Saturday
Dec052009
by 
Bishop Hill
Bishop Hill Unthreaded
Dec 5, 2009 Climate Some of the comments threads are going way off topic, so I'm setting up an unthreaded post for people who want to point to interesting stories or put forward their own theories.
Reader Comments (472)
Another climate scientist is resorting to the courts: Andrew Weaver is suing the National Post for libel:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/apr/22/climate-change-libel-action-canada-national-post
Dr. Weaver, a fine Canadian Scientist is suing the National Post.
No Joke, No drill!
Article here...
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/04/21/bc-andrew-weaver-national-post-lawsuit.html#socialcomments
The statement of claim is available at this link.
http://www.desmogblog.com/climate-scientist-sues-national-post
I find it is breathtaking in its scope. Enjoy the read!
Or here directly!
http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Weaver%20vs%20Corcoran.pdf
This looks interesting: a new book from Dr Roy Spencer, called The Great Global Warming Blunder:
http://www.drroyspencer.com/2010/04/the-great-global-warming-blunder-how-mother-nature-fooled-the-world’s-top-climate-scientists/
in the US you might try Walker publishing in NYC. think George Gibson is the President. recently they did a climate book by Jim Hansen but then it might not being doing well.
The fun and games at Wiki over the "Hockey Stick Illusion" are in full swing.
All the usual suspects are there and in top form.
Take a meander through the history page and see what biased really means!
"Climate Science will prevail" sys Pachauri.
http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2264
I can't see any reply to Oxburgh's criticism of the IPCC. Perhaps it was so muted that he couldn't hear it.
I was at an election hustings last evening. There were four candidates from main parties and an independent. Questions were handed in at the beginning and selected by the chairman. I assume he chose a representative set, and at 90s allowed each candidate for each question, over 75mins they covered a fair bit of ground. There was NOT ONE question on environmental or climate issues, and not even a nod to them in the answers to other questions. Voters seem much more interested in the economy, and how they are going to afford to educate their kids than about 'green' issues, and 'climate' ain't even appearing on the agenda apparently.
I just watched a short segment on NZ TV1 news at 6pm, Sat 24th April, on Chris Turney (Exeter University) to dig up 30,000 year old Kauri trees to "unlock the past climate record" in Northland, NZ.
There was a brief mention of "tipping points", but no mention of hockey sticks.
Vote early - vote often.
Mayor of London is asking the people to suggest and vote on climate schemes:
http://www.london.gov.uk/climatechange/cards/top-rated?scroll=no
The top rated ideas right now are:
1) One Step Back (sceptic)
2) Stop Wasting Public Money on this Nonsense (sceptic)
3) What a load of ******** (sceptic)
4) An Inconvenient Truth (that there is no warming) (sceptic)
5) THERE IS NO GLOBAL WARMING!
Its open to anyone to vote...
The place to vote (again) is
http://www.london.gov.uk/climatechange/cards/top-rated?scroll=no
The IPCC broke three of its own rules when it cited the Stern Review 25 times in 12 chapters.
http://nofrakkingconsensus.blogspot.com/2010/04/stern-review-scandal.html
Monseigneur,
I watched a one hour televised debate last night on the French Parliamentary channel. It was held in the library of the French Senate without an audience. Taking part were:
- Valérie Pécresse, Minister for Higher Education and Research
- Jean Jouzel,
- Vincent Courtillot
- Bernard Legras, an atmospheric physicist
- Steve Tait, a vulcanologist
- Benoît Rittaud, mathematician and sceptic
The atmosphere was pretty heated with accusations of defamation and lying. As is usual with this sort of programme in France the chairman failed to keep order and everyone spoke at once. Courtillot attacked the IPCC and its works, Jouzel defended the IPCC and Legras defended the science while attacking Courtillot and Allegre. The others hardly got a word in. The Minister wouldn’t take sides, but did say the IPCC needed to be above suspicion and taxpayers expected good value for research grants.
Further debates are planned.
I don’t read too much into this. Even with half a dozen repeats over the next week, the audience will be very small. However, I can’t imagine anything like this happening in the UK.
Rittaud’s account of the debate is here:
http://www.skyfall.fr/
Monseigneur
I've just watched a short interview on french TV with Sylvestre Huet on his new book, L'Imposteur, C'est Lui, a reply to Claude Allegre. In brief, "He's a liar and he has defamed honest hardworking scientists." Huet is a science journalist at Liberation and runs their science blog. He is an historian by training.
http://sciences.blogs.liberation.fr/home/2010/04/all%C3%A8gre-limposteur-cest-lui-en-librairie.html
In this piece attacking Courtillot, scroll to the bottom for some familiar faces.
http://sciences.blogs.liberation.fr/home/2008/02/soleil-et-clima.html
The independent Climate Change Email Review had a meeting on March 20th (minutes of which have just been published) which you can download here http://www.cce-review.org/pdf/Note%20of%20Actions%2020%20March.pdf
Reading those action notes gives a very good impression of the neat efficient painting machine in action with plenty of TiO2 pigment in evidence*. I see that the draft report will be shown to UAE/CRU for those involved to comment on and answer any points, presumably with the effect that any really critical stuff will be thereby blunted or excised before those of us paying for it all see anything. Absolutely clear that no effort whatsoever is going into engaging with the other side of the question.
* For those not familiar with chemical notation, try http://www.kronosww.com/khome.nsf/383AD6EE9A554523852569070068954C/166081EB14EAFA428525690E004E6662
They seem to have things the right way up 'down under':
"Australia shelves key emissions trading scheme"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8645767.stm
27th April
Some nice ping pong going on between Roy Spencer and Kevin Trenberth via Roger Peilke Senior's blog.
Oops forgot the link - do snip previous.
27th April
Some nice ping pong going on between Roy Spencer and Kevin Trenberth via Roger Peilke Senior's blog.
Kiwigate is a Carbon Copy of Climategate ?
The New Zealand Climate Science Coalition (NZCSC) in its article ‘NIWA Challenged to Show Why and How Temperature Records Were Adjusted’ (February 7, 2010) provides its readers with an insight into the climate scandal dubbed ‘Kiwigate.’ ...
http://climatology.suite101.com/article.cfm/kiwi-scientists-copy-data-trashing-technique-of-climategate#ixzz0mJkLtKzW
NY Times Revkin dotearth blog- reverberations from Judith Curry's Bishop Hill comment post, ref comment 39 et seq., in :
http://community.nytimes.com/comments/dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/geological-society-presses-on-climate-threat/?sort=oldest&offset=2
Oh dear, Gordon's put his foot in it well and proper.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8649853.stm
I think today would be a good day for Muir Russell to sneak out his report whilst the rest of humanity is gazing at the car crash. ["good day to bury bad news..."]
Philip Stott's blog 'The Clamour of the Times' is back to life. Was starting to worry, because both his and UEA Paul Dennis's (Harmonicoscillator) fell silent simultaneously in February.
Bish
Not sure if this is worth a post but why is Alex Salmond sharing a platform with a special envoy from the Maldives. Nils Axel Morner is adamant that sea levels in the Maldives are not rising. But the charlatans that organised an underwater political meeting smell money in the water.
Eddie
Delivering on 2020:
Putting Scotland at the forefront of climate change policy, action and jobs
Wednesday 16th June 2010 - Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh
A one-day interactive conference
For full details, and to book please visit www.deliveringon2020.com
Keynote speakers:
• AHMED MOOSA, Special Envoy for Science & Technology, Republic of Maldives
• THE RT HON. ALEX SALMOND MSP, First Minister of Scotland
• STEWART STEVENSON MSP, Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change, The Scottish Government and Co-convenor, Climate Change Public Duty Delivery Group
• IAN MARCHANT, Convenor of the Scottish 2020 Climate Group and Chief Executive, Scottish and Southern Energy
• GEORG ADAMOWITSCH, European Co-ordinator for the connection of offshore wind power in Northern Europe, European Commission
• JOHN STOCKS, Manager for Scotland, Carbon Trust
• DR. DOUGLAS PARR, Chief Scientist and Director of Policy and Solutions, Greenpeace
I fear something is amiss!!
I have been logging the Central England Air Temperatures for a while now but recently have been thwarted in my task by this message:
"Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.
Please contact the server administrator, michael.saunby@metoffice.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.
More information about this error may be available in the server error log."
This message has occurred at every attempt for the past two weeks, I hope that we are not facing a 'hide the raw data' situation as the main site for CET data only reveals adjusted data.
http://hadobs.metoffice.com/hadcet/data/download.html
Needless to say I await the responce of my email to Mr Saunby.
Lord B your link seems to be ok now.
Home >HadCET >
HadCET Data: Download
The HadCET data is available as a set of plain text files.
Mean HadCET Data:
■Daily HadCET 1772-2009 (590 Kb) Format
■Daily_HadCET_mean.txt (official 2010) (2.6 Kb) Format
■Monthly_HadCET_mean.txt (1659 on) (31.8 Kb) Format
■Monthly_ranked_HadCET_mean.txt (58 Kb)
■Seasonal_HadCET_mean.txt (1659 on) (14 Kb)
■Seasonal_ranked_HadCET_mean.txt (22.9 Kb)
martyn,
Still get an error for Monthly_HadCET_mean.txt (1659 on) (31.8 Kb) and # Daily HadCET 1772-2009 (590 Kb)
Can access Monthly_ranked_HadCET_mean.txt (58 Kb) and Daily_HadCET_mean.txt (official 2010) (2.6 Kb) so I wouldn't of thought it was a browser issue.
Puzzled I am!!
Prompt reply from the man at the MET:
"We've had hardware problems with our server which were fixed yesterday. Publishing of updates to CET and other datsets should resume today or tomorrow."
Central England should reappear out of the mist by end of play tommorrow, all is well in the land of Nod.
Lord B
Typical, I flicked through a couple of links which happened to be working. Gawd dammit, I’m doing the lottery this weekend.
From WUWT, the Commonwealth of Virginia's attorney general has launched an investigation into Prof. M. Mann's time at the University of Virginia.
Paul Nurse has been nominated to be the next president of The Royal Society, thought it worth checking his position....
Speaking at the launch of the Society of Biology, 25th March 2010 - on science in TV & Radio.... "This programming is vital to keep everyone informed and aware of what is going on in science. It is also
important to develop less confrontational approaches of ‘two sides’ especially when one side may simply be a
non-starter. This lawyer inspired confrontational approach so beloved by the Anglo Saxon media has really
damaged both science and the use of science. Science cannot be reduced to sound bites and should not be
subject to the forces of marketing. Look at the damage caused by the climate change skeptics playing right
into the hands of certain elements disparate to avoid reductions in energy usage."
Oh dear.
-belfasttelegraph.co.uk
Queen’s ordered to release tree data
By Clare Weir
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Queen's University has until Monday night to hand over unique data that could undermine global warming theories. The institution has refused to release all its findings on tree rings, which store information on climate patterns. London academic Douglas J Keenan has been battling Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) for three years for the vital material. He believes that studies of trees grown over thousands of years could prove that climate change is cyclical rather than man-made.
[...]
However QUB said it has abided by the Information Commissioner’s ruling.
“The university has now published electronic data relating to its tree ring research in line with the Decision Notice issued by the Information Commissioner,” a spokeswoman said.
-http://tinyurl.com/347l68f
Intercontinental Exchange Announces Acquisition of Climate Exchange
Under the terms of the acquisition, Climate Exchange shareholders will receive 7.50 pounds Sterling in cash for each share in Climate Exchange held at today's date, valuing the entire existing issued and to be issued share capital of Climate Exchange at approximately 395 million pounds ($604 million(1)).
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/intercontinentalexchange-announces-acquisition-of-climate-exchange-92483854.html
UN: No comprehensive climate deal this year
(AP) – KOENIGSWINTER, Germany — The United Nations chief negotiator on climate change says there will not be a comprehensive deal to fight global warming this year. …
Global warming now affecting mental health!
http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/psychiatry-congress/5/47523
I just finished reading Montford's Hockey Stick Illusion. Excellent, and even more damning than the hacked emails. Those who refuse to post data and codes are not scientists.
I recently ran across a 3,000 year climate chronology done in my own backyard in California: It is by Thomas W. Swetnam, published in Fire Ecology, Vol 5 no 3, 2009, "Fire history of the Giant Forest, Sequoia National Forest, CA, USA," The 3,000 tree ring chronology is the longest that exists, it is backed up by sediment cores from the forest floor, AND IT DEFINITELY SHOW THE MEDIEVAL WARMING PERIOD, 800 TO 1300. Check it out!
Monseigneur
I have just finished reading Benoit Rittaud's book Le Mythe Climatique. It is less of a political rant (and shorter) than the Allegre book. He picks fewer targets and does a systematic demolition job on them: the Hockey Stick (of course), the lag between temperature and CO2 levels in ice cores, the use of probabilities and confidence levels in IPCC reports and the reliability of climate models.
Your blog gets a few references. He calls your Yamal Implosion piece 'a clear and detailed explanation'.
http://www.amazon.fr/product-reviews/2021011321/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
Your Grace,
apparently Irish RC bishops have a booklet and scrounging note on AGW:
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=15133
Apparently it came out last year, I got given a copy today.
Link to Irish Bishop's press release:
http://www.catholicbishops.ie/media-centre/press-release-archive/64-press-release-archive-2009/1586-10-november-2009-bishops-launch-pastoral-reflection-on-climate-change-the-cry-of-the-earth-
Just watched the change of Government here in the UK as the old Prime Minister tendered his resignation to Her Majesty, and she invited the new one to form a Government. Very struck by the live footage shot from a helicopter of the new PM being driven from the Palace to Downing Street in the London traffic, with cyclists weaving in and out of the cars, the convoy stopping for traffic signals, and people waving as they suddenly realise who's in the car next to them in the queue. Our US friends would find it very different!
Your Grace,
Carbon or Cadmium? Difficult choice.
The European solar industry has begun a campaign to exclude photovoltaic solar panels from the EU's directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).
http://www.euractiv.com/fr/energie/lindustrie-du-solaire-divisee-sur-la-reglementation-de-lue-sur-les-substances-toxiques-news-
Dear Mr Huhne, congratulations on your cabinet appointment. I understand that you are an ardent believer in the theory of man made global warming. Now that you are in a position to take major expenditure decisions on behalf of the electorate, more than half of whom do not share your belief, can I ask you to at least study the many criticisms of AGW currently on the blogosphere. The main stream media have swallowed AGW whole and are not doing their questioning job properly.
Many of us believe in conserving the Earth's resources,in recycling and in energy conservation but do not believe that man understands, never mind can control, the climate. It behoves you to study carefully that this so called "settled science" is fully credible before you commit our limited financial resources to a costly climate control policy.
IPCC Review Committee To Hold Public Sessions on May 14 in Amsterdam
The InterAcademy Council (IAC), an organization of the world’s science academies, has convened a committee to conduct an independent review of the procedures and processes of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). At its first meeting on Friday, May 14, at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in Amsterdam, the committee will hear presentations in open session, the audio of which will be webcast live.
http://reviewipcc.interacademycouncil.net/IACMediaAdvisory.html
Seems as though we will need funds reallocation from the new ConDem government.
Space and Science Research Center
P.O. Box 607841 Orlando, FL 32860
www.spaceandscience.net
407-394-9089
Press Release SSRC 2-2010
Food and Ethanol Shortages Imminent as Earth Enters New Cold Climate Era
Monday, May 10, 2010 11:30 AM
http://www.spaceandscience.net/id16.html
Bis, your posts about bellesiles and the anaolgy between his fraudulent "research" and protestations of innocence, and that of the hockey team...
Welllllll:
Bellesiles is back. Looks like his publisher is painting him as a victim of an evil right wing conspiracy
http://volokh.com/2010/05/11/a-new-book-coming-soon-from-michael-bellesiles/
But his historian colleagues are not silently letting him get away with that:
http://elmtreeforge.blogspot.com/2010/05/ref-that-story-on-bellesiles-new-book.html
H/T: Firehand
In November 2009, the NZ Climate Science Coalition published a paper pointing out that the 1.0°C warming claimed by the Government agency responsible for climate science (NIWA) had been created solely by NIWA's own in-house adjustments. This "kiwigate" story created some interest in the blogosphere at the time, but NIWA claimed its adjustments were legitimate.
Following an intense series of Official Information Act requests, Parliamentary Questions, etc the full story emerged. It has been published today at www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2010/05/crisis-in-new-zealand-climatology.
The NZ Government has now agreed to fund research to replace the country's official temperature record. We believe this is a first.
Barry Brill
Chairman
NZ Climate Science Coalition
We now have this silliness from the NZ Herald :
"Earth 'too hot for humans' within 300 years"
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/climate-change/news/article.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10644219
and it's already too hot for lizards, apparently
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/climate-change/news/article.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10645079
but the punch line is here:
A group of climate change scientists who are convinced mankind is slowly destroying the Earth have written an impassioned plea to be taken seriously."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/climate-change/news/article.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10643995
Crisis in New Zealand climatology
"The shocking truth is that the oldest readings have been cranked way down and later readings artificially lifted to give a false impression of warming..”
Surely not Barry, that can’t possibly be true. Can it? It does seem to ring a bell somewhere.
Following is from the blog of Bruce Schneier.
Full post at
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2010/05/worst-case_thin.html
Interesting article from Neil O'Brien "...a Director of Policy Exchange, an independent think tank working for better public services, a stronger society and a more dynamic economy."
In it he outlines the fast approaching and huge cost of living rises the UK is already starting to experience. He analyses the various factors and in particular concludes:
"Environmental policy will have to change for starters. The truth is that at present green policy is run as if money were no object (which is why it is the biggest cost in the graph). Politicians will have to show that their green policies are being implemented at the lowest possible cost, something which is not true at present."
Videos from the Fourth International Conference on Climate Change, May 2010, Chicago, IL.
http://www.heartland.org/environmentandclimate-news.org/ClimateConference4
Thanks for bringing the article from Bruce Schneier to our attention Douglas.
It is recommended reading for anyone still having difficulty refuting the widespread use of precautionary principles in any and all AGW flavoured arguments.