Josh 3

Red tops move in on the act

They always say that when the Sun shifts its support to a new political party then political destiny is irrevocably changed. When the Conservatives lost its support at the end of the nineties their fate was sealed and they were duly swept away in the Blair landslide of 1997.

The UK's premier tabloid has a phenomenal power to change the political landscape and it is widely seen as a barometer for the way public opinion is moving. It's therefore interesting to see not only the "currant bun" but also its close, left-wing rival the Mirror moving in for the kill. The Mirror picks up on Raj Pachauri's travel arrangements, describing him variously as "authoritarian" and "hypocritical". The Sun, in the meantime says that global warming is a con.

It's not looking good.

NZ climatologists lose their calculations

In a horrifying echo of CRU's loss of its temperature data, climatologists in New Zealand seem to have lost the calculations they use to adjust their temperature data.

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) has been urged by the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition (NZCSC) to abandon all of its in-house adjustments to temperature records. This follows an admission by NIWA that it no longer holds the records that would support its in-house manipulation of official temperature readings.

The killer point here is that the raw data has no trend, while the adjusted data shows warming. Funny that.

(H/T Tom Fuller)

Penn State inquiry reports

The Penn State inquiry into the conduct of Michael Mann has apparently concluded....without apparently taking evidence from anyone who thinks that Mann might have done something wrong.

I wonder if they think that anyone will find this a very convincing inquiry.

Amusing also to see that the Penn State inquiry has completed its work before Sir Muir Russell's "independent" review of the Climatic Research Unit has even started. As I understand it, Sir Muir is still putting his team together and finalising the terms of reference.

It almost looks as if he's dragging his feet.

Peer reviewers acting as gatekeepers

Not a climate science story this one, but one from the world of stem cell research. The themes are remarkably similar to those emerging from the Climategate emails though:

Stem cell experts say they believe a small group of scientists is effectively vetoing high quality science from publication in journals.

In some cases they say it might be done to deliberately stifle research that is in competition with their own.

Weaver still on board

A few days ago I reported that uberwarmer Andrew Weaver was jumping the global warming ship, calling for the resignation of Raj Pachauri and institutional reform of the IPCC. He has now issued a clarification, in which he says he still believes in global warming.

It's as if the first officer elects to sink with the captain.

(H/T Frank O'Dwyer in the comments)

New climategate timeline

There is a new version of the Climategate timeline out, for the ultimate in AGW-obsessive bedroom chic. It really is an amazing piece of work. Details and downloads here.

Blimey

Does this explain why the BBC are so vehemently alarmist over global warming? Because their pension funds are invested in green companies?

This could get ugly.

Update on Feb 1, 2010 by Bishop Hill

On second thoughts, if the BBC pension fund is defined-benefit, why should they give a damn what they are invested in. We the taxpayers pick up the tab regardless.

WWF - another fake charity

John Rosenthal has taken a long hard look at where WWF gets its funding. Afficionados of the Fake Charities projects will not be surprised to learn that they huge swathes of their income is derived from the EU.

According to European Commission data, WWF was awarded nearly €9 million in EU support in 2008 alone. In 2007, the figure was over €7.5 million. Most of this support came in the form of ostensibly project-linked grants to WWF-International or its national affiliates.

Showdown

I'm sorry to be too far away from London to go to see the showdown debate between Roger Pielke Jnr and Bob Ward at the Royal Institution, but I've at least had word from the RI that they are going to be recording the event, definitely on audio and possibly with visuals too.

I don't know if that will incorporate a live webcast - I certainly hope so.

A tool for FoI junkies

The Silent State will be a must-read for Freedom of Information enthusiasts in the UK - the new book by Heather Brooke, the campaigner who forced MPs' expenses data into public view and just about brought down the UK political system in the process.

I wonder if she mentions Climategate at all? I dropped her an email when the story broke, but my guess is it may have come too late.

No wallflower

A hydrologist calling himself Potentilla has written a joint article with TonyN at the Harmless Sky blog. It shows an example of how activist scientists, environmental groups and green journalists combine to mislead the public. This is a must-read, particularly for anyone who knows the name of Lonnie Thompson.

Criminal charges could go ahead?

Christopher Booker has a second article in the Sunday Telegraph today in which he examines the ICO's claim that his hands are tied in the matter of criminal prosecutions at UEA because of the six months' time bar prescribed by the Magistrates Act. This story has generated considerable outrage in recent days, and some have suggested that more serious charges could be brought under different statutes altogether.

Booker makes two very interesting observations. First up he reckons that the six month for charges heard in magistrates' courts runs from when the offence was discovered rather than when it was committed. This is an opinion that has been aired elsewhere, and opinion seems to be divided on whether it is correct or not.

Intriguingly though, Booker also notes that charges of conspiring to defy the law could be brought under the Criminal Law Act 1977, where no time bar applies. Perhaps we haven't heard the last of this after all.

Cited by Booker

Christopher Booker cites The Hockey Stick Illusion in his column this weekend, the first time it's made an appearance in a broadsheet.

The centrepiece of the IPCC's 2001 report was Michael Mann's notorious "hockey stick", the graph purporting to show temperatures in the late 20th century soaring at an unprecedented rate – later exposed as a statistical artefact. Another new book, The Hockey Stick Illusion by A W Montford, brilliantly tells the bizarre tale of how Mann's colleagues, calling themselves "the Hockey Team" and now at the heart of the IPCC, managed to resurrect the discredited graph for inclusion in its 2007 report. Montford's book, if inevitably technical, expertly recounts a remarkable scientific detective story. And of course, it was incriminating leaked emails between members of the Hockey Team that were at the centre of the recent "Climategate" scandal at the University of East Anglia.

Most disturbing of all are the glimpses the story gives of the inner workings of the IPCC, an institution now so discredited and scientifically corrupted that only those determined to shut their eyes could possibly defend it. This is now compounded by the recent revelations by Dr North and myself in these pages of how its chairman, Dr Pachauri, has built a worldwide network of business links which provide his Delhi institute with a sizeable income.

Reprinting

Just had word from the publisher that The Hockey Stick Illusion is reprinting. Pretty chuffed.