1. Solar Greed? Humans accused of overusing the Sun!
Excerpt: HUMANS are just one of the millions of species on Earth, but we use up almost a quarter of the sun’s energy captured by plants – the most of any species. The human dominance of this natural resource is affecting other species, reducing the amount of energy available to them by almost 10 per cent, scientists report.
2. Former Colorado State Climatologist Roger Pielke, SR. Spanks Down RealClimate.org’s latest Propaganda Climate Science Responds to Real Climate’s Web Posting Of July 2 2007
Excerpts: The absence of Real Climate commenting on these [peer-reviewed] papers is by itself evidence that this website is not interesting in debating the science issues that we raise in our papers. & Real Climate, rather than engaging in the science issues raised by the photographic documentation of such a key data set in the assessment of climate change, has elected to be defensive and has sought to transfer this issue into a political debate.
3. BBC: Poll finds majority of public believes global warming fears ‘over hyped’
Excerpt: The public believes the effects of global warming on the climate are not as bad as politicians and scientists claim, a poll has suggested. There was a feeling the problem was exaggerated to make money, it found.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6263690.stm
4. Americans Oppose Ratifying Kyoto Protocol
Excerpt: Many people in the United States would disagree with their government ratifying an international treaty seeking to reduce global pollution, according to a poll by Zogby Interactive released by UPI. 47.9 per cent of respondents think the U.S. should not sign [Editor’s note: Actually ratify] the Kyoto Protocol.
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/16355
5. Global Warming May Cause Higher Pizza Prices
http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2007/07/global_warming_may_cause_highe_1.html
6. Singer Melissa Etheridge sees Gore Resurrection as source of hope
Excerpt: Gore has “actually has rekindled my hope for America and the world, to see one man so beaten down by our mistakes and our apathy hold onto his core belief that leadership can take us into a better future, and keep our world from imploding.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20070630/ent/ent5.html
7. UK government rules fish feel pain, draws up ‘bill of rights’ to ban inhumane treatment
Excerpt: The government has ruled that fish may feel pain and will draw up a charter of rights to protect them from inhumane treatment in research laboratories,
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article2010193.ece
8. Lessons from a 5,000 Year Hurricane Record
“An article has appeared in the prestigious journal Nature entitled “Intense hurricane activity over the past 5,000 years controlled by El Niño and the West African monsoon.” The title suggests that someone has a 5,000 year record of hurricane activity and that the activity is controlled by El Niño and weather in West Africa – there is no suggestion that hurricane activity is controlled by greenhouse gases, planetary temperature, or sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic.
http://www.worldclimatereport.com/index.php/2007/07/03/lessons-from-a-5000-year-hurricane-record/
9. Manure pit’s methane fumes kill five on Virginia family farm
Deadly methane gas emanating from a dairy farm’s manure pit
killed five people, including four members of a Mennonite family, authorities said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070703/ap_on_re_us/methane_deaths_1;_ylt=Ah0jYklBpxbFR5_Ve.uf53YE1vAI
10. Schwarzenegger accused of playing politics with state’s warming law
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/07/03/MNGPNQQ3211.DTL
11. Broadcasters eye 2 billion people for Live Earth
12. Forecasters see no tropical storm activity
http://www.bradenton.com/breakingnews/story/88233.html
13. California drought creates booming business for snake wranglers
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/4933884.html
14. Global warming could increase U.S. death rate
http://uk.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUKKUA26100320070702
15. Ask Al Gore a Question: Live Webcast on Thursday, July 5
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/07/al_gore_on_live.php
16. Climate change and the world’s poor
Excerpt: “Climate change is arguably the gravest threat ever faced by humanity.”
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=6038
17. Study claims capitalism is bad for men’s health
Excerpt: Communism may be oppressive, but it seems as though capitalism is bad for men’s health, according to a recent study which found significant increases in mortality rates after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070701161147.2coeamzy&show_article=1&cat=0
18. 116-DEGREES PREDICTED FOR VEGAS THIS WEEK; 127 FOR DEATH VALLEY…
http://forecast.weather.gov/wwamap/wwatxtget.php?cwa=vef&wwa=Excessive%20Heat%20Warning
—————
Thanks to Marc Morano for all these links.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
Jennifer – it would seem that now the Hockey Stick wars have died down due to new studies that confirm the paleoclimate record the denialist machinery is looking for another wedge tactic to divert attention away from the serious problem of AGW.
Witness that McIntyre seems to have decided that that the new audit target is the sensors in the world’s weather monitoring network that now needs M&Ms special brand of auditing.
So far the only audit that I can see that a has been suggested is taking photographs – really constructive.
Again the real science can be found at Real Climate with this post:
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/07/no-man-is-an-urban-heat-island/
that details the enormous and complex task that is undertaken to work with the temperature record and the facts about the oversampling that negates the problems with individual sensors.
If McIntyre wants an audit how about he does it himself, shares the data and publishes something that is peer reviewable.
Interestingly Istanbul is not going ahead with the Live Earth concert and it might be cancelled in Rio : http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=276863
Ender,
I thought Wegman was the last word on the hockey stick?
Could you please post a link/s to anything as reputable but more recent which contradicts Wegman?
Jim – “I thought Wegman was the last word on the hockey stick?
Could you please post a link/s to anything as reputable but more recent which contradicts Wegman?”
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2006/07/the-missing-piece-at-the-wegman-hearing/
Thats it – no more to be said on the Hockey Stick – regretting mentioning it …..
meltdown …..
Well it has at least been surpassed in declaration by the 4AR report which says:
“The TAR pointed to the ‘exceptional warmth of the late 20th century, relative to the past 1,000 years’. Subsequent evidence has strengthened this conclusion. It is very likely that average Northern Hemisphere temperatures during the second half of the 20th century were higher than for any other 50-year period in the last 500 years. It is also likely that this 50-year period was the warmest Northern Hemisphere period in the last 1.3 kyr, and that this warmth was more widespread than during any other 50-year period in the last 1.3 kyr. These conclusions are most robust for summer in extratropical land areas, and for more recent periods because of poor early data coverage.”
Sorry Ender – stay cool!
Yes Luke that’s pretty much the stuff I’ve seen since then and no problem with it.
But the criticism of the original MBH98 and the way it was reviewd etc was what I was referring to?
No matter – this thread wasn’t about hockey sticks specifically.
Personally , I think we need to understand the potential impact on pizza pricing as a matter of urgency…….
Jim – “Personally , I think we need to understand the potential impact on pizza pricing as a matter of urgency…….”
And the effects of the falling number of pirates 🙂
http://www.venganza.org/about/open-letter/
“The human dominance of this natural resource is affecting other species, reducing the amount of energy available to them by almost 10 per cent, scientists report.
Researchers said the findings showed humans were using “a remarkable share” of the earth’s plant productivity “to meet the needs and wants of one species”.”
Remarkable what some people find humourous.
hi Jen,
have just posted an op ed here – http://typingisnotactivism.wordpress.com/2007/07/05/carbon-trading-global-wellbeing-intelligent-governance-and-other-myths-you-shall-buy/ – regarding emissions trading which you may wish to read/run. I obviously have a christened name but maintain typingisnotactivism as my online handle. Some abbreviate it to t.i.n.a. but I do not as my aim is to partially isolate my online writing from my printed writing, not to create gender confusion 😉
Best wishes,
typingisnotactivism
Ender You are demanding that Steve McIntyre “share the data” That is basically what his whole blog is all about! He wants the other side to share their data.(The “lost” data)
I suggest you check out Anthony Watts’ excellent blog where he is attempting (with volunteers) to photograph all 1200 or so temperature recording sites in the U.S. As he explains there is a standard setup for these sites and some of them don’t meet the stadards!
The good, the bad and the ugly!
chrisl – “Ender You are demanding that Steve McIntyre “share the data” That is basically what his whole blog is all about! He wants the other side to share their data.(The “lost” data)”
All scientists share their data, it is a standard part of science where corporate interests or defense issues get in the way of normal publication. Corporate issues are most prevalent in drug type research where billions are hanging on some discoveries. At all times the data that McIntyre claims was not shared was always available in public places or upon request. What was not available were detailed instructions for amateur scientists that did not know what to do with the data and needed spoon feeding. Also he annoyed and harrassed climate scientists with better things to do that spoon feed him things that they assumed people who wanted the data were competent to analyse.
“I suggest you check out Anthony Watts’ excellent blog where he is attempting (with volunteers) to photograph all 1200 or so temperature”
I have seen it and I just want to ask are they going to repaint all the stations blue after they photograph them. They may as well for all the good that this will do. Furthermore are they volunteering to man these stations and take the load off the team of largely volunteer workers that maintain the network? That would be far more productive than taking happy snaps for people to gloat over.
Ender : I thought that a climate nerd* like yourself would be all over this project.
Of course it won’t make any difference: Real climate scientists use computer models.
* Not that there is anything wrong with that.
chrisl – “Ender : I thought that a climate nerd* like yourself would be all over this project.
Of course it won’t make any difference: Real climate scientists use computer models.”
Yes I would be if they were volunteering to improve the network. I fail to see how a photograph of a measurement site is related to to accuracy of the data from that site. Real climate scientists use a variety of tools one of which is computer modelling. As scientists they are used to working with imperfect data as no scientist in any branch of science has perfect data to work with.
BTW I left a couple of words out of my last post.
“it is a standard part of science where corporate interests or defense issues”
Should read
“it is a standard part of science EXCEPT where corporate interests or defense issues”
and
“things to do that spoon feed him things”
should be
“things to do than spoon feed him things”
You just have to read McIntyres review comments on the 4AR, much of it has to do with his ignorance.
Looks like a bad week for solar-philes ! INCOMING.
No solar hiding place for greenhouse sceptics.
http://scienceblogs.com/stoat/2007/07/no_solar_hiding_place_for_gree.php
and
http://blog.petedecarlo.com/?p=41 says
Solar activity peaked between 1985 and 1987. Since then, trends in solar irradiance, sunspot number and cosmic-ray intensity have all been in the opposite direction to that required to explain global warming.
A second quote, puts it into a little more perspective
[Solar effects] might have acted to cool the climate in recent decades, but been overwhelmed. If so, the climate could be more sensitive to greenhouse gases than is generally thought, and future temperature increases might be greater than expected if a countervailing solar effect comes to an end.
Luke
I predict, once again, a deafening silence.
I wonder if the photographers are doing this?
“Photographical Documentation Checklist for USCRN Site
___________________________________________________________
Photos taken By: _____________________
Photos should be made when there is good visibility at 100 meters. On clear days, the pictures should be taken as close to noon as possible. File names should include the compass direction where appropriate. Archive file format is jpg. Photos MUST be taken in order listed below so they will properly be labeled and created.
Prior to installation: Date: ___________
1) One Ipix from the center of the tower site denoting objects within 100 meters and their heights. The finished Ipix should have an aligned compass in the center label area with 4 compass points labeled. The 186-degree image shots will be part of the official archive.
Start with NORTH
End with SOUTH
2) Sixteen overlapping annotated still photos from the center of the tower site taken every 22.5
degrees (the sixteen major compass points) denoting objects within 100 meters and their heights.
Start with N, NNE, NE, ENE, E, ESE, SE, SSE, S, SSW, SW, WSW, W, WNW, NW End with
NNW
After installation: Date: ___________
1) Four Ipix taken at ten meters from the tower fence at the four points of the compass. Each Ipix
should have an aligned compass in the center label area. The 186-degree image shots will be part
of the official archive. If the annual site visit uncovers significant change, these shots are to be
retaken.
Photo 1: North: start with S, end with N
Photo 2: East: start with W, end with E
Photo 3: South: start with N, end with S
Photo 4: West: start with E, end with W
2) From a position four meters east of the tower and starting at due north, nine still photos taken
every 22.5 degrees clockwise to due south denoting objects within 100 meters and their heights.
Stitch photos into a single 180-degree image. To be retaken at each annual site visit and photos
placed in the archive.
Start with N, NNE, NE, ENE, E, ESE, SE, SSE,
End with S
3) From a position four meters west of the tower and starting at due south, nine still photos taken
every 22.5 degrees clockwise to due north denoting objects within 100 meters and their heights.
Stitch photos into a single 180-degree image. To be retaken at each annual site visit and photos
placed in the archive.
Start with S, SSW, SW, WSW, W, WNW, NW, NNW
End with N
Form Date: August 17, 2004
4) From a position fifty meters south of the tower sixteen still photos taken every 22.5 degrees at the
major compass points.
Start with N, NNE, NE, ENE, E, ESE, SE, SSE, S, SSW, SW, WSW, W, WNW, NW End
with NNW
5) From a position fifty meters north of the tower sixteen still photos taken every 22.5 degrees at the major compass points.
Start with N, NNE, NE, ENE, E, ESE, SE, SSE, S, SSW, SW, WSW, W, WNW, NW End
with NNW
6) From a position four meters north of the tower take a photo of the ground below the instruments
with the instruments at top of the frame. Repeat this from positions four meters east, west and
south of the tower.
7) At least four general site views that represents the most informative overall perspective. At least
one photo should have the sun at the photographer’s back, a margin of sky showing above the tower, and, if possible, the precip gauge in the background. It will be placed in the official archive as a “cover” shot for the station.”
This is the standard of documentation required for the reference network that is already ‘auditing’ the other stations. Are the jokers running around the USA going to do a survey to this standard?
http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/uscrn/documentation/program/USCRN%20Installation%20Guide.pdf
page 46
Ender: Clearly the auditing is not working.
If Anthony Watts and his volunteers can take photos of sites with BBQ’s,carparks,AC’s,buildings ,jet aircraft then something is wrong with the process.
At the moment he is only collecting the data.
Sometimes he shows a historical temperature graph for the site, and they don’t look good.
Chris – it’s inevitable in any volunteer based network that there will be some dud sites.
The question is how many are duds – out of how many total !
A few extreme photos can create any amount of bad publicity. Implication – they’re all that bad ??
Nevertheless anything that’s really poor in terms of site standards should definitely be eliminated. It’s also encumbent on Anthony Watts to provide a list of duds to NOAA. He may well be.
But the real issue is what screening is done, how many of these duds are there, and what difference do they make to the computed result. 1%, 10%, 50%, 100% ??
Of course we can compare to other evidence like boreholes, glacier melt, species behaviour, sea surface temperatures; and decide whether the results are broadly consistent.
Mathematical analyses can also help with outlier detection.
If find it interesting that those who want to discredit the surface temperature network also want to use the the same network to discuss 1940s to 1970s cooling dips and supposed cooling since 1998. Also to pick cold record events – Sid’s favourite taunt – why bother if you don’t trust the data.
Can’t have it both ways. So which is it?
And it’s not only UHI effects to be concerned about – really good stations should also have calibration visits.
Clearly we could do better. And we should do better. If people are not prepared to appropriately site, maintain and record meteorological data they should not bother and their data marked unfit for scientific use.
chrisl – “If Anthony Watts and his volunteers can take photos of sites with BBQ’s,carparks,AC’s,buildings ,jet aircraft then something is wrong with the process.”
Why? The stations do what they were designed to do perfectly – they provide data for weather prediction. They are sufficiently accurate for this purpose. The Reference Network is designed to be of greater precision and provide accurate corrections for the badly sited and/or badly maintained weather stations. As a whole the system will be very accurate. The people that are running around taking happy snaps would be better employed asking the volunteers that usually man the stations what they can do to help.