The Met Office’s 5-day ‘forecast’ for my neck of the woods (Isle of Wight) has excelled itself this weekend. Last night, it claimed that tomorrow, Sunday, would be wet all day, which seemed in line with the general pattern and satellite data.

This morning, however, it had revised its opinion and it was to be merely cloudy, which is good news for local tourist event organisers. I’m not one, this time, but it is something that we are often mindful of, as it can make or break an outdoor show. Another look just now, out of curiousity, revealed that the rain is back in 12 hours time!

Is this dithering on the MO’s part, of did they accidentally post the wrong chart? I wish I’d taken screen shots now...

I put “Climate Change for Children” into the Amazon. co uk search box for books - here is a cheerful selection of what I found in the 219 books they offered me. Some of them may be reasonable books, and some may be directed at older children, but I can't think this endless diet of depressing and alarmist titles does much for the mental health of the young.

Changing Climate (Planet SOS)
Changing Climate (Precious Earth)
Climate (Our Fragile Planet)
Climate Change Catastrophe (Can the Earth Survive?)
Climate Change (Earth in Danger)
Climate Change (Earth SOS)
Climate Change (Saving Our World)
Climate Change Apocalypse
Climate Change( Planet Under Pressure)
Climate Change: (Eco Alert)
Climate Change: Extreme Threats
Climate Change: Is the World In Danger?
Climate Change: World At Risk
Climate Crisis (Saving Our World)
Climate Crisis: The Science of Global Warming
Climate Crisis: (Planet in Crisis)
Doing Battle with Climate Change [Suzuki]
Droughts of the Future
Earth’s Changing Climate (Environment at Risk)
Earth’s Fever
Fever at the Poles
Fever in the Ocean
Fever on the Land
Floods of the Future
For Climate’s Sake: Who’s in Charge of the Future?
Global Warming: The Threat of Earth’s Changing Climate
Global Warming: A Threat to Our Future
Green Files: Climate in Crisis
On Thin Ice: Climate Change
Predicting Climate Change
Under the Weather: Stories about Climate Change
Weird Weather: Everything You Didn't Want to Know about Climate Change, But Probably Should Find Out [Monbiot et al]
Will Farts Destroy the Planet?: and other extremely important questions (and answers) about climate change from the Science Museum
Will Jellyfish Rule the World? A Book About Climate Change [Leo Hickman]

Hi
not new news but a snippet from the London Metro re the Neil Wallis.

http://www.cartoonsbyjosh.com/metro.jpg

Harbottle & Lewis took possession of hundreds of internal emails from the News of the World in 2007 after being hired by News International.

The firm indicated in a short letter to News International that the emails did not show wider evidence of criminality. This document was relied upon by the publisher during parliamentary inquiries in 2009.

The Daily Telegraph understands that the emails did show evidence of potentially criminal behaviour and have now been passed to the police.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8641632/Phone-hacking-scandal-Royal-familys-lawyers-role-over-emails-is-questioned.html

Now I wonder where UEA got the idea of an independent repository for embarrassing emails from?

Forests absorb one-third of global fossil fuel emissions
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/2246/forests_absorb_one-third_of_global_fossil_fuel_emissions

Heh, heh, true science in action:

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/europeans-evolved-drink-more-142745273.html

Evolution is telling me that 8 pints and a lamb kebab on a Friday night means that I will survive the extreme cold this winter!!!!

Nuff said, bring it on.

[ Poland's ] heavy dependence on coal for electricity production is highlighted by a plan to build 13 new coal-fired power plants, for which the country obtained free “carbon permits” from the European Commission the day before it assumed the Presidency. ClientEarth, an environmental NGO, is reportedly attempting to bring the matter to court, arguing that such free allocations under the EU-ETS are not legal.”

http://notrickszone.com/2011/07/14/poland-blocks-europe-madness/

OMG - it's even worse than we thought when we last thought it was worse than we thought - see this. An extract:

The results are enough to make us sit up and take notice. The model calculated scenarios in which global average temperatures rise sharply – more sharply than in present IPCC worst-case scenarios. In the coal scenario, which sees coal replacing most of the other energy sources used at present and the global population rising to 15 billion by 2100, the temperature could increase by an average of 5.1 degrees on the 1990 level. The temperature rise could be highest around the North Pole, with increases of 11 to 12 degrees predicted. Even if the researchers assume an energy mix that remains unchanged on today’s mix, the global increase is still 3.7 degrees.

Er ... except that the author, Professor Reto Knutti, is quoted at the end of the article as saying,

“These scenarios show very pessimistic extreme cases, and there is no proof that these will eventuate”.

Nevertheless, he explained, it is important to explore all possibilities.

“It would be a mistake to look at a range that is too restricted”.

So the alarmist site Planetsave duly treats us to the Headline Worst Case Scenarios Not Worst Case Enough and this opening paragraph:

A new study has found that the worst case scenarios calculated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which were released in 2007 may not realistically calculate the actual worst case scenarios facing planet Earth and her inhabitants.

Its great!

Kilez More!

Businesses failing to exploit low carbon options
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/2243/businesses_failing_to_exploit_low_carbon_options