Philip,

Cracking article, may there be many more as such.

Snow, a thing of the past...but that was yesterday!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14029995

I will refrain from a torrent of expletives....

An interesting piece by Melanie Philips in the Mail.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2010972/From-human-rights-EU-tides-turning-liberal-thought-police.html#

We can live in hope, maybe the worm is turning.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tory-meps-to-vote-against-david-camerons-climate-plan-2306975.html

The shift from 20 to 30 per cent is the centrepiece of the Government’s current climate agenda – it is in the Coalition document, and the British ministers have been campaigning for it with other EU countries – and a rejection of it by the Tory MEPs will be seen as a personal snub to David Cameron. Furthernore, it is quite possible that their votes could make the difference between the proposal being won or lost.

And here is Richard Blacks contribution...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14002264

Its happened! I - and I suspect quite a few others - predicted this some years ago.

The halt in global warming will be blamed on the pollution from rapidly industrialising China. The Guardian today:

"Sulphur from Chinese power stations 'masking' climate change"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jul/04/sulphur-pollution-china-coal-climate

And the best part of the story:

"Michael E Mann, at Pennsylvania State University and not part of the research team, said the study was "a very solid, careful statistical analysis" which reinforces research showing "there is a clear impact of human activity on ongoing warming of our climate". It demonstrated, Mann said, that "the claim that 'global warming has stopped' is simply false."

Perfect!

matthu:

The Davis' court case is also in the Times.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/environment/article3082809.ece

Guardian again, vainly trying to defend Gillard in Aussie land.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/04/wollongong-view-of-australia-carbon-tax

This comment is very interesting, a real reason for higher temps other than CO2 is in an interview but no connection is made.

Bearup's street is just 15 minutes from the centre of the city, but a world away from the glistening blue of the harbour. The area has been gentrified but remains a concrete jungle with first world war era houses.

Two years ago Bearup and his neighbours dug up the concrete in front of their homes and planted gardens. He says the concrete was acting as a heat bank. Removing it has lowered the temperature in the summer, reducing the need for air conditioning.

Barry Woods

WUWT has a copy of the Kaufmann et al. paper:

http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/pnas-201102467.pdf

NB Michael L. Mann is not hockey stick Mann.

How many years have sceptics been saying that the last decade tempuratures were flat.

To be met with it's the x,y,zth warmest on record - you denier..

Well we have some good news in a Guardain article some NEW research says that the decade 1998 to 2008 the temperatures were indeed flat.... so good news...

Yet, the bad news is, using computer models (again) the explanation is that because china has doubled its coal use, all that sulphur dioxide that has gone into the air has 'masked' the global warming.. other explanations, solar,e in the computer models don't fit..

at what point do people just start saying b***s**t, stop playing with computer models!!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jul/04/sulphur-pollution-china-coal-climate

Guardian: Sulphur from Chinese power stations 'masking' climate change (my caps)

Research reveals decade of global warming from China's coal power stations has partly been offset by 'cooling' effect of sulphur pollution

The huge increase in coal-fired power stations in China has masked the impact of global warming in the last decade because of the cooling effect of their sulphur emissions, new research has revealed. But scientists warn that rapid warming is likely to resume when the short-lived sulphur pollution – which also causes acid rain – is cleaned up and the full heating effect of long-lived carbon dioxide is felt.

The last decade was the hottest on record and the 10 warmest years have all occurred since 1998. But within that period, global surface temperatures BUT DID NOT SHOW A RISING TREND, leading some to question whether climate change had stopped. The new study shows that while greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise, their warming effect on the climate was offset by the cooling produced by the rise in sulphur pollution. This combined with the sun entering a less intense part of its 11-year cycle and the peaking of the El Niño climate warming phenomenon.

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I wonder if any apologies will be forthcoming, to sceptics, who said the decade has not shown a rising trend.

Now they have a semi plausible explanation, I doubt if there will be any blushes forthcoming.