The Week That Was: 2015-09-12 (September 12, 2015) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project
THIS WEEK: By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Model Validation: The past two TWTWs focused on major issues regarding the EPA’s finding that greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2) in particular, endanger human health and welfare, — the Endangerment Finding. These issues included the divergence between atmospheric measurements and surface measurements and the absence of the so-called “hot spot,” which the EPA erroneously claimed was the distinct human fingerprint of global warming. This TWTW will address the failure of the UN Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) to validate a global climate model. Future TWTWs will discuss other major issues such as measurement issues and explanations for so-called “missing heat,” which may not be missing at all. All these issues are fundamental to the EPA’s endangerment finding.
Probably the most persistent critic of the failure of the IPCC, and its supporters, the Climate Establishment, to validate a global climate model is Vincent Gray of The New Zealand Climate Science Coalition, who has been an expert reviewer of the scientific basis for all five IPCC Assessment Reports, from 1990 to 2013. In the process, he has submitted thousands of comments, and, according to reports, was influential having the IPCC change its terminology about the results of the global climate models, now calling the results “projections” rather “predictions.” Gray’s latest book and excerpts can be found in the links below.
On his web site, A Different Perspective, Tim Ball summarizes Gray’s 2002 book: The Greenhouse Delusion: A Critique of “Climate Change 2001. Ball writes:
“We now know that the 2001 Report included the hockey stick and Phil Jones global temperature record, two items of evidence essential to the claim of human causes of global warming. In the summary of that book he [Gray] notes,
· There are huge uncertainties in the model outputs which are recognized and unmeasured. They are so large that adjustment of model parameters can give model results which fit almost any climate, including one with no warming, and one that cools.
· No model has ever successfully predicted any future climate sequence. Despite this, future “projections” for as far ahead as several hundred years have been presented by the IPCC as plausible future trends, based on largely distorted “storylines”, combined with untested models.
· The IPCC have provided a wealth of scientific information on the climate, but have not established a case that increases in carbon dioxide are causing any harmful effects.
“On page 58 of the book, he identifies what is one of the most serious limitations of the computer models.
“‘No computer model has ever been validated. An early draft of Climate Change 95 had a Chapter titled “Climate Models – Validation. [A]s a response to my comment that no model has ever been validated, they changed the title to “Climate Model – Evaluation” and changed the word “validation” in the text to “evaluation” no less than describing what might need to be done in order to validate a model. Without a successful validation procedure, no model should be considered to be capable of providing a plausible prediction of future behaviour of the climate.’”
In short, the projections (predictions) of climate models are interesting human artifacts, but with no logical validity. As Ball discusses, such validity will require extensive testing, a task largely ignored. SEPP adds that validation would require extensive testing of the assumptions in the models and what Freeman Dyson calls “fudge factors” (quote of the week). Such criticisms of the IPCC’s work were available prior to the EPA’s 2009 endangerment finding – a finding which failed to address these deficiencies. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Quote of the Week: “They [the global climate models] are full of fudge factors that are fitted to the existing climate, so the models more or less agree with the observed data. But there is no reason to believe that the same fudge factors would give the right behaviour in a world with different chemistry, for example in a world with increased CO2 in the atmosphere.” Freeman Dyson [National Post, Canada, April 23, 2007, H/t A Different Perspective]
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Number of the Week: 38%
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A Shift in Political Winds? Writing in the Congressional influential Capitol Hill newspaper, The Hill, Representative Lamar Smith from Texas articulates seven reasons why the Administration’s interpretation about climate change and its energy plans to address climate change cannot be accepted at face value. He concludes with:
“The EPA and other government agencies too often fail to present all the facts. Their agenda comes first, accuracy comes second. Climate change has many explanations — and unanswered questions. The American people need good science, not science fiction promoted by alarmists.”
No doubt Representative Smith will become a target for the Administration and its supporters from groups that favor raising the costs of energy in the name of environmentalism. It will be interesting to observe how this opposition takes shape. See link under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Sink Re-emerges? After the Fourth IPCC Assessment Report (2007), several researchers claimed that the carbon dioxide absorption of the southern ocean (including the Antarctic Ocean) was declining. However, new research suggests that such a trend stopped around 2002, and the southern sections of all three major oceans (Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian) are absorbing CO2, as before, but at different rates. The abstract concludes: “The large decadal variations in the Southern Ocean carbon sink suggest a rather dynamic ocean carbon cycle that varies more in time than previously recognized.” In short, do not assume short-term variation is a long-term trend, especially in climate studies. See links under Changing Seas.
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AMO: Along the lines of changing perceived trends, Climate Etc. and WUWT present a discussion on the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), 60 to 70-year periods of warming and cooling of the sea surface in the Northern Atlantic, for which there is no universally agreed upon single measurement. It may be a bit early to definitively tell, but the AMO may have shifted to a cooling phase. If so, then, as hurricane experts Klotzbach, Gray, and Fogarty state, historic records indicate that, for the near future, Atlantic hurricane frequency and intensity will decline, as compared to the early part of the 21st century. Thus, the administration’s claims of severe weather events from carbon dioxide caused-global warming may be hollow for the US Atlantic region. See links under Changing Weather.
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Other Weather Events: The Blob is an area of warmer than usual water, at and near the surface, in the Pacific Ocean off the US Pacific northwest and southwest Canada. No one has been able to identify a cause, or a similar event in the sea records in the same area going back about 100 years. The Blob is causing warming on land near its location and disrupting local and regional weather patterns. As David Whitehouse points out, the Blob can only be identified as an unusual weather pattern, not a climate pattern, unless it persists for a number of years. Meteorologist Cliff Mass of Washington State has an amusing post on an imaginative battle between the Blob and a monster El Niño. A number of groups have predicted such an El Niño, but it has not yet clearly materialized. As in 1998, such an El Niño would cause a warming spike in both surface and atmospheric temperatures; but, not necessarily indicated global warming. See links under Changing Weather.
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Capacity: The US Energy Information Agency (EIA) released a report on electric generation from various sources (2008-2012 average) for various countries and regions. For the US, nuclear production was 90% of capacity, fossil fuels was 41% of capacity; hydropower was 40%; and solar and wind was 27%. Fossil fuels are often used for standby and shoulder generation as well as baseload. In general, in the US, petroleum is used for back-up. A more detailed analysis shows that solar generates an average of 15% of capacity and wind generates an average of 27% of capacity.
Promoters of wind and solar often omit such details. Yet, wind and solar usually receive first preference for distribution (use). Thus, when a wind promoter states that his project will generate enough electricity for 100 homes, he is actually saying that, on average, his project will generate enough electricity for 100 homes – 27% of the time! The source and cost of the back-up are immaterial to the promoter. See link under Energy Issues – US.
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Number of the Week: 38%. A recent US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report states: “The thermoelectric power industry, for example, accounted for 38 percent of all freshwater withdrawals in the United States in 2010.” The dependence on fresh water for cooling by nuclear, coal, and gas power plants explains why the environmental industry bitterly opposes this use, even though the environmental industry have failed to demonstrate any pollution of the water. Raising the temperature by a minor amount is not pollution in any traditional sense. See link under Energy Issues – US.
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ARTICLES:
Please note that articles not linked easily or summarized here are reproduced in the Articles Section of the full TWTW that can be found on the web site under the date of the TWTW.
1. California’s Climate Change Revolt
Democrats reject green schemes that raise energy costs for the non-rich.
Editorial, WSJ, Sep 11, 2015
http://www.wsj.com/articles/californias-climate-change-revolt-1442014369
SUMMARY: According to the editorial: “The environmental lobby has tried to turn climate change into a social justice issue even though its anticarbon policies disproportionately harm the poor. Honest Democrats are starting to admit this, as we saw in this week’s stunning revolt in the California legislature.”
Governor Jerry Brown “hailed California as a model of green virtue at the Vatican this summer and had hoped to flaunt sweeping new anticarbon regulations at the U.N’s climate-change summit in Paris this year.
“But now his party has mutinied. Democrats hold near supermajorities in both legislative chambers with 52 of 80 seats in the Assembly. Yet this week 21 Democratic Assembly members representing middle- and low-income communities—including 11 blacks and Latinos—joined Republicans to kill a bill mandating a cut in state greenhouse gas emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.
“Democrats also forced Mr. Brown to scrap a measure that would have given the California Air Resources Board plenary authority to reduce statewide oil consumption in vehicles by half by 2030. Imagine the EPA without the accountability. ‘One of the implications probably would have been higher gas prices,’ noted Democratic Assemblyman Jim Cooper. ‘Who does it impact the most? The middle class and low-income folks.’
“The most morally destructive product in California these days is green government. Take the 33% renewable electricity mandate. Since 2011 solar energy has increased more than 10-fold while wind has nearly doubled. But during this period electricity rates have jumped 2.18 cents per kilowatt hour—four times the national average. Inland residents and energy-intensive businesses have been walloped the most.
“California’s cap-and-trade program has also hurt manufacturers, power plants and oil refiners, which are required to purchase permits to emit carbon. Between 2011 and 2014, California’s manufacturing employment increased by 2% compared to 6% nationwide, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“The chief beneficiaries of the Golden State’s green government have been the well-to-do, while low- and middle-income Californians have borne most of the regulatory costs. The Bay Area and Los Angeles regions account for 80% of the state’s electric car rebates compared to the San Joaquin Valley’s 2%.
“Meantime, while job growth in the Bay Area is booming, unemployment remains high in the rest of the state. The unemployment rate is 3.8% in San Francisco and 2.9% in Palo Alto. It’s 10.4% in Fresno, 8.8% in San Bernardino and 9.6% in the refining hub of Carson—nearly four percentage points higher than in December 2007.
“After this week’s defeat, Mr. Brown vowed to use regulation to end-run the legislature. ‘We don’t have a declaration in statute, but we have absolutely the same authority,’ he declared. President Obama has taught him well. ‘We’re going forward. The only thing different is my zeal has been intensified to a maximum degree.’ Vengeance is his, and the Governor will make hard-up Californians pay for their sins of emission.”
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2. Congress Can Sue Obama
A D.C. judge rules in favor of the House in a separation of powers case.
Editorial, WSJ, Sep 9, 2015
http://www.wsj.com/articles/congress-can-sue-obama-1441839753
SUMMARY: The litigation concerns ObamaCare, which is not a topic of TWTW, but the results may be. The House Republicans sued President Obama for rewriting regulations without proper legislative authority. The Administration sought to dismiss the case on the grounds it was a classic political debate. But, the judge ruled: “When the appropriations process is itself circumvented, Congress finds itself deprived of its constitutional role.”
“This has implications well beyond ObamaCare. More than any President in decades or longer, Mr. Obama has sought to rewrite legislation that guts Congress’s Article I spending power under the Constitution. If Judge Collyer rules for the House on the merits, expect the case to go all the way to the Supreme Court in what could be a historic ruling on the separation of powers.”
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NEWS YOU CAN USE:
Commentary: Is the Sun Rising?
Major Implications! Study Shows Climate Dominance By The 200-Year Solar Cycle …Cooling 21st Century!
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Sep 6, 2015
[SEPP Comment: Much needs to be worked out.]
Challenging the Orthodoxy
Fighting climate ‘fluff’
By Lawrence Solomon, National Post (Canada), Apr 23, 2007
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=985641c9-8594-43c2-802d-947d65555e8e
The Global Warming Scam and the Climate Change Superscam
By Vincent Gray, The New Zealand Climate Science Coalition, Jun 26, 2015
http://nzclimatescience.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1205&Itemid=1
Jun 5, 2015
http://globalwarmingscamandccsuperscam.blogspot.com.au/
Validation Of A Climate Model Is Mandatory: The Invaluable work of Dr. Vincent Gray.
By Tim Ball, A Different Perspective, Aug 27, 2015
Climate change: Seven indisputable facts
By Rep. Lamar Smith, The Hill, Sep 8, 2015
http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/252989-climate-change-seven-indisputable-facts
Are the recent hot days a sign of global warming or just weather?
By Joseph D’Aleo, CCM, AMS Fellow, ICECAP, Sep 11, 2015
The Pause is driving down the long-term warming trend
Guest essay by Christopher Monckton, WUWT, Sep 8, 2015
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/09/08/the-pause-is-driving-down-the-long-term-warming-trend/
Defending the Orthodoxy
Eye roller study: Should countries honor their climate debts?
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Sep 8, 2015
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/09/08/eye-roller-study-should-countries-honor-their-climate-debts/
Link to paper: Quantifying historical carbon and climate debts among nations
By H. Damon Mattrhews, Nature Climate Change, Sep 7, 2015
http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate2774.html
[SEPP Comment: And what are the climate debts – taking the world out of the last ice age, if CO2 is the driver? The paper starts with 1900, avoiding the cold.]
Questioning the Orthodoxy
Spiegel Slams Sorrowful State Of Climate Science Communication! “Reports Hardly Trustworthy” …”Arrogant Scientists”
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Sep 9, 2015
Shrill Alarmism Backfires…Squandered Credibility, Potsdam Institute Scientist Wonders Why No One Heeds Daily Climate Alarms
Stefan Rahmstorf’s Nightmare
By Dr. Sebastian Lüning and Prof. Fritz Vahrenholt, No Tricks Zone, Sep 11, 2015
On to Paris!
Comment: climate change and the madness of crowds
By Staff Writers, Climate Change Predictions.org, Sep 10, 2015
http://climatechangepredictions.org/uncategorized/4240
[SEPP Comment: Proposing ‘Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds’ be required reading for those attending COP-21 in Paris.]
The Fantasy World of UN Climate Negotiations
By Alan Carlin, Carlin Economics and Science, Sep 10, 2015
http://www.carlineconomics.com/archives/2141
Climate talks are stuck in the slow lane to Paris
By Henner Weithöner, Climate News Network, Sep 7, 2015 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.climatenewsnetwork.net/climate-talks-are-stuck-in-the-slow-lane-to-paris/
Headlines contradictory. Pressure intense. Meetings in Bonn, NY, Lima. It’s Paris Paris Paris
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Sep 6, 2015
The Administration’s Plan – Push-Back
EPA’s crumbling case for new regs on fracking
By Katie Brown, The Hill, Sep 9, 2015
A clear power grab on climate
By David Kreutzer, Merced Sun-Star, (California) Sep 8, 2015
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/news/local/environment/article34329969.html
Glacier, bay, glacier, bay, glacier, Glacier Bay
By Ned Rosell, Sit News, Ketchikan Alaska, Mar 11, 2015 [H/t Dennis Ambler]
http://www.sitnews.us/0306news/031106/031106_ak_science.html
Obama’s Climate Alarmism Tour (contradictory data + tuned-out public = failure)
By James Rust, Master Resource, Sep 8, 2015
Who’s Afraid of the EPA?
By Staff Writers, NCPA, Sep 8, 2015
Link to report: “EPA’s Clean Power Plan Overreach”
Bu William Yeatman, CEI, Jul 28, 2015
Problems in the Orthodoxy
New strategy to boost flagging climate talks
By Staff Writers, AFP, Sep 5, 2015 [H/t Toshio Fujita]
US Envoy to Visit India, China for Climate Talks Next Week
By Staff Writers, Press Trust of India, Sep 5, 2015 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/us-envoy-to-visit-india-china-for-climate-talks-next-week-1214515
Seeking a Common Ground
Managing uncertainty in predictions of climate change and impacts
By Judith Curry, Climate Etc. Sep 7, 2015
http://judithcurry.com/2015/09/07/managing-uncertainty-in-predictions-of-climate-change-and-impacts/
Review of Recent Scientific Articles by CO2 Science
Ocean Acidification (Effects on Marine Animals: Echinoderms) – Summary
By Staff Writers, CO2 Science, Sep 9, 2015
http://www.co2science.org/subject/o/summaries/acidechinoderms.php
“In summation, with the passage of time, more and more evidence is accumulating that suggests the impacts of ocean acidification on echinoderms may not be as bad as many initially thought. Indeed, for many echinoderm species, the impacts will likely be minimal, if not altogether positive.”
Changes in Daily Extreme Temperatures on China’s Loess Plateau during 1960-2013
By Yan, G., Qi, F., Wei, L., Aigang, L., Yu, W., Jing, Y., Aifang, C., Yamin, W., Yubo, S., Li, L. and Qianqian, M. Quaternary International, Sep 9, 2015
http://www.co2science.org/articles/V18/sep/a7.php
“The great significance of these findings is highlighted by the fact that (1) Ma et al. (2015) have recently demonstrated that typically-experienced extreme cold throughout China is much more deadly than is typically-experienced extreme heat, and that (2) Gasparrini et al. (2015) have shown the same to be true for literally hundreds of locations throughout the entire world.”
Problems Associated with Modelling South Asian Monsoon Rainfall
Sabeerali, C.T., Rao, S.A., Dhakate, A.R., Salunke, K. and Goswami, B.N. 2015. Why ensemble mean projection of south Asian monsoon rainfall by CMIP5 models is not reliable? Climate Dynamics 45: 161-174. Sep 8, 2015
http://www.co2science.org/articles/V18/sep/a6.php
The Equatorially-Asymmetric Mode of the Hadley Circulation
Feng, J., Li, J., Zhu, J., Li, F. and Sun, C. 2015. Simulation of the equatorially asymmetric mode of the Hadley Circulation in CMIP5 models. Advances in Atmospheric Sciences 32: 1129-1142. Sep 4, 2015
http://www.co2science.org/articles/V18/sep/a4.php
The five Chinese scientists report that: “none of the models can successfully capture the differences in the warming rate between the tropical Southern Hemisphere (SH) and Northern Hemisphere (NH) …”
Models v. Observations
Validation Of A Climate Model Is Mandatory: The Invaluable work of Dr. Vincent Gray.
By Dr. Tim Ball, A Different Perspective, August 27, 2015
Changing Weather
The Pacific “Blob” and the Pause
By David Whitehouse, GWPF, Sep 6, 2015
http://www.thegwpf.com/the-pacific-blob-and-the-pause/
Godzilla El Nino Versus The BLOB: Who Will Win?
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, Sep 2, 2015
http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2015/09/godzilla-el-nino-versus-blob-who-will.html
Has the AMO flipped to the cool phase?
By Judith Curry, Climate Etc. Sep 11, 2015
http://judithcurry.com/2015/09/11/has-the-amo-flipped-to-the-cool-phase/#more-19890
Klotzbach and Gray say hurricane trend fizzling; Meanwhile Fred is fading
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Sep 8, 2015
Link to paper: Active Atlantic hurricane era at its end?
By P. Klotzbach, W. Gray, & C. Fogarty, Letter to Editor, Nature Geoscience, Sep 7, 2015
http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo2529.html
El Niño of the 21st century so far: a warm 2016?
By Luboš Motl, The Reference Frame, Sep 8, 2015
http://motls.blogspot.com/2015/09/el-nino-of-21st-century-so-far-warm-2016.html#more
Is Britain experiencing extreme weather? Yes. Extremely mild…
The Met Office is offering us the chance to name storms. But our climate is not as dramatic as we think
By Michael Hanlon, Telegraph, UK, Sep 8, 2015
Changing Seas
Weak sink sunk
By Andrew Montford, Bishop Hill, Sep 11, 2015
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2015/9/11/weak-sink-sunk.html
Link to paper: The reinvigoration of the Southern Ocean carbon sink
By Landschützer, et al, Science, Sep 11, 2015
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/349/6253/1221
Southern Ocean ‘Sink’ Turns the Tide on Climate Alarm
By Graham Lloyd, The Australian, Sep 11, 2015
“No one knows why the Southern Oceans are doing this, and no one can say what will happen next. It seems the Southern Ocean, along with a little bit of help from the sun, means that future climate projections, especially decadal ones, have become far more uncertain.
Southern Ocean back in business as a carbon sink (models were wrong)
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Sep 12, 2015
Study reverses climate science position that the ‘Southern Ocean carbon dioxide sink was weakening’
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Sep 10, 2015
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
New studies promote Arctic cooling fears
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Sep 8, 2015
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/09/08/new-studies-promote-arctic-cooling-fears/
Link to papers: Response of Atlantic overturning to future warming in a coupled atmosphere-ocean-ice sheet model
By Glirz, Lohmann, and Wei, Geophysical Research Letters, Aug 31, 2015
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2015GL065276/abstract
Gradual onset and recovery of the Younger Dryas abrupt climate event in the tropics
By Partin, et al. Nature Communications, Sep 2, 2015
http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150902/ncomms9061/full/ncomms9061.html
[Arctic] Death spiral stops
By Andrew Montford, Bishop Hill, Sep 11, 2015
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2015/9/11/death-spiral-stops.html
Mendenhall Glacier’s Retreat and Obama
By Donn Dears, Power For USA, Sep 11, 2015
https://dddusmma.wordpress.com/2015/09/11/mendenhall-glaciers-retreat-and-obama/
Study: Polar bears may survive ice melt, with or without seals
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Sep 7, 2015
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/09/07/study-polar-bears-may-survive-ice-melt-with-or-without-seals/
[SEPP Comment: The bears survived before, such as during the last interglacial!]
Changing Earth
CT scan of Earth links deep mantle plumes with volcanic hotspots
Scans prove that plumes of hot rock anchored at core-mantle boundary rise to form island chains
By Staff Writers, Science Daily, Sep 2, 2015
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150902134939.htm
Link to paper: Broad plumes rooted at the base of the Earth’s mantle beneath major hotspots
By Frency & Romanowicz, Nature, Sep 2, 2015
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v525/n7567/full/nature14876.html
Acidic Waters
Dr. Christopher Cornwall Responds to “Ocean Acidification: Trying to Get the Science Right”
Guest Essay by Kip Hansen, WUWT, Sep 9, 2015
Un-Science or Non-Science?
Claim: Climate change could leave Pacific Northwest amphibians high and dry
By Anthony Watts: WUWT, Sep 7, 2015
New studies deepen concerns about a climate-change ‘wild card
By Joby Warrick, Washington Post, Sep 7, 2015
Lowering Standards
Exclusive: Search Page for Realist Side of the Climate Change Debate
Guest essay by Ari Halperin, WUWT, Sep 9, 2015
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
Seattle Times Glacier Disaster
By Cliff Mass Weather Blog, Sep 8, 2015
http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2015/09/seattle-times-glacier-disaster.html
[SEPP Comment: Amusing comments on an over-the-top story.]
Climate scientists undermine their own science by avoiding the best case scenario
By Allison Schrager, Quartz, Sep 10, 2015 [H/t Clyde Spencer]
http://qz.com/491748/climate-change-and-uncertainty/?utm_source=YPL
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
Demography does not explain the migration crisis
It’s about violence and religious extremism, not population pressure
By Matt Ridley, Rational Optimist, Sep 6, 2015
http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/demography-does-not-explain-the-migration-crisis.aspx
Failure to act on climate change means an even bigger refugee crisis
Global warming does not cause the conflicts that have caused mass movement of people, but it would be wrong to say it does not contribute
By Graig Bennett, Guardian, UK, Sep 7, 2015 [H/t Timothy Wise]
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/07/climate-change-global-warming-refugee-crisis
“But if the government continues to move backwards on climate change, then we should get ready for a much bigger refugee crisis before very long.”
[SEPP Comment: The author claims to know the causes and that governments can alleviate them.]
Minor drying in Iran causes farmers to flee Syria [??]
By Andrew Montford, Bishop Hill, Sep 8, 2015
More Syria shamefulness
By Andrew Montford, Bishop Hill, Sep 7, 2015
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2015/9/7/more-syria-shamefulness.html
NASA – global Warming Threatens Space Agency Here on Earth
By Scott Falkner, Inquisitr, Sep 6, 2015
The new poster child for ‘correlation is not causation’: industrial revolution ended 1800 years of volcanic induced cooling
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Sep 9, 2015
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda on Children
Oxfam running climate propaganda into classrooms
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Sep 8, 2015
http://joannenova.com.au/2015/09/oxfam-running-climate-propaganda-into-classrooms/#more-44327
Questioning European Green
Bavaria says Germany must curb renewable energy costs
By Vera Eckert, Reuters, Sep 8, 2015 [H/t GWPF]
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/09/08/bavaria-energy-idUKL5N11A3G220150908
EU Renewable Energy Targets: The Compliance Statistics are Suspect
By Roger Andrews, Energy Matters, Sep 4, 2015
http://euanmearns.com/eu-renewable-energy-targets-the-compliance-statistics-are-suspect/
Funding Issues
UN climate change body suffers mammoth European carbon fraud
By George Russell, Fox News, Sep 8, 2015 [H/t GWPF]
[SEPP Comment: The Stockholm Environment Institute paper linked in the August 29 TWTW.]
Link to paper: Has Joint Implementation reduced GHG Emissions? Lessons learned from the design of carbon market mechanisms
By Anja Kollmuss and Lambert Schneider Stockholm Environment Institute, 2015
http://www.sei-international.org/publications?pid=2803
Grant money panic! Murdoch buys the National Geographic
Guest essay by Eric Worrall, WUWT, Sep 9, 2015
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/09/09/grant-money-panic-murdoch-buys-the-national-geographic/
Litigation Issues
The Urgenda ruling in the Netherlands
By Lukas Bergkamp, Climate Etc. Sep 9, 2015
http://judithcurry.com/2015/09/09/the-urgenda-ruling-in-the-netherlands/
[SEPP Comment: Lengthy explanation of the ruling by a Dutch Court that the government needs to do more to reduce CO2 emissions.]
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
Wind power growth faces sharp decline without federal aid, report says
By Jordan Blum, Fuel Fix, Sep 9, 2015
“Why should American taxpayers continue to fund dysfunctional wind energy, when even the U.S. EPA air chief, Janet McCabe admits that the EPA’s analysis shows that ‘wind power can expand throughout the Clean Power Plan compliance period, from 2022 to 2030, even if the tax credit is not renewed’? “– Mary Kay Barton in comments section.
EPA and other Regulators on the March
Coal exec: Stream rule is industry’s biggest threat
By Timothy Cama, The Hill, Sep 11, 2015
CO mine owner: EPA lied in congressional hearing
By Tori Richards, Colorado Watchdog.org, Sep 9, 2015 [H/t Clyde Spencer]
http://watchdog.org/237424/epa-hearing/
EPA: Do as We Say, Not as We Do!
By John Hinderaker, Power Line, Sep 9, 2015
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2015/09/epa-do-as-we-say-not-as-we-do.php
Energy Issues – Non-US
Aguilera & Radetzki: Climate Policy With Low Oil Prices
By Roberto F. Aguilera and Marian Radetzki, GWPF, Sep 10, 2015
http://www.thegwpf.com/aguilera-radetzki-climate-policy-with-low-oil-prices/
Russian Energy Boss Declares OPEC’s ‘Golden Age’ Over
By David Sheppard, Financial Times, Via GWPF, Sep 7, 2015
http://www.thegwpf.com/russian-energy-boss-declares-opecs-golden-age-over/
Revealed: The Next Energy ‘Revolution’
While the last decade was about the energy buried in the earth and how to get it out, the next decade will be about how energy already removed from the earth is moved across it.
By John Richard Cookson, National Interest, Sep 4, 2015 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.nationalinterest.org/feature/revealed-the-next-energy-revolution-13775
“Recent research has pointed not to an imminent revolution in renewable energy, but rather to its limitations. Solar and wind power combined produce less electricity than what is generated from hydroelectric power alone. All renewables are dwarfed in their contribution to total U.S. energy by oil, gas and coal.”
North Sea Oil Areas At ‘Serious Risk’ of Shutdown
By Kiran Stacey, Financial Times, Sep 7, 2015
http://www.thegwpf.com/north-sea-oil-areas-at-serious-risk-of-shutdown/
For Russia, Oil Collapse Has Soviet Echoes
By Greg Ip, WSJ, Via GWPF, Sep 8, 2015
http://www.thegwpf.com/for-russia-oil-collapse-has-soviet-echoes/
Electricity network in ‘uncharted territory’ as blackouts loom
As Britain loses one more power station, experts argue the grid has been left too exposed
By Andrew Critchlow, Telegraph, UK, Sep 5, 2015
Energy Issues — US
Electric generator capacity factors vary widely across the world
By Staff Writers, EIA, Sep 8, 2015
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=22832
Water in the energy sector: Reducing freshwater use in hydraulic fracturing and thermoelectric power plant cooling
By Staff Writers GAO, Aug 7, 2015 [H/t Timothy Wise]
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-15-545
“The thermoelectric power industry, for example, accounted for 38 percent of all freshwater withdrawals in the United States in 2010.”
The Clean Power Plan and Supporting Coal, Oil, and Natural Gas
By Jude Clemente, Forbes, Sep 6, 2015
“Despite a relentless quest started by Alessandro Volta in the late-1700s, we still have no way to store electricity large-scale, and despite tens of billions of dollars in support and claims since the 1970s that our renewable energy world is “right around the corner,” wind and solar today supply just 2% of our energy and 6% of our electricity.”
Enron’s Export-Import Bank (‘Smartest guys in the room’ at work)
By Robert Bradley Jr, Master Resource, Sep 9, 2015
https://www.masterresource.org/export-import-bank/enron-exim-opic/
Washington’s Control of Energy
Oil industry braces for Obama’s final climate push
By Devin Henry, The Hill, Sep 5, 2015
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
Two Big Oil And Gas Finds In Unexpected Places
By Dave Forest, Oil Price.com, Sep 7, 2015 [H/t Clyde Spencer]
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Two-Big-Oil-And-Gas-Finds-In-Unexpected-Places.html
Cheap Oil: Uncompetitive Shale Companies Braced for Bankruptcies
By Ed Crooks, Financial Times, Via GWPF, Sep 7, 2015
http://www.thegwpf.com/cheap-oil-uncompetitive-shale-companies-braced-for-bankruptcies/
[SEPP Comment: Except where protected by government policies, uncompetitive companies in all industries eventually face bankruptcy.]
Return of King Coal?
Japan Utilities Burn Record Coal Amid Minister’s Call for Cuts
By Stephen Stapczynski, Bloomberg, Sep 11, 2015
Nuclear Energy and Fears
World nuclear capacity set to grow by 45 percent by 2035
By Nina Chestney, Reuters, Sep 10, 2015 [H/t Clyde Spencer]
http://news.yahoo.com/world-nuclear-capacity-set-grow-45-percent-2035-100437497–finance.html
[SEPP Comment: According to the World Nuclear Association, Nuclear Fuel forecast.]
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other
U.S. regulators’ biofuels plan to cost at the pump: industry study
By Chris Prentice, Reuters, Sep 9, 2015 [H/t Clyde Spencer]
http://news.yahoo.com/u-regulators-biofuels-plan-cost-pump-industry-study-143458482.html
Link to paper: Economic Impacts Resulting from Implementation of the RFS2 Program
By Bernstein, et al, NERA, for API, July 27, 2015
http://www.api.org/~/media/Files/Policy/Fuels-and-Renewables/NERA_FINAL_API_RFS2_July27.pdf
California Dreaming
Second California climate proposal falters amid reluctance
State senator announces abandoning proposal
By Staff Writers, KCRA, (CA), Sep 10, 2015 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.kcra.com/news/second-california-climate-proposal-falters-amid-reluctance/35210712
Health, Energy, and Climate
Dirty farm air may ward off asthma in children
By Jocelyn Kaiser, Science Mag, Sep 3, 2015 [H/t Toshio Fujita]
http://news.sciencemag.org/europe/2015/09/dirty-farm-air-may-ward-asthma-children
[SEPP Comment: A possible causal mechanism for asthma?]
Health Scares At The Drop Of A Rat
By Staff Writers, ACSH, Sep 8, 2015
http://acsh.org/2015/09/health-scares-at-the-drop-of-a-rat/
Environmental Industry
EPA Official Disavows American Lung Association Air-Quality Claims
By Karen Kerrigan, Center for Regulatory Solutions, Sep 11, 2015
Court overturns EPA’s approval of bee-harming pesticide
By Timothy Cama, The Hill, Sep 10, 2015
Greenpeace warns of ice age dangers
By Andrew Montford, Bishop Hill, Sep 8, 2015
http://www.bishop-hill.net/blog/2015/9/8/greenpeace-warns-of-ice-age-dangers.html
Other Scientific News
Ocean life triggers ice formation in clouds
By Staff Writers, Science Daily, Sep 9, 2015 [H/t Clyde Spencer]
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150909142022.htm
Link to paper: A marine biogenic source of atmospheric ice-nucleating particles
By Wilson, et al, Nature, Letter, Sep 9, 2015
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v525/n7568/full/nature14986.html
Many global warming studies may be wrong as carbon dating found to be highly unreliable for organic matter over 30,000 years old
By Stephen Chen, South China Morning Post, Sep 9, 2015 [H/t GWPF]
Other News that May Be of Interest
Cheer Up: the True Mother of Invention is Optimism
By Luke Johnson, Sunday Times, Via GWPF, Sep 7, 2015
http://www.thegwpf.com/cheer-up-the-true-mother-of-invention-is-optimism/
Teeny Tiny Guardians of Our Chips
By Staff Writers, Washington DC (SPX), Sep 07, 2015
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Teeny_Tiny_Guardians_of_Our_Chips_999.html
Green sea turtles set nesting record in Florida
By Brooks Hays, Orlando, Fla. (UPI), Sep 7, 2015
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Green_sea_turtles_set_nesting_record_in_Florida_999.html
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BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE:
Number of the Month
The fourteenth annual Numby Awards
By John Brignell, Number Watch, December 2014
http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/2014%20December.htm
[SEPP Comment: British humor.]
Claim: Climate change might cause robots to take over
Guest essay by Eric Worrall, WUWT, Sep 10, 2015
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/09/10/claim-climate-change-might-cause-robots-to-take-over/
Frankenvirus emerges from Siberia’s frozen wasteland
By Staff Writers, AFP, Sep 8, 2015 [H/t Clyde Spencer]
http://news.yahoo.com/frankenvirus-emerges-siberias-frozen-wasteland-142859117.html
[SEPP Comment: “Scientists” planning the script of a “B” Grade Horror Film.]
Reviving extinct Mediterranean forests
By Staff Writers, Washington DC (SPX) Sep 09, 2015
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Reviving_extinct_Mediterranean_forests_999.html
Link to paper: Reviving extinct Mediterranean forest communities may improve ecosystem potential in a warmer future
By Henne, et al, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Sep 7, 2015
http://www.esajournals.org/doi/10.1890/150027
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