanches: report
By Gopal Sharma, Reuters, May 20, 2014 [H/t Clyde Spencer]
http://news.msn.com/world/global-warming-threatens-more-deadly-everest-like-avalanches-report
Link to the report: Glacier Status in Nepal and Decadal Change from 1980 to 2010 Based on Landsat Data
By Samjwal Ratna Bajracharya, et al., ICIMD, May 2014
http://lib.icimod.org/record/29591/files/GSN-RR14-2.pdf
See paper immediately below.
New paper finds Western Himalayan glaciers stable to increasing in size
By Staff Writer, The Hockey Schtick, May 23, 2014
http://hockeyschtick.blogspot.com/2014/05/new-paper-finds-western-himalayan.html
Link to paper: Glacier changes in the Karakoram region mapped by multimission satellite imagery
By M. Rankl, C. Kienholz, and M. Braun, The Cryosphere, May 26, 2014
http://www.the-cryosphere.net/8/977/2014/tc-8-977-2014-metrics.html
See paper immediately above.
Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine
America’s favorite breakfast brands threatened by climate change yet food companies making it worse
By Ben Grossman-Cohen, Oxfam America, May 19, 2014
Link to report: Standing on the Sidelines: Why food and beverage companies must do more to tackle climate change
By Staff Writers, Oxfam, May 20, 2014
A new push to get farmers in Europe worried about warming
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, May 22, 2014
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/05/22/a-new-push-to-get-farmers-in-europe-worried-about-warming/
Link to paper: Adaptation potential of European agriculture in response to climate change
By Frances C. Moore & David B. Lobell, Nature, Climate Change, May 18, 2014
http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate2228.html
[SEPP Comment: If farmers plan according the projections to 2040 from climate models, they may well be facing bankruptcy. WUWT shows how global warming, and other factors, influenced yields in the US, as previously shown by Roy Spencer.]
Winners and losers in cereal production from El Nino
By Staff Writers, Paris (AFP), May 15, 2014
http://www.seeddaily.com/reports/Winners_and_losers_in_cereal_production_from_El_Nino_999.html
Un-Science or Non-Science?
Scientists: Climate change puts historic sites at risk
By Timothy Cama, The Hill, May 20, 2014
Link to report: National Landmarks at Risk: How Rising Seas, Floods, and Wildfires Are Threatening the United States’ Most Cherished Historic Sites
By Debra Holtz, et al, Union for Concerned Scientists, May 2014
http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf
Climate Change Brings Mostly Bad News for Ohio
By Pam Frost Gorder for OSU News, Columbus OH (SPX), May 22, 2014
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Climate_Change_Brings_Mostly_Bad_News_for_Ohio_999.html
In addition, the development of an El Nino over the Pacific later this year may result in a very dry 2015 in Ohio.
[SEPP Comment: WeatherBELL Analytics is forecasting that El Ninos increase rainfall in the Midwest US.]
Forget polar bears and global warming, witness the terrible tragedy of stunted shrub growth
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, May 20, 2014
Link to paper: Winter Climate Limits Subantarctic Low Forest Growth and Establishment
By Melanie Harsch, et al., PLOS One, Apr 1, 2014
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0093241
[SEPP Comment: The opening line of the abstract states: “with small differences between mean summer and winter temperatures.” From this research we will generalize about the effects of global warming?]
Lowering Standards
Shollenberger calls Cook’s and University of Queensland’s legal bluff!
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, May 18, 2014
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/05/18/shollenberger-calls-cooks-and-university-of-queenslands-bluff/
UQ doubles rather than quitting
By Andrew Montford, Bishop Hill, May 20, 2014
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2014/5/20/uq-doubles-rather-than-quitting.html
The University of Queensland’s diabolical dilemma
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, May 23, 2014
http://joannenova.com.au/2014/05/the-university-of-queenslands-diabolical-dilemma/#more-35543
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
AP misleads the public, again, saying man made global warming worsens wildfires
By Larry Hamlin, WUWT, May 18, 2014
German Government Falsifies IPCC Summary On Climate Policy
By Daniel Wetzel, Welt am Sonntag, Via GWPF, May 18, 2014
http://www.thegwpf.org/german-government-falsifies-ipcc-summary-on-climate-policy/
Is climate change too risky for business?
By Timothy Cama, The Hill, May 17, 2014
Link to report: Major U.S. public companies from all economic sectors now facing climate change related risks and costs, a new report from CDP
By Staff Writers, CDP, May 2014
https://www.cdp.net/CDPResults/review-2011-2013-USA-disclosures.pdf
Union Pacific reported an 11% decline in corn shipments affecting its freight revenue as a result of droughts in 2012;
[SEPP Comment: Ignores that the corn crop in 2013 was the biggest ever.]
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
Any Way You Want It: Australian Climate Modeling
By Sierra Rayne, American Thinker, May 18, 2014
http://americanthinker.com/2014/05/any_way_you_want_it_australian_climate_modeling.html
[SEPP Comment: You select-a-model result.]
Fake fracking film exposes what really goes on in Hollywood
By Staff Writers, ACSH, May 21, 2014
http://acsh.org/2014/05/fake-fracking-film-exposes-really-goes-hollywood/
German Professors’ Peer-Reviewed Paper On Skeptics’ Belief Of “A Climate Conspiracy” Backfires
Scientists at University of Augsburg with dubious study on “climate skeptical emotionalization strategy
By Fritz Vahrenholt and Sebastian Lüning, No Tricks Zone, May 23, 2014
Kerry Says–Wrongly–Some Temps This Week Broke ‘Every Record That’s Ever Been Seen’
By Patrick Goodenough, CNS News, May 23, 2014
Kerry Mocks Climate Skeptics: ‘Flat Earth Society’
By Patrick Goodenough, CNS News, May 19, 2014 [H/t Timothy Wise]
John Cook and University of Queensland experience at least 97% of the ‘Streisand effect’ in the Washington Post
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, May 21, 0214
Polar vortex in part to blame for high energy bills, U.S. says
By Daniel J. Graeber, Washington (UPI), May 21, 2013
[SEPP Comment: Reporters twisting facts. EIA does not mention changes in the polar vortex.]
Communicating Better to the Public – Go Personal.
Eminent Swedish Scientist Latest Victim Of Climate McCarthyism
By Peter Foster, Financial Post, Via GWPF, May 16, 2014
http://www.thegwpf.org/eminent-swedish-scientist-latest-victim-of-climate-mccarthyism/
Climategate II And The Rise Of Climate McCarthyism
Editorial, IBD, May 16, 2014 [H/t Timothy Wise]
The Age of Unenlightenment
By Pointman, His Blog, May 22, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
http://thepointman.wordpress.com/2014/05/22/the-age-of-unenlightenment/
The McCarthyism in Climate Science
By Bjorn Lomborg, Forbes, May 22, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.forbes.com/sites/bjornlomborg/2014/05/22/the-mccarthyism-in-climate-science/
The coerced consensus
Lennart Bengtsson’s treatment shows how climate sceptics are silenced
By Matt Ridley, Rational Optimist, May 17, 2014
http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/the-coerced-consensus.aspx
Climategate 3.0: Blogger Threatened for Exposing 97% “Consensus” Fraud
By William Jasper, New American, May 20, 2014 [H/t DeWitt Edwards]
See: Research & Commentary: The Myth of a Global Warming Consensus
By Joseph Bast and Taylor Smith, Heartland, May 14, 2014
http://heartland.org/policy-documents/research-commentary-myth-global-warming-consensus]
In climate science, the more things change, the more they stay the same
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, May 17, 2014
Scientist On PBS: Lock Up Politicians Who Question Climate Change [VIDEO]
By Brendan Bordelon, Daily Caller, May 20, 2014 [H/t Timothy Wise]
[SEPP Comment: More from David Suzuki.]
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda on Children
Guest post: Should teachers use the classroom for campaigning on climate change
By John Shade, Schools Improvement Net, May 19, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
Expanding the Orthodoxy
Climate Hysteria and Credit Ratings
By Sierra Rayne, American Thinker, May 21, 2014
http://americanthinker.com/2014/05/climate_hysteria_and_credit_ratings.html
Expect The Worst If Governments Address Global Warming
Editorial, IBD, May 22, 2014
Green Jobs
Government axes renewable energy agency
By Kerry Brewster, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, May 15, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2014/s4005586.htm
Non-Green Jobs
U.S. Needs To Develop All Its Energy Resources
By Rep Michele Bachmann, May 21, 2014
Report: U.S. shale gas boom drives $120B in LNG export projects
By Wendy Koch, USA Today, May 16, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
Funding Issues
Aussies To Slash 90% Of Global Warming Funding From Budget
By Michael Bastasch, Daily Caller, May 19, 2014
http://dailycaller.com/2014/05/19/aussies-to-slash-90-of-global-warming-funding-from-budget/
The Political Games Continue
Steyer adds ‘moneyball’ to climate politics
By Laura Barron-Lopez, The Hill, May 22, 2014
Climate Change Is on the Ballot
By Tom Steyer, Huff Post, May 22, 2014 [H/t Timothy Wise]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-steyer/climate-change-is-on-the-_b_5368917.html
Litigation Issues
Climate Change Lawsuits and Flooding in Chicago
By Sierra Rayne, American Thinker, May 20, 2014 [H/t Timothy Wise]
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/05/climate_change_lawsuits_and_flooding_in_chicago.html
[SEPP Comment: Will every natural event be followed by litigation from insurance companies as to cause? The insurance companies may get nailed.]
Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes
Let’s Tax Carbon
It’s the worst form of energy policy, except for all those others that have been tried
By Irwin Stelzer, Weekly Standard, May 26, 2014 [H/t Richard Lindzen]
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/let-s-tax-carbon_792852.html
Irwin Stelzer’s ‘Conservative’ Carbon Tax. What Would Reagan Do?
By Marlo Lewis, Global Warming.org, May 19, 2014
http://www.globalwarming.org/2014/05/19/irwin-stelzers-conservative-carbon-tax-what-would-reagan-do/
[SEPP Comment: See link immediately above.]
EPA carbon curbs to reach beyond power plant ‘fence,’ aiding cap-and-trade
By Valerie Volcovici, Reuters, May 20, 2014
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/20/usa-carbon-idUSL1N0O50CD20140520
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
Tax Farming Seminar for Renewable Energy
By James Rust, Master Resource, May 20, 2014
http://www.masterresource.org/2014/05/tax-farming-seminar/
EPA and other Regulators on the March
President Obama’s big carbon crackdown readies for launch
By Erica Martinson, Politico, May 16, 2014 [H/t Timothy Wise]
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/carbon-crackdown-barack-obama-106783.html
EPA readies rules on CO2
By Rick Moran, American Thinker, May 17, 2014
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/05/epa_readies_rules_on_co2.html
EPA is readying climate rule for existing power plants as deadline approaches
By Juliet Eilperin and Steven Mufson, Washington Post, May 21, 2014
[SEPP Comment: According to the wind industry lobbyists, making electricity unreliable and more expensive makes it affordable.]
Moniz: Energy efficiency bill failure reinforces need for presidential action
By Timothy Cama, The Hill, May 21, 2014
[SEPP Comment: Demand for authoritarian power by the Secretary of Energy.]
EPA Issues Final Cooling Water Intake 316(b) Rule
By Sonal Patel, Power News, May 19, 2014
Further Ozone Reductions: Are There Benefits?
By Staff Writers, NCPA, May 16, 2014
Obama to create largest national monument of his presidency
By Justin Sink, The Hill, May 19, 2014
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/206517-obama-to-mark-500k-acres-as-protected-in-nm
[SEPP Comment: This 500,000 acre monument may be just the beginning for the President in abusing the national monument legislation. President Clinton was a master.]
Energy Issues – Non-US
What’s wrong with energy conservation?
By Ross McKitrick, His Blog, May 23, 2014
http://www.rossmckitrick.com/uploads/4/8/0/8/4808045/conservation.pdf
[SEPP Comment: A simple example how bureaucrats making production decisions can lead to false savings. External costs are a pricing problem and need to be addressed as such.]
IEA: ‘Radical change of course’ required on road to low carbon economy
By Mat Hope, Carbon Brief, May 12, 2014
Link to report: Energy Technology Perspectives 2014 – Harnessing Electricity’s Potential
By Staff Writers, International Energy Agency, 2014
http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/name,51003,en.html
[SEPP Comment: Under this plan, do not expect the electric lights to go on when you want!]
Russia, China Ink Major Gas Supply Deal
By Thomas Overton, Power News, May 21, 2014
Crimean Annexation: It’s All About the Oil and Gas
By Walter Russell Mead and Staff, American Interest, May 19, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.the-american-interest.com/blog/2014/05/19/its-all-about-the-oil-and-gas/
EU to step up fracking and efficiency in response to Ukraine crisis
By Gerard Wynn, RTCC, May 21, 2014
http://www.rtcc.org/2014/05/21/eu-may-step-up-shale-gas-efficiency-in-response-to-ukraine-crisis/
Link to draft report: DRAFT European Commission – Energy Security Communication
By Staff Writers, European Commission, May 15, 2014
http://www.scribd.com/doc/225457831/DRAFT-European-Commission-Energy-Security-Communication
[SEPP Comment: Also more dependence on unreliable, expensive solar and wind.]
European fossil fuels
By Martin Livermore, Scientific Alliance, May 23, 2014
http://scientific-alliance.org/scientific-alliance-newsletter/european-fossil-fuels
[SEPP Comment: HS2 is the planned high-speed train between London and the Midlands.]
Russia targets shale oil boom by next decade
By Katya Golubkova, Reuters, May 22, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/05/22/russia-forum-oil-idINL6N0O83OQ20140522
Energy Issues — US
Putin Outfoxes Obama Again With China Gas Deal
Editorial, IBD, May 21, 2014
Backyard flamethrowers and other fracking myths
By Ezra Levant, QMI, May 17, 2014 [H/t Cork Hayden]
Washington’s Control of Energy
It Costs You a Fortune For Obama To Be Green
By Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Real Clear Markets, May 20, 2014
The coal plant to end all coal plants?
By Steven Mufson, Washington Post, May 16, 2014 [H/t David Kreutzer]
[SEPP Comment: It you do not start wasting money now, when do you start wasting it?]
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
U.K. Says South England Holds Billions of Barrels of Shale Oil
By Nidaa Bakhsh, Bloomberg, May 23, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
U.S. officials cut estimate of recoverable Monterey Shale oil by 96%
By Souis Sahagun, LA Times, May 20, 2014
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-oil-20140521-story.html
Shell says its assets won’t get stranded by a carbon bubble. With climate change on the international agenda, is it right?
By Simon Evans, The Carbon Brief, May 20, 2014
Nuclear Energy and Fears
Japan court rules against restart of nuclear reactors
By Staff Writers, Tokyo (AFP), May 21, 2014
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
The Year Energy Storage Hit Its Stride
By Thomas Overton, Power News, May 1, 2014
http://www.powermag.com/the-year-energy-storage-hit-its-stride/
[SEPP Comment: Long article – optimistic or unrealistic?]
DOE Continues to Push Concentrating Solar Power Systems
By Aaron Larson, Power News, May 21, 2014
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles
Government’s Immoral Requirement That Carmakers Lose Money
Editorial, IBD, May 23, 2014
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/052314-702096-fiat-loses-14000-on-every-500e-sold.htm
Business-as-usual model for heavy-duty vehicles in Europe unsustainable
By Daniel J. Graeber, Brussels (UPI), May 21, 2013
[SEPP Comment: It appears that to European Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard anything large that works well and efficiently is unsustainable. Has she ever heard of calculations of tonne/km?]
Oh Mann!
Critique of Mann’s new paper characterizing the AMO
By Nic Lewis, Climate Etc. May 19, 2014
http://judithcurry.com/2014/05/19/critique-of-manns-new-paper-characterizing-the-amo/
The alternative Mannian oscillation
By Andrew Montford, Bishop Hill, May 19, 2014
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2014/5/19/the-alternative-mannian-oscillation.html
[SEPP Comment: A simplified version of the analysis linked immediately above.]
Environmental Industry
Friends Of The Earth Wants To Learn Science
By Hank Campbell, Science 2.0, May 20, 2014 [H/t ASCH]
http://www.science20.com/science_20/friends_of_the_earth_wants_to_learn_science-135815
Other Scientific News
FDA: No Low-Dose Chemical Dangers
By Dennis Avery, Canada Free Press, May 20, 2014
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/63211
[SEPP Comment: The frequently used linear-no-threshold model is a disservice to science and a threat to human health.]
NASA aims to land on, capture asteroids within next 15 years
By Staff Writers, Moscow (Voice of Russia), May 19, 2014
[SEPP Comment: Why?]
Other News that May Be of Interest
Congratulations to Joe “Doc” D’Aleo
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, May 19, 2014
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/05/19/congratulations-to-joe-doc-daleo/
Setting the Right Global Goals
By Bjorn Lomborg, Project Syndicate, May 20, 2014
[SEPP Comment: Poverty is declining; health is improving. What steps are needed to improve an improving world?]
What the World Needs Now is a Lot Less Poverty
By Sherwood, Keith and Craig Idso, CO2 Science, May 14, 2014
http://www.co2science.org/articles/V17/N20/EDIT.php
Beautiful Progress (Book review, ‘Smaller Faster Lighter Denser Cheaper’)
By Josiah Neeley, Master Resource, May 19, 2014
http://www.masterresource.org/2014/05/beautiful-progress-bryce/
Free Forum with David Archibald and Cliff Ollier in Perth Monday next week
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, May 22, 2014
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BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE:
Solar energy prospects are bright for Scotland
By Staff Writers, Edinburgh, UK (SPX), May 21, 2014
http://www.solardaily.com/reports/Solar_energy_prospects_are_bright_for_Scotland_999.html
[SEPP Comment: Hasn’t Germany’s experiment in solar been enough? The latitude of southern Scotland is approximately that of northern Germany, resulting in less intense sunlight.]
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re: Quote of the Week: The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge. By Daniel Boorstin, American Historian [Quoted by Lennart Bengtsson]
Just a quibble, perhaps, but “the illusion of knowledge” is itself a form of ignorance!
Ignorance of what real (relevant) knowledge would be, and ignorance of how such knowledge is to be analyzed and assessed.
Still, a nice quote, even if not accurate in a literal way.
the problem with Liberals isn’t that they are ignorant, it’s that they know so much that isn’t so.
Ronald Reagan 1964.
“Correlation is not causation” roundup:
http://www.tylervigen.com/
🙂
Make sure to click on the “Discover a new correlation” link at the top.
[Off-topic. Hope you saved your text, but please post it elsewhere. .mod]