U.N. climate meeting was propaganda: Czech president

clipped from www.reuters.com Czech President Vaclav Klaus sharply criticized a U.N. meeting on climate change on Tuesday at which U.S. President Barack Obama was among the top speakers, describing it as propagandistic and undignified. “It was sad and it was frustrating,” said Klaus “It’s a propagandistic exercise where 13-year-old girls from some far-away country perform a pre-rehearsed poem,” he said. “It’s simply not dignified.” Klaus said there were increasing doubts in the scientific community about whether humans are causing changes in the climate or whether the changes are simply naturally occurring phenomena. “The train can’t be stopped and I consider that a huge mistake,” Klaus said. Klaus published a book in 2007 on the worldwide campaign to stop climate change entitled “Blue Planet in Green Chains: What Is Under Threat — Climate or Freedom?” In the book, Klaus said global warming has turned into a new religion, an ideology that threatens to undermine freedom and the world’s economic and social order.

Significant error in the global surface temperature trend analyses of NCDC

clipped from climatesci.org he fact that trends in thermometer-estimated surface warming over land areas have been larger than trends in the lower troposphere estimated from satellites and radiosondes is most parsimoniously explained by the first possible explanation offered by Santer et al. [2000]. Specifically, the characteristics of the divergence across the datasets are strongly suggestive that it is an artifact resulting from the data quality of the surface, satellite and/or radiosonde observations. These findings indicate that the reconciliation of differences between surface and satellite datasets [Karl et al., 2006] has not yet occurred, and we have offered a suggested reason for the continuing lack of reconciliation.

Global Warming?

clipped from www.noaanews.noaa.gov NOAA: Summer Temperature Below Average for U.S. The average June-August 2009 summer temperature for the contiguous United States was below average – the 34th coolest on record, according to a preliminary analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. August was also below the long-term average. The analysis is based on records dating back to 1895.

Global warming = more tornadoes?

clipped from wattsupwiththat.com we’ve reached a 30 year low in Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) which is a measure of global hurricane activity. The actual number of tornadoes so far this year is only 850 compared to the previous three years, all above 1000.  2008 saw 1691 tornadoes in the USA, almost double. The three year average is 1297 tornadoes. Tornado related deaths are also way down with only 21 so far this year compared to 126 last year and a 3 year average of 91. La Niña and a weak/fading  El Niño had more of an impact on this than any measure of global warming Plus we had a cool summer despite supposedly record sea surface temperatures. Our quiet sun may also be a factor.

James Hanson refuses to discuss views at William & Mary

It’s tough finding outlets when you are censored.

clipped from media.www.vainformer.com Dr. James Hansen, NASA climatologist and major figure in the debate on global climate change, recently refused a paid invitation to speak and debate at the College about his positions on global warming. Braum Katz (‘09) — secretary for the College’s Department of Student Rights, director of the newly-created William and Mary Society for Academic Freedom and Diversity and Informer writer — invited Mr. Hansen via e-mail. “For this fall,” Mr. Katz wrote in his e-mail to Mr. Hansen, “we are hoping to host a debate on global climate change and its implications. Patrick Michaels has agreed to come, and my organization would like you to come and debate Dr. Michaels in Williamsburg. The date is very flexible, and we can tailor the day of the debate completely to your schedule. We will be able to pay for your travel expenses and offer you an honorarium for your time. Please let me know if you would be interested.” Mr. Hansen’s response was, simply, “not interested.”

Falsification of CO2 Effects Within the Frame of Physics

Paging Al Gore…

clipped from arxiv.org The atmospheric greenhouse effect, an idea that authors trace back to the traditional works of Fourier 1824, Tyndall 1861, and Arrhenius 1896, and which is still supported in global climatology, essentially describes a fictitious mechanism, in which a planetary atmosphere acts as a heat pump driven by an environment that is radiatively interacting with but radiatively equilibrated to the atmospheric system. According to the second law of thermodynamics such a planetary machine can never exist. (a) there are no common physical laws between the warming phenomenon in glass houses and the fictitious atmospheric greenhouse effects (b) there are no calculations to determine an average surface temperature of a planet (e) the assumption of a radiative balance is unphysical (f) thermal conductivity and friction must not be set to zero, the atmospheric greenhouse conjecture is falsified.

Consumption up 10% over last year

Mine’s down.

clipped from www.tennesseepolicy.org Energy Guzzled by Al Gore’s Home in Past Year Could Power 232 U.S. Homes for a Month Gore’s personal electricity consumption up 10%, despite “energy-efficient” home renovations “A man’s commitment to his beliefs is best measured by what he does behind the closed doors of his own home,” said Drew Johnson, President of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. “Al Gore is a hypocrite and a fraud when it comes to his commitment to the environment, judging by his home energy consumption.” After the Tennessee Center for Policy Research exposed Gore’s massive home energy use, the former Vice President scurried to make his home more energy-efficient. Despite adding solar panels, installing a geothermal system, replacing existing light bulbs with more efficient models, and overhauling the home’s windows and ductwork, Gore now consumes more electricity than before the “green” overhaul.

Is Eco-therapy for you?

clipped from www.foxnews.com Sarah Edwards worries about the gasoline she burns, the paper towels she throws out, the litter on the beach, water pollution. She worries so much, it literally makes her sick. “Fear, grief, anger, confusion and depression,” Edwards says, pointing to the negativity that has manifested itself in real-life symptoms such as neck and shoulder pain, fibromyalgia and fatigue. Edwards suffers from eco-anxiety, the growing angst experienced by those who can’t handle the thought that they — or anyone — are in some way contributing to global warming, species extinction and dwindling natural resources. Things have gotten so bad, a new kind of therapy has sprouted up to keep people from going nuts over the environment. “eco-therapy” or “eco-psychology.” The time on the couch isn’t spent delving into a patient’s childhood to find the source of misery. Instead, it looks at how much time a person spends in nature, the person’s carbon footprint and what the individual is doing to save the planet.

“Melissa Pickett, an eco-therapist in Santa Fe, N.M., who says she treats dozens of patients a month, said sometimes she has to tell extreme greenies to chill out for their own good. “The global warming craze will cause your clients to go into extremism fueled by fear,” she says.”

“And with eco-therapy around, that extremism can get expensive. Eco-therapy can cost as much as traditional psychotherapy, upwards of $100 an hour. There’s a lot of green in being green.”

“But Pickett said eco-therapy helps those grappling with feelings of helplessness and hopelessness about the environment.”

“People break down and cry. They develop obsessive-compulsive behavior. They have nightmares,” Pickett said. “And these are normally high-functioning people.”

She pushes her eco-disturbed patients to take shorter showers, turn off lights and computers, consume less, buy less and learn as much as they can about global warming.

Backdoor Kyoto

clipped from www.aei.org Listing the polar bear as a threatened species would have significant public policy consequences. It would set a new precedent, representing the first linkage of species endangerment with global warming. Such a listing would basically wall off the entire Arctic region to exploration, resource extraction, and development–at least by U.S. companies–and a threatened species listing would give environmental groups the ability to sue future U.S. governments to force them to reverse climate change by whatever means necessary. There is little doubt that such lawsuits would be filed quickly. According to the NRDC: Listing the polar bear guarantees federal agencies will be obligated to ensure that any action they authorize, fund, or carry out will not jeopardize the polar bears’ continued existence or adversely modify their critical habitat, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be required to prepare a recovery plan for the polar bear, specifying measures necessary for its protection.

“Center for Biological Diversity]Protection under the Endangered Species Act will provide concrete help to polar bears and could revolutionize American climate policy. Since U.S. resistance to curbing greenhouse gases has allowed other countries to shirk their responsibilities as well, major changes in American policy are likely to have a powerful domino effect, catalyzing change in climate policy worldwide.
From polluting power plants in the Midwest to auto manufacturers, a vast array of industries may have to clean up their acts to give the polar bear a chance to survive.”

It’s official! April 2008 cooler than 20th century average!

clipped from www.ncdc.noaa.gov UNITED STATES Climate Summary April 2008 The average temperature in April 2008 was 51.0 F. This was -1.0 F cooler than the 1901-2000 (20th century) average, the 29th coolest April in 114 years. The temperature trend for the period of record (1895 to present) is 0.1 degrees Fahrenheit per decade.