Quote of the Week: “We know what’s happening now. It’s the past that keeps changing.” – Old Russian Joke
Number of the Week: 110 million people now drowning?
THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Grim Future? Historical discussions of the human condition reveal that humans tend to identify themselves as members of like-minded groups. As discussed in the June 1 TWTW, in his farewell address, George Washington called such groups “factions.” Christopher Booker identified the common thinking of such factions as groupthink. In a post on his web site discussing Climategate, Roy Spencer addresses this issue stating that one of the few scientists who changed their mind after Climategate was Judith Curry: “She is now a well-informed and unabashed skeptic of the modern tendency to blame every bad weather event on humans.” He goes on to write:
“While I’m sure there are other examples, the unfortunate truth is that fewer and fewer people actually care about the truth.”
“You see, it does not really matter whether a few bad actors (even if they are leaders of the climate movement) conspired to hide data and methods, and strong-arm scientific journal editors into not publishing papers that might stand in the way of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) mission to pin climate change on humans, inflate its seriousness, and lay the groundwork for worldwide governmental efforts to reduce humanity’s access to affordable energy.”
“From a practical standpoint, what we do (or don’t do) about human-caused climate change supports either (1) a statist, top-down governmental control over human affairs that involves a more socialist political framework, or (2) an unconstrained individual-freedom framework where capitalism reigns supreme. So, one could easily be a believer (or non-believer) in the ‘climate emergency’ based upon their political leanings.”
Spencer discusses these groupings on spiritual level and an essay by Alan Jacobs on an observation that people tend to believe “anything they see on the internet if it supports their biases.” TWTW has been accused of such a bias, and it does favor those who question the issues raised by the IPCC and other groups that support it. However, TWTW tries to explore the physical evidence offered and the logic used, exposing that which TWTW considers deficient.
Spencer writes:
“In the climate wars, I see this behavior [that which supports their views] from both skeptics and alarmists. The alarmists point to increasing storms, heat waves, wildfires, etc. as evidence that humans are making weather worse. When they are shown evidence from a century of more of data that, no, things are not getting worse, these ‘storm truthers’ still bitterly cling to their beliefs while calling us skeptics ‘deniers’.
“On the flip side, I routinely engage skeptics who claim that there is no such thing as the greenhouse effect, and that it is physically impossible for the cold atmosphere to make the surface warmer by increasing its CO2 content, anyway. No matter how many different ways I try to show how they are wrong, they never change their stance.
“As a result, despite being a skeptic on the subject of humans having a serious effect on global climate, I’ve had to block more fellow skeptics from commenting on my blog than I have blocked alarmists. So, I get attacked from people on both sides of the issue.
“I partly blame the public education system for the current state of affairs. Students are increasingly taught what to think, rather than how to think. Also to blame is the (probably unavoidable) funding of science by government, which President Eisenhower warned would cause science to become corrupted by a handful of powerful elites who did not have the advancement of scientific knowledge as the central goal.”
After further discussion of the views of James Delingpole, who broke the Climategate story Spencer concludes with:
“Delingpole and Jacobs come to sobering — even depressing — conclusions. Unfortunately, like these two authors I do not have much reason to be hopeful that things will get better anytime soon.”
TWTW takes a different view than Spencer; the situation is grim, and the UN’s propaganda machine is effective. It has a goal of getting $100 billion a year into its “Green Climate Fund” and its greed may be its undoing. In effect the Green Climate Fund is a form of “protection insurance.”
Various racketeers sell “protection insurance” which shopkeepers and other business owners buy to protect their property from being firebombed or otherwise damaged by thugs. Unlike the racketeers who control the thugs, the UN has no control over weather, and carbon dioxide is not the “control knob” of weather or climate. The UN’s use of a Nordic blond girl with pigtails expressing teenage angst, fear and anxiety to sell the protection insurance may be effective in Europe, but not in China. The UN’s propaganda may collapse under its own weight. See links under Climategate, Challenging the Orthodoxy, After Paris! and Communicating Better to the Public – Use Children for Propaganda.
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Dynamic, Not Static – The Greenhouse Effect: As brought up in the February 23rd TWTW, since the advent of the satellite era, several countries have been compiling data on the atmosphere. For example, with what is called the A-Train of multiple satellites, and a similar, lower orbiting C-Train, satellites from the US, France, and Japan collect a wide variety of data, including visible, infrared and microwave energy, phases of water, studies of vegetation, atmospheric pollutants, greenhouse gases, aerosols, clouds, water levels on land areas, snow depths, etc. The information is shared among international partners.
The constellation of satellites started with Aqua launched in 2002 and continued with the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2) launched in 2014. According to the NASA web site:
“Each one of these missions has its own objectives and makes its own unique contribution to improving our understanding of aspects of the Earth’s environment and climate. The real advantage of constellation flying, however, is that the data from the various satellites are synergistic and can be combined together to allow for even more comprehensive studies.”
As discussed in the November 9 TWTW, almost 41 years of comprehensive atmospheric temperature trends have been validated by 3 different entities analyzing the data and verified by 4 different balloon datasets and reanalysis data. We now have up to 17 years of other atmospheric data. As described in the graph by John Christy, NSF (NCAR), NOAA (GFDL), NASA (GISS) ignore physical evidence in favor of using models to make predictions / forecasts / projections from questionable surface data, that has undergone a revision process similar to what is described in the quote of the week.
Physical evidence separates science from science fiction. Frequently, as physical evidence expands, what was thought to be science, becomes fiction. Forty years ago, many experts believed that the US would soon run out of oil and natural gas. As late as fifteen years ago, few experts believed oil and gas could be viably extracted from dense shale, source rock. Today, hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, fracking, of shale are transforming the oil and gas markets world-wide. The belief that the US will soon run out of oil and gas is not science, but science fiction.
Similarly, the predictions from current climate models are no better than predictions from dated energy models that the US will run out of oil and gas by the end of the 20th century. They are becoming science fiction. See the November 9 TWTW, links under Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past, and https://atrain.nasa.gov/
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Venus: Using the Grand Canyon as an example, Tony Heller has a video explanation of the importance of atmospheric pressure in determining temperature during normal weather. The elevation of the north rim is over 8000 feet/2450 m, the floor elevation (Colorado River) is about 2400 feet/750 m. Those who journey down the rim in the summer note a significant change in temperatures from comfortable 70s to hot 100s F (low 20s to 40s C).
Heller’s video dispatches the popular notion that Venus is an example of “runaway greenhouse effect.” The atmospheric pressure at the surface of Venus is about 92 earth atmospheres. [Aside, carbon dioxide, the dominant gas on Venus, has a molar mass of 44 g/mol while nitrogen, N2, the dominant gas on earth has a molar mass of 28 g/mol.]
Also, the video shows that the North Rim has two thick limestone layers in which fossil shells are found. As Heller explains, these layers were formed when the earth’s atmosphere had many times the concentration of CO2 than it does today. This physical evidence destroys the myth that human emissions of CO2 are acidifying oceans and killing shellfish. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy and https://www.desertusa.com/grand-canyon/grand-canyon-climate-geography.html
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Coral Wars: Independent Australian researcher Jennifer Marohasy has taken on the claims that humans are destroying the Great Barrier Reef, which has been a constant claim for the Australian government funding research at universities, etc. Professor Peter Ridd was dispatched from James Cook University because he questioned these claims. Marohasy did something the academics may call “unfair”, she filmed the corals! As she states:
“We filmed this reef [Beige Reef] because, according to a scientific report in the journal Nature, there are no longer any Acropora corals at this location. The peer-reviewed article, coauthored by David Wachenfeld who is the chief scientist at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, claims the corals at Stone Island have been destroyed by global warming and declining water quality.
“Yet we found about 25 hectares [60 acres] of Acropora in the north-facing bay at Stone Island.
“The underwater cinematography shown in this film is irreconcilable with the claims in the Nature article.
“Beige Reef, my very first film, makes the point that Peter Ridd has been making for some time: that our scientific institutions are untrustworthy, that there is a need for some quality assurance of the science.
“I am delighted that Tara Clark [a major advocate of reef destruction] acknowledges that there is no bleaching of corals at Stone Island. I would like to film coral bleaching at the Great Barrier Reef, but no-one has been able to tell me where I can find bleached corals. I would be happy to travel to any location at the Great Barrier Reef that shows significant bleaching for a future IPA short film. Could you, and/or Tara Clark provide me with specific locations.”
There is no question that siltation damages coral, and that storms can temporarily destroy parts of reefs, but the advocates have gone too far. Perhaps the disappearance of the Great Barrier Reef will go the way of the extinction of the Polar Bear – another false propaganda campaign to raise money. See links under Acidic Waters.
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Fine Fuels: Environmentalist Jim Steele was director of the Sierra Nevada Field Campus of San Francisco University, where he established one of California’s leading environmental education centers. The bio of Steele at his website says:
“He soon discovered maximum temperatures in the Sierra Nevada had declined since the 30s as observed at the nearby Tahoe City weather station that is part of the US Historical Climate Network. It became clear that the Sierra Nevada were not overheating despite publications blaming wildlife extinctions on global warming. The most important factors affecting local climate change were the cycles of El Nino and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation as well as landscape changes that had greatly altered the regional microclimates. Believing the politics of global warming have been misguiding conservation efforts, Jim Steele wrote the book Landscapes & Cycles: An Environmentalist’s Journey to Climate Skepticism. And the lessons learned from his students helped shape his writing style, making the book’s science lessons most enjoyable and easily grasped by all.”
Writing in Watts Up With That, Steele started a series that addresses the changes that have occurred in the California hills and the Great Basin that promote frequent, hot fires. Namely, the sagebrush habitat, which stayed green during the summer, has been replaced with annual grasses such as cheat grass. These invasive grasses die after setting seed, providing highly flammable fuels that can easily burn almost anytime thereafter. Claiming that recent fires are due to climate change accomplishes nothing. Steele is suggesting some practical changes that may reduce the risks of wildfires. See links under Seeking a Common Ground.
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NOAA: Barry Meyers, President Trump’s nominee to head NOAA has withdrawn after an extended period, citing health concerns. Organizationally, NOAA has real problems that will be very difficult to solve. NOAA has very important functions, but many sections appear to have lost any sense of scientific integrity and data quality. For example, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information just released a report stating:
“The combined global land and ocean surface temperature departure from average for October 2019 was the second highest for October in the 140-year record at 0.98°C (1.76°F) above the 20th century average 14.0°C (57.1°F). This value is just 0.06°C (0.11°F) shy of tying the record warm October set in 2015.” [Boldface added]
The press release had maps of the globe showing how October 2019 land and sea measurements departed from the 140-year average followed by the statement:
“October 2019 was characterized by warmer-than-average temperatures across much of the global surface. The most notable warm temperature departures from average were observed across much of Alaska, northern Canada, north-central Russia, eastern Europe, the Middle East and western Australia, where temperatures were at least 2.0°C (3.6°F) or higher. The most notable cooler-than-average temperatures were present across parts of the western half of the contiguous U.S. and southwestern Canada, where temperatures were at least 1.5°C (2.7°F) below average or cooler. Record warm October temperatures were mainly present across parts of the North and Western Pacific Ocean and northeastern Canada, as well as scattered across parts of the South Atlantic Ocean, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, the Indian Ocean, and South America. Only a small area in the western contiguous U.S. had record cold October temperatures.”
In 1879, 140 years ago, only the main part of the US had reasonable temperature coverage. Other than several cities, Canada, Alaska, Greenland etc. had little or none. Western Europe had reasonable coverage. Eastern Europe, Central Asia, central Australia, Africa, and South America had little or none. The coverage of the oceans was dubious at best. At least, NOAA did not claim comprehensive coverage of Antarctica, unlike the World Meteorological Organization.
To a large part, the numbers are made-up, yet NOAA ignores any need for major disclaimers. NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information appear to have lost any sense of scientific integrity and data quality. This division is responsible for keeping the US records of temperatures, once considered the gold standard, but undergone repeated adjustments. [UAH reported October was a warm month.] See links under Measurement Issues – Surface and EPA and other Regulators on the March.
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North American Harvest: Joseph D’Aleo of WeatherBell Analytics and ICECAP reported on the US and Canadian grain harvest. It was a poor year from start to finish, wet and cold with the last 30 days very cold. For the first time in six years the grain yields are below the 1989 to 2019 trend line. It is interesting to note, that due to the positive slope of the trend line, these low yields match the “high” yields of 2009. Soybeans had a similar fate. Thanks to tropical Brazil, there may not be a grain shortage, which the authors of the US National Climate Assessment fail to understand. See links under Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine.
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Number of the Week: 110 million people now drowning? Last month, Nature Communications published a paper claiming past estimates of sea levels were wrong, because estimates of the land elevations were too high. Immediately a flood of alarming reports came out, such as the New York Times declaring Southern Vietnam would be flooded out by 2050.
Writing in Project Syndicate, Bjorn Lomborg, who agrees with the IPCC’s climate findings, points out that in Southern Vietnam, and elsewhere, about 110 million people live below the sea level high-tide mark today, protected by dikes and other means. Holland is the great example. By 2050 another 40 million will do so, but they can be protected by similar means. Lomborg reminds us of what those claiming “climate crisis” ignore.
“Remember that the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has estimated that the total impact of all negatives from global warming in the 2070s will be equivalent to society losing between 0.2-2% of income – and by then, the UN’s standard scenarios suggest we’ll be 300-500% richer.”
“Climate change is a problem we need to tackle, and we should be particularly mindful of how it will hurt the poorest in society. But the bigger, unreported story is that today’s climate policies will do very little to resolve the ‘challenge’ of more people living below the high-tide mark.
“In southern Vietnam, the difference between implementing an extremely robust climate policy that limits the increase in average global temperature to less than 2°C and embarking on the most outrageous fossil-fuel binge, is almost nil, even at the end of the century. And globally, the most extreme climate policy pathway – costing literally thousands of trillions of dollars – will reduce the number of people living ‘underwater’ by only 18% compared to a no-climate-policy scenario.”
Even if one disagrees with Lomborg’s endorsement of IPCC views, his reasoning is to be admired. See links under Seeking a Common Ground.
NEWS YOU CAN USE:
Science: Is the Sun Rising?
Images from solar observatory peel away layers of a stellar mystery
Scientists discover how energy is transferred to sun’s upper atmosphere
Press Release, NSF, Nov 20, 2019
https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=299608&WT.mc_id=USNSF_1
Link to paper: Generation of solar spicules and subsequent atmospheric heating
By Tanmoy Samanta, et al., Science, Nov 15, 2019
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/366/6467/890
[SEPP Comment: Amazing, Science Mag publishes observations of the Sun energy transfer using modern instruments, but not measurements of the earth’s energy transfer using modern instruments.]
Climategate Continued
Climategate and ‘Post-Normal Science’
By Michael Kile, Quadrant, Nov 17, 2019
https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/11/climategate-and-post-normal-science/
Climategate: Ten Years Later
By Kelvin Kemm, The Heartland Institute, Nov 22, 2019
https://www.heartland.org/news-opinion/news/climategate-ten-years-later-1
Climategate: 10 Year Anniversary Reading List
Forget the shallow, conformist media narrative. There’s plenty of sound, perceptive analysis.
By Donna Laframboise, Big Picture News, Nov 20, 2019
https://nofrakkingconsensus.com/2019/11/20/climategate-10-year-anniversary-reading-list/
Climategate 10 years later
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Nov 20, 2019
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2019/11/20/climategate-10-years-later/
Delingpole: Climategate 10 Years On – The Bastards Have Got Away With It
By James Delingpole, Breitbart, Nov 17, 2019 [H/t Paul deWitt]
Suppressing Scientific Inquiry
Climate science has died. The effects will be big.
By Larry Kummer, Fabius Maximus, Nov 17, 2019
https://fabiusmaximus.com/2019/11/17/death-of-climate-science/
Radicals Bully NH Munich Conference Center…Force Cancellation Of 13th Skeptic Climate Conference!
!!! UPDATE 1 – GOOD NEWS !!!
EIKE informs they managed to find an appropriate place in Munich, on time and that all the reservations as well as dates remain valid. Unfortunately, for safety reasons, they have to keep the location secret. Free speech in Germany! (But only if you do it in secret).
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Nov 19, 2019
Challenging the Orthodoxy — NIPCC
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science
Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2013
https://www.heartland.org/media-library/pdfs/CCR-II/CCR-II-Full.pdf
Summary: http://www.nipccreport.org/reports/ccr2a/pdf/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts
Idso, Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2014
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/climate-change-reconsidered-ii-biological-impacts/
Summary: https://www.heartland.org/media-library/pdfs/CCR-IIb/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Fossil Fuels
By Multiple Authors, Bezdek, Idso, Legates, and Singer eds., Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, April 2019
http://store.heartland.org/shop/ccr-ii-fossil-fuels/
Download with no charge:
Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming
The NIPCC Report on the Scientific Consensus
By Craig D. Idso, Robert M. Carter, and S. Fred Singer, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), Nov 23, 2015
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/
Download with no charge:
https://www.heartland.org/policy-documents/why-scientists-disagree-about-global-warming
Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate
S. Fred Singer, Editor, NIPCC, 2008
http://www.sepp.org/publications/nipcc_final.pdf
Global Sea-Level Rise: An Evaluation of the Data
By Craig D. Idso, David Legates, and S. Fred Singer, Heartland Policy Brief, May 20, 2019
https://www.heartland.org/_template-assets/documents/publications/SeaLevelRiseCCRII.pdf
Challenging the Orthodoxy
Climate Extremism in the Age of Disinformation
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Nov 18, 2019
http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/11/climate-extremism-in-the-age-of-disinformation/
Link to essay: On Lost Causes
By Alan Jacobs, Snakes and Ladders, Nov 12, 2019
https://blog.ayjay.org/on-lost-causes/
The Religion of Climatism: A new faith emerges
By Josef Joffe, Commentary, October 2019 [H/t GWPF]
https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/the-religion-of-climatism/
“Karl Popper had an incontrovertible point: Science is never a closed book. Only one thing is for sure. Faith, as Martin Luther preached, is a ‘mighty fortress.’ Unflinching certainty locks out relentless inquiry—which goes for both sides.”
Why Deny the Beautiful Coral Reefs Fringing Stone Island?
By Jennifer Marohasy, Her Blog, Nov 21, 2019
https://jennifermarohasy.com/2019/11/why-deny-the-beautiful-coral-reefs-fringing-stone-island/
“Given that the Great Barrier Reef is one ecosystem comprising nearly 3000 individual reefs stretching for 2000 kilometres, damaged areas can always be found somewhere. And a coral reef that is mature and spectacular today may be smashed by a cyclone tomorrow – although neither the intensity nor frequency of cyclones is increasing at the Great Barrier Reef, despite climate change. Another reason that coral dies is because of sea-level fall that can leave some corals at some inshore reefs above water on the lowest tides. These can be exceptionally low tides during El Niño events that occur regularly along the east coast of Australia.”
New Video: The Difference Between Earth And Venus”
By Tony Heller, Real Climate Science, Nov 22, 2019
https://realclimatescience.com/2019/11/new-video-the-difference-between-earth-and-venus/
Climate alarmists hide from debate, Stossel sets it straight
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Nov 19, 2019
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/11/19/climate-alarmists-hide-from-debate-stossel-sets-it-straight/
Video: “Are We Doomed?”
Climate Myths
By John Stossel, Townhall, Nov 20, 2019
World Climate Declaration: “There is no climate emergency” (Brussels presser tomorrow)
By Edward Harinck, Master Resource, Nov 19, 2019
https://www.masterresource.org/debate-issues/european-climate-declaration-no-emergency/
Defending the Orthodoxy
Climate impacts ‘to cost world $7.9 trillion’ by 2050
By Patrick Galey, Paris (AFP), Nov 20, 2019
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Climate_impacts_to_cost_world_79_trillion_by_2050_999.html
Link to paper: Global economy will be 3 percent smaller by 2050 due to lack of climate resilience
By Staff, Economist Intelligence Unit: The world leader in global business intelligence, Nov 20, 2019
“Climate change could directly cost the world economy $7.9 trillion by mid-century as increased drought, flooding and crop failures hamper growth and threaten infrastructure, new analysis showed Wednesday.”
[SEPP Comment: The poor in Africa, who need reliable electricity from fossil fuels the most, will be the most damaged from carbon dioxide-caused warming from fossil fuels? See link immediately below.]
Economists Prove Climate Change is Always Worse Somewhere Else
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Nov 20, 2019
[SEPP Comment: See link immediately above!]
Decarbonizing the power sector
By Staff Writers, Potsdam, Germany (SPX), Nov 20, 2019
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Decarbonizing_the_power_sector_999.html
Link to paper: Environmental co-benefits and adverse side-effects of alternative power sector decarbonization strategies
By Gunnar Lauderer, et al., Nature Communications, Nov 19, 2019
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-13067-8
“A main winner of decarbonisation is human health: switching to renewables-based electricity production could cut negative health impacts by up to 80 per cent. This is mainly due to a reduction of air pollution from combusting fuels. What is more, the supply chains for wind and solar energy are much cleaner than the extraction of fossil fuels or bioenergy production.”
[SEPP Comment: Three scenario for 2050: 1) solar and wind power, 2) carbon capture and storage in combination with biomass and fossils, and 3) mixed technology portfolio. In all scenarios, land use requirements for power production will increase in the future. No discussion of the costs of unreliable electricity or identification of existing technology to store electricity – dreamland.]
Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2018
WMO, NUEP, NOAA, NASA, European Commission
https://ozone.unep.org/sites/default/files/2019-05/SAP-2018-Assessment-report.pdf
Amazon deforestation and number of fires show summer of 2019 not a ‘normal’ year
By Staff Writers, Lancashire UK (SPX), Nov 18, 2019
Link to letter to the editor: Clarifying Amazonia’s burning crisis
By Barlow, Berenguer, Carmenta, and Franca, Global Change Biology, Nov 15, 2019
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.14872
Climate politics are tearing the West apart
By Jonah Bader, CNN, Nov 8, 2019
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/07/opinions/climate-politics-harm-west-bader/index.html
[SEPP Comment: Complete with CNN’s version of a deep thinker, a certain Nordic girl with pigtails.]
Questioning the Orthodoxy
Climate ‘Science’ Riddled With Dishonesty, Incompetence
By Walter Williams, The Daily Signal, Nov 20, 2019
Who Is Winning The Climate Wars?
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, Nov 22, 2019
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2019-11-22-who-is-winning-the-climate-wars
Scientists Cite Uncertainty, Error, Model Deficiencies To Affirm A Non-Detectable Human Climate Influence
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Nov 21, 2019
After Paris!
China coal-fired power capacity still rising, bucking global trend: study
By David Stanway, Reuters, Nov 19, 2019
Column: China, India are both the problem and solution for coal, climate change
By Clyde Russell, Reuters, Nov 14, 2019
“India perhaps offers more hope given the country is already embracing renewable energy, given it is now cost-competitive with coal-fired generation.”
[SEPP Comment: Assumes costly back-up is free!]
Change in US Administrations
Trump admin moves ahead with plans to weaken efficiency standards for quick dishwashers
By Miranda Green, The Hill, Nov 20, 2019
[SEPP Comment: Making it easier for those who do not wish to wait four hours before doing a second load.]
Seeking a Common Ground
Why Worse Wildfires? Part 1
What’s Natural?
By Jim Steele, WUWT, Nov 23, 2019
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/11/23/why-worse-wildfires-part-1/
Link to report: Gaining an Understanding of the National Fire Danger Rating System
By Staff, National Wildfire Coordinating Group, July 2002
https://www.nwcg.gov/sites/default/files/products/pms932.pdf
Humans Can Survive Underwater
By Bjørn Lomborg, Project Syndicate, Nov 21, 2019
Earth’s ‘Paunch’ Helps Sharpen Ice-Loss Estimates
By Charles Rotter, WUWT, Nov 17, 2019
From: Earth’s ‘paunch’ helps sharpen ice-loss estimates
By Pat Brennan, NASA’s Sea Level Portal, Nov 12, 2019
https://sealevel.nasa.gov/news/174/earths-paunch-helps-sharpen-ice-loss-estimates
Link to paper: Improved Earth Oblateness Rate Reveals Increased Ice Sheet Losses and Mass‐Driven Sea Level Rise
By Loomis, Rachlin and Luthcke, Geophysical Research Letters, June 28, 2019
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2019GL082929
Some thoughts on climate change
By Patrick Benham-Crosswell, The Conservative Woman, Nov 16, 2019 [H/t GWPF]
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/diary-of-a-climate-change-sceptic/
Review of Recent Scientific Articles by CO2 Science
Do Elevated Levels of CO2 Negatively Impact Human Cognition and Decision Making?
Scully, R.R., Basner, M., Nasrini, J., Lam, C., Hermosillo, E., Gur, R.C., Moore, T., Alexander, D.J., Satish, U. and Ryder, V.E. 2019. Effects of acute exposures to carbon dioxide on decision making and cognition in astronaut-like subjects. Microgravity 5: 17; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41526-019-0071-6. Nov 22, 2019
“The above findings agree well with the recent work of Rodeheffer et al. (2018), who also demonstrated that rising atmospheric CO2 levels represent no direct threat to human cognitive performance and decision making. Such absence of findings add to the growing body of evidence that there will be no negative impacts of rising atmospheric CO2 on human health.”
The Combined Impact of CO2 and Salinity Stress on a Perennial Grass Species
Zhuang, L., Yang, Z., Fan, N., Yu, J. and Huang, B. 2019. Metabolomic changes associated with elevated CO2-regulation of salt tolerance in Kentucky bluegrass. Environmental and Experimental Botany 165: 129-138. Nov 21, 2019
http://www.co2science.org/articles/V22/nov/a9.php
A Warming Climate Enhances Bird Reproduction in Finland
Meller, K., Piha, M., Vähätalo, A.V. and Lehikoinen, A. 2018. A positive relationship between spring temperature and productivity in 20 songbird species in the boreal zone. Oecologia 186: 883-893. Nov 18, 2019
http://www.co2science.org/articles/V22/nov/a8.php
The Effects of CO2 on the Nutritive Value of Four Vegetables
Muthusamy, M., Hwang, J.E., Kim, J.A., Jeong, M.J., Park, H.C. and Lee, S.I. 2019. Elevated carbon dioxide significantly improves ascorbic acid content, antioxidative properties and restricted biomass production in cruciferous vegetable seedlings. Plant Biotechnology Reports 13: 293-304. Nov 15, 2019
http://www.co2science.org/articles/V22/nov/a7.php
Model Issues
Predicting the impact of climate change on bridge safety
Novel approach combines climatology, hydrology, structural engineering, and risk assessment
Press Release, NSF, Nov 20, 2019
https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=299607&WT.mc_id=USNSF_1
[SEPP Comment: Climate models cannot describe what is happening in the atmosphere, where the greenhouse gas effect occurs, but NSF funds predictions of the future based on speculative models of what may occur in the atmosphere?]
170 Years of Earth Surface Temperature Data Show No Evidence of Significant Warming
By Thomas K. Bjorklund, University of Houston, Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, WUWT, Nov 14, 2019
“From 1850 to the present, the noise-corrected, average warming of the surface of the earth is less than 0.07 degrees C per decade.”
[SEPP Comment: How good are the noise corrections in the surface data?]
Earth’s Second Warmest October on Record
By Bob Henson, Weather Underground, Nov 18, 2019 [H/t Ken Schlichte]
https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/Earths-Second-Warmest-October-Record
Link to: Global Climate Report – October 2019
By Staff, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Accessed Nov 21, 2019
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201910
Raw Data Bombshell: no change in Very Hot Days in Australia since World War I
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Nov 20, 2019
Measurement Issues — Atmosphere
Satellite Extravaganza
By Cliff Mass, Weather and Climate Blog, Nov 19, 2019
https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2019-11-21T09:06:00-08:00&max-results=1
“Can you imagine being a meteorologist before there were weather satellites?”
California’s Methane Super-Emitters
By Staff, Earth Imaging Journal, Nov 19, 2019
https://eijournal.com/slider-images/californias-methane-super-emitters
Changing Weather
Global winds reverse decades of slowing and pick up speed
By Staff Writers, Princeton NJ (SPX), Nov 19, 2019
Link to paper: A reversal in global terrestrial stilling and its implications for wind energy production
By Zhenzhong Zeng, et al., Nature, Climate Change, Nov 18, 2019
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-019-0622-6
[SEPP Comment: Not asked, could they be related to natural changing ocean oscillations like AMO and PDO?)
November’s Winds Blow Early — And Cold
By William Balgord, Cornwall Alliance, Nov 18, 2019
https://patriotpost.us/opinion/66844-novembers-winds-blow-early-and-cold-2019-11-18
Changing Climate – Cultures & Civilizations
What felled the great Assyrian Empire? A Yale professor weighs in
By Staff Writers, New Haven CT (SPX), Nov 18, 2019
Link to paper: Role of climate in the rise and fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire
By Ashish Sinha, et al. Science Advances, Nov 13, 2019
https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/11/eaax6656
Changing Seas
Venice and Unenlightened Climate Fear-mongering
By Jim Steele, WUWT, Nov 18, 2019
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/11/18/venice-and-unenlightened-climate-fear-mongering/
CO2 Levels Are NOT What’s Threatening Venice…Sea Levels Were Meters Higher With Much Lower CO2
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Nov 18, 2019
[SEPP Comment: Earlier estimates of sea levels falling may be from rising land.]
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
Two million-year-old ice cores provide first direct observations of an ancient climate
By Staff Writers, Princeton NJ (SPX), Nov 22, 2019
Link to paper: Two-million-year-old snapshots of atmospheric gases from Antarctic ice
By Yuzhen Yan, et al., Nature, Oct 30, 2019
Arctic sea ice coverage shrinks to record low: NOAA
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, Nov 18, 2019
Mongolia’s melting ice reveals clues to history of reindeer herding, threatens way of life
By Staff Writers Jena, Germany (SPX) Nov 21, 2019
Link to paper: Investigating reindeer pastoralism and exploitation of high mountain zones in northern Mongolia through ice patch archaeology
By William Taylor, et al., Plos One, Nov 20, 2019
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0224741
[SEPP Comment: According to the abstract, the melting ice is revealing fragile organic materials previously contained in and / or covered by the ice. The material must have been deposited before the ice.]
Experts Now Agree: [There] Is Acropora Coral at Stone Island
By, Her Blog, Nov 29, 2019
https://jennifermarohasy.com/2019/11/experts-now-agree-is-acropora-coral-at-stone-island/
Includes Video
Great Barrier Reef lives, misrepresents The Guardian and Expert who said corals were dead
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Nov 22, 2019
“Jen Marohasy’s study was too small says Mr Readfearn, but Tara Clark’s was even smaller…”
The Corals That Don’t Exist
Peer-reviewed science is contradicted by the real world.
By Donna Laframboise, Big Picture News, Nov 18, 2019
https://nofrakkingconsensus.com/2019/11/18/the-corals-that-dont-exist/
Great Barrier Reef annual mass coral spawning begins
By Staff Writers, Sydney (AFP) Nov 17, 2019
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Great_Barrier_Reef_annual_mass_coral_spawning_begins_999.html
[SEPP Comment: How can they spawn, if they are as dead as claimed?]
Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine
Climate Emergency Tour: World Food Production Edition
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Nov 20, 2019
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2019/11/20/climate-emergency-tour-world-food-production-edition/
Growing Season Challenges From Start to Finish
By Joseph D’Aleo, CCM, AMS Fellow, ICECAP, Nov 19, 2019
https://thsresearch.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/growing-season-challenges-from-start-to-finish.pdf
Just weather
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Nov 20, 2019
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2019/11/20/just-weather/
“Western Canada has had a cold, wet fall with worrying implications for farmers unable to get millions of dollars’ worth of crops in from the fields.”
Un-Science or Non-Science?
A third of Africa’s tropical flora threatened with extinction: study
By Staff Writers, Phys.org, Nov 20, 2019
https://phys.org/news/2019-11-africa-tropical-flora-threatened-extinction.html
Link to paper: third of the tropical African flora is potentially threatened with extinction
By T. Stévart, et al. Science Advances, Nov 20, 2019
https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/11/eaax9444
[SEPP Comment: Based on a computer model analysis – and computers are never wrong.]
Last Arctic ice refuge is disappearing
By Staff Writers, Washington DC (SPX) ,Nov 15, 2019
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Last_Arctic_ice_refuge_is_disappearing_999.html
Link to paper: Spatiotemporal Variability of Sea Ice in the Arctic’s Last Ice Area
By Moore, Schweiger, Zang & Steele, Geophysical Research Letters, Oct 15, 2019
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019GL083722
[SEPP Comment: Did they test the Pan‐Arctic Ice Ocean Modeling and Assimilation System model against the disappearance of sea ice in the early part of the 20th century? Of course, not!]
Lowering Standards
Met Office Extreme Rainfall Scam
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 20, 2019
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2019/11/20/met-office-extreme-rainfall-scam/
“All of this raises serious questions about the Met Office. If they are aware of these cyclical fluctuations, and particularly the flood dry period in between 1961 and 1990, why are they misleading the public about the cause of heavy rainfall and floods in recent years?
“And if they are not aware of flood histories, surely this points to gross incompetence?
“Either way, it casts them in a very poor light.”
Dangerous levels of warming locked in by planned jump in fossil fuels output
Plans by the world’s biggest oil, gas, and coal producers to vastly increase their output guarantees those countries will miss their stated Paris climate goals.
By Stephen Leahy, National Geographic. Nov 20, 2019
Exclusive: inside the media conspiracy to hype Greta Thunberg
By Chris White, Daily Caller, Nov 18, 2019
https://dailycaller.com/2019/11/18/greta-thunberg-climate-change-media/
Link to: Covering Climate Now is a global journalism initiative committed to bringing more and better coverage to the defining story of our time.
By Staff, The Nation and Columbia Journalism Review, Accessed Nov 20, 2019
https://www.coveringclimatenow.org/
Link to Covering Climate Now: Our initiative includes more than 350 outlets worldwide, and dozens of institutional and independent partners, with a combined audience of more than
1 billion people. We’re growing every day.
By Staff, The Nation, CJR, The Guardian, List of partners dated Nov 4, 2019, Accessed, Nov 20, 2019
https://www.coveringclimatenow.org/partners
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
Climate Change Is Coming for Global Trade
As sea levels rise and storms become fiercer, container shipping could be in for major disruptions.
By Joseph Curtin, Foreign Policy, Nov 16, 2019
‘Climate 2020’ focuses on solutions for Arizona as planet heats up
By Ian James, Arizona Republic, Nov 11, 2019
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
EU Deceit
By Donn Dears, Power For USA, Nov 19, 2019
https://ddears.com/2019/11/19/eu-deceit/
Seeing CO2
By Tony Heller, Real Climate Science, Nov 22, 2019
https://realclimatescience.com/2019/11/seeing-co2/
“Experts tell us that life can’t survive CO2 levels over 400 PPM, which makes train travel rough at 2,500 PPM.”
What’s green, employs ten times as many people as the “fossil fuel industry” and fake?
By David Middleton, WUWT, Nov 18, 2019
[SEPP Comment: To paraphrase Milton Freidman: Will we create more green jobs by replacing power tools used of digging with tea-spoons?]
Vice Climate Alert: “The Collapse of Civilization May Have Already Begun”
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Nov 22, 2019
[SEPP Comment: Yes! In the false belief wind and solar can replace fossil fuels, nuclear, and hydro in generating reliable electricity needed for a modern civilization.]
Unless warming is slowed, emperor penguins will march toward extinction
Emperor penguin population expected to decline by the year 2100
The fate of emperor penguins is largely tied to sea ice, leaving them vulnerable to climate warming.
By Staff, NSF, Nov 18, 2019
https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=299583&WT.mc_id=USNSF_1
Link to NSF funded paper: The Paris Agreement objectives will likely halt future declines of emperor penguins
By Stéphanie Jenouvrier, et al. Global Change Biology, Nov 7, 2019
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.14864
[SEPP Comment: Based on models that have not been properly tested.]
Communicating Better to the Public – Go Personal.
Psychologists Vow to Promote Climate Change “Corrective Behaviors”
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Nov 18, 2019
Link to press release: Psychological Associations From Around the World Meet to Discuss Application of Psychology to Stem Climate Change
By Staff Writers, American Psychological Association, Nov 14, 2019
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2019/11/climate-change-summit
Vice: Despite a Failed Assassination Attempt, These Climate Deniers Continue to Impede Global Action
Guest essay by Eric Worrall, WUWT, Nov 19, 2019
[SEPP Comment: Was firing special high-velocity handgun bullets into the office next to John Christy’s an assassination attempt? This is not clear, but it was a violent action.]
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda
The global climate alarmism propaganda campaign has failed – fossil fuels have priority
Guest essay by Larry Hamlin, WUWT, Nov 18, 2019
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda on Children
Living-in-the-moment mentality and climate crisis concerns
By Charles Battig, CFACT, Nov 20, 2019
https://www.cfact.org/2019/11/20/living-in-the-moment-mentality-and-climate-crisis-concerns/
[SEPP Comment: UN playing to adolescents, whose brains are geared for immediacy.]
Fridays For Future Just Another Pathological Mind Job …Abusive Power Over Children
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Nov 16, 2019
“Lest anyone has wondered why the climate movement has shifted its focus over to children, it is because too many adults just refused to buy into the climate-Armageddon hoax.”
Italy to become first country to make studying climate change compulsory in schools
By Sophie Lewis, CBS News, Nov 6, 2019
“Italian students in every grade are about to get schooled in the climate emergency facing our planet. Learning about climate change and sustainability will soon be compulsory for all students across the country, education minister Lorenzo Fioramonti announced Tuesday.”
Italian schools: 33 mandatory hours of climate hysteria a year
By Lubos Motl, The Reference Frame, Nov 17, 2019
https://motls.blogspot.com/2019/11/italian-schools-33-mandatory-hours-of.html
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Children for Propaganda
Sycophants Who Flatter Child Climate ‘Oracles’ Deserve Unrelenting Ridicule
Editorial, Issues & Insights, Nov 21, 2019
German Philosopher: Greta’s UN Appearance “Aggressive And Fanatical”…”Barely Veiled” Misanthropy
Climate Debate Going Into Mass Psychosis?
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Nov 20, 2019
Communicating Better to the Public – Protest
Charles University HQ cleaned of stinking Gretins
By Lubos Motl, The Reference Frame, Nov 20, 2019
https://motls.blogspot.com/2019/11/charles-university-hq-cleaned-of.html#more
Japanese Analysis Of 11,224 Climate Signatories Exposes Media/Science Sham…”Deep Blow To Credibility”
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Nov 17, 2019
Expanding the Orthodoxy
Speed limits for ships
By Steve Goreham, T & D, Nov 21, 2019
[SEPP Comment: Why stop there, just ban mechanized propulsion and return to days of the sail?]
Questioning European Green
Forget Climate Excuses: Environment Agency Ignored Flood Warnings For Years
By Staff, the Times, Via GWPF, Nov 16, 2019
https://www.thegwpf.com/forget-climate-excuses-environment-agency-ignored-flood-warnings-for-years/
[SEPP Comment: Judicious dredging can stop flooding!]
Analysis Of The South Yorkshire Floods
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 19, 2019
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2019/11/19/analysis-of-the-south-yorkshire-floods/
Daily Mail Readers Not Convinced By The Climate Emergency
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 18, 2019
Questioning Green Elsewhere
Farmers jammed between an inferno and a trip to jail – remember Maxwell Szulc?
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Nov 17, 2019
Non-Green Jobs
Europe’s Green Suicide: Tata Steel To Cut 3,000 Jobs as Crisis Rips Through EU
By Staff, Bloomberg, Via GWPF, Nov 19, 2019
https://www.thegwpf.com/europes-green-suicide-tata-steel-to-cut-3000-jobs-as-crisis-rips-through-eu/
The Political Games Continue
Stop Blurring the Line Between Climate Science and Climate Activism
By Larry Edward Penley, Real Clear Energy, Nov 21, 2019
Democrats unveil first bill toward goal of net-zero emissions by 2050
By Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, Nov 21, 2019
Tom Steyer Promises to Force Towns to Comply with his Climate Friendly House Building Directives
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Nov 21, 2019
[SEPP Comment: In the 1960s & 70s the US went through many programs such as urban renewal. Those who could afford it, fled the cities. What proven program does Steyer propose, or is it more smoke and mirrors?]
Litigation Issues
Supreme Court weighs lawsuit pitting climate scientist against skeptics
By John Kruzel, The Hill, Nov 21, 2019
“The Supreme Court on Friday will consider whether to take up a prominent climatologist’s [Michael Mann’s] defamation suit against a venerated conservative magazine, in a case that pits climate scientists against the free speech rights of global warming skeptics.”
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
10 Times the Wind Industry Claimed it Supported Ending Tax Credits for Wind Energy
By Mike Palicz, American for Tax Reform, Nov 19, 2019
https://www.atr.org/10-times-wind-industry-claimed-it-supported-ending-tax-credits-wind-energy
EPA and other Regulators on the March
Trump’s NOAA pick withdraws, cites health
By Marty Johnson, The Hill, Nov 21, 2019
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/471447-trumps-beleaguered-noaa-pick-withdraws
Energy Issues – Non-US
Energy-starved Africa looks to India for nuclear reactors
By Charles Rotter, WUWT, Nov 20, 2019
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/11/20/energy-starved-africa-looks-to-india-for-nuclear-reactors/
PwC says UK’s progress in reaching net zero is slowing
New research by PwC has found that the UK’s progress towards net zero is slowing.
By Rachel Cooper, Climate Action, Nov 19, 2019
http://www.climateaction.org/news/pwc-says-uk-progress-in-reaching-net-zero-is-slowing
Putin attacks ‘strange’ European plans to reduce gas usage
By Staff, AFP, Nov 20, 2019 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://www.yahoo.com/news/putin-attacks-strange-european-plans-reduce-gas-usage-153759601.html
Energy Issues – Australia
Manufacturers getting ready to get out of Victoria this summer if power fails
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Nov 19, 2019
“South Australia rushing to add another lean green jet engine to the fleet by summer:”
The new generator, an Aeroderivative Open Cycle Gas Turbine, is a variation of a jet plane engine and has the capacity to reach full load within five minutes from start. The new turbine is more environmentally friendly, using half the amount of fuel of other generators on site.”
“After adding more renewables per capita than anywhere on Earth strangely electricity is not cheaper yet, and not forecast to ever get cheaper than what it used to be before we got all those renewables.”
[SEPP Comment: The jet engines needed to back-up unreliable wind are less efficient, more expansive to operate than base load combined cycle gas power plants.]
Energy Issues — US
Fossil fuels dominate global energy – Democrats try to conceal & suppress this reality
Guest essay by Larry Hamlin, WUWT, Nov 17, 2019
Regulators: Central Station Generation Will Stay Dominant Despite Emerging Tech
By Sonal Patel, Power Mag, Nov 21, 2019
New York Feud Over Gas Hurtles Toward a Utility’s Expulsion
By Gerson Freitas Jr, Naureen S Malik, and Kriti Gupta, Bloomberg, Nov 21, 2019 [H/t Cooler Heads]
“That threat is the culmination of an extraordinary showdown between Cuomo and British energy giant National Grid Plc over the future of natural gas. The clash, hinging on the utility’s refusal to connect new gas customers, has already delayed thousands of construction projects across Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island.”
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
Four Ways Oil Has Made Our Lives Better
By Irina Slav, Oil Price.com, Nov 13, 2019
[SEPP Comment: Live longer, healthier, and wealthier lives, and reliable electronics driving communications.]
New Report Says Fracking Saved Americans $1.1 Trillion Over Past Decade
By Tim Benson, WUWT, Nov 21, 2019
Link to report: Natural Gas Savings to End-users: 2008-2018: A Technical Briefing Paper
By Staff, Kleinhenz & Associates, for Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program, 2019
Study Says Fracking is Saving Families $2,500 Annually, Significantly Lowering Greenhouse Gas Emissions
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Nov 19, 2019
Link to report: The Value of U.S. Energy Innovation and Policies Supporting the Shale Revolution
By Staff, The Council of Economic Advisers, Oct 2019
Oil Companies Keep Exploring
By Donn Dears, Power For USA, Nov 22, 2019
https://ddears.com/2019/11/22/oil-companies-keep-exploring/
U.S. Shale To Break Records Despite Bearish Rhetoric
By Irina Slav, Oil Price.com, Nov 19, 2019
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/US-Shale-To-Break-Records-Despite-Bearish-Rhetoric.html
Return of King Coal?
Game Over: China Set For Massive Coal Expansion
By Staff, Bloomberg, Via GWPF, Nov 20, 2019
https://www.thegwpf.com/green-no-more-china-set-for-massive-coal-expansion/
Link to report: The Road From Paris: China’s climate U-turn
By Patricia Adams, Forward by Harland Watson, GWPF, 2018
https://www.thegwpf.org/content/uploads/2018/12/China-U-Turn.pdf
Booming Southeast Asia’s Dirty Secret: Booming Coal
By Staff, E&E News, Via GWPF, Nov 20, 2019
https://www.thegwpf.com/booming-southeast-asias-dirty-secret-booming-coal/
Delingpole: ‘Greta Who?’ China Ramps up Coal-Fired Energy Production
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 21, 2019
“Last year, China accounted for 47% of the world’s coal fired power, and currently has about 1000GW of coal fired capacity. Potentially this new tranche of capacity could increase China’s coal generation by 15%, though my guess is that it will be offset by closure of older, polluting plants.”
IEA Forecast: Solar to surge past coal & natural gas by 2040.
By David Middleton, WUWT, Nov 20, 2019
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/11/20/iea-forecast-solar-to-surge-past-coal-natural-gas-by-2040/
Last New York Coal Plant Set to Close
By Darrell Proctor, Power Mag, Nov 21, 2019
https://www.powermag.com/last-new-york-coal-plant-set-to-close/
Nuclear Energy and Fears
Climate Change Is Breaking Open America’s Nuclear Tomb
The Marshall Islands say that plutonium is leaking into the Pacific Ocean from the concrete dome the U.S. built to dispose of nuclear waste.
By Matthew Gault, Vice, Nov 11, 2019
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3kxmav/climate-change-is-breaking-open-americas-nuclear-tomb
Link to report: Current and future climate of the Marshall Islands
By Staff, Pacific Climate Change Science Program, Marshall Islands National Weather Service, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, CSIRO, No Date.
[SEPP Comment: Typical report coming from today’s Australian government (CSIRO), tying claim ever increasing rate of sea level rise to future CO2 emissions.]
EDF Will Bail on Three Nuclear Plants, Exelon Holds the Bag
By Aaron Larson, Power Mag, Nov 21, 2019
https://www.powermag.com/edf-will-bail-on-three-nuclear-plants-exelon-holds-the-bag/
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
Redundancies, Bankruptcies, Unrealistic Power Contracts: The Wind Industry Crisis Deepens
By John Constable GWPF, Nov 22, 2019
Come To Beautiful Paderborn-Germany And Marvel Region’s Spectacular Scenery, Environmental Stewardship!
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Nov 22, 2019
Video
Four High-Tech Companies Unite to Buy Wind Energy in Texas
By Kate Zerrenner, Triple Pundit, Nov 14, 2019
https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2019/four-high-tech-companies-unite-buy-wind-energy-texas/85626/
[SEPP Comment: Burdening others with increased costs of providing reliable energy when wind fails.]
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles
Can the Public be Convinced that Electric Vehicle Subsidies are Worth it?
By Janson Q. Prieb, Real Clear Energy, Nov 18, 2019
Brighton’s New Bin Lorries Look Like Being Diesel
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 22, 2019
“Diesel is the chosen option as electric refuse collection trucks are expensive and the power drains quickly if the trucks have to go uphill – a necessity in Brighton and Hove.
“The electric bin lorries also cost an extra £143,671 each which would mean spending £792 more to save one tonne of CO2.”
Electric vehicle fleet would require council tax hike, warns city councilor
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 22, 2019
Carbon Schemes
It’s a reality thing
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Nov 20, 2019
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2019/11/20/its-a-reality-thing/
“…Carbon offsets are like the corrupt medieval practice of buying indulgences from the Catholic church. Donating money in advance to have the local priest or bishop absolve you of sins you intended to commit.”
EasyJet says it will become first major carrier to operate net-zero-carbon flights
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, Nov 19, 2019
[SEPP Comment: See link immediately above. How much in indulgencies will Easy Jet have to pay? And then there are those contrails that cause warming.]
California Dreaming
Dark Days Lie Ahead In The Green Dystopia Of California
By Gerard Baker, The Times, Via GWPF, Nov 17, 2019
https://www.thegwpf.com/dark-days-lie-ahead-in-the-green-dystopia-of-california/
“With blackouts, crippling taxation and unaffordable housing, the Golden State is a feudal society of super-rich and serfs.”
Heck no, we won’t go
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Nov 20, 2019
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2019/11/20/heck-no-we-wont-go/
California to stop buying from automakers that backed Trump in emissions battle
By Justin Coleman, The Hill, Nov 18, 2019
Fossil Fuel Investments Cost California and Colorado Pension Funds Over $19 Billion, Report Finds
By Sharon Kelly, originally published by DeSmog Blog, Resilience, Nov 11, 2019
Link to press release: New Study Shows Oil, Coal and Gas Investments Drove Over $19 Billion in Losses for Major Pension Funds
Report highlights increasing financial risk of climate-damaging investments as the transition to clean energy accelerates.
By McNamara, et al., Fossil Free PERA, No Date
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TyE5DuwODnQFS4vgmvvp8gtqSxbzy30YPZKyLjhl7pg/edit
[SEPP Comment: TWTW was unable to open the full report needed to evaluate calculations. The “methodology” section had lots of green fluff, but no analysis.]
Health, Energy, and Climate
The ‘Woke’ Lancet Asks If It’s Acceptable To Have Children
By Alex Berezow, ACSH, Nov 12, 2019
https://www.acsh.org/news/2019/11/12/woke-lancet-asks-if-its-acceptable-have-children-14395
We’re all going to die
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Nov 20, 2019
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2019/11/20/were-all-going-to-die/
Environmental Industry
Delingpole: Green Blob Bungs BBC Environment Reporter €100K ‘Prize’
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 19, 2019
“In truth, most of the money is on the alarmists’ side of the argument.
“The Climate Industrial Complex is a Potemkin industry worth in excess of $1.5 trillion per annum. Not one cent of that vast sum of money would be spent if it weren’t for the propaganda machine helping to promote the scare.”
Other Scientific News
Hubble studies gamma-ray burst with highest energy ever seen
By Charles Rotter, WUWT, Nov 21, 2019
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/11/21/hubble-studies-gamma-ray-burst-with-highest-energy-ever-seen/
The measurements of the expansion of the universe don’t add up
The mystery of the Hubble constant
By Staff, Eurek Alert, Nov 18, 2019
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-11/f-sf-tmo111819.php
Urbanization delays spring plant growth in warm regions
Multiple factors may influence plant seasonal patterns
Press Release, NSF, Nov 20, 2019
https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=299609&WT.mc_id=USNSF_1
Link to paper: The effect of urbanization on plant phenology depends on regional temperature
By Daijiang Li, et al., Nature, Ecology & Evolution, Nov 11, 2019
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-019-1004-1
Other News that May Be of Interest
The secret on the ocean floor
A wave of pioneers is poised to scoop up treasure from the deep sea.
But was this ocean mining boom sparked by a 1970s CIA plot?
BBC News, No date
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/deep_sea_mining
BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE:
Why Trust Science? (The University Center for Human Values Series) Hardcover – October 22, 2019
By Naomi Oreskes, Amazon, Oct 22, 2019
Asking if behavior can be changed on climate crisis
Press Release, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Nov 20, 2019 [H/t WUWT]
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-11/uoma-aib112019.php
A vasectomy as a fashion statement
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Nov 23, 2019
http://joannenova.com.au/2019/11/a-vasectomy-as-a-fashion-statement/
The Case for Climate Hope
Jedediah Purdy’s book “This Land” argues for a radical environmentalism.
By Conor Dwyer Reynolds, The New Republic, Nov 11, 2019
https://newrepublic.com/article/155695/case-climate-hope
“Climate denialism is back. For decades, denialists rejected truths about the environment: the link between carbon emissions and global warming, the human role in rising emissions, and the adequacy of climate modeling. That old form of denialism is buckling under the weight of the growing number of disasters clearly generated by our changing climate. In this era of climate crises, denialism often takes a new guise: The facts denied now concern human nature, rather than that of the world around us.
“Yet many of Franzen’s critics seem to agree with his diagnosis, that our defective human nature undermines effective climate action.”
[SEPP Comment: Of course, since the need for action is based on defective thinking.]
Whale the saves
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Nov 20, 2019
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2019/11/20/whale-the-saves/
ARTICLES
Cuomo’s Carbon Casualties
Ban pipelines and fracking and then blame business for shortages.
Editorial, WSJ, Nov 17, 2019
https://www.wsj.com/articles/cuomos-carbon-casualties-11574033835?mod=business_minor_pos13
TWTW SUMMARY: The editorial states:
“New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is a proud opponent of fossil fuels. But now that the consequences of his policies are harming people in the real world—those who can’t afford to escape to Florida—the Governor is blaming others.
“Mr. Cuomo has blocked shale fracking upstate and several pipelines delivering natural gas from Pennsylvania in the name of protecting waterways. But this is an excuse. Natural-gas production in Pennsylvania has increased 60% since Mr. Cuomo banned fracking five years ago, adding $6 billion to Keystone State GDP and its waterways are fine.
“Mr. Cuomo’s real purpose is to eliminate natural gas as part of his political commitment to ‘carbon neutrality’ by 2050, and this isn’t a cost-free promise. Upstate New Yorkers struggle economically and pay among the highest energy costs in the U.S. A quarter still rely on heating oil, which costs about $1,000 a year more than natural gas and emits nearly 40% more CO2. New Yorkers pay about 40% more for electricity than Pennsylvanians and 15% more than in New Jersey.
“The utility Con Edison in March halted natural gas hookups north of New York City due to pipeline constraints. National Grid, the gas utility that serves Long Island, this fall imposed a moratorium on new hookups after the Governor vetoed a 23-mile gas pipeline beneath New York Harbor. National Grid said it couldn’t guarantee uninterrupted service without the pipeline. New oil-to-gas conversions could cause future gas shortages and outages.
“The Governor’s response: Who cares? ‘The ‘moratorium’ is either a fabricated device or a lack of competence,’ the Governor wrote to National Grid last week. Mr. Cuomo ordered the utility to explore ‘short-term options’ to increase supply such as transporting natural gas by tanker or truck. ‘Other infrastructure could be proposed or additional unloading facilities installed,’ he said.
After a discussion of the impossibly of obtaining the necessary permitting, the editorial concludes;
“Regardless, if National Grid doesn’t repair his pipeline blunder by Thanksgiving, the Governor says he’ll yank its public franchise. ‘This would be one of the most lucrative franchises in the country,’ Mr. Cuomo declared last week. At least until the unlucky winner becomes the next scapegoat for the Governor’s destructive energy policies.”
SEPP Comment: Does Mr. Cuomo know the difference between propane and natural gas?
“Students are increasingly taught what to think, rather than how to think.“.
I live in NSW, Australia. The Philosophy in Schools Association of NSW …
http://www.philosophyinschoolsnsw.org/?page_id=16
… along with a number of other such organisations worldwide, is addressing this problem. Find the equivalent organisation in your state or country, and encourage the schools in your area to sign up.
We are told that most of the ground based measuring weather stations are affected by the “”Heat Island”” effect, so do the likes of the UN/s IPCC an d various government agencies use such figures as against the ones from the satillites. weather ballons and bouys ?
If so why ?
MJE VK5ELL
A powerful quake struck Albania a few hours ago, … https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/#%7B%22autoUpdate%22%3A%5B%22autoUpdate%22%5D%2C%22basemap%22%3A%22satellite%22%2C%22feed%22%3A%221day_m25%22%2C%22listFormat%22%3A%22default%22%2C%22mapposition%22%3A%5B%5B-83.40004205976699%2C-51.328125%5D%2C%5B83.35951133035452%2C453.515625%5D%5D%2C%22overlays%22%3A%5B%22plates%22%5D%2C%22restrictListToMap%22%3A%5B%22restrictListToMap%22%5D%2C%22search%22%3Anull%2C%22sort%22%3A%22newest%22%2C%22timezone%22%3A%22utc%22%2C%22viewModes%22%3A%5B%22list%22%2C%22map%22%5D%2C%22event%22%3Anull%7D