The Week That Was: 2024 11-30 (November 30, 2024)
Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)
The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week: “Curiosity is a delicate little plant which, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom.” – Albert Einstein, Autobiographical Notes (1949)
Number of the Week: Over 25% down.
THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Scope: This Week begins with a discussion of the greenhouse effect and some of the misunderstandings of it for over a century. William Kininmonth presents an analysis of why sea surface temperatures rise before the atmospheric temperatures rise above them. An interpretation of the ending of COP29 is presented. Briefly discussed are the importance of consumer choice in democratic countries. This week concludes with the reasons given by Cliff Mass that the damage done by high winds in the Pacific Northwest was not from a bomb cyclone.
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Transparency: Starting in 1859, John Tyndall was the first to experimentally discover that carbon dioxide absorbs heat, causing greenhouse gas warming. According to a recent biography, later Tyndall became convinced that the dominant greenhouse gas is water vapor, causing a long dispute with his mentor, Gustav Magnus. This is an example of one of many disagreements 19th century scientists had over the properties of water vapor and carbon dioxide as greenhouse gases.
Today, one can feel the greenhouse effect of water vapor by driving in an open vehicle on a dry, summer night through an area of a desert with irrigated farmland, such as in the southwest US. The irrigated areas are considerably warmer than the open desert. The water vapor delays, or blocks, heat emitted by earth from going directly to space. Another major misunderstanding is that greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide are generally transparent to sunlight; sunlight does not directly warm them.
Tony Heller has an amusing article by reporter Herbert Quick citing Svante Arrhenius, the turn of the 20th century Swedish scientist whose writings are used by the EPA as partial justification for its absurd finding that greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, are pollutants. The post is an article appearing in the Pueblo Leader newspaper (Pueblo, Colorado) on January 28, 1913. The cited section states:
“One of the greatest scientists in the world is Arrhenius of Sweden. He is a chemist and physicist and has studied this matter. He shows that this proportion of carbon dioxide in the air will make the climate warmer, by acting like the glass roof of a green house. With the carbon dioxide increased from two and one-half to three times, the temperature of the whole world will be raised 8 to 9 degrees centigrade—and Greenland will have a good climate for farming. All the good soil of Canada will be in as temperate a climate as that now enjoyed by Missouri.
Corn will be grown in the Peace River Valley. Oranges will be an orchard fruit in Arkansas and Virginia. The suburban residents of Chicago may literally sit under their own fig trees and scuppernong grape arbors. Cotton will be a stable crop in Iowa. Bananas will fringe the shores of the Gulf. Siberia will become the greatest farming country in the world. The great Antarctic continent—one of the greatest on earth in extent—will be the Western Canada, the Scandinavia, the Siberia of that day, and will have millions of people. Alaska will be as warm as Maine now is. And the heat of all the tropics will be made hotter for thousands of years.”
The article is an example of optimistic yellow journalism and similar to the pessimistic yellow journalism used today in discussing greenhouse gases.
Ron Clutz discusses an experiment by Swiss physicist Thomas Allmendinger showing sunlight does not warm a tube filled with carbon dioxide any more than it does a tube filled with regular air. However, if the source of heat is infrared energy (an IR spotlight) then the tube with carbon dioxide warms more quickly than one with regular air. [Infrared energy is emitted by Earth and all matter and is a function of its absolute temperature raised to the fourth power.]
The important issue is that increasing daytime high temperatures are not appropriate measurements of the greenhouse effect, while increasing nighttime low temperatures can be. The emphasis needs to be on slowing heat loss, not increasing heat gain. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy, Below the Bottom Line, and https://picturingmeteorology.com/home/2018/1/4/john-tyndall-atmospheric-researcher-part-2-the-water-vapour-dispute-with-gustav-magnus
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Warming Atmosphere or Seas? A frequent claim by climate alarmists is that atmospheric warming from greenhouse gases is causing sea surface temperatures to increase. The claim is not plausible, because infrared radiation emitted by greenhouse gases cannot penetrate sea surfaces beyond a few millimeters (fractions of an inch). On her blog, Jennifer Marohasy discusses an essay by William Kininmonth, former head of Australia’s National Climate Centre, who provides a statistical analysis showing that during rising tropical sea and atmosphere temperatures, the temperatures of sea surfaces rise first, followed by atmospheric temperatures. His essay has five sections including a conclusion.
In the first section Kininmonth states: “The temperature of the tropical atmosphere, the warmest region on Earth, is regulated by the equatorial ocean surface temperature.” He provides a graph of both Equatorial Ocean Surface Temperature and Lower Atmosphere Air Temperature data produced by NOAA’s Physical Science Laboratory, National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), abbreviated NCEP/NCAR. The ocean surface temperature covers the latitude band 10°North to 10°South latitude The lower atmosphere air temperature is for the latitude band 20°North to 20°South latitude. The wider atmospheric band considers the transport of heat by surface winds. Kininmonth states:
The correlation between the two series, when detrended, is 0.78. However, if the air temperature series is lagged then the correlation is increased to 0.85 at one and two months before falling to 0.80 at three months. Clearly, the tropical atmosphere air temperature follows the sea surface temperature. The air temperature does not control ocean surface temperature. [Boldface added.]
In the second section Kininmonth states: [Boldface in original]
“Convection in the equatorial region links the tropical atmospheric temperature to ocean surface temperature.
The buoyantly ascending air in the convection clouds follows a moist adiabatic lapse rate that is anchored to the temperature and water vapor content of the air near the ocean surface.
The recent temperature trend of the ocean surface temperature was 0.7°C/century, that of the lower troposphere air temperature was 1.6°C/century. The greater trend of the air temperature is to be expected because:
a) As the ocean surface temperature warms then the water vapor content of the air near the surface also increases to further shift the temperature of the ascending air in convection clouds to a warmer adiabatic lapse rate profile.
b) The profiles of moist adiabatic lapse rates spread with altitude as surface temperature and water vapor content increase.
Consequently, as equatorial ocean surface temperature increases it is expected that the increase in temperature of the atmosphere will warm faster, and that the rate of warming will increase with altitude.”
Kininmonth confirmed this expectation with a table of warming rates at different atmospheric pressure levels using NCEP/NCAR data. He then states:
“The frequency of convection clouds penetrating high into the atmosphere decreases above 700mb (approximately 10,000ft) and so the influence of the warming ocean declines in the middle to high troposphere.
[The third section is] The region of greatest warming is over the poles in winter.
The warming trends of 2-meter air temperature for latitude bands as given by the NCEP/NCAR R1 database for 1979-2023 identify maximum warming over polar regions.’
Kininmonth gives a table showing warming trends for both the northern and southern hemispheres with the trend for the northern hemisphere greater, but the one for the southern hemisphere increasing sharply from 60 to 90°South. He then gives another table showing that the warming trend over the Northern Hemisphere is greater than over the Southern Hemisphere but the warming trend over the Antarctic is sharply greater in the winter than the trend during the summer. Kininmonth states:
“The wintertime maximum of polar warming is expected because during the months of polar darkness the temperature is sustained by transport of heat from the tropics. The warming tropical oceans has increased the flow of latent heat (through increased evaporation) to the tropical atmosphere. During the winter months of maximum heat transport by the atmosphere,the additional heat is available to warm the polar air.” [This is observed in the work of van Wijngaarden and Happer.]
In the fourth section Kininmonth states:
“Carbon dioxide has little impact on tropical ocean temperature. [Boldface in original]
The only physical mechanism for increasing concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide to impact on tropical ocean temperature is through an increase in emission of longwave radiation to be absorbed at the surface. However, water vapor and carbon dioxide have overlapping active absorption/emission bands for longwave radiation. In the tropical atmosphere the molecular number of water vapor molecules exceeds that of carbon dioxide by a factor of about 50. Water vapor molecules tend to absorb emissions by carbon dioxide molecules such that little of the additional emission from added carbon dioxide concentration reaches the surface.” [Boldface added]
Kininmonth gives a table illustrating the longwave radiation absorbed at the tropical surface (W/m2) from emission by water vapor and carbon dioxide calculated from the MODTRAN medium resolution radiation transfer model for the tropical atmosphere under clear sky conditions and with standard tropical temperature and water vapor profiles. The table shows:
“Emission from water vapor dominates the longwave radiation absorbed at the tropical surface. Increasing the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration has a minuscule impact.”
Kininmonth concludes: [Boldface added]
“Recent global warming has its origins in ocean warming, is natural, and has nothing to do with changing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.”
TWTW prefers the HITRAN high resolution radiation database over the MODTRAN model because it is updated frequently and includes the changing composition of the atmosphere, but the conclusions remain the same.
Emission from water vapor dominates the longwave radiation absorbed at Earth’s surface and lower atmosphere. Increasing the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration has a minuscule impact.
See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy – Radiation Transfer for part of the work by van Wijngaarden and Happer and links under Challenging the Orthodoxy for the essays by Kininmonth and Marohasy.
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But a Whimper: The gala is over, and a good time was had by no one. Despite expectations the governments of poorer countries receiving great wealth from the governments of prosperous countries, underwritten by taxpayers, the 29th annual Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) ended with a kiss and a promise that more will come in the future. John Robson of the Climate Discussion Nexus attended briefly. Apparently, the food and lodging costs were extremely high for those not on expense accounts such as government officials. Perhaps he summed up the experience best when he compared the COP conference with the Nixon-Brezhnev summit: Robson wrote:
“The summit was in that sense theatre: the pretense that it was face-to-face meetings and the sudden flowering of empathy and understanding that brought results sounds good, but it’s hooey. Nixon’s deal with Brezhnev on nuclear missiles and related matters was in the bag before he got on the plane and if it had not been he would not have gotten on the plane.
It was also the result of hard-headed calculation. So, the methods couldn’t have been more different than with regard to COP, which is why the outcome couldn’t have either.”
Even though COP-29 was headed for failure to accomplish anything meaningful towards reducing carbon dioxide emissions (a dubious goal), midway through the conference the UN World Health Organization issued a glowing press release. Under “Milestones achieved and strategic objectives moving forward” the press release states:
“Aligned with the goals of the Baku COP Presidencies Continuity Coalition, the event underscored progress achieved since the first Health Day at COP28, with key discussions focused on:
- Operationalizing Climate-Health Financing: The Guiding Principles for Financing Climate and Health Solutions were further solidified as a framework to engage and amplify partnerships at the national level. Efforts to enhance resource mobilization and technical assistance were highlighted, ensuring greater resilience in health systems globally.
- Showcasing Climate-Health Synergy Success Stories: Various nations shared success stories exemplifying integrated health and climate strategies, inspiring broader adoption of effective approaches that can be scaled globally. These initiatives illustrated the measurable benefits of multilateral and bilateral partnerships in addressing the health impacts of climate change.
- Scaling Innovative financing mechanisms: discussions explored public-private partnerships and innovative financing mechanisms to sustain health resilience against climate change. Leaders discussed approaches for scaling up investments, leveraging both public and private resources to support country-led climate-health actions.
- Strengthening country-level collaboration: fostered dialogue on expanding country-level partnerships and providing targeted technical assistance to implement climate-health initiatives. This renewed commitment to in-country support aims to amplify efforts toward building adaptive and resilient health systems.
Human health and climate change are fundamentally linked. At COP29, our agenda reflects the cross-cutting nature of health as an issue that touches all aspects of human life. The COP Presidencies Continuity Coalition for Climate and Health is another step towards synergistic action on climate and health,” said COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev, ‘We urge future Presidencies to consider how they will account for health at future COPs.’” [Boldface added]
Since the term “climate change” is a symbolic term for warming from increasing carbon dioxide, how human health and increasing carbon dioxide are “fundamentally linked” is not clear. As John Robson discusses in “The Green Blackout Part II: The Technical Summaries,” the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) ignores the tremendous benefits from increasing CO2, which is essential for photosynthesis. Robson states:
“As for Working Group II, which specifically deals with impacts of adding CO2 to the air, the Technical Summary makes no mention of greening. Same with Working Group III which supposedly deals with policy responses.”
The IPCC and other UN organizations ignore the increases in photosynthesis which provides food for all complex life on Earth demonstrates their contempt for the scientific method and for life itself.
In Quadrant online, Tony Thomas wrote:
“This fictional story is ‘inspired by true events,’ as they like to label movies these days. The setting is COP29 last week in Baku, where the Blue Zone is exclusive to the 17,680 official reps (‘Parties’) and 16,305 official hangers-on, the latter dubbed ‘Party Overflow’.”
It is an amusing take on the costs to those attending the COP event without an expense account.
It appears that the COP events may eventually die out. Perhaps TS Eliot expressed it best in his poem “The Hollow Men.”
“This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.”
See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy and After Paris!
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Consumer Choice: In the mid-20th century, traditional economics divided economic systems into four types: Capitalism (free market); Fascism; Communism; and Socialism. In a market economy the market (consumers) controls the means of production and how it is distributed. In a socialist system, the government controls the means of production and who receives that production. The key assumption in the concept of a socialist system is the government reflects the desires of the consumer. This is not always true, as can be seen by enormous failures occurring in the electric vehicle industry. See links under Questioning Green Elsewhere, Green Jobs, Non-green Jobs, and Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles.
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No Bomb: Last week TWTW brought up different perspectives on what was called in the press a Bomb Cyclone off the Pacific Northwest coast. To a sailor it may appear to be a bomb cyclone, to an onshore meteorologist something else. On Sunday, meteorologist Cliff Mass wrote:
“The area east of Puget Sound experienced strong winds not directly associated with the ‘bomb’ cyclone but from something else: a downslope wind event. [which caused all the problems].
This was an extreme local event, and a lot of meteorological pieces had to come together to make it happen. Much more than an intense low center almost 400 miles off our coast.
I worry that the media has not been accurate in describing the origin of this event and its great predictability. ‘Bomb’ headlines and other hype have replaced careful journalism. Importantly, saving lives in the future relies on the truth about such events being accurately communicated by the media and other information sources.”
See link under Changing Weather.
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Number of the Week: Over 25% down. According to Carbon Brief, COP28 had 88,884 attendees and COP29 had about 65,000. The number of attendees is down by about 24,000 or over 25%.
NEWS YOU CAN USE:
Climategate Continued
Climategate Turns 15!
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, Nov 27, 2024
Censorship
The climate disinformation police
By John Robson, Climate Discussion, Nov 27, 2024
In case you were worried that a serious, broad-minded look at climate might somehow erupt, relax. Oxford, which used to be a university, now does stuff like “Building a mighty global network for climate journalists” so that these poor waifs who “have the unenviable task of navigating this uncharted territory – a sea of information and a range of often conflicting viewpoints – in their endeavors to convey basic facts and what they mean for their audiences” can feel validated.
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
Summary: https://www.heartland.org/_template-assets/documents/CCR/CCR-II/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/
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Fossil Fuels
By Multiple Authors, Bezdek, Idso, Legates, and Singer eds., Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, April 2019
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/climate-change-reconsidered-ii-fossil-fuels/
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/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
Challenging the Orthodoxy – Radiation Transfer
The Role of Greenhouse Gases in Energy Transfer in the Earth’s Atmosphere
By W.A. van Wijngaarden and W. Happer, Preprint, Mar 3, 2023
Dependence of Earth’s Thermal Radiation on Five Most Abundant Greenhouse Gases
By W.A. van Wijngaarden and W. Happer, Preprint, December 22, 2020
Challenging the Orthodoxy
IPCC Crusade Built on Science Mistakes
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, Nov 27, 2024
Man-Made Climate Change A Good Thing?
By Ron Clutz, His Blog, Nov 25, 2024
Link to: Let’s say man is changing the climate. So what?
By Selwyn Duke, American Thinker, Nov 25, 2024 [H/t Ron Clutz]
From Duke: One of these scientists was the late Professor S. Fred Singer, an atmospheric and space physics expert who had been a founding director of the Science & Environmental Policy Project. “I have recently become quite concerned about ice ages and the dangers they pose to humans on our planet,” he wrote in 2015 — “and indeed to most of terrestrial ecology.”
Oceans Warms Atmosphere, with Meteorologist Bill Kininmonth
By Jennifer Marohasy, Her Blog, Nov 25, 2024
Link to essay: Donald J. Trump Is Correct: Humans Are Not the Cause of Global Warming
By William Kininmonth, former head of Australia’s National Climate Centre, Accessed Nov 29, 2024
Short Summary of Observations Until October 2024
By Ole Humlum, Climate4you, Accessed Nov 29, 2024
A Hot Time In The Old Holocene Climatic Optimum
By John Robson, Climate Discussion, Nov 20, 2024
Video Emphasizing the Hypsithermal, (Holocene Climatical Optimum)
IPCC shows incompatible sets on the same graph
The Green Blackout Part II: The Technical Summaries
By John Robson, Climate Discussion, Nov 27, 2024
[SEPP Comment: To the IPCC, ignorance of increasing photosynthesis is “Science”?]
Research: “103 Of 302 Weather Stations In United Kingdom Do Not Exist At All!
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Nov 27, 2024
Assessing Climate Risk
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Nov 29, 2024
Challenging the Orthodoxy – Fred Smith, RIP
Fred Smith, R.I.P.
By Iain Murry, National Review, Nov 28, 2024
The ideas of the founder of the Competitive Enterprise Institute were motivated by love for his fellow man.
As Fred said, “Civilization is the trial-and-error process in which these experiments are validated or rejected.”
Defending the Orthodoxy – Bandwagon Science
The Oppressed Scientist: When Emotions Replace Objectivity in Climate Research
By Charles Rotter, WUWT, Nov 29, 2024
Link to essay: Scientists have emotional responses to climate change too
By E. L. F. Schipper, S. S. Maharaj & G. T. Pecl, Nature Climate Change, October 2024
[SEPP Comment: The authors discuss a topic that is separate from physical science, where nature, physical evidence, rules. Personal emotions have nothing to do with physical science.]
Fine particle pollution may raise risks for pregnant parents and their children: Study
By Sharon Udasin, The Hill, Nov 29, 2024
Link to paper: Impact of air pollution exposure on cytokines and histone modification profiles at single-cell levels during pregnancy
By Youn Soo Jung, et al., AAAS Science Advances, Nov 29, 2024
[SEPP Comment: Yet generations of Asians have survived choking yellow dust storms from Mongolia without birth deformities.]
Climate change and its influence on water systems increases the cost of electricity system decarbonization
By Julia K. Szinai, et al., Nature Communications, Nov 25, 2024 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Questioning the Orthodoxy
New Research Uses Chemistry To Poke Holes In The CO2-Induced Climate Alarm Narrative
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Nov 26, 2024
Link to paper: Challenging the Chemistry of Climate Change
By Bruce Peachey, and Nobuo Maeda, Chemistry, Nov 16, 2024
Conservation Successes Defy Climate Pessimism
By Vijay Jayaraj, CO2 Coalition, Nov 25, 2024
Tidbits
By John Robson, Climate Discussion, Nov 27, 2024
About Those Plummeting Fertility Rates
By Kip Hansen, WUWT, Nov 24, 2024
Link to working paper: A New Measure of Surviving Children that Sheds Light on Long-term Trends in Fertility
By Anup Malani & Ari Jacob, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) November 2024
Overall, maybe we should be rebooting a lot of topics by asking: “Are we using the right measure of the problem?”
[SEPP Comment: When the Population Bomb came out in 1968, already some European countries had fertility rates below 2, where about 2.1 births per woman are needed for replacement of population.]
Energy & Environmental Review: November 25, 2024
By John Droz, Jr., Master Resource, Nov 25, 2024
After Paris!
Can’t anybody here play this game?
By John Robson, Climate Discussion, Nov 27, 2024
COP FLOP: UN climate summit COP29 faces ‘Trump Effect’ – UN advisors label summit ‘meaningless ritual’ – Climate grifters unhappy with $300 billion a year pledges
By Marc Morano, Climate Depot, Nov 25, 2024
Link to: Baku COP29 advances health-climate commitments with new coalition
Press Release, World Health Organization, Nov 18, 2024
Climate Deal Reached
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Nov 29, 2024
“The fundamental immorality of prioritizing climate trillions to achieve little a century from now…When people across the world struggle with poverty, disease, malnutrition, and bad education.” – Bjorn Lomborg.
COP29: ‘Animal Farm’ Moment
By Robert Bradley Jr, Master Resource, Nov 26, 2024
The Famished Freeloaders of Baku
By Tony Thomas, Quadrant, Nov 27, 2024
COP29: Key outcomes agreed at the UN climate talks in Baku
By Multiple Authors, Carbon Brief, Nov 24, 2024
Baku breaking labours
By John Robson, Climate Discussion, Nov 27, 2024
Now getting in and out of Baku is somewhat tricky. So, they managed to fake a deal in time to rush for Heydar Aliyev International Airport. But $300 billion in a decade from we know not who via we know not what, with no enforcement mechanism, is so embarrassing it’s hard to believe they didn’t come up with a better optical illusion.
COP 29 diplomacy delivers perfectly vague promises a decade away
By David Wojick, WUWT, Nov 25, 2024
A fascinating sidebar is that the developing countries reportedly have something like a combined cost of $10 trillion in official climate plans through 2030. These are all contingent on getting finance which under this agreement need not happen.
The big money game has just opened, and it is wall to wall confusion. Stay tuned to see how it plays.
COP29 Leaves Poor Countries Fuming
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 24, 2024
Meanwhile I look forward to Ed Miliband telling where Rachel from Accounts is going to find all the money he has signed away.
Claim: COP29 Failed because the Original Charter was Designed for Failure
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Nov 26, 2024
[SEPP Comment: Don’t know how COP was designed for failure, except self-interest of some countries plays against self-interest of other countries.]
UN Cop delegates promise to take your money and do another junket
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Nov 28, 2024
Day 2: Dump The Paris Climate Agreement
By I & I Editorial Board, Nov 26, 2024
The U.S. should have never been a part of the Paris Agreement. Committing our country to cut greenhouse gas emissions, which means reductions in fossil fuel use, is foolish. Reaching the made-from-thin-air global temperature target requires government mandates, restrictions and increased spending on politically trendy but expensive and unreliable renewable energy; stunts economic growth; limits our choices, leaving many of them to be made by globalist elites; and is an abdication of our national sovereignty.
Social Benefits of Carbon Dioxide
Let’s Make CO2 Great Again
By Gregory Wrightstone, CO2 Coalition, Nov 18, 2024
Photosynthesis increase for canola from adding 300 ppm CO2 to the air
By John Robson, Climate Discussion, Nov 27, 2024
From the CO2Science archive
Problems in the Orthodoxy
Redefining net zero will not stop global warming – scientists say
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Nov 25, 2024
Link to paper: Geological Net Zero and the need for disaggregated accounting for carbon sinks
By Myles R. Allen, et al., Nature, Nov 18, 2024
More ‘Settled’ Climate Science
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Nov 29, 2024
Link to paper: Marine emissions of methanethiol increase aerosol cooling in the Southern Ocean
By Charel Wohl, et al., AAAS Science Advances, Nov 27, 2024
[SEPP Comment: Another insignificant reason why the atmosphere is not warming as rapidly as predicted by climate models.]
A Copper Shortage May Threaten Access to Clean, Reliable, and Affordable Energy
What should utilities be doing about the copper shortage?
By Paul Donnellan, Real Clear Energy, Nov 25, 2024
Copper intensity of new energy technologies is partially to blame. While fossil fuel power needs about 3 tons of copper per megawatt of power, solar power, for instance, requires 5.5 tons and offshore wind requires 10.5 tons.
Seeking a Common Ground
Politicization of the American University
Part 1: The Problem
By Roger Pielke Jr., His Blog, Nov 25, 2024
Science, Policy, and Evidence
Time for Starmer to Be Honest About What Net Zero Means: Rationing, Blackouts and Travel Restrictions in the Next Five Years
By Chris Morrison, The Daily Sceptic, Nov 28, 2024 [H/t Paul Homewood]
Thankfully we have the Government-funded U.K. FIRES project to give us an honest heads-up on the near-term implications of Net Zero. All of the substantial reductions in energy, food and industrial materials mentioned above arise from its “pragmatic approach”. Its evidence-based conclusions rely on technologies that are available today. It excludes processes such as carbon capture and hydrogen that have yet to be proven at meaningful scale.
The desire to “manage land use for Net Zero emissions” means a massive cut in chemical fertilizers, so expect food supply to fall off a cliff.
Models v. Observations
Bad Models and Worse Science in WA [West Australia]
By Frank Batini, Quadrant, Nov 27, 2024
Simply put, ‘climate modelers’ and proponents of “climate change” are in the ascendancy, and they choose to ignore the empirical data because their models cannot explain it.
Model FAIL: Unexplained heat-wave ‘hotspots’ are popping up across the globe
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Nov 27, 2024
Link to paper: Global emergence of regional heatwave hotspots outpaces climate model simulations
By Kai Kornhuber, et al., PNAS, Nov 26, 2024
Model Issues
Improving hurricane modeling with physics-informed machine learning
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Nov 25, 2024
Link to paper: Reconstruction of tropical cyclone boundary layer wind field using physics-informed machine learning
By Feng Hu (胡丰) ; Qiusheng Li (李秋胜) Physics of Fluids, Nov 19, 2024
[SEPP Comment: Accurate short-term weather modeling should be the focus of NOAA and similar agencies, not climate forecasting which they do not understand.]
Changing Weather
The Real Story Behind Tuesday’s Windstorm and Massive Power Outage [Pacific Northwest]
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, Nov 24, 2024
Hurricanes Helene and Milton Come Into Sharper Focus
By William D. Balgord, Townhall, Nov 28, 2024
Changing Seas
Low-Lying Bangladesh Growing in Size
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 24, 2024
Link to paper: 32 years of changes in river paths and coastal landscape in Bangladesh, Bengal Basin
By Shahriar Bin Shahid, et al., Journal of Sedimentary Environments, Oct 28, 2024
From Homewood: As the maps show, it is a mixed bag. Some area have seen a loss of land, but this is more than offset by gains elsewhere.
But none of this should come as a surprise, because this is how deltas work. They are always in a constant state of flux, as river channels move around, mud banks erode away, all to be replaced by silt brought from upstream.
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
Greenland Surface Temperatures Fall for 20 Years in Fresh Blow to Climate Alarm Narrative
By Chris Morrison, The Daily Sceptic, Nov 26, 2024
Link to paper: Spatial and temporal patterns of land surface temperature in Greenland from 2000-2019
By Nitinun Pongsiri, et al., Quarterly Journal of Meteorology, Hydrology & Geophysics (Thailand) January 4, 2024
From abstract: Investigating the land surface temperature (LST) patterns is critical for understanding ecological dynamics across different regions. Further melting of the Greenland ice sheet could devastate marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
These observed patterns in LST in Greenland during the study period suggest that the observed icesheet melting in Greenland within the last two decades could be due to other factors, not necessarily LST patterns.
Changing Earth
Global-scale assessment of groundwater depletion and related groundwater abstractions: Combining hydrological modeling with information from well observations and GRACE satellites
By Petra Döll, et al., AGU, Water Resources Research, June 18, 2014
From Abstract: India, United States, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and China had the highest GWD rates in the first decade of the 21st century.
One Key Point: About 15% of global groundwater abstractions are from nonrenewable sources
[SEPP Comment: A disturbing trend that can be solved in coastal areas, but perhaps not in inland areas.]
Earth Has Tilted 31.5 Inches. That Shouldn’t Happen.
By Tim Newcomb, Yahoo News, Nov 23, 2024 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Link to paper: Drift of Earth’s Pole Confirms Groundwater Depletion as a Significant Contributor to Global Sea Level Rise 1993–2010
By Ki-Weon Seo, Geophysical Research Letters, June 15, 2024
[SEPP Comment: How much was the polar motion (PM) disturbed during the last maximum glaciation about 18,000 to 20,000 years ago when thousands of feet of ice stretched as far south as Manhattan and sea levels were about 120 meters (400 feet) lower than today?]
Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine
Yield growth patterns of food commodities: Insights and challenges
By John Baffes, Xiaoli Etienne, PLOS One, Nov 27, 2024 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Utilizing a Box-Cox transformation, we find that a linear model best approximates yield growth. Our findings reveal that, at an aggregate level, there has been no discernable slowdown in global yield growth over the past six decades. This translates into an average annual yield increase equivalent to nearly 33 kilograms of wheat per hectare. These results suggest that any observed deceleration in specific commodities, regions, or countries, has been offset by gains in others.
Lowering Standards
Science notes in passing
By John Robson, Climate Discussion, Nov 27, 2024
Except that, as Pielke Jr. points out, the committee has accepted cash sponsorship by both the Bezos Earth Fund and a wealthy donor to a climate activist group (yes the NAS [National Academy of Sciences] accepts sponsorships), a leading figure in the World Weather Attribution advocacy group will sit on the NAS panel, as will a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists “Science Hub for Climate Litigation” action committee, and its first meeting will feature a presentation by a lawyer heavily involved in filing climate liability nuisance suits. Add the National Academy of Sciences to the list of public institutions complaining that the public doesn’t trust it anymore even as they make a bonfire of their reputation.
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism?
A storm is just a storm, unless…
By John Robson, Climate Discussion, Nov 27, 2024
Huge deal struck but is it enough? 5 takeaways from a dramatic COP29
By Matt McGrath, BBC, Nov 24, 2024
One common element among the negotiators in Baku was the need to ensure that a second Trump administration would not upend years of careful climate negotiations.
One very noticeable trend at COP29 was the sometimes more aggressive stance taken by many environmental NGOs and campaigners.
I witnessed it myself when US climate envoy John Podesta was chased out a meeting area with chants of “shame” ringing in his ears.
[SEPP Comment: See link immediately below.]
Matt McGrath Still Does Not Get It!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 25, 2024
Why does McGrath still not realize that the rest of the world don’t give a toss about emissions, and have no interest at all in giving up fossil fuels?
They have already been handed $100 billion a year, and what difference has that made?
Scientists identify potential link between wildfire smoke exposure and dementia diagnoses
By Sharon Udasin, The Hill, Nov 25, 2024
The scientists determined that for every microgram-per-cubic meter increase in the three-year mean concentration of wildfire-borne PM 2.5, eligible members endured an 18 percent surge in their risk of dementia diagnosis.
In comparison, for every microgram-per-cubic meter rise in non-wildfire PM 2.5 — fine particulate pollution from other sources, such as fossil fuel production or transportation — participants only show a 1 percent increase in odds.
As far as differences in race, ethnicity and poverty factors were concerned, the researchers noted that “in the U.S., environmental exposures disproportionately impact racially and economically marginalized groups.”
[SEPP Comment: No link to a study.]
Storm Bert
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 26, 2024
The media really has lost its collective mind over so-called “Storm Bert”.
‘Real-world implications’: Boston is sinking as climate change worsens, new research shows
By Vicki Graf, Bob Dumas, Yahoo News, Nov 22, 2024 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
[SEPP Comment: Over 15% of Boston is on filled marshes, particularly the South End. Build on it and it will sink. Is the isostatic rebound from glaciers melting caused by climate change?]
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
Hottest Year Evah Update
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 28, 2024
[SEPP Comment: As heavy snows come early in Seoul.]
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
Hey, Carbon Brief, Quit Conflating Model Based ‘Attribution Study’ Outputs with Real Weather Data
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Nov 26, 2024
Link to: Mapped: How climate change affects extreme weather around the world
By Robert McSweeney and Ayesha Tandon, Carbon Brief, Nov 18, 2024
[SEPP Comment: Carbon Brief uses after-the-fact observations instead of model forecasts.]
IRENA’s Fake Wind Costs
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 27, 2024
The International Renewable Energy Agency, IRENA, makes no secret that its only objective is to promote renewable energy. It is an intergovernmental organization, with 169 member countries plus the EU.
Clearly IRENA’s costs are not only fake, but they are also fraudulent. If the UK’s costings are wrong, no doubt every other country’s is as well.
In any event LCOEs, that is levelized costs, are meaningless, as they don’t include all of the indirect costs associated with intermittency.
Communicating Better to the Public – Protest
Call A General Election–New Petition
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 25, 2024
I have never come across any petition that has got so many signatures, so quickly.
[SEPP Comment: The new UK government was formed on July 5, 2024, time for another?]
Questioning European Green
EV targets set to cost UK auto makers billions
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 28, 2024
Labour poised to water down electric car rules amid crisis in industry
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 29, 2024
Questioning Green Elsewhere
Automakers May Rue Choosing Bureaucrats Over Customers
By Duggan Flanakin, Real Clear Energy, Nov 25, 2024
[SEPP Comment: The Federal $7500 tax credit started under the Bush administration, U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005. It was extended under the misleadingly named Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.]
Green Jobs
Automakers’ Costly Gamble on EVs: A Lesson in Ignoring Consumer Demand
By Charles Rotter, WUWT, Nov 23, 2024
Vauxhall’s Luton Dilemma
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 29, 2024
Solar Leader Enphase Energy Cutting 500 Jobs
By Darrell Proctor, Power Mag, Nov 12, 2024
Non-Green Jobs
ZEV Mandates Force Closure Of Vauxhall’s Luton Plant
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 26, 2024
Funding Issues
Return Funding for Reliable Energy to the World’s Poorest
By Brenda Shaffer, Real Clear Energy, Nov 25, 2024
A centerpiece of President Biden’s agenda was a government led effort to greatly reduce production and consumption of fossil fuels. One of the key policies Biden enacted to pursue this goal was ending of public finance for fossil fuel projects.
Reversing this policy and many other Biden era energy policies will not be simple. While some energy policies can be eliminated through Congressional legislation and executive orders, the ban on public finance for fossil fuels was adopted by multi-lateral frameworks, including the G-7, and international agencies, such as the World Bank.
The Political Games Continue
Eight is Enough
Will the EPA outsource itself to California before Trump’s inauguration?
By Doomberg, Nov 26, 2024
Litigation Issues
Maine sues oil giants over climate change
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, Nov 27, 2024
“Well over half of the households in Maine use petroleum products for home heating – a larger share than any other state,” an ExxonMobil spokesperson told The Hill. “These baseless claims ignore the state’s historic dependence on oil and natural gas, do nothing to address the risks of climate change and waste taxpayer dollars.”
We’re Better Off Without Chevron Deference
By Larry Bazel, ACSH, Nov 25, 2024
Judges should decide traditional issues of statutory interpretation and should defer to scientists on truly scientific matters.
Is the ICJ Rushing to Rule on “Obligations of States with Regard to Climate Change”?
By Eric Worrall., WUWT, Nov 27, 2024
The US submission to the International Court of Justice is scheduled for December 4th.
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
Special interest subsidies DO NOT support the diverse 8 billion on planet
By Ronald Stein, Oliver Hemmers, and Steve Curtis, America Outloud News. Nov 25, 2024
Energy Issues – Non-US
“What’s Being Planned Will CHILL You!”
Britons Will Have To Change Lifestyle To Meet Net Zero Goal
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 25, 2024
Video interview of Chris Morrison of the Daily Sceptic. The natural world is a tough place to live in.
Labour has just revealed the full cost of net zero
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 26, 2024
From The Telegraph article: “The clean energy transition is unstoppable,’ said the fanatical Miliband yesterday, as Vauxhall announced the closure of its Luton factory. ‘Unstoppable because clean energy is the route to energy security. Unstoppable because it is the economic opportunity of our time.’ A noble lie is still a lie.”
British Government Climate Advisors Demand Everyone Live like Poor People
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Nov 29, 2024
Energy Issues – Australia
Pull down the blinds. We’re in a Transition to the Third World
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Nov 29, 2024
The Premier of NSW issued death threats about electricity bills to get attention:
“If you use electricity this afternoon, you’re going to get killed in terms of how much you pay, the amount of money (to run appliances) this afternoon will be through the roof,” he said.
Washington’s Control of Energy
Biden blocks new coal mining at major federal hub
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, Nov 27, 2024
“After the American people issued a stunning rebuke to President Biden, he continues to punish Wyoming communities,” [Sen] Barrasso said in a written statement.
“I will work with President Trump and his team to reverse this and other midnight regulations,” he added.
[SEPP Comment: As the administration departs, Biden is showing his true colors. No link to the claimed “environmental” studies.]
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
The Unsung Heroes of Energy Transition: Natural Gas and Propane
By Ronald Beaty, Real Clear Energy, Nov 22, 2024
[SEPP Comment: The EPA does not consider Natural Gas (largely methane) a hero. See Methane Emissions Reduction Program and EPA Finalizes Rule to Reduce Wasteful Methane Emissions and Drive Innovation in the Oil and Gas Sector. https://www.epa.gov/inflation-reduction-act/methane-emissions-reduction-program. Wasted methane is a waste, but it is insignificant in of global warming.]
Return of King Coal?
Southern CEO: Data Center Demand, Regulatory Changes Could Keep Coal-Fired Units Online
By Darrell Proctor, Power Mag, Nov 13, 2024
Nuclear Energy and Fears
NRC Approves Construction of First Electricity-Producing Gen IV Reactor in the U.S.
By Sonal Patel, Power Mag, Nov 22, 2024
AI Energy Surge – Microsoft to Re-Open Three Mile Island
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Nov 24, 2024
Germany Urgently Advised To Return To Nuclear Power As Energy Supply Remains In Dire Situation
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Nov 23, 2024
Blackout News describes how the prices of electricity “exploded” in early November during a period of calm winds and no sunshine. This forced Germany to fall back on gas and coal (energy sources that the government is currently working to phase out as well). “Fossil fuels supplied 71% of Germany’s electricity at the beginning of November – a figure that has not been reached for over a decade.”
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
Australia’s only wind tower manufacturer goes out of business
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Nov 23, 2024
We don’t like seeing any Australian business go under, but there is an element of live-by-the-sword, die-by-the-sword as the saying goes. Hopefully the expertise in Keppel Prince can be put to better use manufacturing things the market wants, instead of what the government wants.
Ultimately, no Australian business can compete with slave labor and cheap coal fired and nuclear power. The only thing more stupid than that would be competing in an industry to make things the market doesn’t want, the country doesn’t need and which won’t save the environment.
Not even summer, with one warm week, and the Australian grid is on the verge of blackouts
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Nov 26, 2024
Following the footsteps of Cuba
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles
Northdolts
By John Robson, Climate Discussion, Nov 27, 2024
As the wise old saying routinely not repeated in the corridors of power has it, governments can’t pick winners but losers sure can pick governments. And Canada’s was especially ripe for the plucking.
“No One Is Asking The Consumer!”–Craig MacKinlay
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 27, 2024
50% EV Sales By 2030
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Nov 28, 2024
High mileage electric car usage is working out almost twice as expensive as petrol
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 25, 2024
Northvolt Goes Bankrupt
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 23, 2024
California Dreaming
What’s Going On With California’s Solar Power Grid?
It’s causing some odd discrepancies
By Tobias Carroll, Inside Hook, Nov 2, 2024
[SEPP Comment: The CAISO California Duck is dragging its belly, forcing CAISO to pay solar producers not to produce, or dump it to other states – who cares about California consumers?]
Californian Energy Use Compared to the USA and the World
By Edward Ring, What’s Current, Accessed Nov 28, 2024
[SEPP Comment: The wealthy coastal citizens benefit, the middle-class interior citizens, not so much.]
Newsom says California will intervene if Trump kills $7,500 EV tax credit
By Joanne Haner, The Hill, Nov 25, 2024
[SEPP Comment: Will California pay the subsidies for other states that follow California’s lead?]
Other Scientific News
‘Black Auroras’ over Alaska
Spaceweather.com, Via Anthony Watts, WUWT, Nov 28, 2024
Link to paper: Periodic black auroral patches at the dawnside dipolarization front during a substorm
By K. Sakaguchi, et al., Space Physics, Jan 21, 2011
‘God of Darkness’ Asteroid Will Pass Extremely Close to Earth in 2029
OSIRIS-APEX, the follow-up to OSIRIS-REx, will study changes to asteroid from its rare close encounter with Earth in April 2029.
By Leslie Eastman, Legal Insurrection, Nov 26, 2024
BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE
“Siberia will become the greatest farming country in the world”
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Nov 28, 2024
Clown Alert
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 28, 2024
From link: One person on social media shared a screenshot of an alert warning of “severe high temperature” next to the forecast of 4C (39F) in Stockport.
“Scientists Tell Us”
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Nov 29, 2024
Democrat lawmaker suggests seceding from US to counter Trump’s agenda
FOX News Videos, Nov 27, 2024
Senior correspondent Eric Shawn reports the latest on New York State Sen. Liz Krueger’s idea of withholding taxes to have the Empire State secede and join Canada.
[SEPP Comment: Another airhead idea. The Federal government does not collect income taxes from the states, but from individuals in the several states. About $97 billion, 18%, of New York state’s revenues came from the Federal government in 2021.]
Follow Liz To Canada
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Nov 29, 2024
Net zero civil servants rack up over three million air miles this year
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 29, 2024
As one commenter put it, “I have no objection to Ed Miliband taking a plane flight, I just wish he wouldn’t return”
Dairy cows given synthetic additive in feed to hit net zero
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Nov 28, 2024
[SEPP Comment: Is the additive safe for cows and humans?]
Meet the Woman so Afraid of Climate Change She Made Her Husband Get the Snip and Refuses to Have Children
By Sallust, The Daily Sceptic, Nov 27, 2024
Rising Tide Demonstrates Even Climate Protestors Need Fossil Fuel
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Nov 24, 2024
Most Kayaks today are made from polyethylene resins – a direct product of China’s growing coal to plastic chemistry. [Photo of protesters in kayaks.]
ARTICLES
1. COP29, Climate Groundhog Day
Shale fracking does more to reduce CO2 emissions than all the talk in Baku.
By The Editorial Board, WSJ, Nov. 25, 2024
TWTW Summary: The editorial begins with:
“The United Nation’s COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, ended this weekend with a promise by wealthy countries to spend $300 billion a year by 2035 to help poorer ones adapt. Was this the ransom for letting high-flying emissaries escape on their private jets?
Like the movie ‘Groundhog Day,’ each U.N.’s annual climate confab is a repeat of the last. Poor countries lambaste wealthier nations for their CO2 emissions. Wealthy countries self-flagellate and promise to atone by financing climate projects in developing countries. That sums up the blowout in Baku.
The U.S. and Europe are hailing the $300 billion deal for climate transfer payments. But like previous commitments, this one isn’t legally binding, and almost any international assistance counts toward the goal. As India’s emissary noted, it’s an ‘optical illusion.’
In 2009 wealthy countries pledged to spend $100 billion a year as penance for their climate sins. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development took a victory lap in 2022 when wealthy countries supposedly hit that goal, though general development projects backed by multilateral financing agencies accounted for much of the spending.
Poorer countries led by India tried to shame their wealthier counterparts into offering up $1.3 trillion in grants. But rich countries rightly balked at asking their taxpayers to finance climate largesse in low-income countries, especially when they are spending hefty sums trying to meet their own pointless emissions goals.”
After discussing the importance of hydraulic fracturing for increasing oil and gas production the editorial concludes with:
“But don’t expect this to stop the same climate movie from replaying next year.”
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Numbers for the weeks to come. When you claim you have a £22 billion black hole in the state coffers, you go on to attempt to raise £40 billion and then…
“”UK increases World Bank contribution, boosting climate finance prospects
Government puts forward £1.98bn in funding over three years, an increase of about 40% on last pledge””
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/29/cop29-uk-increases-world-bank-contribution-boosting-climate-finance
And to ramp up the 4F (fossil fuel fear factor) index, yet again…
“”It’s too late to halt the climate crisis
Nature is going to solve the problem by eliminating the modern human””
https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2024/dec/01/its-too-late-to-halt-the-climate-crisis
What a cheerful bunch of souls they are at the Grauniad. Would that be the same ‘Nature’ that apparently cannot survive without human intervention?
“”Can we allow nature to regenerate without intervention?
Science plays a very significant role in identifying and developing the best ways to help. “” – Royal Society
A plague on all their houses.
“”Labour Pledges Another £7 Million in Taxpayer Cash to Scandel-Ridden UNRWA
£6 million each is going to the UN’s World Food Programme and Office for Coordinated Humanitarian Affairs while Dodds says the FCDO will hand £7 million directly to the UN’s scandal-ridden Palestine relief agency UNRWA. “”
https://order-order.com/2024/12/02/labour-pledges-another-7-million-in-taxpayer-cash-to-scandel-ridden-unrwa/
Form an orderly queue…
Special note about a new drama television series, LANDMAN, with Lead Actor Billy Bob Thornton, that supports this Energy Literacy article:
All the parts and components of California Governor Newsom’s net zero emissions fantasy is 100% dependent on crude oil, the same oil that he wants to rid the world of.
As a Facebook trailer illustrates for the new “Landman” drama television series, created by Taylor Sheridan and Christian Wallace, Newsom is oblivious to the fact that every product in our society, that did not exist 200 years ago, is made from oil.
Thus, before Newsom totally destroys the California economy, Newsom needs to identify the “replacement” to crude oil that will support the materialistic demands of the economy, before he preaches net zero emissions.
Be sure to click on the Facebook Link for a 90-second commercial for the new LANDMAN drama series that summarizes the intellectual ignorance of the green movement:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1620339808894808
Ronald Stein, P.E. Columnists of Op Ed articles on Energy Literacy at America Out Loud NEWS: https://www.americaoutloud.news/author/ronald-stein-p-e/
A few micrometres is all it takes, in fact. That’s sufficient to warm the ocean thermal skin layer (TSL), reducing the rate at which heat escapes from the oceans.
The Sun heats the top layers of the ocean, just as it always has. But it’s the enhanced greenhouse forcing that is warming the TSL and slowing the rate of heat loss, thereby increasing upper ocean heat content.
Show us where the CO2 ocean warming will happen
https://climate.nasa.gov/internal_resources/1928/
In a guarded compound at the foot of the Rockies, government scientists are working on a new kind of global alarm system: One that can detect if another country, or maybe just an adventurous billionaire, tries to dim the sun. Every few weeks, researchers in Boulder, Colo., release a balloon that rises 17 miles into the sky. Similar balloons are launched with less frequency from sites in Alaska, Hawaii and New Zealand; Reunion Island, near the coast of Africa; and even Antarctica. They make up the building blocks of a system that would alert American scientists to geoengineering.
Many worry that solar geoengineering could have unintended consequences, shattering regional weather patterns and damaging everything from agriculture to local economies. And the first steps could be done quietly, by a rogue actor or another nation operating without any regulations or controls.
I agree with the insignificance of flare methane on global warming, but the idea that flared methane represents a waste needs additional context. If the value of petroleum is high, and the co-produced methane has no ready market, no availablepipeline infrastructure, and no local use, then it makes sense to flare it rather than have it prevent production of an immediately useful product. An interesting analogy is available from agriculture. Center pivot irrigation produces circular fields. Thus a 160 acre quarter section is reduced to 130 acres of irrigated land. “We are wasting 30 acres of crop land, say some folks, and they then put fuel, labor fertilizer and seed into those 30 ares of dry land outside the reach of sprinklers. This presents greater increase in costs than increased revenue and presents a loss to the operation. Demanding use of methane far from pipelines (also fighting against pipelines by the way) in exchange for allowing liquid petroleum production is very wasteful.
When Rock Mountain Power was promoting its Gateway South transmission project it explicitly said to the Utah PSC that there would be bi-directional metering at Little Snake on the Wyoming/Colorado border. This would appeal to Utah producers of solar energy as a way to market excess production on sunny days. In the submission to the Wyoming PSC, on the other hand, RMP only promoted that the Gateway would allow for out of state transmission of wind energy mentioning nothing about the possibility of solar being dumped on Wyoming consumers.
These carefully crafted stories simply hide the chaos that intermittent energy sources will play on energy pricing, capital investment, and local economics. Cheap solar for parts of a day occasionally available will never make up for vanishing local jobs.
The World’s Largest Wind Farm has a Tiny Problem
Snow is disappearing as the planet warms .. NOT
Northern Michigan, let’s see those pictures! Who was buried the most this weekend? Our total snowfall here at the office has now climbed to 43.7″ since Thanksgiving morning, and it’s still snowing.
https://x.com/NWSGaylord/status/1863578970995949839
Quick question related to CO2’s transparency. If I am correct in thinking that that sunlight contains IR light (the part of the spectrum we can feel), why doesn’t CO2 absorb any of this “incoming” IR? Is the incoming IR wavelength different than the outgoing?