From the UK Telegraph:

30 Aug 2011

Much of Britain suffered the coldest summer for almost two decades, Met Office statistics show.

As Britons return to work today after a soggy Bank Holiday weekend, official weather data reveals that average temperatures were significantly down on recent years.

The UK’s average temperature from June 1 to August 15 was only 57F (13.9C) – the lowest for 13 years.

For central England the average was 59F (15C), making it the coolest summer since 1993.

Helen Waite, a Met Office forecaster, said: “The average temperature for central England this summer has been just 15C – this sort of temperature is normally typical of September.

“Generally speaking, you would expect to see temperatures of at least 17C for this time of year.”

Personal comments:  Funny how THESE stories are never picked up by the Associated Press.  Science calls this type of error a ‘selection bias,’ where only one outcome receives attention, and outcomes that refute the desired hypothesis are discarded as irrelevant.  This is but one reason that journalists should be educated– and one glaring proof that they tend not to be, at least anymore.  I hate to say it, but people are doing the right thing by abandoning their subscriptions, as you are more likely to be misinformed than informed by media from this time in history.

As I’ve often written, the mainstream media hypes stories about heatwaves as evidence for global warming, and buries stories about record cold weather.  Warming zealots have even tried to eliminate the impact of global cooling on their cause by claiming that the issue is ‘climate change’– i.e. that global warming INCLUDES global cooling!  They bolster their cause by relying on the one thing that is true about weather– that it changes!

Don’t be a sucker.  The news from down under:

Further snowfalls expected tonight

6:34 PM Tuesday Aug 16, 2011

Many areas of New Zealand – including the hills surrounding Wanganui – have been smothered in snow over the past few days.

The bitterly cold blast that has hit New Zealand this week should ease off over the coming days, but heavy snow is still expected overnight in many areas, including Wellington and Christchurch.

Snow returned to the nation’s capital this afternoon, with a late afternoon surge seeing the the temperature plunge to just above freezing with a wind chill of -5, according to weatherwatch.co.nz

The polar surge in the capital forced police to close roads, including the Rimutaka Hill Road, Wainuiomata Hill Road, Paekakariki Hill Road, and State Highway 58 between State Highway 2 to Moonshine Road and Blue Mountains Road in Upper Hutt.

Police said driving conditions were treacherous and people should only travel if it was essential.

Extreme caution was needed on all roads in and around the Hutt Valley.

Head weather analyst Philip Duncan said the snow will spread across the lower North Island tonight, although some main centres to the north west of the city may avoid the worst snowfalls.

“Snow is expected to be heavy around Wellington, Upper Hutt and Wairarapa tonight with a moderate risk of snow flakes returning to low levels of the lower North Island like Wanganui and Taranaki”.

Heavy snow in Wellington is expected to come and go all night with snow easing tomorrow morning.

While Gisborne took the national high with 13 degrees today, snow is forecast to move into the Hawkes Bay and Gisborne regions, to 100 or 200 metres.

Mr Duncan said that the city and region had so far missed the worst of the weather but the southerly will fire up the east coast of the North Island across Hawkes Bay and Gisborne tomorrow.

Christchurch and other coastal parts of Canterbury are also expected to see more snow tonight.

Weather analyst Richard Green said snow showers may return to the city tonight, but should ease in the early hours of tomorrow morning.

Snow isn’t expected to be as heavy as it was yesterday with passing snow flurries, but he said there was still a strong chance there would be some falls.

“The freezing level has lifted just enough so that Christchurch, Timaru and Ashburton are all on the borderline of snow. It’s an extremely fine line between sleet, rain and snow for those centres tonight but we don’t expect the falls to be long lasting and heavy as they were last night”.

A few brief snow flurries are possible further south in Dunedin, but conditions there should be easing, while Auckland’s chance of seeing more snow is quickly fading.

Graupel and sleet fell in some areas this afternoon, while snow was confirmed on the tops of the Waitakere Ranges.

Light rain showers are expected to move in to the city again tonight as a very small low tracks by but snow is not predicted in the CBD.

Farmers and their stock coping in snow

The polar blast is making life difficult for farmers but they are coping, despite some having to work their stock in thick snow for the first time, Federated Farmers adverse events spokesman David Rose says.

“It’s very unusual for a storm to affect absolutely the whole country. In some areas, particularly in the lower North Island, farmers wouldn’t have had to deal with a weather event like this before,” he said.

In some regions, particularly Canterbury and Wairarapa, farmers would be hoping the snow cleared before it turned to ice, which would make it impossible for stock to graze.

“They’ll be hoping for a bit of sun or even, dare I say it, a bit of rain, which actually gets rid of snow quite quickly,” he said.

“The worst thing that could happen is if it freezes. If that happens it will take a lot of warming up before it melts. If we get a lot of overcast days and it stays ice they’ll have to feed their stock completely on supplement, and that’s a huge job.”

Lambing had started in some areas so there would have been some stock losses.

It was fortunate the storm didn’t hit later in the season, which could have had devastating consequences, Mr Rose said.

With calving also beginning to get underway, dairy farmers were putting their cows behind shelters and doing what they could to protect them from the elements.

“Lambs and calves are incredibly robust. Even if it’s cold for us humans, it takes just a few days of settled weather for them to find their feet.”

Better weather expected

The bitterly cold polar blast that blanketed much of the South Island in snow and brought record low temperatures to Auckland is set to ease over the next few days, forecasters say.

Metservice said threats of intense snow will lower as a ridge approaches from the Tasman Sea and moves onto southern New Zealand tomorrow.

Snow showers were still likely in higher areas between Gisborne and Canterbury but were not expected to reach warning levels by Friday, it said.

What’s the current weather forecast? Click here for the latest.

A weather historian says the polar blast has been a ‘once in a life time’ event.

Erick Brenstrom told Newstalk ZB the recent snow falls are similar to the massive storm of 1939, but temperatures were “a wee bit colder and the sheer quantity of snow was a lot worse” in the 1930′s event.

“In Auckland, for example, in 1939 you had 5cm of snow lying on top of Mt Eden, as well as snow falling in the suburb like Ponsonby, Remuera. And it also snowed at the lighthouse at the very top end of the North Island. It snowed in Dargaville, Ruapekapeka up in Northland. There was also three hours of snow Gisborne City – so there were snowball fights there. In Banks Peninsula and Otago we had snow drifts of 10 metres.”

“That one was worse than the one we’re having now.

Lucky tourists

Two American tourists have had a lucky escape out of a snow-covered Whirinaki Forest Park in the central North Island.

The pair had spent a night in the Central Whirinaki Hut but efforts to get to another hut were hampered by the cold conditions.

Two off-duty police officers heading out for an overnight hunting trip located the pair and were able to call for assistance.

Detective Sergeant John Wilson says without local knowledge it would have been almost impossible to successfully negotiate the maze of roads.

He says another night in such conditions may have had serious consequences.

Closed for business

Both Lincoln and Canterbury University were closed today.

Airports in Queenstown, Dunedin and Christchurch were closed this morning, but all have since reopened, albeit with some delays.

Wellington Airport was operating, but its website homepage crashed earlier this morning under an onrush of travellers and the airport advised them to contact their carrier.

MetService head forecaster Peter Kreft told NZPA yesterday the polar blast was “of the order of a 50 year” event and warned it could last for several more days.

Some NZ Bus services were cancelled in the capital this morning.

The New Zealand Blood Service is calling on people in Nelson and North Island to come in and donate this week if they are eligible, to make up for collections lost after disruptions yesterday.

The Christchurch and Dunedin Donor Centres were closed yesterday and Westport and Mosgiel mobile collections were cancelled as a result of bad weather.

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority closed access to the city’s quake-damaged red zone and would reassess the situation this morning.

Power outages

Heavy snow cut power to 1000 houses amid bitterly cold conditions in rural Canterbury, Orion confirmed.

Areas including Rakaia, Westmelton, Leeston and Greendale were hit by the outages last night.

Orion General Manager Commercial Rob Jamieson said trees and branches falling on overhead lines were the main cause of cuts.

Crews had been assessing the damage since dawn this morning, he said.

About 750 homes in south Taranaki, Wanganui, Manawatu and Wairarapa also spent the night without power after high winds and snow caused trees and branches to tear down overhead lines.

And around 450 homes in Upper Hutt were without power this morning.

Unusual weather for Auckland

Climate scientist Georgina Griffiths of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research said yesterday was the coldest day ever recorded in Auckland. The temperature got up to only 8.2C – compared with the previous lowest high of 8.7C, on July 4, 1996.

The last time snow settled on the ground in the city was 1939. It fell to ground level at the airport in 1976.

The snow caused waves of excitement in Auckland. Kevin Prohl saw a snow flurry as he was driving around Western Springs and described it as a fairy tale. “Looking at oncoming drivers and seeing their smiles as we were fascinated by this unusual occurrence – it was truly delightful to see, yet all too short.”

Richard Brown, 53, has lived in Auckland his entire life and had never seen snow in the city. “It was snow, I’m sure it was.”

There was even debate among weather experts as to what was actually falling.

MetService weather ambassador Bob McDavitt said most Aucklanders had witnessed “graupel” – effectively hail with a soft centre.

While many Aucklanders were delighted with the light flurry of snow – the result of weather MetService described as close to a one-in-50-year-event – the high winds created havoc. Four people were injured when a tree toppled on to a house in Pakuranga.

Not so fun for some

The cold snap also wreaked havoc further south including the quake-devastated eastern suburbs of Christchurch. Power was cut to hundreds of homes, mail postponed, schools were shut for the day and heavy snow made it too dangerous to drive on.

In the Wellington region, five main roads were closed and 24 crashes were reported yesterday.

“We’ve been getting calls from people getting stuck on the road, or cars sliding down the driveway and getting stuck in the gutter. We’ve got quite a lot going on,” Inspector Ken Climo of the police said.

Prime Minister John Key commented on “the very uncharacteristic weather” during his post-Cabinet press conference.

Describing the capital as a “winter wonderland”, Mr Key said it was the first time he could recall seeing snow fall in downtown Wellington.

“My wife tells me there is snow around our house [in Parnell, Auckland]. It’s very unusual, and the main message to New Zealanders is just to be cautious and a little bit careful – make sure they keep an eye out for their family and friends, and if they are aware of their neighbours living alone, it might be a good idea just to check up on them and make sure everything is OK.”

- NZPA, HERALD ONLINE

The BBC recently admitted to tilting the climate change discussion by giving preferential reporting to stories supporting global climate change.  This situation is a perfect example of the larger debate over climate change– of how political correctness can lead to scientific theory becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Science runs on grant funding.  Every grad student, post-doc, assistant professor, and tenured faculty depends on grants to pay the bills– and to impress the establishment where they are working to offer academic advancement.  To get funding, one must know where the money is– and where it is not.  Asking for funding to show the ABSENCE of climate change is a sure path to poverty– and to being labelled a heretic.

On the other hand, asking for money to show evidence for the emperor’s new clothes will guarantee that the money will flow in.  This creates a systemic bias where only one outcome is expected and published– and negative findings are ignored.  Twenty years ago, everyone knew that breast implants caused autoimmune disorders;  nobody did research to prove the opposite, and if you study anything long enough, you’ll have a few positive findings.  For those who don’t know the rest of the story, after 2 billion dollars were paid out to ‘survivors’ and attorneys, the matter was put to rest– with a huge study that showed very clearly that there was NO actual connection between implants and autoimmune disease.  Science is filled with similar examples.  Climate change is only another.

UPROAR AS BBC MUZZLES CLIMATE CHANGE SCEPTICS

THE BBC was criticised by climate change sceptics yesterday after it emerged that their views will get less coverage because they differ from mainline scientific opinion.

In a report by its governing body, the BBC Trust, the corporation was urged to focus less on opponents of the “majority consensus” in its programmes.

It said coverage should not be tailored to represent a “false balance” of opinion if one side came from a minority group.

The report was partly based on an independent review of coverage by Steve Jones, Professor of Genetics at University College, London.

Although he found no evidence of bias in BBC output, he suggested where there is a “scientific consensus” it should not hunt out opponents purely to balance the story.

He highlighted climate change as an example along with the controversy over the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine potentially leading to autism.

On climate change, Professor Jones said there had been a “drizzle of criticism of BBC coverage” arising from “a handful of journalists who have taken it upon themselves to keep disbelief alive”.

The report says: “In its early days, two decades ago, there was a genuine scientific debate about the reality of climate change. Now, there is general agreement that warming is a fact even if there remain uncertainties about how fast, and how much, the temperature might rise.”

But critics accused Professor Jones of using the report as a cover to “push the BBC’s green agenda”.

Among them are former Tory Chancellor Lord Lawson, who was accused by the Government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir John Beddington, of making “incorrect” claims in An Appeal To Reason, the peer’s book on climate change.

Lord Lawson, chairman of the sceptical Global Warming Policy Foundation, said the fact that carbon dioxide levels were rising leading to global warming was not under dispute. However, he added, its extent and effect could not be explained by majority scientific opinion alone.

He said: “The BBC is already extremely one-sided on this issue. They have a settled view which is politically correct.

“The idea that because scientific opinion falls largely on one side you can’t have a debate is outrageous. Because there’s a strong majority in basic science doesn’t mean the issue is off the table, yet the BBC says it should be.”

The foundation’s director, Dr Benny Peiser, said the report would lead to biased coverage of climate change and stifle any real debate.

He said: “This is nothing the BBC has not been doing for the past 10 years, however. They are completely biased on the issue of climate change and this is nothing more than an effort to push their green agenda.”

Dr David Whitehouse, the foundation’s editor and a former BBC science correspondent, said the corporation had “lost the plot” when it came to science journalism.

He said the corporation was “grouping sceptics with deniers” which would result in a lack of valid scientific input to its reports.

He said: “A sceptic is not a denier, all good scientists should be sceptics. The BBC has got itself into a complete muddle.

“In seeking to get the science right it has missed the journalism which is about asking awkward questions and shaking the tree.”

But the BBC Trust defended the report. A spokesman said: “The report is not suggesting that climate change sceptics will not have a place on the BBC in future.

“The point Professor Jones makes is that the scientific consensus is that it is caused by human activity. Therefore the BBC’s coverage needs to give less weight to those who oppose this view, and reflect the fact that the debate has moved on to how to deal with climate change.”

Those not taken in by the great swindle are aware of the multiple influences on global temperature and climate.  We are also aware of the cyclical nature of climate; the fact that the Earth has been much warmer than it is now many times throughout history, and that the earth will be colder than it is now– perhaps markedly so, if those who follow solar activity are correct.

There is a large body of evidence that solar activity is the greatest source of variation in the Earth’s climate, and we are currently coming out of a period of increased activity to enter into the opposite– a period of reduced solar activity and reduced temperatures here on Earth.

The climate zealots use ‘climate change’ to raise taxes, fund personal enterprises, and redistribute income on a global basis.  There are some in that camp who recognize that ‘global warming’ is a myth, who have prepared for the coming cool-down by changing the lexicon to ‘global climate change.’  How silly that ‘climate change’ would be the focus of attention–  the climate has ALWAYS changed!

As the Earth enters the period of cooling, don’t be taken in by the thought that this is somehow ‘unique’ or is caused by the actions of mankind.  We are entering a NORMAL variation that is, essentially, the ‘same as it ever was.’

New about the cool-down:

2010 South Florida Weather Year in Review

December 30th, 2010: Temperature and precipitation extremes marked the weather of 2010 across South Florida. A cool and wet January through March was followed by the hottest summer on record, and then concluded with the coldest December on record for the main climate sites in South Florida (details on the above mentioned periods will be included below).

The main culprit behind the cold temperatures in December 2010 was the same one which caused the cold winter of 2009-2010; a strongly negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Arctic Oscillation (AO). When these atmospheric oscillations are in the strong negative phase, they essentially “flip” the weather pattern across North America, with upper-level high pressure and relative warmth over Greenland and Northeastern Canada and upper-level low pressure and cold over the eastern Continental United States, including Florida (Figure 1). This pattern forces the jet stream to plunge south from northern Canada into the southeastern U.S., transporting Arctic air masses into Florida.

A pronounced shift in the ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) phase was noted in 2010, from a strong El Niño, or warm, phase to a borderline strong La Niña, or cold, phase. While this may appear at first glance to be a key contributor to the temperature extremes noted across South Florida during 2010, it is believed that it was the strongly negative NAO and AO, not the ENSO phase, which contributed to the cold temperatures in early and late 2010. A strongly phased NAO/AO operating on shorter time scales can override the longer-term ENSO phase.

As mentioned above, South Florida experienced its hottest summer on record in 2010 (with the exception of Naples which recorded its second hottest recorded summer). Despite the record hot summer, average yearly temperatures at the main climate sites will end up around 1 degree below normal, which will be the coolest calendar year since the early and mid 1980s, and among the top 10 on record (except for Miami). At secondary sites Miami Beach and Moore Haven, it was the coolest year on record.

Some other interesting 2010 temperature statistics:
- Miami International Airport (MIA) observed 103 days of temperatures at or above 90 degrees, the 4th most on record. The average number of 90+ degree days per year is 51. MIA also had a record 45 days of low temperatures of 80 degrees or higher, besting the previous record of 39 set in 2009. The average number of 80+ degree low temperature days per year is 13. On the other end of the thermometer, MIA had 6 mornings with low temperatures below 40 degrees. This ties the 5th most number of sub-40 degree days on record. The average yearly number of sub-40 degree days is 2.
- Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport (FLL) observed 9 days of low temperatures below 40 degrees. This ties the 4th most number of sub-40 degree days on record. The average yearly number of sub-40 degree days is 3.
- Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) observed 106 days of temperatures at or above 90 degrees, the 8th most on record. The average number of 90+ degree days per year is 56. PBI also had a record 34 days of low temperatures of 80 degrees or higher, crushing the previous record of 17 set in 1900 and 2002. The average number of 80+ degree low temperature days per year is 6. On the other end of the thermometer, PBI had 18 mornings with low temperatures below 40 degrees. This easily breaks the previous record of 10 days set in 1920 and 1981. The average yearly number of sub-40 lows at PBI is 3. Six of the 18 days occurred in December, which breaks the previous monthly record for December of 5 set in 1962.
- Naples Regional Airport (APF) observed 125 days of temperatures at or above 90 degrees, the 12th most on record. The average number of 90+ degree days per year is 109. Naples also observed 13 days of low temperatures below 40 degrees. This ties the 5th most number of sub-40 degree days on record. The average yearly number of sub-40 degree days is 3. Eight of the 13 days occurred in December, which breaks the previous monthly record for December of 7 set in 1981.

There goes el nino!

Politicians like to pretend that climate is pretty straightforward… especially when their climate predictions benefit their pet projects or campaign fund-raising.  This year especially, they like to pretend that there is such a thing as ‘big oil’– a faceless giant, destroying the planet, unless the President of the US sweeps in to save the day by ‘kicking ass.’  Of course, only OUR asses will end up being kicked, through the double-whammy of higher energy prices (from cap and tax legislation), higher unemployment (from higher business taxes and other expenses that stifle growth), and higher taxes at the gas pump and on April 15th.    Funny how something so unpredictable– like climate– is so closely paired with something so predictable– like the current administrations love for government and tax revenue.

I came across this paragraph this morning from the Browning Newsletter:  

Amazing. It was the vanishing act that completely changes this year’s climate. The El Niño disappeared!

More Amazing. Last winter’s El Niño has already been one for the record books. It usually takes a year or more for the Tropical Pacific to gradually warm up from a cool La Niña to a balmy El Niño. Instead, last year the ocean flipped from one to the other in only three months. By June, the trade winds had weakened, the ocean waters had warmed and the globe began to experience typical El Niño weather.

Amazing continues. Now, against all expectations, the Pacific waters have cooled equally rapidly.

To say that this development is a surprise is an understatement. It was completely unexpected. Until mid-March, most oceanologists were expecting the Pacific to cool and the El Niño to fade out by June. Most models then predicted that the Pacific would remain neutral for the rest of the year. Instead, the temperatures plummeted and the El Niño was gone by the end of March. By the end of April, the temperatures had dropped from above average to below average. By now, the temperatures are -0.9°C (-1.6°F) below normal – technically cold enough to be classified as a La Niña if the cool temperatures continue.

For the full report, click here.

You’ll note that the consequences of this dramatic cooling will include more intense weather in some parts of the country and world, and less intense weather elsewhere.  It’s complicated.  It’s too complicated, unfortunately, for reporters to understand, so it will be ripe for picking by those with an agenda.  The violent weather will be blamed on global warming– even when the actual cause is global cooling in another part of the world. 

Don’t assume, just because someone has a microphone, that he/she knows more than you;  If you read the Browning Newsletter, I promise you that you will know more than any newscaster you’ll see on television.

Today there was a confluence of articles that has occurred in similar fashion since I started the blog and companion web page.  I’ll copy them below to show what I am talking about– basically we have the heaviest snow in years in Spain on the same day that Al Gore is out spewing his crazy rhetoric.  I remember a couple years ago, when Gore gave a major speech in NYC on one of the area’s coldest days in decades. 

The global warming loonies, of course, will say that the cold weather in Barcelona is just one more sign that the earth is warming.   They have created a world that could not have existed without the help of our mainstream media playing along– a world so hot that it is cooling. 

The first article from the UK Telegraph:

Barcelona hit with heaviest snowfall in 25 years

Schools were closed, roads were blocked and power was knocked as Barcelona was hit with its heaviest snowfall in 25 years.

Snowfalls of up to 50 centimetres (20 inches) were forecast for the worst affected areas of the region of Catalonia, prompting the regional government to cancel classes for more than 142,000 students at 476 public schools.

Spain: Warm enough for snow!

Power was lost in homes throughout the region, with energy company Fecsa-Endesa reporting 200,000 clients without electricity, mostly in the province of Girona.

Emergency services workers helped evacuate some 500 passengers who became trapped on trains traveling between Barcelona and Portbou, on the French border, which became stuck due to the lack of power, said regional interior minister Joan Boada.

Thousands of commuters were left scrambling for an alternative way to get home after the blizzard forced the suspension of bus services in Barcelona and the closure of five suburban train lines in the Mediterranean port city.

Barcelona city hall ordered the metro system to stay open all night to help people move around the city.

Traffic on over 60 roads in Catalonia was either prohibited or restricted. Spain’s border with France at La Jonquera was closed because of the snow, leaving some 4,000 trucks stranded, public television TVE reported.

While Barcelona’s El Prat airport was operating normally, 21 flights out of the airport in nearby Girona were cancelled and nine others were diverted to other cities due to the snow and strong winds, airport officials said.

The second article:

Gore still hot on his doomsday rhetoric

By Jeff Jacoby

THE CASE for global-warming alarmism is melting faster than those mythical disappearing Himalayan glaciers, but Al Gore isn’t backing down.

In a long op-ed piece for The New York Times the other day, Gore cranked up the doomsday rhetoric. Human beings, he warned, “face an unimaginable calamity requiring large-scale, preventive measures to protect human civilization as we know it.’’ His 1,900-word essay made no mention of his financial interest in promoting such measures – Gore has invested heavily in carbon-offset markets, electric vehicles, and other ventures that would profit handsomely from legislation curbing the use of fossil fuels, and is reportedly poised to become the world’s first “carbon billionaire.’’ However, he did mention “global-warming pollution’’ no fewer than four times, declaring that “our grandchildren would one day look back on us as a criminal generation’’ if we don’t move decisively to reduce it.

By “global-warming pollution,’’ Gore means carbon dioxide (CO2), which is a “pollutant’’ in roughly the way oxygen and water are pollutants: Human existence would be impossible without them. CO2 is essential to photosynthesis, the process that sustains plant life and generates the oxygen that human beings and animals inhale. Far from polluting the world, carbon dioxide enriches it. Higher levels of CO2 are associated with larger crop yields, increased forest growth, and longer growing seasons – in short, with a greener planet.

Of course carbon dioxide also contributes to the greenhouse effect that keeps the earth warm. But the vast majority of atmospheric CO2 occurs naturally, and it is far from clear that the carbon dioxide contributed by human industry has a significant impact on the world’s climate.

On the other hand, it is quite clear that the economic and agricultural activity responsible for that anthropogenic CO2 has been enormously beneficial to myriads of men, women, and children. In just the last two decades, life expectancy in developing nations has climbed appreciably and infant mortality has fallen. Hundreds of millions of Indian and Chinese citizens have been lifted out of poverty. Whatever else might be said about carbon dioxide, it has helped make possible a dramatic increase in the quality of many human lives.

But there is no awareness of such tradeoffs in Gore’s latest screed. He brushes aside as unimportant the recently exposed blunders in the 2007 assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. These include claims that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035, that global warming could slash African crop yields by 50 percent, and that 55 percent of the Netherlands – more than twice the correct amount – is below sea level.

Gore seems equally untroubled by Climategate, the scandal involving researchers at the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit, who apparently schemed to manipulate temperature data, to prevent their critics from being published in peer-reviewed journals, and to destroy records and calculations to keep climate skeptics from double-checking them.

Both the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s errors and the Climatic Research Unit scandal have triggered major investigations, and opinion polls show a falloff in the percentage of the public that believes either global warming is cause for serious concern or that scientists see eye to eye on the issue. Yet Gore insists, against all evidence, that “the overwhelming consensus on global warming remains unchanged.’’

To climate alarmists like Gore, everything proves their point. For years they argued that global warming would mean a decline in snow cover and shorter ski seasons. “Children just aren’t going to know what snow is,’’ one climate scientist lamented to reporters in 2000. The IPCC itself was clear that climate change was resulting in more rain and less snow.

Undaunted, Gore now claims that the blizzards that have walloped the Northeast in recent weeks are also proof of global warming. “Climate change causes more frequent and severe snowstorms,’’ he posted on his blog last month.

Gore is a True Believer; his climate hyperbole is less a matter of science than of faith. In almost messianic terms, he urges Congress to sharply restrain Americans’ access to energy. “What is at stake,’’ he writes, “is our ability to use the rule of law as an instrument of human redemption.’’

But while Gore prays for redemption, the pews in the Church of Climate Catastrophe are gradually emptying. The public’s skeptical common sense, it turns out, is pretty robust. Just like those Himalayan glaciers.

I have been too busy lately to do my part to keep readers entertained, and I am sorry for that. There is so much nonsense in the world lately that it is getting more and more difficult deciding where to start! There have been a number of events consistent with the things I have written about on my companion web site ’Warmal Globing’… for example, I write on one of the pages about the way science works, or more importantly the way scientific funding works. As a former scientist and former grant applicant, I know that one must apply for the right things if one is to get funded. The applicant ALWAYS looks at who is funding the grant, and what that agency ‘wants’ to find. Yes, the grants always come with wording like ‘unrestricted funding’, but all scientists know the ‘nudge nudge wink wink’ behind that statement! And sure enough– we recently found that a number of very respected scientists have engaged in ‘unscientific’ behavior by covering up or distoring data, hiding messages that admit to doubts caused by the REAL findings– the findings that they can’t report, for fear of losing the golden goose that is global warming. Just think about it– can you imagine how much money will be lost by so many people, if global warming turns out to be a crock?! And it is a crock, of course. And eventually the truth will come out, because as much as Al Gore wants it to happen, the low-lying areas of the world will not be inundated with the floods– beyond the floods that they have ALWAYS been inundated by.

Which brings up another point that is also on my web site… the global warming zealots get to blame everything on ‘warming’! We recently had a cold spell and nasty snowstorm across the southeast US– in fact, it shut DC down for several days, just as they were getting ready to pass more carbon taxes ‘to stimulate the economy’ (you truly cannot make this stuff up). One of the Kennedy clan had just penned an op-ed about the good old days when it snowed so much more…. suggesting that it snows less now because of ‘global warming’. BTW, even the smart people out there who are idiots about global warming will admit that what they refer to as the current ‘climate change disaster’ has nothing to do with the snow that a Kennedy is writing about– that all of the local phenomena people tend to point to as they nod their heads in reality have nothing to do with ‘climate change’. But as he pens this piece, this massive snowstorm hits. But what does the mainstream media do? They BLAME GLOBAL WARMING FOR THE SNOW!!! They truly get it both ways– because in their odd world, warming causes cooling. Yes, I understand what they are saying- that the contrast in temps and the increased ‘thermal energy’ somehow causes storms that include snow and ice….. but it is not reasonable for them to claim that warming causes less snowstorms (ala Kennedy) and at the same time say that the snow is FROM the warming. And besides– also on my web site there is a copy of the Newsweek article from the 1970′s about the coming disaster of global cooling, and in that article the same scientists who are cited now were saying that the Earth would have increased glaciers and tornados and snowstorms, all from ‘global cooling’.

The other thing that happened just recently was that another leading global warming alarmist announced ‘never mind’, admitting that the Earth’s temp has not changed significantly in over 15 years.  Never mind.  Think about all the money wasted over the last few years, and the raised taxes, the increased government control, the sagging economy, the disastrous election of Democrats–  all over something that doesn’t exist.  Can we sue Al Gore?  Maybe he and Obama can travel to Stockholm together and both give their silly awards back at the same time!  You know what?  They are both so shameless that they would each give a speech about why it is OK flying separately, now that ‘they were right all along that the Earth wasn’t warming’.  And people would actually believe them, and some would credit them for finding out that global warming is a myth.

Another realist’s thoughts on the issue of global warming were sent my way.  Here is the link:  75 reasons to be skeptical of global warming

For the past few years the US news media have been silent as leading climate scientists walked away from the wild claims for weather catastrophes from global warming.  The press said nothing in response to the drop-off in hurricane activity, just as the fear-mongers on the left predicted wave on wave of Katrinas, destroying the Eastern US.  Now we have the findings that the few scientists who have remained outspoken about climate change have some ‘splaining to do– as we now know that they fudged the data to create impressions that were not true, and hiding studies that showed that the earth has been cooling for the past decade.

I will just site a few of them, and the reader can find them and give credit where it is due.

From ‘The Hill’:     Rep. Issa: Obama’s refusal to investigate ‘Climategate’ emails is ‘unconscionable’

From the Media Research Center:  Day Fourteen and Counting

From Politiken Denmark, the quote:   The Speaker of the Danish Parliament has issued a damning criticism of the climate debate, saying politicians gullibly turn theories into facts. (from the article Climate debate derailed?)

I can’t imagine any better argument for reading only the ‘foreign press’.  Why read press that is censored, when you can get the real story by turning on your computer?

Today Drudge linked to an opinion piece by Froma Harrop of the Providence Journal, where she dragged out HER favorite scientist and explained why we all had better listen.  I have noticed since the advent of blogging that the world can be divided into two groups of people– blog writers and blog readers.  The same thing holds true for editorial writers;  they spend more time writing in support of their own opinions than reading anything that risks challenging those opinions.    I looked over her other opinion pieces over the years and had no trouble seeing her politics.   As a scientist (yes, Froma, with a real PhD) I instantly realize that view is good for little in regard to education–  but I read it anyway, as that is the only way to come to an accurate conclusion– that is, to challenge one’s self to new opinion on a regular basis.

Harrop says that HER expert on climate science coined the term ‘global warming’ way back in the 1970′s, which is interesting, given that anyone who was anyone in climate circles back then would have dismissed her expert faster than Hollywood dismissed Michael Crichton after ‘State of Fear’ was published!  Over on the web site you can read the Newsweek article from 1975 or see the graphic from Time Magazine from 1974, both from a time when the world’s climate scientists were warning us about impending disaster from global COOLING.  In fact, the articles described the recent spike up in tornadoes, and the shortened growing seasons in Europe, as evidence that the cooling was already having horrible effects on the earth.  The site mentions the controversial idea of covering the polar ice caps with soot to try to absorb more of the sun’s heat, musing whether that would be a bad idea.  Hmmm…..   makes you wonder what people will say about US in 30 years!

Read this report and more at WarmalGlobing.com

Harrop mentions the newspaper ad taken out awhile back signed by almost 100 climate ‘scientists’– a group of straw men for her expert to knock down.  She does NOT mention the fact the many of the original proponents of global warming or ‘anthropomorphic climate change’ have abandoned their earlier opinions or research, which is why one rarely hears scientists talking about the subject anymore.  Now all we hear from are the politicians and their ‘true believers’ (and of course teenagers, who always think that whatever THEY are doing is the most important thing in the world– so this MUST be a critical age for climate!).

Neither does Harrop mention the petition by well over 30,000 scientists that can be read at the Oregan Institute on Science and Medicine (I haven’t seen it for awhile, so it might have many more by now!).

Realize that scientists are slow to come around for at least two reasons.  First, ‘warming’ is where the money is- if you want funding, you don’t go out asking for funds to look at global cooling!  In fact, since most of the cash for research comes from advocacy groups (including the largest advocacy group of all, the US government– which has thousands of bureaucrats who rely on the hundreds of programs that ‘save the planet’), a researcher BETTER come up with the ‘correct’ findings– or good luck getting funded next year!!  The second reason for scientists to embrace ‘warming’ is because they have seen what happens to their colleagues who didn’t.  There is no news when a PhD fails to make tenure– but it happens all the time.  Universities tend to have a ‘with us or against us’ spirit on the inside, despite the claims of academic freedom to the outside.  It is not a coincidence that your children all become bleeding hearts by the end of four years of college!   And if the folks on the tenure committee don’t take you down, the media will get hold of one sentence that sounds absolutely crazy when placed in the wrong context, and down you’ll go!

It is so nice, by the way, to have John Stossel out there again.  He was viewed as brilliant by his media ‘friends’ until he started saying the WRONG truth– and suddenly ABC didn’t find his stories as interesting.  I’m glad we have one network left where the reporters are not taking marching orders from the government!

The worst thing about people like Harrop and the stories they write is that they are the reason that we get things wrong so often.  Had Newsweek and Time had their way years ago, we would now have black spots on each end of the planet.  Now we have the equivalent with writers like Harrop, the major networks, and Obama and the US government– three interest groups with power over our future, all with no knowledge of science.  Even worse, none of these groups even know how to critically evaluate science!  REAL science does NOT need cheerleaders like Harrop–  real science can take care of itself, and allow the truth to prevail.  The reason policies to control ‘global warming’ are floundering is because the science behind it is fatally flawed.  The public got a look at climate-gate last week– at least those members of the public who read newspapers outside of the United States!  We all saw the extent that true believers will go to promote their beliefs– and to be sure of a new round of funding!

Cooler Heads Prevail

A month after ‘cap and trade’ is passed in Congress, yet another sign of the idiocy of our Government is at hand.   I encourage all of you to go back and read the media reports from around the year 2000 (wait until after the hysteria over ‘Y2K’ ended) and read what was SUPPOSED to happen by now.  Go to the comments by Leftists like Arianna Huffington or that crazy actress– what’s her name? I always forget… Garofalo… about the disasters that were to befall us by now.  Go to the reports by Gore and others about Hurricane Katrina being a preview of more powerful hurricanes destroying our country…

Great climate predictions

Why is it that idiots who do their type of work are never held accountable?  Look at the media in the US for that answer.  And since we know we can’t trust them on the weather, why does anyone trust the NYT, CBS, NBC, and ABC at all?