News Brief by Kip Hansen — 6 January 2024 — 400 words/4 minutes
The National Public Radio station in San Francisco, California, KQED, created a news piece — Huge waves are crashing on the California coast, in part due to climate change —which ran nationally on “All Things Considered”. The piece starts with:
“JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
“Giant waves are crashing along the California coast for the second time in two weeks thanks to stormy weather and high sea levels due in part to human-caused climate change.”
It simply is not true that California has “high sea levels” (at all – there are no high sea levels in California, anywhere) and what minor changes California has seen to mean sea levels is not caused by Climate Change, but by long-term geophysical processes, including the slight warming as the Earth comes up and out of the Little Ice Age.
None of these tide gauge stations records show any unusual sea level rise up and down the California coast. They each show a slow stead rise not much different than the long-term global sea level trend (measured by tide gauges) of 1.7 to 2.0 mm/yr. (“… given that the absolute global sea level rise is believed to be 1.7 +/- 0.3 millimeters/year during the 20th century.” — here)
None of these exceed 4 inches of sea level rise over the last 50 years, even without subtracting any negative Vertical Land Movement, which would increase apparent relative sea level rise.
California’s recent high waves are caused by off-shore storms as reported by the Associated Press in this press release: Powerful Pacific swell brings the threat of more dangerous surf to California on December 30, 2023.
“The Los Angeles-area weather office wrote that powerful cyclones over northern Pacific waters were sending 12- to 17-foot (3.6- to 5-meter) swells, creating “tremendous wave energy across coastal waters.”
At some points along California, breaking waves were predicted to reach 25 feet (7.6 meters). Astronomical high tides were adding to a significant risk of more coastal flooding, forecasters said.
“Overall, this is expected to be an exceptional high-surf and coastal flooding event that has not occurred in many years,” the weather service wrote. “Take caution and heed the direction of local authorities and lifeguards. Never ever turn your back to the water as damaging and life-threatening sneaker waves are likely to occur.”
What is true in the KQED report is that high waves cause beach erosion and can threaten human development along the beaches. That is nature, and human disregard for reality, not climate change. It has always been the case.
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Author’s Comment:
NPR is one of the nation’s most prominent Climate Crisis propaganda sources. Almost nothing they print or broadcast that touches on or includes any reference to weather, storms, temperatures, rainfall, droughts, etc. is real journalism.
I once surfed California’s occasional Storm Surf, 20 foot waves pounding Huntington Beach. Once. I was terrified.
Thanks for reading.
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Mavericks is a brand new big surf spot close to San Francisco California that has never ever had big waves before. KQED is planning to do a climate change report on this news soon, in order to rewrite history. Of course, the 2000 mile fetch of open northern Pacific ocean and the current Natural El Nino conditions that generates these big waves will be ignored as it doesn’t fit the narrative.
El Nino does absolutely fit but he has a multiplier =real actual man-made climate change.
That is happening across most of mainland China -you don’t get to feed 22% of the world population with 7% of the world’s farmland without being ‘a bit intensive‘
That agricultural intensiveness is drying out China and result is a huuuuge high pressure ridge sitting there – for quite a long time now.
When did we report on epic cold in Beijing? – it’s clocking minus 60 Fahrenheit in Mongolia right now and that cold air is headed for Beijing
Vast quantities of very very cold air is pouring down onto The Gobi from both Mongolia and as far south/west as Tibet and is ‘draining’ out to sea over Beijing, Japan, North Korea and Kamchatka.
It is very dry air also very cold – and very dense.
Meanwhile El Nino wafts his way around the Pacific, puffing up thunderstorms as he goes and they are picked up by a prevailing westerly flow. Next stop: Ventura.
The immensely cold air undercuts the T-storms, giving them extra lift, extra ‘spin’ and hugely increasing their Lapse Rate
(= the same process as what makes tornadoes except it is hot dense air doing the undercutting bubbles of warm/moist air, overland and roughly roundabout ‘Texas’
The tornadoes then rage off up The Alley)
And is those enhanced Pacific T-storms bringing the big waves ashore.
Yes man-made climate change = made by extremely intensive agriculture all across China at the few places they have left to do any sensible agriculture.
They’ve gotta be running out fast – then we’ll see some fun.
ROFL-
Why Australia is having a wet El Nino weather event | Watch (msn.com)
How is the extensive irrigation of the intensive farming “drying out China”? Are you saying China would be wetter if they didn’t farm, didn’t irrigate, and just let the rivers waste their water into the ocean?
The high ridge is temporary and the Chinese have been intensively farming since forever.
doonman ==> If they publish, send me a link. Thanks.
“Mavericks is a brand new big surf spot” that was first surfed int the early 1960’s.
1961 but it took nearly 30 years before the secret got out.
Shhh!
I believe this was sarcasm, if I am interpreting it right
I lived two years in California between 1982 and 1984, and had such a rough time there that I confess to being biased against the state. Call it post tramatic stress if you want, but I fled. At the same time I confess California still fascinates me. However now I am fascinated from afar (in New Hampshire).
I don’t suppose I will ever figure out the thinking that occurs out on the left coast. It achieves all sorts of contortions that baffle me. The entire Global Warming fear is only one of many areas where hyperbole clashes with reality. While I personally like exaggeration, and feel it can be used to make a point, I am also aware exaggeration is not the Truth, and therefore I also like the grounded people who bring us back to earth.
One such person in the Global Warming debate has been Steve McIntyre. I discovered his site “Climate Audit” 16 years ago. On August 8, 2007 he posted the following post:
https://climateaudit.org/2007/08/08/a-new-leaderboard-at-the-us-open/
This post was picked up by a Toronto newspaper, and the newspaper was noticed by Rush Limbaugh, who mentioned it on his show, and then the site abruptly vanished. Being nervous about the government, I suspected the worst (as did quite a few others) however it turned out the website had been overwhelmed by the number of viewers “going viral” attracts. In the process of witnessing the gathering of various computer-savvy people to fix the glitch (I am no help in such situations) I learned about a website called Watts Up With That, located in California.
How can I reject California when it produced WUWT? (Furthermore it surprises me how much that nourishes and sustains me is grown in California.) Therefore I resist the impulse to wish the entire state falls into the Pacific. It seems better to focus in what exactly it is that annoys me. What is in error?
It has been two decades since I first had the sense that something about the theory of Global Warming was “in error”. Twenty years is a long time to spend “focusing in”. At first there was healthy debate, but now the theory is so shot full of holes that in comparison a lead balloon looks buoyant. Few really believe in it. The proponents of Global Warming only do so out of fear of cancel culture or for financial gain; (basically bribes). There is no longer the pleasure of healthy debate. There is just the inanity of insisting any and every unpleasant weather event is “due to Global Warming AKA Climate Change”. The PBS inanity mentioned in this post is no different.
Therefore it seems that we should only briefly “focus in” on facts that prove the inanity is inane. The inane refuse healthy debate and insist the science is settled. Therefore it seems It is time to “focus in” on the mental states of the people trapped in being so habitually dishonest. What makes them tick? And how might they be redeemed from dishonor?
At the risk of looking like I’m indulging in self promotion I’ll indulge in self promotion. Here is my attempt to “focus in” on what (perhaps) causes, over the process of twenty years, a mindset to become moronic:
https://sunriseswansong.wordpress.com/2023/12/29/dried-up-all-wet/
Not sure why somebody gave you a demerit but I upvoted you to bring it back to a balance. I read some of your site- don’t have time to read it all. Seems like you’re having a healthy perspective on things. You probably also got this big snow storm? Now I gotta dig out of it. Not so much fun when a septuagenarian.
One does not need to ignore land elevation changes when discussing sea level change. PSMSL.org has gps elevation data for many tide gauges. Those for the sea level gauges you chose show land elevating for some, declining for others
Denis ==> The issue is Vertical Land Movement. Accurate seal level change data for tide gauges can only be found for Tide Gauge stations with a Continuously Operating GPS unit attached to the same structure as the tide gauge. This is known as CGS@TG.
PSMSL.org has a new feature called GNSS-IR which is not the same thing and does not have the same advantage of providing exact information as to the difference between rising/falling and and rising/falling sea surface.
For that, we need SONEL’s CGPS@TG data found here.
Defunding NPR would make a small but otherwise significant reduction in rate deficit.
Rud ==> Unfortunately “NO” — NPR gets very little of its operating budget directly from the Federal Government — it is mostly funded by the uber-elites through foundations and dedicated funds.
It’s complicated — see here.
The problem is the same with the vast majority of working journalists regardless of media outlet. They have been trained as liberal/progressive activists in universities (Think Columbia, Harvard, Yale, etc). They are hired by activists HR departments for their world views, not their abilities and certainly not their dedication to the Journalist Professional ethics standards. Most whom I have spoken to personally don’t even believe that these is any such thing as truth about any issue.
Good link. Thanks.
A nearby station shows how complicated this is;
KYVT – Wikipedia
Years ago, the TV part would have week-long funding requests and would carry interesting things they thought the locals might like, such as Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night
After the fund raising period they went back to normal programming.
Hence the rise of “alternative” media. We don’t watch or listen or read from any MSM outlet. Except when we need a good laugh. We try to support those who are aware of what is commonly known as reality. The best stations we have found do not use NPR and are mostly volunteer staffed and listener supported – places like WWOZ (New Orleans) and KCSM (San Mateo)
The Covid fiasco certainly opened up a few minds to the forces of terror. At the moment it looks like a race against time as to whether or not there will even be a Presidential election this year.
NPR is shamelessly political, they should be defunded, along with PBS. A real travesty!
J Boles ==> See above. Yes, they are shamelessly political — support one of the major US political parties, endlessly push liberal/progressive agendas, endlessly turn common sense into political and social incorrectness. In short, mostly awful.
PBS is always banging the drum for donations, memberships, here in Detroit. Some shows are good without politics, but when they can plug the climate narrative they can not help themselves.
J Boles ==> I just love most of the Masterpiece Theater stuff — much of it from the BBC now days. (Not really the costume dramas though).
Some of the Nature stuff is OK, but full of anthropomorphizing nonsense and silly enviro-nut sentiments.
NPR News content is poisonous. Opinion content leads to brain death.
A relative owns a few acres cliffside oceanfront in the Montecito area. In the 1970s the Coastal Commission insisted their plans for a house remodel become a full house move away from the beach as 1920s aerial photos said they needed an additional 75 feet to accommodate ocean intrusion. Since the 1970s? No cliff loss, maybe a foot or two of additional undercut.
Sure someday 10-20 feet all at once maybe. This isn’t climate change or sea level rise.
Giving ==> Cliff erosion is not a function of sea level rise in most cases. It is a function of geophysical interaction — sea + cliff = interface where energy is dissipated (by rearranging the cliff). California’s cliff-side homes are magnificent and one takes one’s chances….
Montecito is beautiful – I attended university at UCSB. We fought flooding and mud slides in Carpenteria one year.
Nice work Kip, keep their feet to the fire.
Bob ==> Thanks — it is very aggravating that these NPR “journalists” don’t even bother to check their data — it is so easy to do.
As a kid l remember watching surfing on TV back in the 1970’s and there cetainly did not look to be having any issue with the lack of huge waves to surf back then.
So l think a great way to counter their claims would be to dig up old photo’s of surfers riding huge waves from back in the 1970’s and 80’s.
taxed ==> “Endless Summer” — I was a skinny kid with a Specific Gravity of about 1.1 — which means I tended to sink even in salt water unless I was actively swimming and treading water. Big surf far from shore was dangerous for me….did it anyway but it could be scary — no board tethers in those days, no wet suit in cold California water.
Tethers were not invented yet – such an obvious solution. I swam many miles after my boards However, not having a wetsuit was a personal choice.
Randle ==> One could get a wetsuit, but they were relatively expensive for a 15 year old — sold only in dive shops and the like. (Now days, you can buy one at WalMart).
For inshore surfing, body surfing to the beach was the norm….I actually enjoyed body surfing as much as board surfing.
I hear you – my major Christmas present in 1969 was a Long John and a zip up long sleeve top – 1/8″. I didn’t have my driver’s license yet and my patient long suffering mom took pity on me – she’d pick me up and I’d be in near hypothermia. I was a serious board surfer – I spent all my 1969 summer earnings on new 5’8″ twin fin, didn’t have enough money for a wetsuit. I lived and breathed surfing in high school. I got pretty good, surfed some truly big days, breaks 2 miles out, horrendous shore breaks so only a few scared surfers made it out. I faded off from surfing in the early 70’s as I became a rock climber, still doing that.
I had a dentist friend, Don James, who in the 40s thru 60s and beyond was a surfer who was the first to mount a camera on board. He was published in Geo, Life magazine and others. He also had a book published with photos of his surfing buddies in the late 30s; that book also had some photos of Hollywood stars. The boards at that time were the long boards.
As to Kip mentioning cliff erosion also the beaches, I rode my bike daily along the coast hwy from Culver City to Topanga cyn where I lived (my practice was in Culver City). I saw houses fall onto the coast highway from the cliffs. I remember one period when the coast highway was closed due to to that. Many areas where houses are built along and near the beach are unstable. California has it all; torrential rainstorms, floods, fire, earthquakes.
It is quite clear that a disregard for reality is a feature of modern society. My assessment is that seats of government such as New York (UN), Brussels (EU), Washington, London, Canberra are infested with people living in a virtual reality. The pay themselves enormous salaries because the can and live luxurious lives because they can. Make unreal rules for hoi pollio to abide by because they can. The scapegoat when their virtual reality is checked is “climate change”.
The next grid blackout will be due to …. can you guess? Every failure at every level of government now has a common cause. Can you guess?
Climate Change ™ is the gift that keeps giving for any agency that has no real accountability and just need an excuse that gullible people accept.
Rick ==> Ah, “You will do as we say!” because? “Because we say!”
In other words, they are liars.
karlomonte ==> They are only LIARS if they know that what they say is not true but then say it is true. I think the NPR “journalists” have just been brain washed.
They may not be liars, but they are true followers Of Joseph Goebbles, Hitler’s propaganda Minister, who stated that tell a lie often and it becomes the truth .
If global warming brings bigger surf, sign me up for more global warming!
“NPR is one of the nation’s most prominent Climate Crisis propaganda sources.”
The NPR station is Albany, NY has 2 main topic you’ll hear all day: the climate emergency and how evil Donald Trump is. I’m no fan of Trump but it’s amazing how they can’t stop talking about him. So, I emailed the big honcho there telling him to find other things to talk about. He wrote back demanding that I apologize. I then wrote back to him with a lot of 4 letter words. As a non profit, you’d think the people working there don’t get paid much. Well, that honcho makes almost 200K/year.
joseph ==> The “(self-)righteous that work for huge salaries at non-profits can be very nasty — Ihad a run-in with one from Cornell County Cooperative in our county. He went so far as to make up lies to accuse me of to cover his behind. I found out, that 2-years laer, he had been demoted to a remote posting with no authority.
In New England, the highest salary/income for anyone in forestry is for the top honcho of New England Forestry Foundation- a non profit. That organization recently got a 30 million dollar grant from the USDA so it can propagandize “climate oriented forestry”. No doubt, he and the other honchos all got huuuuge raises when that grant came through.
National Propaganda Radio. They are fully deserving of a vote of confidence from the taxpayer which should come in the form of a polite offer of he chance to go out and make their way in the world without the insult of offering public money as support, which would only make them feel unappreciated.