AJC:

According to this article (http://planetsave.com/2011/06/14/michele-bachmann-officially-insane-gop-debate/), Bachmann must be insane (officially?) because she doesn’t understand that “the skyrocketing concentration of CO2 in our atmosphere is causing catastrophic global warming”. Hmm … and she doesn’t understand that because she thinks she “knows more about climate change than an MIT scientist”. I wonder which MIT scientist the author, Zachary Shahan, had in mind? I can’t ask him as I’ve been banned.

Behind its paywall the Times has an interesting report ...

Move over Palin, there’s a new mom in town. She’s Michele Bachmann
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/americas/article3061254.ece

Why would it interest us?

“The big thing we are working on now is the global warming hoax. It’s all voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax.”

Behind the curve as usual and seemingly oblivious of the growing backlash against biofuels, the US military ploughs on ... Pentagon's First Energy Plan

More dubious UN reports

This is not the only part of the UN that releases reports not based on facts.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/low-metal-recycling-threatens-green-economy-un-report-2290308.html

In states But the report found virtually no recycling of metals such as Indium, which is used in semi-conductors and LEDs;

Just a simple google of Indium recycling finds this from 2 of the top 3 links

Indium Corp (biggest producer)

The indium supply has been bolstered by continued improvement in recycling programs. In the rapidly growing LCD market, greater than 85% of non-deposited indium is reclaimed and returned to the supply chain.

and Recapture Metals

Indium Scrap
•Scrap from spent CIG and CIGS targets
•Indium phosphide and indium antimonide wafers and ingots
•Saw dust and kerf, lapping and polishing sludge
•Alloys and solders
•Indium concentrates and inorganic compounds such as indium containing residues, hydroxides, cements, and dusts.

I did not try any of the other listed, no doubt they are the same.

You would think they would keep their stories straight.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/curb-soot-smog-to-help-keep-earth-cool-un-2297615.html

I thought one of the excuses for the current pause in temp raises was due to the extra soot from China and India. This is the opposite spin.

Your Grace,
"THE SCIENCE OF SEEING WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE" is a worthwhile read on Kenan Malik's blog.

The penultimate paragraph reads:-

"We need more, therefore, than simply an affirmation of faith in the scientific method. We need also constant policing of those areas in which science meets ideology. We need, too, a commitment to skepticism and a willingness constantly to question, particularly in those areas in which science seems unblinkingly to back the predominant social or cultural views."

http://kenanmalik.wordpress.com/2011/06/12/seeing-what-you-want-to-see/

Paul

msnbc sees this as a "golden opportunity":
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/06/14/6857473-solar-forecast-hints-at-a-big-chill

"This is important because the solar cycle causes space weather ... and may contribute to climate change," the National Solar Observatory's Frank Hill told journalists today.

In the past, such periods have coincided with lower-than-expected temperatures on Earth. The most famous example is the Maunder Minimum, a 70-year period with virtually no sunspots from 1645 to 1715. Average temperatures in Europe sank so low during that period that it came to be known as "the Little Ice Age."

The linkage between solar activity and climate change is still a matter of scientific debate. And even if there is a link, it's not clear how solar-caused global cooling might interact with industrial global warming due to greenhouse-gas emissions. But if the forecast is correct, scientists will have a golden opportunity to study the effect.

Interestingly different perpectives on breaking news tonight.

Compare this:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/14/ice_age/

What may be the science story of the century is breaking this evening, as heavyweight US solar physicists announce that the Sun appears to be headed into a lengthy spell of low activity, which could mean that the Earth – far from facing a global warming problem – is actually headed into a mini Ice Age.

to this
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=33826

"This is highly unusual and unexpected," Dr. Frank Hill, associate director of the NSO's Solar Synoptic Network, said of the results. "But the fact that three completely different views of the Sun point in the same direction is a powerful indicator that the sunspot cycle may be going into hibernation."
"If we are right," Hill concluded, "this could be the last solar maximum we'll see for a few decades. That would affect everything from space exploration to Earth's climate."

to this:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=13838215

Scientists are predicting that the sun is heading into an unusual and extended super quiet mode. Around 2020, sunspots may disappear for years, maybe decades.

But scientists say it is nothing to worry about. The effects from a calmer sun are mostly good. There'd be fewer disruptions of satellites and power systems. And it might mean a little less increase in global warming.

I wonder whether the Government's Chief Scientific Advisor has any view on this?

Ah, floods. They created the Grand Canyon, you know!

Creationist science

And always thought that Geologists were a level-headed bunch...

Front page of today's Guardian Website.
"Why extreme weather is the new norm"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/13/extreme-weather-flooding-droughts-fires

It's a sign of Global Warming apparently.

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