Archives - October 2007 It's Halloween so we've brought you a thought from Henry Payne... ... and something really
scary from Forbes. Greenies terrorizing the children: "Environmentalists:
make it 'Hallowgreen'" - "Conservation groups urges buyers to support eco-friendly
Halloween" (The Wildcat) "Happy
Trick-or-Treating!" - "Predictably, the alarm bells began weeks ago, as sugar-fearing writers
began advising parents to “just say no to Halloween candy” and for everyone else to play a trick on the kids
that come to their doors." (Junkfood Science) "Inconveniently, climate alarmists are
wrong" - "Evidence suggests that much of our concern about global climate change - and calls for
government action - may be misplaced. No matter what we do, climate will continue to change, as it always has,
warming and cooling periodically for various reasons. We are not in the midst of a crisis. "Betting on
the Climate: An expert forecaster challenges Al Gore to a bet" - "The release of Al Gore’s
power point presentation put to film, An Inconvenient Truth, was probably the highpoint of a decades-long campaign
to convince people that they are destroying the planet, and to avoid disaster must give up much of what makes life
pleasant. As is generally the case with such campaigns, it is difficult to sustain such a high pitch over time
without being tuned out, especially when the climate doesn’t cooperate (there’s been no warming since 1998). "IPCC
too blinkered and corrupt to save" - "Vincent Gray has begun a second career as a climate-change
activist. His motivation springs from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body that
combats global warming by advocating the reduction of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Dr. Gray has
worked relentlessly for the IPCC as an expert reviewer since the early 1990s. "Global Warming
Debunked" - "Despite the oft-repeated claim that the science is settled that man-made global
warming is threatening the planet and that a there is a consensus on that contention among most scientists, a
number of top members of the scientific community across the globe vehemently disagree. An Interview
with Joe Bastardi -- Update: In Joe Bastardi's column from Wednesday night he voices his frustration about
the idea that global warming is being blamed for so many disasters lately. An interesting read....here it is (AccuWeather) SEC Petitioned to Require
Companies to Disclose Risk of Global Warming Regulation; Free Enterprise Action Fund Says Companies Risk
Earnings While Keeping Shareholders in the Dark - WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 -- The Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) should take immediate steps to require publicly-owned corporations to reveal the potential harm caused by
global warming regulations on earnings and shareholder value, says the Free Enterprise Action Fund (Ticker: FEAOX),
a publicly-traded mutual fund. "Labor sees the light on
next Kyoto phase" - "IT came direct from Kevin Rudd's mouth: the Labor Party cannot commit to
ratify a post-2012 second Kyoto period unless Australia's conditions are met. "Closing the
climate change policy gap: Labor finally admits the Government was right all along" - "THE
uncomfortable facts about climate change have forced Labor to admit the inconvenient truth about its own position
on global warming. If Labor wins office, Mr Rudd may find himself in the same position for which Labor has long
criticised the Howard Government, refusing to ratify a post-Kyoto agreement because it does not include developing
nations such as China and India." (The Australian) "Rudd seeks climate
control" - "KEVIN Rudd has tried to restore order to Labor's chaotic climate change policy by
"absolutely" refusing to ratify the post-Kyoto agreement unless China and India sign on." (The
Australian) Funny spoof: Kevin Rudd - Chinese Propaganda Video:
"Labor's beds are
burning" - "I DON'T know if global warming will destroy the earth, but it is already frying
brains. Stupid is as stupid does: "Corzine
signs climate change pact" - "LISBON, Portugal -- Governor Corzine dashed across the Atlantic on
Monday to join an international coalition that is waging a battle against global warming — and to vault New
Jersey into the forefront of the fight. "Media’s
New Motto: All Societal Problems Caused by Global Warming" - "As America ends a second
consecutive below-average hurricane season since Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" incorrectly forecast
greater and stronger tropical storms due to global warming, it's become apparent that media are trying new
strategies to scare the public into believing the hysteria." (News Busters) Oh boy... "Rhode
Island readies for sea-level rise" - "A prominent climate change expert has praised Rhode
Island’s Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) for being one of the first state agencies to draft
regulations preparing for sea-level rise." (Block Island Times) ... Michael Oppenheimer. At least at Princeton he's toned down somewhat from claiming
200-foot sea level rises as he did during the 20+ years he spent with Environmental Defense (then EDF). Not that
his current nitwittery is any less damaging. "Arctic
Sea-Ice: Another Hockey Stick?" - "This figure, labeled as “Sea-ice Extent: Northern
Hemisphere” was presented by Al Gore in the book version of his science (fiction) movie An Inconvenient Truth.
But is this depiction of the Arctic sea ice extent over the course of the 20th century even close to reality? "Evidence Of Cooling?"
- "As tropical storm Noel heads for the U.S., we recall how we were warned that global warming would increase
the number and power of hurricanes. Yet the 2007 season is the mildest in 30 years." (IBD) "Balloon changes may hurt forecasting: New
location, sensor could reduce accuracy" - "Decades of careful local weather record keeping and
the ability to predict monsoon thunderstorms may have been compromised by changes in the way data are collected
from twice-daily weather-balloon launches, a National Weather Service veteran says. NO
"Consensus" on "Man-Made" Global Warming (Popular Technology) "Global
warming or paranoia?" - “One should never extrapolate about climate change from any single weather
event or season,” writes New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman this Sunday before devoting his entire column
to doing exactly that." (Henry Payne, Planet Gore) "Climate
change is not man-made: farmers" - "Most farmers believe climate change is a natural phenomenon
and not man-made, senior delegates to a farmers' conference say. Despite the idiot title... "Aust
won't be hit by climate change tsunamis: research" - "ELEANOR HALL: When it comes to the threats
menacing the planet it's rare to hear any good news but scientists gathering in Melbourne to discuss the risk to
Australia of extreme natural events will receive some today. ... the interviewees do not associate tsunamis with gorebull warming. "Merkel Asks India to Do
More on Climate Change" - "NEW DELHI - German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged India, one of the
world's biggest polluters, to do more to combat climate change on Tuesday, saying her country was willing to help
New Delhi make progress." (Reuters) "Germany to Use CO2 Funds
to Help Developing Nations" - "LUXEMBOURG - Germany will use part of the proceeds it gets from
selling carbon permits to industry from 2008 to help support the fight against climate change in developing
nations, Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said." (Reuters) "Third Phase of EU Carbon
Trading to go Through 2020" - "LUXEMBOURG - The third phase of the European Union's emissions
trading scheme will run from 2013 to 2020, an official said on Tuesday, as EU ministers prepared for a crucial
round of international climate change talks." (Reuters) Why? So they can pretend all by themselves? "Western Canada's Glaciers Hit 7000-Year Low"
- "Tree stumps at the feet of Western Canadian glaciers are providing new insights into the accelerated rates
at which the rivers of ice have been shrinking due to human-aided global warming." (Geological Society of
America) Been warming and glaciers have been retreating since the end of the last great
glaciation, eh? There's a shock. From CO2 Science
this week: Medieval
Warm Period Record of the Week: Subject Index Summary: Plant Growth Data: Journal Reviews: 1400 Years of Climate
Variability in the Gulf of Mexico: Closing in on a solar-induced global Medieval Warm Period at least as warm
as today. The Progressive Nitrogen
Limitation Hypothesis: An important new analysis of four forest FACE studies proves the concept's undoing. Forest Response to Predicted
CO2-Induced Climate Change in the Tianshan Mountains of China: What are the individual
growth enhancements provided by the predicted changes in CO2, temperature, and
precipitation? ... and what is the overall response to the simultaneous increases in all three factors? Effects of Rising Atmospheric
CO2 Concentrations on Growth and Nitrogen Fixation in Trichodesmium: What are
they? ... and what are their implications? Temperature
Record of the Week: "Researcher
finds speed bumps add to greenhouse woes" - "Speed bumps - a Band-Aid solution for bad street
planning - not only fuel drivers' tempers and create noise pollution, they add greenhouse gases to the air we
breathe, says a new federal housing agency report." (Kathryn Young, CanWest News Service) Biofuels: a tale of special
interests and subsidies Energy security and climate change are two of the most significant challenges confronting humanity. What we
see, in response, is the familiar capture of policymaking by well-organised special interests. A superb example is
the flood of subsidies for biofuels. These are farm programmes masquerading as answers to energy insecurity and
climate change. Not surprisingly, they have the depressing characteristics of such programmes: high protection,
open-ended support to producers, and indifference to economic rationality. "Wind
Power's other unreliability problem" - "People have written at length concerning the numerous
failings, weakness and drawbacks of the government push for wind power. Most feel that the greatest weakness of
windpower is its unreliability or, more accurately, its intermittency. "Renewable Energy
Australia" - "Given the extravagant election promises regarding reductions of greenhouse
emissions and greater renewable energy, does it come a surprise that the percentage of electricity coming from
renewable resources has less than halved in the last 40 years? I guess not." (Gust of Hot Air) "Sustainable development a huge
failure in Canada: audit" - "A decade-old plan to introduce sustainable development strategies
and green thinking into the Canadian government's daily work has failed miserably, the environment commissioner
said Tuesday. "Preventing malaria in endemic
areas" - "About 40% of the world's population, most of whom live in the poorest countries, are
at risk from malaria. In Africa alone, malaria kills nearly a million children each year. Although we have the
tools to fight malaria, such as insecticides for indoor residual spraying, environmentalist campaigns and some ill
conceived decisions on public health policy have limited their use." (British Medical Journal)
Support the campaign against DDT scaremongering with a DDT T-shirt! "Update:
European Union Commission ban on MRIs postponed" - "Leading scientists were able to convince the
European Union Commission of the lack of scientific evidence behind its Directive that would have outlawed the use
of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for patients beginning this spring. JFS readers will remember that fears over
electromagnetic fields had led to a Directive setting ‘safe’ exposures so low that they would have made MRIs
illegal. "My extra muffin is my business,
not yours" - "Our columnist on the bizarre direction of the obesity debate" (Daniel
Finkelstein, London Times) "Herbs and healthy
livers" - "The pursuit of optimal nutrition, ‘wellness’ and slim bodies has become fertile
ground for the marketing of products, diets and regimens that promise “a lifetime of good health.” Herbal and
natural dietary and weight loss supplements can be alluring because they may seem safe. Three new studies,
however, have documented liver toxicity among healthy people using natural herbal supplements — more than 20
cases were just among Herbalife customers in two small countries." (Junkfood Science) "EU Clashes on Order for
Austria to Lift GMO Bans" - "LUXEMBOURG - EU ministers failed to agree on Tuesday whether to
order Austria to lift its bans on two genetically modified (GMO) maize types, passing the final decision back to
the European Commission, officials said." (Reuters) October 30, 2007
"Green proxies
to be red hot this season" - "Move over, Al Gore. With a record-breaking number of environmental
proxy proposals filed in 2007, shareholder groups are gearing up to blitz companies with even more green proposals
in 2008. This year, more than 80 environmental proposals were filed with public companies, 43 of them specific to
climate change compared with 31 in 2006. Environmental advocacy groups such as Ceres and the Social Investment
Forum say they are now preparing for an even bigger season in 2008, feeling chuffed from what they see as an
increase in shareholder support for such proposals and growing willingness by managers to negotiate changes before
a proxy vote." (Financial Week) Move over Al Gore? He might be talking a good game but he seems to have more sense than
to invest that way: Ozone Man ripping off would be 'green' investors? Al
Gore's Inconvenient Stock Portfolio Exposed; SEC Filing Raises Questions About the "Sustainability"
of Generation Investment Management's $438 Million Investment Fund, says JunkScience.com Washington, DC, October. 30, 2007 – Government filings by Al Gore’s investment management firm, Generation
Investment Management (GIM), indicate that the Nobel Peace Prize winner may be “talking the talk” but not
“walking the walk” when it comes to investing in so-called “sustainable” businesses. “Despite its widely publicized rhetoric, the Gore firm’s stock portfolio looks to be that of an ordinary
diversified mutual fund,” said JunkScience.com publisher Steve Milloy. “If this is ‘sustainable’
investing, then it is a meaningless term,” Milloy said. "Watchdog in
eco-spruiking inquiry" - "GREEN marketing claims on carbon offset schemes and other eco-branded
products will be investigated by the consumer watchdog, which has received a growing number of complaints from
individuals and companies." (The Australian) Something else we aren't too flash at forecasting: 2007
Yearly Tropical Cyclone Activity to Date (Ryan N. Maue, Florida State University) INHOFE,
BOXER DEBATE GLOBAL WARMING ON SENATE FLOOR - Inhofe Welcomes Debate, Refutes Boxer’s Attacks "Kyoto-Style Bill Rushing Quietly Through
Senate" - "Just last week conservatives cheered obvious progress in derailing the bipartisan
push to quietly adopt the sovereignty-eroding Law of the Sea Treaty or “LOST” that would collectivize the
world’s seabed resources (covering 70% of the earth’s surface), among other undesirable things. Senate
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell joined a rump group of pro-sovereignty Senators led by Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Trent
Lott (R-Miss.) to tell the White House that this is one “legacy” item that they should give up on. Their
message was echoed by Republican presidential candidates Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney. Several people have queried why we didn't cover this (because it's merely weather) but
TRF has obliged: "Resurrection
of Austria's doomed ski resorts" - "Last year, we would be reading dozens of articles arguing
that ski resorts in the Alps are doomed because of climate change. For example, The
New York Times wrote in December 2006: This season is certainly shaping up as a nonclassic, but it may be a milestone of another kind. The record
warmth — in some places autumn temperatures were three degrees Celsius above average — has brought home the
profound threat of climate change to Europe’s ski industry. Well, the warming comrade has missed a pretty good investment. Snow has returned to the doomed ski resorts.
They opened one month earlier than planned. Some slopes already hold more than one meter of snow. The EU can stop getting excited... "Garrett's
blunder on Kyoto" - "PETER Garrett's political credentials were in tatters last night after
Kevin Rudd forced his environment spokesman to issue a humiliating clarification of Labor's greenhouse gas policy. ... even if the Howard Government falls in November, Labor cannot blindly sign onto
suicidal Kyoto emissions caps. "New
Research Suggests that Emissions Reductions May Be a Risky and Very Expensive Way to Avoid Dangerous Global
Climate Changes" (.pdf) - "Abstract: Proponents of greenhouse gas emissions reductions have long
assumed that such reductions are the best approach to global climate change control and sometimes argued that they
are the least risky approach. It is now generally understood that to be effective such reductions would have to
involve most of the world and be very extensive and rapidly implemented. This paper examines the question of
whether it is feasible to use only this approach to control dangerous global climate changes, the most critical of
the climate change control objectives. I show that in one of two critical cases analyzed recent papers provide
evidence that such an approach is not a feasible single approach to avoiding the dangerous climate changes
predicted by a very prominent group of US climate change researchers. In the other case using a widely accepted
international standard I show that such an approach appears to be very risky and much more expensive than
previously thought. These conclusions further reinforce previous research that emissions reductions alone do not
appear to be an effective and efficient single strategy for climate change control. So although emissions
reductions can play a useful role in climate change control, other approaches would appear to be needed if
dangerous climate changes are to be avoided. This conclusion suggests that the current proposals in a number of
Western European countries and the United States to use emissions reductions as the sole means to control global
warming may be doomed to failure in terms of avoiding such dangerous changes. An alternative approach is briefly
discussed that would be more effective and efficient, and could avoid the perilous risks and high costs inherent
in an emissions reduction only approach." (Alan Carlin, US Environmental Protection Agency) Stupid reporting of the moment: "Malaria
moves in behind the loggers" - "Deforestation and climate change are returning the
mosquito-borne disease to parts of Peru after 40 years" (The Guardian) Apart form malaria not being temperature-dependent Vidal's own leader destroys his
wished-for "global warming" association. With the parasite returning after 40 years then it very
obviously hasn't needed the alleged warming of the last three decades to do so, has it, since it was present in
cooler periods. What it really indicates is a need for vector suppression around logging camps and some decent
medical support for loggers so they do not reintroduce malaria where it was previously eradicated (or died out
for lack of hosts). That's the problem with this absurd gorebull warming fixation -- it blinds people to real
problems and practical solutions. Every dill has to get into the act! "Global
warming may hit kids harder, pediatrics group says" - "Global warming is likely to
disproportionately harm the health of children, and politicians should launch "aggressive policies" to
curb climate change, the American Academy of Pediatrics said today. And just what, might we ask, is the correct global temperature for raising children? Can ambulance-chasing lawyers now advertise class actions for children whose health
must have suffered because their parents did not move to whatever climate zone the AAP decides is ideal for kid
cooking? No? Then what is the matter with these twits? Kids have been successfully (read:
healthily) raised from the tropics to the Arctic Circle, from the deserts to the bayous and now they want to
claim an ideal global mean temperature"? A notion, by the way, which means exactly zip unless you live at
that mythical place "Global Mean". Is there no end to gorebull warming silliness? "Unprecedented global measurement network achieves
full coverage of oceans" - "An array of instruments, many built at Scripps Institution of
Oceanography at UC San Diego, that allows scientists to observe the basic physical state of all world oceans
simultaneously is approaching its coverage goal after eight years of deployments. This is an excellent effort and soon we'll have some baseline data. If the effort is
maintained then in a mere century or two we should have a much clearer picture of ocean cycles and trends. "Britain Says May Propose
Deeper Carbon Cuts" - "LONDON - Britain held out the possibility on Monday of deeper reductions
to its carbon emissions than the 60 percent cut by 2050 it has already announced, saying it would seek the advice
of a new watchdog on whether to go further." (Reuters) "Benn announces 'stronger'
climate change bill" - "The government today announced a "stronger, more effective and more
transparent" climate change bill, following a period of public consultation and scrutiny." (Guardian
Unlimited) "Government accused
over emissions bill" - "Green groups and opposition politicians rounded on the government
yesterday for not imposing tighter limits on carbon emissions in its amendment to the climate change bill - and
claimed that airlines and shipping firms, two of the biggest polluters, had been let off the hook." (The
Guardian) "Significant
Urban Heat Island in Melbourne" - "We showed previously how much Melbourne temperatures have
been increasing. But how much of this is due to global warming and how much is due to the fact that it is situated
near a 6 lane road, high skyscrapers and street lights lighting it up at night? Perhaps we'd better explain... "TAKING
CO2 SERIOUSLY" - "Life is deadly. All living things that breathe oxygen burn their food and emit
poisonous CO2 as a pollutant. With every breath they contribute to the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere,
and, hence, to global warming. And yet, for all the frantic formulas floating around aimed at the reduction of CO2
emissions, particularly through limitations on the burning of fossils fuels (dead living things), little attention
has been paid to this obvious other source (still living things). Rough calculations suggest that CO2 emissions
from the burning of fossil fuels are dwarfed by the emissions from these living things, including human beings.
Emissions from human metabolism alone, assuming a world population of six billion people and an averaging of their
state of activity, are estimated to be equivalent to approximately half of 1990 fossil fuel emissions. Add to
these human sources the CO2 emissions from all other creatures on the planet, including plants which respire as
well as photosynthesize, and the total amount of emissions from living things is staggering." (David F. Noble
and Denis G. Rancourt, Activist Climate Guy) ... since this piece of satire has been brought to our attention a few times and is
currently exciting another little flurry of attention. While we have had some fun in the past pointing to the
exhalations of the UK population it's a joke -- there is no net increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide from
respiration, just a trivial change in the natural cycling rate. We expect people to have a little chuckle when
we slip in such items, our small contribution to alleviating the perpetual doom and gloom of ecochondria and we
think you should do the same as these Left-wing nuts do likewise. Smile or roll your eyes but these guys aren't serious, seriously. "Where
cooler heads prevail" - "Is there really anything new to be said about climate change? Hasn't
the issue become the public-policy equivalent of Groundhog Day, with the same arguments playing out in the same
way every week? "More
Hysterical Claims Bush Censoring Climate Change Information" - "Do you find it amazing that the
same media doing everything possible to ignore global warming skeptics whilst almost exclusively focusing
attention on entities advancing climate change hysteria (i.e. Al Gore) are constantly accusing the Bush
administration of censorship regarding this issue?" (News Busters) "'Today' Tries
Carbon-Belching Publicity Stunt for Global Warming Awareness" - "Lauer, Roker and Curry travel
to extremes 'to find out what's going on with the world's climate.'" (Jeff Poor, Business & Media
Institute) "The Fires This Time" -
"Blame California's mega-fires on global warming. Or at least that's what Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
(D-NV) said last week in the Hill. Uncomfortably plausible: "California
Wildfire Victims Face Fines" - "[Sacramento, CA] As the devastating fires of Southern California
finally succumb to the heroic efforts of 8,000 firefighters, weary and broken survivors return to their homes to
assess losses and rebuild if they can. They may have a nasty surprise waiting for them, though... millions in
environmental fines. In the virtual realm: "Human-generated
ozone will damage crops" - "An MIT study concludes that increasing levels of ozone due to the
growing use of fossil fuels will damage global vegetation, resulting in serious costs to the world's
economy." (MIT) I haven't just seen the complete study, specifically what emission scenarios were used,
but most such are as ridiculous as IPCC storylines and thus of no value to anyone. "US Survey Ties Biofuels
to High Food Costs, Hunger" - "CINCINNATI - Six in 10 Americans believe the use of corn to make
ethanol has raised food prices and caused more people to go hungry, the latest evidence of a growing global
backlash against alternative "green" fuels." (Reuters) "Windy
claims for wind farms exposed" - "The latest VENCorp annual planning report has yet more bad
news for wind farms." (Gust of Hot Air) "No real alternative to oil: Rise
in demand seems unavoidable" - "PARIS: During the early 1930s, when oil prospecting in the Gulf
was in its infancy, George Lees, chief geologist for the Anglo Persian Oil Company, proclaimed that he would drink
all the commercial oil that might be discovered in Bahrain. "Mud, sweat and
tears" - "The vast tar sands of Alberta in Canada hold oil reserves six times the size of Saudi
Arabia's. But this 'black gold' is proving a mixed blessing for the frontier town of Fort McMurray, fuelling both
prosperity and misery. As the social and environmental toll mounts, Aida Edemariam reports on the dark side of a
boom town." (The Guardian) "Amazonian Swindle"
- "Daryl Hannah goes to Ecuador and gets in over her head." (Bret Stephens, Opinion Journal) Gotta admit they've done a good job of deceiving people into believing CO2
is "pollution": "Opposition
takes on coal plants" - "BLAKELY, Ga. — Sammy Prim says he always thought environmentalists
were "a little bit nutty." And if they can't stop power generation through gorebull warming scares just move on
to the old standby nonsense: "Power
plants are focus of drive to cut mercury" - "Despite decades of government attempts to regulate
it, ban it and erase it from household use, the poisonous metal mercury remains a threat to the environment and
public health, especially to children and to women of childbearing age." (Larry Wheeler, Gannett News
Service) "Insecticide Spraying a Must Against
Malaria" - " A few countries in Africa, especially in southern Africa, have started campaigns to
spray pesticides on the insides of houses. Experts say it can be extremely effective in curbing the mosquitoes
that spread malaria when used alongside other strategies, including distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets,
widespread medical treatment, and preventative drugs for pregnant women. Support the campaign against DDT scaremongering with a DDT T-shirt! "'Microplastics' may pose previously unrecognized
pollution threat" - "Microscopic particles of plastic debris that litter marine environments may
pose a previously unrecognized threat to marine animals by attracting, holding, and transporting water pollutants,
a new study by British researchers is reporting. It is scheduled for the Nov. 15 issue of ACS' Environmental
Science & Technology." (ACS) Moonbat's haunted... "Civilisation
ends with a shutdown of human concern. Are we there already?" - "A powerful novel's vision of a
dystopian future shines a cold light on the dreadful consequences of our universal apathy" (George Monbiot,
The Guardian) ... and coming up Halloween, too! How appropriate. Actually, we've long suspected
George suffered from a bit of a reality problem and his reaction to a novel hardly dispels that impression. "Dinosaur Deaths Outsourced to India?"
- "A series of monumental volcanic eruptions in India may have killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, not
a meteor impact in the Gulf of Mexico. The eruptions, which created the gigantic Deccan Traps lava beds of India,
are now the prime suspect in the most famous and persistent paleontological murder mystery, say scientists who
have conducted a slew of new investigations honing down eruption timing." (Geological Society of America) "Experts
Debunk Media Myth That Americans Lag in Science and Math" - "Americans have fallen behind in
science in math and can't compete globally, right? Well, not according to Vivek Wadhwa's October 26 BusinessWeek
article, which the media have conveniently ignored." (News Busters) "Junk Food
or Junk Science? (Round 1)" - "In my post complaining about the food police, I approvingly
quoted Jeff, a reader who argued for our right to order what we want at McDonald’s even though we know it’s
unhealthy. That prompted a rejoinder from Gary Taubes, the author of “Good Calories, Bad Calories” (which I
wrote about in a Findings column about cascades)." (John Tierney, New York Times) “Adults
today are more active than their parents were” - "When it comes to exercise, we believe more is
better and moderation is rarely mentioned in the same breath. We are told that exercise is a win-win situation and
that getting everyone to exercise 60 to 90 minutes a day will guarantee better health and reduce healthcare costs.
This belief forgets the other side of the calculation: the growing costs resulting from overuse injuries and joint
damage sustained during high-impact activities." (Junkfood Science) "EU GM crop area
expands" - "Genetically modified (GM) crops, all maize, were grown on more than 100,000ha
(250,000 acres) in the EU last year – a 77% increase on the 2006 figure." (Farmers Weekly) "EU environment ministers gear up for heated GMO debate"
- "BRUSSELS – EU environment ministers are gearing up for a heated debate, which should conclude on the
future of a ban on two GMO-maize varieties in Austria - something with great implications for the union's dispute
on GMOs at the World Trade Organisation. October 29, 2007
A
Hell Of A Scare - One of the joys of a Saturday remains reading Simon Hoggart’s column in The
Guardian, and today he doesn’t disappoint: ‘Comic Vignettes and Miniature Kebabs’. He has a marvellous
passage on the concept of ‘The Great Scare’ with some hellishly good observations: (Global Warming Politics)
Eye-roller: "California
Wildfires and Global Warming" - "Across the West, Major Wildfires are More Frequent and Intense
Due to Climate Change" (Dan Shapley, Daily Green) Honest responses put most "blame" at the door of decades of fire suppression
and fuel buildup for intense fires. Coupled with people placing assets in fire-prone regions you have a recipe
for large, expensive fires... "Man vs. Wild" -
"The fires in Southern California -- now having damaged more than 1,700 homes and blackened more than 500,000
acres -- are mainly burning in chaparral and coastal sage scrub, the native vegetation of the canyons and
mountains. Historically, fires in these ecosystems burned through an area every 35-100 years, part of a normal
ecological cycle -- so-called "crown fires" that fully consumed the vegetation and began the growth
process anew. "The Fires Next Time: Welcome to
the Wildland Urban Interface." - "Cooler temperatures and weaker Santa Ana winds have enabled
firefighters to gain a measure of control over the blazes in Southern California. And state officials are
optimistic that the worst is behind them. But estimated property damage exceeds $1 billion--a result in part of
too many people living in fire-prone areas. "Warming scares
and wildfires" - "Columnist Paul Simons, at the London Times, is blaming global warming for the
fires in southern California. He says that “much of the western US has been in drought for almost a decade. That
has helped to stoke up the wildfires and much worse. Forget talk of what global warming might do in 50 years’
time -- large swaths of the West are parched dry as temperatures grow warmer....” Democratic Senator Harry Reid
made similar claims: "One reason why we have the fires in California is global warming." "La
Nina and the Oceans Are Behind The California Drought and Fires" - "While the networks and some
politicians are implying global warming is to blame for the fires in the southwest, the unfortunate fires can be
explained very nicely by natural factors. La Ninas are more frequent when the Pacific Decadal Oscillation is in
its cold phase. The Pacific was in that phase from 1947 to 1977 and then briefly from 1998 to 2001 (with 3 of 4
years in La Nina). It has returned back to the cold phase in recent months and a moderate La Nina has
ensued." (Joseph D’Aleo, CCM) "La
Ninas Bring More Severe Weather Outbreaks in Both Hemispheres?" - "When I was Dr. Dewpoint for
Intellicast, I found and reported that the monthly records for most tornadoes from the fall through the spring
were in La Nina years. The worst tornado outbreak, The Superoutbreak of 1974” came after one of the strongest La
Ninas." (Icecap) The
UN, Eeyore, And Ecochondria - “O me, oh my!” Not another UN report predicting the end of the world as
we know it. Malthus rides again. Neo-Malthus has clearly become the fifth man of the Apocalypse. Regrettably,
there is also some poor, uncritical journalism on this, even by Mark Henderson in The Times. He, at least,
normally exhibits more historical contingency. The interpretation of some of the figures is just bizarre. To take
but one example: 75,000 people die from natural disasters per annum. If only that had always been the case!
Historically, there have been many years in which we know that the death toll from natural disasters was in the
millions - nay, over the 50 millions. Here are a few, just for the record: 1348; 1353; 1520; 1556 1917; 1929; and
1936. 75,000! Whilst regretting each individual death, we should be rejoicing at the low number, especially when
you take total population into account. (Global Warming Politics) "Malthus' Minions"
- "Not content with its dubious fight over global warming, the United Nations now says humanity itself is
causing irreversible environmental damage. Haven't we heard this kind of thing before?" (IBD) Bizarre: "James
Lovelock: Reducing emissions could speed global warming" - "A rapid cutback in greenhouse gas
emissions could speed up global warming, the veteran environmental maverick James Lovelock will warn in a lecture
today. Ever more outrageous. IPCC AR4 WG1 reckoned on -0.5 Wm-2 for direct
effect aerosols and roughly -0.75 Wm-2 for cloud albedo effect, which totaled even at the IPCC's
absurdly high sensitivity of 0.75 ± 0.25 °C/Wm-2 only yields about a degree
(impossibly high, of course, with a realistic value of about 0.1 °C). Lord only knows where Lovelock found
the rest of the alleged cooling from aerosols but the IPCC sure doesn't know about it. From the rubber room: "Rapid
global warming will create famine and drought, Lovelock warns" - "Climate change is happening
faster than anyone predicted and its consequences could be dire for the survival of civilisation in the 21st
century because of the chaos it will cause in terms of famine, drought and mass migration, according to a leading
scientist. "It's too late
for greenhouse gas cuts, says scientist" - "Cutting greenhouse gases and switching to
sustainable development are unlikely to prevent disasters caused by climate change, one of the world's most
respected environmentalists warns today. Oh... "Climate
change cannot be bargained with" - "Our half-hearted measures are as dangerous as the 1930s
appeasement of Hitler" (The Guardian) ... but Hitler actually existed as a threat whereas the populist notion of
"climate change" (AGW, actually catastrophic anthropogenic enhanced-greenhouse but never mind) does
not. Only the virtual realm of model-generated fantasy is at risk from AGW. Partly right but for the wrong reasons: "SCIENCE:
Earth climate is too complex to predict" - "SCIENCE magazine just published a critical
review of climate models by Professors Gerald Roe and Marcia Baker of the University of Washington, Seattle.
It is echoed in the New Scientist magazine (October 25). As New Scientist puts it, "Climate is
too complex for accurate predictions." No, we don't mean Lewis but rather the underlying study. It is not that Earth's climate
sensitivity is so hard to work out but that models do such a poor job of representing Earth's climate that
wiggle-fitting modelers "adjust" the sensitivity parameter defined by the IPCC: "The climate
sensitivity parameter (global mean surface temperature response ΔTs to the radiative
forcing ΔF) is defined as: ΔTs / ΔF = λ" and
they do this to make their models' output match empirically-measured time series. Using the values from Earth’s
Annual Global Mean Energy Budget (Kiehl and Trenberth, 1997) produces a λ value of ~0.1 K
per Wm-2, as does using values
derived by Professor Roger Pielke, Sr. and this is in agreement with the sensitivity derived by Idso in
eight natural experiments described in CO2-induced
global warming: a skeptic’s view of potential climate change. (Climate sensitivity is described in
greater detail here.) Climate models, however, generally crash into representing ice age conditions with such
low sensitivity parameter settings and so modelers use values 5-10 times higher to solve the problem of unstable
unforced control runs. Sadly it is both easier and more lucrative to keep quiet about such a huge kludge
overcooking the control runs and cry "crisis" on the basis of complete garbage output. What would be
truly remarkable would be projected climate states that weren't wildly overcooked simply because the
sensitivity parameter has been cranked off the scale. Climate models are process models, quite useful for helping us work out what might
drive some observed phenomena but worse than useless for predicting likely future climate states. "Big
Media only go green on warming" - "Al Gore hasn't secretly bought every mainstream media news
outlet, has he? 2007
– Global Warming Alarmism Reaches A “Tipping Point” (Sen. James Inhofe, SPPI) "Climate
change 'causes big health risks'" - "As global warming continues there will be more Australians
dying from heart attacks and strokes, and more cases of asthma and food poisoning, a new report shows.
"How serious are we about global warming?" - "GLOBAL warming warrior and new Nobel Laureate Al Gore went time travelling this week, imagining himself in conversation with our children and grandchildren as they reflect on 2007 - the year he is convinced will be pivotal to defining their future." (Jo Chandler, The Age)
Certainly affects cloudiness: "Land
clearing blamed for climate change" - "Land clearing has led to climate change in Australia, a
University of Queensland-led report says. "Be wary of climate policy
development" - "Imagine you are an advocacy group and want to sway a government's policy
development, but really want to keep your activism a secret. You could learn a lot by observing and then avoiding
the practices of the Center for Climate Strategies, a group of global warming worrywarts. Twenty Twenty-Four - The enormous telescreen flashed into life, accompanied by the percussive sounds of a-tonal music, dark and brooding. The Hate had started. (Global Warming Politics) Now available in .html format online: Trenberth’s Twenty-Three Scientific Errors (Christopher Monckton of Brenchley) "Africa: Low Yields 'Due to Wary Farmers, Not
Climate Change'" - "Low crop yields in Africa is not due to climate change but rather farmers
failing to exploit opportunities in wetter years, says a Kenya-based scientist. Killing Kyoto - I have just returned from speaking to over 300 members of the Women’s Institute, the WI. There was more common sense in that hall than in most of our politicians put together. And what a practical, down-to-earth approach they have towards ‘green’ issues. It is always a pleasure to be asked to address them. Some ‘superior’ folk, of course, like to play down the WI, because they have a membership largely of older women (not true these days anyway), whose views tend to be marginalised by ‘modern’ trendy society. I say give me their experience and values any day. By contrast, our political classes appear to have gone quite loopy (UHT milk indeed!). (Global Warming Politics) Meanwhile: "Britain Needs Climate Change Minister - Report" - "LONDON - Britain should have a cabinet rank climate change minister and a powerful new coordinating body to manage its somewhat haphazard and conflicting climate policies, a parliamentary committee said on Monday." (Reuters) "EU Cuts Industrial Carbon Emissions Quota 10 Pct" - "BRUSSELS - European industry will have to to emit 10 percent less carbon dioxide than governments had wanted from 2008-12, after the European Commission tried to put the bloc back on track to meet its Kyoto targets on Friday." (Reuters) "EU: France, Britain to Propose Reduced Green VAT" - "BRUSSELS - France and Britain will make a proposal for reduced rates of value-added tax (VAT) on energy-efficient goods at a meeting of European Union finance ministers next month, the European Commission said on Friday." (Reuters) "MPs call for 'super department'
on climate change" - "A senior Minister should be given responsibility for leading Britain's
effort to tackle the threat of global warming and made answerable to the public on the issue, MPs said today.
"Warming Revives Flora and Fauna in Greenland" - "As the climate warms, Greenlandic farmers are experimenting with vegetables that have previously never been grown in the country." (New York Times) "Less Arctic ice means higher risks, experts warn" - "The International Ice Charting Working Group predicts more marine transportation in the Arctic as sea ice continues to diminish and warns of "significant hazards to navigation," according to a statement released yesterday." (ESA) "Settling
on an unstable Alaskan shore: A warning unheeded" - "An intense storm struck the northwestern
tip of Alaska during the fall of 1963. This storm caused over 3 million dollars in damage, primarily to the U.S.
Government research camp that was located at Barrow, AK, as 55mph winds (gusting to 75mph) and waves topping 10
feet pushed a storm surge over the 10 foot high protective beach. The storm hit during an unusual ice-free period
in early October—the primary reason why the seas grew to such damaging heights. During most months there, near
shore sea ice coverage is sufficient to dampen (or prevent entirely) the build up of significant wave heights.
James Hume and Marshall Schalk, described the damage from the 1963 storm in an article written for the journal
Arctic in 1967 and based upon historical weather records and the recollection of Inuit elders, reckoned that the
storm was about a “200 year” storm. "Handicapping the
Environmental Gold Rush" - "The green stampede is on. "Fearing Fuel" - "With oil reaching an all-time high of $92 a barrel, it's long past time for more investment in domestic production. Yet the Democratic Congress is keen on reducing investment with new taxes on oil companies." (IBD) "Be a "Non-Flying Dutchman" to Avoid Climate Doom" - "AMSTERDAM - A Dutch environment group launched a campaign on Friday called "Proud to be a non-Flying Dutchman" to get the travel-happy Dutch to reduce their air miles for the sake of the climate." (Reuters) Jim's all tipsy again: "No to coal: NASA climatologist calls for no more coal plants to avoid global warming tipping point." - "Before approving a costly and irreversible program to build a new generation of coal-fired power plants, Texas officials should carefully study the statements of James Hansen. He's the director of the New York City-based NASA Institute for Space Studies and one of the first scientists to speak out on the threat of global warming caused by man-made greenhouse gases." (Houston Chronicle) "Coal Use Grows Despite Warming Worries"
- "Almost nonstop, gargantuan 145-ton trucks rumble through China's biggest open-pit coal mine, sending up
clouds of soot as they dump their loads into mechanized sorters. "Indonesia Seeks Allies for Pay-for-Forests Plan" - "The Indonesian government spent much of the past week recruiting countries to join it in pressing richer nations to provide incentives to reduce carbon emissions." (New York Times) "UN Food Expert Seeks 5-Year Moratorium on Biofuels" - "UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food called on Friday for a five-year moratorium on biofuels, saying it was a "crime against humanity" to convert food crops to fuel." (Reuters) "The race for biofuels driving alternative sources of biomass" - "Researchers have been studying fuels from biomass for years. Now, with growing dependency on foreign oils and an energy-conscious society emerging, biofuels are fast becoming part of a fuel revolution that could reach pumps all across America." (Crop Science Society of America) "Green Regs Cutting US Fuel Production - Tesoro" - "NEW YORK - Environmental rules cutting sulfur content in gasoline and diesel have made the US refining sector "much less reliable" and slashed domestic fuel production as prices soar, the chief economist of Tesoro Corp. said Thursday." (Reuters) "Logging Is Part of a Plan to Preserve 161,000 Acres In the Adirondacks Purchased by a Conservation Group" - "After purchasing a vast unbroken wilderness in Adirondack Park which only loggers and a few hunters have ever seen, the Nature Conservancy will not preserve it all as public land." (New York Times) "Vaccines and Autism" -
"Dangerous vaccines that harm kids. An epidemic of disabled children, hurt by an uncaring medical
establishment. Again... "Cut salt in food, Ottawa told" - "Urgent action is needed by government and industry to reduce sodium in foods eaten by Canadians, to prevent death and disability from stroke and heart disease, a coalition of health organizations said today." (CP) "Epidemics by definition" - "There must be a health crisis to bring the greatest funding for research, treatments and education... even if an epidemic has to be created. One of the most common tactics is to change the definition. When diagnostic criteria is broadened, suddenly, with the stroke of a pen, new cases can appear to explode in number." (Junkfood Science) "GI — more ‘bad carb’ myths" - "One of the more popularized beliefs is that you can give yourself type 2 diabetes by eating sugars or ‘bad carbs’ because they cause blood sugars and insulin levels to surge. No matter how many times researchers have shown this not to be the case, myths surrounding dietary sugars and carbohydrates, especially those that come in the color white, continue, with each generation 'refining' their explanations." (Junkfood Science) "Being smart does not make one right" - "Question authority” was once the young people’s code, but it’s falling by the wayside as people of all ages more readily accept as fact whatever someone with a prestigious title, notable academic credentials or distinguished awards might say. But no amount of education or recognitions makes someone’s views credible." (Junkfood Science) "Predictions are just guesses" - "All of these government doomsday predictions have become so preposterous, the best thing for our sanity can be to laugh. Humor often offers more truth than government statistics, as this piece by Mike Bentley for the York Press reveals:" (Junkfood Science) "More naive than Innocent -
this green boast belongs in the bin" - "The Goodall household is well trained: compostable
products get put on the compost heap; plastic bottles end up in the recycling bin. Where should Innocent's new
smoothie bottles made from biodegradable corn starch go? Surprisingly the answer is, into a landfill site. "Biotech deaths
may already total millions" - "The global conflict over high-yield farming became even uglier
earlier this month when armed activists "for the landless" invaded a Brazilian biotech research farm.
One activist and a security guard were killed and eight other people injured. October 26, 2007 "California Fire Smokescreen" - "Are climate alarmists using the Southern California wildfires to fan the flames of global warming?" (Steven Milloy, FoxNews.com) "Fox News Reports, Networks Ignore Consequences of Not Clearing Brush" - "Fox News, just as Glenn Beck previously, picked up on an observation that the rest of the mainstream media largely ignored: brush left in place under environmental groups’ pressure fueled much of the fires in southern California." (News Busters) "Global warming not a factor in wildfires" - "Southern California has long been plagued by wind and drought, but climate change may make for a drier future, scientists say." (Alan Zarembo, Los Angeles Times) CNN's Planet In Peril is drawing fire - we've had several correspondents highlight false
assertions, the most common being 40% loss of Greenland's ice sheet in the past 40 years. This is of course utter
nonsense (people would have noticed a sea level rise of ~8 feet since 1967, don't you think?). Presumably Cooper
has confused Arctic sea ice with Greenland's land-borne ice shield but the differences are profound. To reduce
Greenland's ice shield to that extent, according to IPCC estimates, would require a sustained warming of >5 °C
for something over a thousand years. "CNN’s ‘Planet in Peril’ Fails to Mention Soros Funding of NASA Scientist" - "CNN’s special “worldwide investigation” “Planet in Peril,” in two segments looking at the debate amongst politicians and scientists on whether climate change is a man-made phenomenon, failed to mention that NASA scientist Dr. James Hansen, one the scientists featured in the second segment, has received funding from George Soros, while mentioning that “second biggest contributors to [global warming skeptic Senator James] Inhofe's Senate office are energy and natural resource companies.” (News Busters) Following on from yesterday's observations: "Trenberth’s Twenty-Three Scientific Errors in One Short Article" (.pdf) - "Kevin Trenberth (Rocky Mountain News, October 24), commenting on Mike Rosen’s article expressing legitimate doubts about the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Al Gore, makes 23 scientific mistakes, each of which falls in the direction of magnifying the unjustifiable alarm stoked by panicky politicians and extravagantly-funded environmentalists in cahoots with a shrinking clique of scientists in denial of observational climate data." (Christopher Monckton of Brenchley, SPPI) "La Nina Seen Bringing Mild US Winter, Dry Summer" - "CHICAGO - The La Nina weather phenomenon will usher in a mild US winter, expand the Southeast drought and may bring dryness to the Midwest next summer that could cause corn and soy crops to struggle a little, meteorologists said." (Reuters) "An
Interview with Joe Bastardi" - "In part one of her interview, Katie Fehlinger sits down with our
own expert senior Meteorologist and hurricane specialist Joe Bastardi, who has strong opinions on climate change.
We would also like to hear your feedback. Do you agree or disagree with what Joe is saying? The Big Thaw - By JPL’s Son Nghiem
and Greg Neumann "Like it or not, uncertainty and climate change go hand in hand" - "Despite decades of ever more-exacting science projecting Earth's warming climate, there remains large uncertainty about just how much warming will actually occur." (University of Washington)
"Climate is too complex for accurate predictions" - "Climate change models, no matter how powerful, can never give a precise prediction of how greenhouse gases will warm the Earth, according to a new study." (NewScientist.com news service)
"Global warming debate at
Duquesne University pairs skeptic with believer" - "Two internationally respected scientists
with widely differing views on the controversial issue of global warming sparred with studies and charts in a
debate Thursday night at Duquesne University. "Environment Ministers Target 2009 Climate Treaty" - "BOGOR, Indonesia - An informal meeting of environment ministers in Indonesia has accepted the need for negotiations on a new treaty to fight climate change to be wrapped up by 2009, a UN official said on Thursday." (Reuters)
"Time to ditch Kyoto" - "Climate policy after 2012, when the Kyoto treaty expires, needs a radical rethink. More of the same won't do, argue Gwyn Prins and Steve Rayner." (Nature) "Climate change: Sarkozy backs
carbon tax, EU levy on non-Kyoto imports" - "French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday called
for a national "carbon tax" on global-warming pollutants and a European levy on imports from countries
outside the Kyoto Protocol. "CDC Director Says White House Didn't
Dilute Climate Testimony" - "ATLANTA-- Julie Gerberding, the director of the federal Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, defended Wednesday her congressional testimony on the health effects of climate
change earlier this week. "'Today' Blames Rise of Food Allergies on Global Warming" - "Is there any strife in the world the "Today" show isn't going to blame on global warming? Last week NBC's Ann Curry cited climate change a cause of increasing tween stress, this week, "Today's" chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman warned global warming has sparked an increase of food allergies." (News Busters) "Study reveals lakes a
major source of prehistoric methane" - "A team of scientists led by a researcher at the
University of Alaska Fairbanks has identified a new likely source of a spike in atmospheric methane coming out of
the North during the end of the last ice age.
"Agricultural soil erosion
not contributing to global warming, study shows" - "Agricultural soil erosion is not a source of
carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, according to research published online today (25 October) in Science. The study
was carried out by an international team led by researchers at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, the
University of Exeter, UK, and the University of California, Davis. "A tax on carbon to cool the planet" - "Forcing higher prices for fossil fuels would be simple, fair, and effective. Why do politicians fear to do it?" (The Christian Science Monitor)
Asking Gore to put his mass where his mouth is: "If
Gore Were Arrested..." - "Fresh from winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his climate change
evangelism, Al Gore is apparently considering an invitation from a prominent environmental group to engage in
civil disobedience against the construction of new coal-fired power plants. "Coal to Make Germany Miss CO2 Target - Green Group" - "BERLIN - Germany has no chance of achieving its reduced CO2 emissions' targets if it keeps building coal-burning power plants, an environmental group said on Thursday." (Reuters)
"Underground CO2 storage study to begin" - "The University of Texas has received a $38 million subcontract to conduct the first U.S. long-term study of underground carbon dioxide storage." (UPI)
"Global Warming Expert: $800 Billion a Year for Carbon Capture" - "If you thought doing your part in waging the war against global warming was as simple as attending one of Al Gore’s mid-summer “Live Earth” concerts, think again." (News Busters) "California
air regulators adopt new global warming standards" - "Car tires must be fully inflated, trucks
fitted with aerodynamic devices and cargo ship engines silenced when docked at port under global warming proposals
adopted Thursday by state air regulators. Figures... Dot Earth: The Domain We All Share - Andy Revkin blogs population panic, gorebull warming, etc.... Traipsing down the Malthusian path, again: "U.N. Warns of Environmental Threats" - "Damage to the environment could soon pass a point of no return, according to a major report from the U.N." (New York Times) You only think superabundance coupled with declining pollution are positive
indicators: "Not an
environment scare story" - "A landmark assessment by the UN of the state of the world's
environment paints the bleakest picture yet of our planet's well-being. The warning is stark: humanity's future is
at risk unless urgent action is taken. Over the past 20 years, almost every index of the planet's health has
worsened. At the same time, personal wealth in the richest countries has grown by a third.
"Survival of man rest on climate change action" - "The survival of mankind depends on nations overcoming their lethargy and tackling the problems of climate change, species extinction and feeding a growing population, a panel of the world's leading scientists has said." (London Telegraph)
Et tu, Boris, et tu? "Global
over-population is the real issue" - "It is a tragic measure of how far the world has changed
— and the infinite capacity of modern man for taking offence — that there are no two subjects that can get you
more swiftly into political trouble than motherhood and apple pie.
March of the eco-imperialists: "Prince Charles's bid to save existing forests" - "The Prince of Wales has launched a global private-sector initiative dedicated to find ways of keeping the world's old-growth forests standing and providing "essential public services to humanity." (London Telegraph) Now you know how bad it is: "Al Gore praises Sarkozy's green policies" - "President Nicolas Sarkozy of France has received warm praise from Nobel winning crusader Al Gore for his "historic" bid to spark a French "green revolution" after months of climate negotiations with green groups, unions and big business." (London Telegraph) "Meteor no longer prime
suspect in great extinction: The Great Dying 250 million years ago happened slowly, say USC geologists"
- "The greatest mass extinction in Earth’s history also may have been one of the slowest, according to a
study that casts further doubt on the extinction-by-meteor theory.
"The Economics of Mosquitoes" - "You might not think that mosquitoes would be a great topic for economists, but two recent papers prove otherwise." (Steven D. Levitt, New York Times) Support the campaign against DDT scaremongering with a DDT T-shirt! Daft! (Number Watch) "The
NewsBusters Interview: 'Indoctrinate U' Filmmaker Evan Maloney" - "Today I'm pleased to announce
a new feature: The NewsBusters Interview. These will be a series of lengthy, candid conversations we'll be
conducting with prominent individuals in the media and political worlds. "Government denies scrapping bin tax plans" - "The government yesterday denied widespread suggestions that it had dropped its controversial "pay-as-you-throw" bin tax plans, insisting that no announcement had been made or was imminent." (The Guardian) "You
choose: seven more years of worry, or a pint and a fag" - "There is no escaping the stark facts.
Death knocks seven years sooner at the door of dustmen than dukes, of security guards sooner than solicitors. And
new figures from the Office for National Statistics suggest that that gap is refusing to close. The rich get
richer and the poor get sicker, sooner. To the rear, advance? "UK
Organic Group Says Air-Freight Food OK if Aids Poor" - "LONDON - Britain's largest organic food
association said on Wednesday it will continue to put its stamp of approval on products sent by air freight, but
only if the food sales help poor farmers. "'Food miles' soared
by 31% in a year, study reveals" - "Almost a third more food was flown into Britain last year
than in 2005, embarrassing the Government which has promised to slash the pollution and congestion from "food
miles". "I'm
suffering from eco-fatigue" - "A few months ago we had unexpected guests for lunch, so I sent my
12-year-old son out for some lettuce. "Mum, I got the one that says it was grown in England, not the one that
was grown in Spain. I thought that's what you'd want." "There is much promise and little danger in bioengineering" - "Stirring up fears about scientific research will make our shortage of scientists worse, says Michael Rennie" (The Guardian) "A Green Revolution for Africa"
- "The so-called Green Revolution of Asia, which began in the 1960s and continued through the 1980s, spurred
the greatest expansion of food production in world history. Global wheat and rice production doubled, and
continued to grow. The cost of cereal grains declined by 30%. The proportion of the people suffering from hunger
was halved. Agriculture was at the center of the global development agenda. Research and development, political
courage, effective policies and good governance were the driving forces. October 25, 2007 "West Africa: New Approach to Malaria
Recommended" - "A World Health Organization evaluation of West African countries' progress in
controlling malaria has recommended that donors allocate more funds to indoor spraying and to helping countries
purchase the latest anti-malarial drugs. Support the campaign against DDT scaremongering with a DDT T-shirt! Theorem, newly formed: On
Badgers And ‘Global Warming’ "The next French revolution: Nicolas Sarkozy sets out his plans for a green future" - "President Sarkozy will attempt to claim leadership of the environmental movement tomorrow, but his promises of a radical, green France risk falling victim to a reluctance to raise taxes, drop speed limits or touch the country’s reliance on nuclear power." (London Times) Ooh, Dr Trenberth! "Mostly wrong on warming" - "In commenting on “Al Gore’s ignoble Nobel” (Oct. 19), Rocky Mountain News columnist Mike Rosen failed to recognize that the Nobel Peace Prize was given to the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change and Al Gore (in that order). As a scientist who has played a major role in IPCC for 20 years, Mike Rosen’s comments are not only offensive, they are mostly wrong." (Kevin Trenberth, Rocky Mountain News)
Doh! "Time
to ditch Kyoto, experts urge" - "It is time for a radical rethink on climate change, says a
report in the journal Nature this week.
King... "Kyoto
treaty has failed, top scientist says" - "Climate change is the biggest single global
challenge we face, Sir David King, the Government's chief scientist warned as critics called for a rethink of
the "failed" Kyoto climate treaty.
Notable & Quotable "Variations in max temp suggest Sun Caused Global Warming" - "We showed before about the variations between minimum temperature and that at 3am and 6am. But what about the differences between maximum temperature anomalies and temperatures at say, Noon, 3pm and 6pm? What would we expect?" (Gust of Hot Air) "Massive California fires consistent with climate change" - "The catastrophic fires that are sweeping Southern California are consistent with what climate change models have been predicting for years, experts say, and they may be just a prelude to many more such events in the future – as vegetation grows heavier than usual and then ignites during prolonged drought periods." (Oregon State University)
"Tendency for Droughts" - "... Of course, the global warming alarmists would have us believe there have never been droughts like this before. They seem to forget that in October 2003, the California fires claimed more lives and burned more acres than this year. According to this article by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), the Drought during the Dust Bowl years covered up to 70% of the United States. During the 1950s, the Great Plains and the southwestern US withstood a 5-year drought, and in three of these years, drought conditions stretched coast to coast. In the last half of the 16th century, there was a drought ” that appears to have been more severe in some areas of central North America than anything we have experienced in the 20th century, including the 1930s drought.” A particularly severe drought between 1500 and 1600 in the southwestern US apparently lasted nearly 100 years. The same article goes on to say:
All of the above statements would seem to apply to the 21st century too. There have been far worse droughts in the past that could not have been the result of increasing CO2." (Craig James, WOOD TV) Some very good news, by proxy: "PM
- Questions raised over climate change link to US fires" - "MARK COLVIN: The massive wildfires
in southern California have now killed five people and forced half a million to flee their homes. The hot and
fierce Santa Ana winds, blowing across drought-stricken land, have fed the fires.
"Tropical Cyclones of China" - "Recently, former Vice President Al Gore won a share of the Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions to our understanding of the global warming problem. His film was seen as a masterpiece that certainly sealed the deal on his Nobel Prize. However, on the same day the Nobel committee honored Gore, world renowned hurricane specialist Dr. William Gray told a packed lecture hall at the University of North Carolina that humans were not responsible for the warming of the Earth and not responsible for alter hurricane patterns, as strongly suggested in the Gore film. Gray told the crowd “They’re going to the Gore movie and being fed all this,” and “It’s ridiculous. The human impact on the atmosphere is simply too small to have a major effect on global temperatures.” Dr. Gray said there were 101 hurricanes from 1900 to 1949 in a period of cooler global temperatures compared to 83 hurricanes between 1957 and 2006. Don’t look for Dr. Gray to receive a Nobel Prize anytime soon." (WCR) "Hurricane
season 2007 is near the record low of 1977" - "Florida State University’s COAPS (Center for
Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies) says that hurricane season 2007, which ends November 30th, is looking well
below normal, in fact they are calling it “historic inactivity”.
"Ryan Maue’s 2007 ACE Estimate" - "A non-global warming explanation for the lack of moisture/drought in the US Southwest deals with the lack of Hurricane activity in the Eastern Pacific basin. The moisture, upper-level outflow, and accentuation of the monsoon can all be traced back partially to EPAC storms, which are highly sensitive to SST conditions in the equatorial Pacific (ENSO). Simple reanalysis calculations for inactive minus active EPAC seasons shows very significant deficits of monthly mean cloud water, precipitable water, and surface specific humidity (among a host of other variables) for Aug-Sept months over the US Southwest." (Climate Audit) This nonsense again: "Health
risks rise as Earth warms: CDC director says there's no question about climate change's negative impact"
- "WASHINGTON – From algae blooms in the Chesapeake Bay to heat waves, drought and fires consuming the
West, global warming is stirring up health problems that are likely to worsen, witnesses told a Senate committee
Tuesday.
"US Agency Denies Interference in Climate Testimony" - "WASHINGTON - The White House watered down testimony to Congress about climate change by the head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before she delivered it, an activist group said on Wednesday, but the agency and White House both denied it." (Reuters) "Climate
of change" - "For too long, global warming has matched Mark Twain's description of the weather:
Everybody talked about it, but nobody did anything about it. That may be changing. The question is whether it's
changing fast enough to keep up with the changes in climate.
"Who's Footing the Bill?" - "While German Chancellor Angela Merkel lets herself be celebrated as the savior of the world's climate, her cabinet is embroiled in a tense struggle over a planned program to help reduce the greenhouse effect. Under the program, Germany's homeowners, renters and drivers could face billions in additional costs." (Der Spiegel) More nonsense: "Be wary of complex carbon caps" - "The global-warming fight can't wait to work out the kinks in a cap-and-trade scheme." (The Christian Science Monitor)
"Global
Warming Hysteria Drives States to Sue Bush Administration Over CO2 Emissions" - "For many
months, NewsBusters has been warning readers that the hysteria being generated by the media and the Global
Warmingist-in-Chief Al Gore concerning climate change would eventually begin to impact energy and economic
policies. "Developing Nations Have Emissions Role - Indonesia" - "BOGOR, Indonesia - Richer nations must take the lead in reducing carbon emissions, but developing nations should also play their part depending on their circumstances, Indonesia's president said on Wednesday." (Reuters) "US Sees World on Track for 2009 UN Climate Deal" - "OSLO - The world seems on track to launch negotiations on a new treaty to fight climate change this year with an end-2009 deadline for a deal, the United States said on Wednesday." (Reuters) "Nuclear Power Output Could Double by 2030 - IAEA" - "VIENNA - The world's output of nuclear power could nearly double by 2030, fuelled by demand from energy-hungry emerging economies and fears about security of supply and climate change, the UN said on Wednesday." (Reuters) "Kyoto Clean Energy Projects to Dry Up 2009" - "LONDON - Funding for new projects to supply carbon offsets under the present cycle of the Kyoto Protocol will dry up over the next two years, underlining uncertainty about the pact's future, a project developer said. (Reuters) "Renewable Stealth Tax"
- "Democrats in Congress are huddling in their low-carbon-footprint backroom in search of a compromise energy
bill, and all eyes have been on the issue of raising fuel-economy standards. But there's a lot more to worry about
here than whether so-called "Cafe standards" rise to 32 miles per gallon, or 35, from 27.5 today. "EU's Piebalgs Says Renewable Energy Goal Final" - "BRUSSELS - The European Union's energy chief pleaded for unity on Wednesday over the bloc's goals to increase renewable energy production and said there would be no going back on an ambitious target already agreed by EU leaders." (Reuters) "EU Parliament Fires Early Shot in Car CO2 Battle" - "STRASBOURG, France - Average carbon dioxide emissions from cars sold in the European Union from 2015 should not exceed 125 grams per kilometre, the bloc's assembly agreed on Wednesday, seeking to influence upcoming legislation." (Reuters) "More Japan Industries Raise CO2 Emission Cut Targets" - "TOKYO - Japanese trucking firms, home builders, instant noodle makers and sugar manufacturers promised to take additional measures to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help the country meet climate change goals, the government said." (Reuters) "GE Hopes to Cut Mercury in 'Green' Light Bulbs" - "NISKAYUNA, N.Y., - General Electric Co is working to cut the amount of mercury in energy-saving fluorescent lightbulbs which have soared in popularity." (Reuters) "Oil's Return to Canadian Arctic is No Stampede" - "CALGARY, Alberta - Imperial Oil Ltd and Exxon Mobil Corp turned heads in the oil industry in July with a nearly US$600 million bid that won them a big exploration block in Canada's Beaufort Sea." (Reuters) "Such a deal ...or is it?" - "IBM has taken its employee wellness programs from the workplace into employees’ homes. The company announced today that it will pay employees to put their children into a 3-month online childhood obesity program. For every child that parents enroll in a “‘healthy’ eating and exercise training” program, they’ll get a $150 Children’s Health Rebate. But there’s a lot more to this story than meets the eye." (Junkfood Science) No? Duh! "Daylight savings time disrupts humans' natural circadian rhythm" - "When people living in many parts of the world move their clocks forward one hour in the spring in observance of daylight saving time (DST), their bodies’ internal, daily rhythms don’t adjust with them, reports a new study appearing online on October 25th in Current Biology." (Cell Press) Uh-huh... "Does the consumer really know best?" - "We now face so many dilemmas when buying food that Tim Lang, the inventor of the phrase 'food miles', says our decision-making should be restricted and entrusted to the supermarkets. Leo Hickman reports" (The Guardian) "Organic air-freight food to be stripped of status" - "Three-quarters of the organic food flown in to Britain from overseas could be stripped of its valued status, as part of a plan to cut carbon emissions by eliminating air-freighted food from supermarket shelves." (London Telegraph)
"Organic Farming
Can't Even Feed Bangladesh" - "Organic farming could feed the world’s current population, and
even a larger one based on organic crop yields reported from the Third World, say Catherine Badgley and a group of
co-authors at the University of Michigan. "How to Fight Childhood Blindness" - "By embracing genetically modified ‘golden rice,’ says Greenpeace co-founder PATRICK MOORE, the world can help millions of people in developing countries." (CGFI) "The real GM food scandal" - "GM foods are safe, healthy and essential if we ever want to achieve decent living standards for the world's growing population. Misplaced moralising about them in the west is costing millions of lives in poor countries" (Dick Taverne, Prospect Magazine) "EU Allows Imports of Four GMO Crop Varieties" - "BRUSSELS - The European Union has authorised imports of four genetically modified (GMO) crop products for sale across its 27 national markets for the next 10 years, the European Commission said on Wednesday." (Reuters) "France May Ban Monsanto
GMO Maize - Minister" - "PARIS - France is considering banning the use of the sole genetically
modified crop grown in the European Union, a maize produced by US biotech giant Monsanto, Agriculture Minister
Michel Barnier said on Wednesday. October 24, 2007 "Bureaucratic
Version of Playing God" - "Here’s further proof that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and
their collectives are clueless. Embroiled in a silly debate over what species residing in the United States are
native or not, they have decided to promulgate mosquito control management regulations for the 97 million acres of
National Wildlife Refuge lands (nearly the size of the state of California and almost precisely three times the
size of the state of Arizona.) "EU Pesticides Package
Passes First Key Milestone" - "STRASBOURG, France - Spraying pesticides near schools or
hospitals is set to be heavily controlled under a contested package of rules adopted by European Union lawmakers
on Tuesday to safeguard health and food quality. "EUROPE: Move to Halve Pesticides Use" - "BRUSSELS - Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are seeking that pesticide use be halved within a decade in order to reduce the amount of hazardous chemicals in the environment." (IPS)
"When Man Is Endangered" - "The burgeoning metro Atlanta area is being hit hard by the severe drought in the Southeast. Is it too much to ask that a few protected species make a sacrifice for humans?" (IBD) "Obesity 'epidemic' turns global"
- "People are getting fatter in all parts of the world, with the possible exception of south and east Asia, a
one-day global snapshot shows. "Doctors ignoring obesity" - "NEW YORK -- Few obese adults receive a formal weight-management plan from their doctors, despite the proven health benefits of even modest weight loss, a new study suggests." (Reuters) "Obesity 'epidemic': Who are you calling fat?" - "We're told there's an obesity 'epidemic'. Yet there's not a shred of evidence, says Professor Patrick Basham – and this crusade is harming our children." (London Independent) "Pick-up Sticks — the latest breast cancer scare" - "Women were once again frightened this week by news warning that gaining weight could endanger their health. We learned of a study linking weight gain — any at all after age 18 — to breast cancer. Except it wasn’t based on good science, but on a mail-in survey." (Junkfood Science) "Weighing In: A science
journalist makes the case for low-carb diets." - "Diet fads wax and wane, but for the past few
decades, public-health experts have assured us there is a surefire path to weight loss: eat a diet that’s low in
fat, cholesterol, and salt, and you will be less at risk for heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. But as Science
magazine correspondent Gary Taubes asked in a 2002 New York Times Magazine cover story, “What if it’s all been
a big fat lie?” That is, what if carbohydrates—specifically, refined carbohydrates and sugars—cause the
diseases that plague modern Americans? What if they—not fat, cholesterol, or salt—are responsible for our
obesity epidemic? Whoops! "Hardly
'junk' science: Royal Society examines climate change" - "In the wake of the Nobel Prize awarded
Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, skeptics have once again been fussing, fuming and
fulminating. Assertions are flying that the evidence for climate change is either bunkum spun by charlatans, a
gigantic anti-capitalist hoax or alarmist "junk" science.
Really? "Warming
'will lead to extinctions'" - "GLOBAL warming could cut a swathe through the planet's species
over the coming centuries, warns a study released today which shows a link between rising temperatures and mass
extinctions reaching back half a billion years.
"How Not to Measure Temperature, Part 33" - "Until now, most of the surface temperature measurement stations I’ve highlighted as substandard locations for measuring temperature accurately have been in the USA. Today, courtesy of Geoff Sherrington, we are treated to the sight of the main Australian historic site, Melbourne metropolitan, near LaTrobe St, Melbourne. He reports it has max-min temp records daily since 1855 to late 2007." (Watts Up With That?) Letter of the moment: Weather
control Here's that problem again... "How to Cool the Globe" - "Which is the more environmentally sensitive thing to do: let the Greenland ice sheet collapse, or throw a little sulfate in the stratosphere?" (Ken Caldeira, New York Times)
"Rolling Stone: ‘Human Race Is Doomed'" - "Want to know the fate of humanity? Why pick up a copy of Rolling Stone, of course. There you'll find the latest eco-extremist prediction designed to scare the world into global warming action. Gaia theory creator James Lovelock is in the latest issue predicting mankind will almost be wiped out by 2100 from global warming." (News Busters) "An Inconvenient Truth: 23 minutes" - "Because Al Gore has become a prophet, this blog offers you 23 more minutes of An Inconvenient Truth, including Czech subtitles. ;-) In Czech, it is called "Nepříjemná pravda" (An Unpleasant Truth)." (The Reference Frame) "The
Global-Warming Debate Isn't Over Until It's Over" - "First he won the Oscar -- then the Nobel
Peace Prize. He's being called a "prophet." "Gore's
Green academy" - "The University of Michigan has issued a press release congratulating “U-M
researchers involved in the (IPCC's) Nobel-winning effort.” The list of academics gives an interesting insight
into just how incestuous the IPCC and the green political movement have become. "Climate change threat to peace, says German foreign minister" - "BERLIN — Climate change is a growing threat to world peace and has led to rival territorial claims in the Arctic that could turn into a Cold War, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Tuesday." (Reuters) "The Fuzzy Math of
Eco-Accolades: Plaudits for lower emissions don't mean they've been cut" - "On Feb. 2 a panel of
climate experts convened in a modern U.N. building in Paris to deliver the latest dire news about greenhouse
gases. Across town the World Wildlife Fund held a press conference to praise three large corporations as
"climate savers." Sony (SNE ), Nike (NKE ), and French cement maker Lafarge had demonstrated that
business can make "reasonable and meaningful" changes to stem global warming, the WWF announced. The absence of laughter (Number Watch) “Here’s A CO2!” - "Oh dear! It is all so predictable; so Gilbert & Sullivan. Today, John Vidal at The Guardian (‘Labour's plan to abandon renewable energy targets. Leaked documents detail strategy for climate change U-turn’) is weeping away because the British government is at last recognising the inevitable, namely that there is no way it can attain a renewables target of 20 per cent by 2020 (“9 per cent if you’re lucky, mate!”). Well done, Labour, say I. Meanwhile, the Global Carbon Project reports that, since 2000, the CO2 pumped into the atmosphere is 35 per cent more than the models absorb. Of course it is! [Well, actually not quite! When all CO2 is taken into account, we are just where we might expect to be. Still, I don’t want to spoil my story by ugly facts] Will they never learn? CO2 is a proxy for growth, and it will continue to be so for a long time to come. An off-the-shelf low carbon economy is but a utopian dream. China and India alone will see to that." (Global Warming Politics) "Gore Says 2007 Pivotal Year in Climate Change Fight" - "BERLIN - Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore said on Tuesday he was optimistic future generations would look back at 2007 as the pivotal year when the world finally found the courage to fight together against climate change." (Reuters)
"All Climatologists Aren't Scientists" - "Some people seem to believe that anyone who studies some physical phenomenon is a scientist and that anything a "scientist" say is to be accepted as if the "scientist" were a priest." (ReasonMcLucus) "The Global-Warming Hucksters" - "The scaremongers are not always wrong. The Trojans should have listened to Cassandra. But history shows that the scaremongers are usually wrong." (Patrick J. Buchanan) "Spanish conservative blasted
for downplaying climate change" - "MADRID - The leader of Spain’s conservative party was
blasted today for downplaying the threat from climate change at a conference attended by Al Gore, winner of this
year’s Nobel Peace Prize for raising awareness of the issue. Not looking good for the UK: "Facing down the heat" - "His brief includes foot-and-mouth disease, and GM foods. But as the government's chief environmental scientist, Robert Watson's number one priority is the fight against climate change. Alok Jha reports" (The Guardian) Predictably they squeeze gorebull warming into this, too: "California's age of megafires" - "Drought, housing expansion, and oversupply of tinder make for bigger, hotter fires." (The Christian Science Monitor) "Santa Ana Winds, Frequent and Troublesome" - "Those often furious, sometimes deadly Santa Ana winds contributing to the Southern California wildfires are a phenomenon of geography as well as meteorology." (New York Times) "CBS’s Pelley Uses Wildfires to Prove Global Warming" - "With Southern California in the midst of dealing with disastrous wildfires, on Sunday’s "60 Minutes," anchor Scott Pelley used the issue to promote Global Warming ideology. He did a segment on wildfires in the American west and declared in traditional alarmist fashion: "It appears that we're living in a new age of mega-fires, forest infernos ten times bigger than the fires we're used to seeing." (News Busters) "The Fires This Time" - "While the fire cycle in Southern California is natural — an inevitable and necessary part of local wildland ecology — its economic impact is not." (New York Times) "Two crucial factors fuelling California blazes" - "Climate change and a steady U.S. migration to the western states are helping to spread this year's fires" (Globe and Mail) "Without Proof, NBC Presumes Global Warming to Blame for Wild Fires" - "ABC and CBS stuck Tuesday night with news stories on the impact of the roaring California wild fires, but as houses were still burning NBC Nightly News found it an opportune time to make the case that global warming caused the fires. NBC's sole expert, however, delivered a circular argument in which the lack of scientific proof did not detract at all from his media-shared presumption that anything bad which occurs in the environment can be tied to global warming. After reporter Anne Thompson cautioned scientists say you can't know “after just one season” whether warming is to blame, Princeton professor Michael Oppenheimer, a leading global warming alarmist who, NBC failed to mention, serves as a science adviser to Environmental Defense, reasoned:" (News Busters) "Warning to NZ:
Slow down on climate change" - "New Zealand should be a "fast follower" and not a
leader in the race to reduce greenhouse gases, says a report issued today. "Fran O'Sullivan: Playing follow the leader" - "The wakeup call from New Zealand Institute chief executive David Skilling over the clear economic exposure New Zealand faces if it makes the wrong call on climate changes policies is well timed." (New Zealand Herald) "Business NZ joins
chorus against 'rushed' climate policy" - "A group representing business interests has
congratulated the New Zealand Institute for its "considered analysis" of the climate change issues
facing New Zealand. Oh boy... "Qld
has cool idea for climate change" - "Queenslanders have been urged to set their fridge
temperatures to four degrees celsius to help combat climate change.
From CO2 Science
this week: Medieval
Warm Period Record of the Week: Subject Index Summary: Plant Growth Data: Journal Reviews: Millennial Cycling of Climate on the Iberian Peninsula: What does it reveal about the spatial scale of the Medieval Warm Period? A 2000-Year History of Atmospheric Methyl Chloride: What can it tell us about the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age? Microevolutionary Responses to Global Warming: Can they occur? CO2 and N2O Fluxes to and from Timothy-Sown Mesocosms: How does atmospheric CO2 enrichment impact the flux of nitrous oxide from, and carbon dioxide to, a boreal agricultural mineral soil upon which timothy is being grown? Temperature
Record of the Week: "Coal-burning power
plants cause dangerous climate change" - "The growth of coal-burning power plants around the
world may be the single greatest challenge to averting dangerous climate change. "It's rip-off Britain, even when it comes to climate change" - "Gordon Brown's reluctance to embrace the economic and environmental potential of renewable energy technology is costing us time, money and could eventually cost us the climate, writes John Sauven, the director of Greenpeace UK" (The Guardian) "China is no place
for electric cars" - "China's coal-burning power stations mean electric car use will not help
the country reduce CO2 emissions. "Halt the gold rush to corn fuel" - "To take corn out of cereal bowls and put it into our gas tanks isn't an answer to global warming." (The Christian Science Monitor) "Energy plan pushing up food cost: bank" - "ATTEMPTS to reduce US dependence on imported oil by adding more ethanol to its gas tanks are only driving up food prices while delivering moot energy benefits, a Canadian bank warned overnight." (The Australian) "St. Bernard study casts
doubt on creationism" - "The St Bernard dog – named after the 11th century priest Bernard of
Menthon – may have ironically challenged the theory of creationism, say scientists. "Time is Right for Biotech Wheat - US Growers" - "KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The time is right for a renewed push for biotech wheat, leading US wheat industry players said this week, as tight world wheat supplies and high prices underscore strong global demand for the key food crop." (Reuters) October 23, 2007 "Pesticides are good for you" - "Scary headlines recently announced a study claiming that a pesticide causes prostate cancer and birth defects. Predictably, the study on banana plantations in the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadaloupe was seized on by environmentalists, in vindication of their beliefs about the dangers of agricultural chemicals. But, in spite of its alarmism, the study found no relationship between pesticide exposure and adverse health effects. Such hysteria does far more harm than good." (Professor Sir Colin Berry, CFD) "Bad
bugs, few drugs" - "There is a constant war between pathogenic bacteria and humans, and the
microbes seem to be winning. New data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) indicate the incidence of serious
invasive infections from a strain of bacteria resistant to most first-line, commonly used antibiotics was higher
than previously thought. The CDC estimates methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) kills 18,000
Americans each year and causes serious infections in more than 90,000. "Brussels lifts threat
to MRI scans" - "Scientists have welcomed the European Commission's decision to drop new rules
that would have outlawed the use of MRI scanners in hospitals and medical research laboratories by next year. "Everyone
says this doctor’s great" - "Have you ever had a problem with a car, computer or appliance and
gone online for help, only to come away feeling like a shmuck because everyone, it seems, has had a bad experience
and is saying they’ll never buy that product again? It’s a common phenomenon that those with complaints do a
lot of complaining. Every business owner knows that an unhappy customer will tell a bunch of people, whereas a
happy one may tell one other, if you’re lucky. Bad publicity isn’t always good for business. "One size children"
- "The results of two long-term studies of childhood obesity programs were published last week. The programs
tried all of the prevalent techniques: childhood obesity prevention through intensive school-based education to
teach ‘healthy’ eating and avoidance of sodas; and behavioral modification and social-environmental weight
management, targeting families, peers and their environment to promote ‘healthy’ eating and physical activity. Early Halloween: Planet in Peril a CNN Worldwide Investigation, Takes Viewers to Front Lines of Environmental Change -- Airs Oct. 23 and 24 -- In a sweeping four-hour documentary about the threats to the world's environment, Planet in Peril takes viewers to places where environmental change is not a theory or just a future forecast, but a crisis happening in real time. (CNN) Groan! "Carbon Dioxide Levels Up Faster Than Thought - Study" - "LONDON - Humans are pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at an increasingly quicker pace while natural reservoirs such as oceans and trees are soaking up less and less of the greenhouse gas, researchers said on Monday." (Reuters)
"A million square miles of open water" - "A couple of weeks ago, New York Times science writer Andrew Revkin wrote a piece titled “Arctic Melt Unnerves the Experts” in which he described this year’s record low Arctic summer sea ice extent and the how the dramatic decline over last year had caught many sea-ice scientists by surprise. Revkin goes on to interview a variety of experts on the topic of sea ice, most of which realize that some (most) of the sea ice decline observed over the past several decades is likely related to anthropogenic changes to the earth’s climate, while admitting that undoubtedly, some natural (non-human-influenced) processes likely contributed to the decline as well." (WCR) Eye-roller: "At the Poles, Melting Occurring at Alarming Rate" - "For scientists, global warming is a disaster movie, its opening scenes set at the poles of Earth. The epic already has started. And it's not fiction." (Doug Struck, Washington Post)
The Long-Term View - Further to my earlier blog on the ‘Geological Decoupling of CO2’ (October 18), I thought it might be helpful for readers to place Earth’s climate history in some long-term geological perspective. (Global Warming Politics) Climate Change - Is CO2 the cause? (Gust of Hot Air) "Economics and politics, not science, fuel global warming claims" - "Los Angeles, CA Oct. 23, 2007 -- It took an article in an Australian newspaper to make Americans aware that prominent American meteorologist Dr. William Gray called the theory that won Al Gore a Nobel Prize "ridiculous." And that's worrisome to Holly Fretwell, author of The Sky's NOT Falling: Why It's OK to Chill about Global Warming (Kids Ahead Books, 0-9767269-4-7, for ages 8-12, Sept. 2007), a new book for kids designed to inform, not indoctrinate, on the subject of global warming." (PressMediaWire) "Gore Science Versus
Real Science" - "Once upon a time the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to individuals who dedicated
their lives to the betterment of humanity. They focused on real world issues and championed real world solutions.
In 1952, Dr. Albert Schweitzer won the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work. Dr. Schweitzer founded a
hospital in French Equatorial Africa. He would later expand the facility and by the 1960’s the hospital would
serve more than 500 patients at any one time. Here they go again: "Consensus
declaration on coral reef futures" - “Being a coral reef scientist these days can be depressing. So
many reefs around the world have collapsed before our eyes in the past few years,” says Professor Terry Hughes,
Director of the ARC’s Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. “But we’ve got to get past the
gloom-and-doom, and use the best science to find practical ways to protect reefs from global warming.”
"GAO Report on Data Sharing in Climate Science"
- "The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) has issued a report as requested by the House Energy and Commerce
Committee last year on data sharing in climate. The full
report is here. The Republican press release is here
. "Global Warming Questions Nobody Dares Ask Al Gore" - "While everybody on the face of the planet seems most interested in whether or not Nobel Laureate Al Gore is going to run for president in 2008, an article was published by Slate Monday asking questions of the Global Warmingist-in-Chief far more crucial than his future political aspirations." (News Busters) Stealth taxation? Nah... "UK
Says Will Not Use Carbon Revenues for Climate" - "LONDON - Britain will not use money the
government gets from auctioning carbon emissions permits to help it in the fight against climate change, it said
on Monday. "Mills fear carbon
credits could sap trade" - "Sawmillers fear their businesses could become squeezed by log prices
inflated by the value of carbon credits. "EU Cuts Portugal's Plan
for 2008-2012 CO2 Permits" - "BRUSSELS - The European Commission said on Monday it had trimmed
Portugal's plan allocating industry the right to emit carbon dioxide in 2008-2012 to 34.8 million tonnes annually,
3.1 percent less than the country's proposal. "Global Oil Output Peaked
in 2006 - German Think Tank" - "BERLIN - Global oil output peaked in 2006 and will decline by
seven percent per year, a Berlin-based energy think tank said on Monday, drawing a bleaker picture of energy
supplies than other forecasts.
Continued dimming of Left-Coast: "City turns lights out Saturday to conserve" - "San Francisco is turning its lights out for an hour Saturday night to increase awareness of light pollution and wasted energy." (UPI) "Bosch Sees Scant Europe Demand for Hybrid Vehicles" - "FRANKFURT - Robert Bosch GmbH, the world's largest automotive parts supplier, expects potential growth markets for hybrid drive trains to be concentrated in NAFTA countries and Japan, the company said on Monday." (Reuters) "British minister to advise PM to
water down EU renewables target: report" - "Prime Minister Gordon Brown will be advised to try
and water down an EU target for all the bloc's countries to procure a fifth of their energy from renewable
sources, The Guardian reported in an early edition of its Tuesday paper. "EU row delays plans to cut
greenhouse gas emissions" - "A row among European governments has forced the EU to postpone
ambitious plans for tackling climate change before a crucial UN conference on the issue in Bali in early December. "Palm oil putting orangutans at risk" - "Conservationists meeting at the Brookfield Zoo near Chicago say growing demand for palm oil is putting Sumatran orangutans at risk of extinction." (UPI) "British cod stocks rebounding" -
"Researchers say cod stocks around Britain have rebounded enough to permit small catches in the North Sea,
The Times of London reported Saturday. "Giant flock of lapwings discovered" -
"Conservationists in Turkey are celebrating the discovery of a previously unknown flock of sociable lapwings,
once thought to be nearing extinction. "Algae-in-a-vat may power the
future" - "Genetically modified green algae could one day produce stored energy in the form of
hydrogen gas, say Australian researchers, fuelling a hydrogen economy. October 22, 2007 “'Fat Camps' for Tots" - "Now, babies and toddlers with puppy fat are being sent off to “fat camps” to educate them and their parents about ‘healthy’ foods and exercise." (Junkfood Science) "Obesity epidemic among children is
'overstated'" - "A STUDY has revealed that the obesity epidemic among children has been grossly
overstated, and that the problem is concentrated among poorer families and some ethnic groups. "JFS Special: The latest research on actual deaths seen after surgery for weight loss" - "Will bariatric surgery for weight loss extend or shorten a patient’s life? After more than 40 years of these medical interventions being practiced, surprisingly, this basic question has remained unanswered. The largest and strongest study to date examining death rates after bariatric surgeries has just been published in the journal Archives of Surgery." (Junkfood Science) "When healthcare isn’t about caring" - "Even a man who has devoted his life to charitable work to help the poor, sick and disadvantaged is being denied medical care because he is “too fat.” Bishop Gow has been told he must starve himself to lose weight before he would be considered for an operation that could relieve him of excruciating pain from a degenerative knee disorder." (Junkfood Science) "Health warning over 'ready-to-eat'
food" - "PRE-PREPARED salads and other "ready-to-eat" foods pose a salmonella threat,
according to one of Britain's leading microbiologists. Professor John Threlfall, of the government's Health
Protection Agency (HPA), has urged consumers to disregard assurances on packaging and wash the contents again
before eating. "Mercury, Climate and the Food Web" - "Writing in Environmental Health Perspectives (2005), Booth and Zeller [hereafter BZ05] embark on the highly ambitious task of applying ecosystem modeling to the difficult problem of tracing the flow of methylmercury (MeHg) - the biologically active, potentially toxic form of mercury - in the Faroe Island marine ecosystem as changing functions of both fish mortality (commercial catch rates) and climate. The paper further attempts to estimate weekly MeHg intake by the Faroese from consumption of mainly pilot whale meat and cod fish - two key sources of MeHg exposures in Faroese diets." | Doing Harm: The Mercury Scare (Robert Ferguson, SPPI) "40 years on, 'Bigfoot' film still the benchmark for believers" - "Forty years after two cowboys filmed an unidentified creature ambling through a California forest, hunters of "Bigfoot" say the grainy footage remains the cornerstone of their belief in the legendary ape-like beast's existence." (AFP) "End global inequality:
become a Luddite" - "In its new World Economic Outlook the International Monetary Fund looks at
the politically freighted question of globalisation and inequality. Scanning press accounts of the document I
thought for a moment there must be two such publications. The study I had read was not what others were writing
about. Instead it turns out that we all read the same report, and that I do not know a story when I see one. Yeah, sure... "Scientists
a step closer to steering hurricanes" - "Scientists have made a breakthrough in man's desire to
control the forces of nature – unveiling plans to weaken hurricanes and steer them off course, to prevent
tragedies such as Hurricane Katrina. "ABC's Stossel Takes on Gore Movie, Talks to Dissenting Scientists" - "On Friday's "20/20," ABC's John Stossel presented the views of scientists who dissent from the Al Gore view of global warming, including two former members of the IPCC – the committee which shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Gore. These scientists disagreed with the selection process of the committee's members and some of its conclusions. The ABC host disputed some of the claims in "An Inconvenient Truth," and even presented the view that increased carbon dioxide levels are the result of global warming, rather than the cause, as he took on Gore's famous graph from the movie. Stossel: "But the real inconvenient truth is that carbon increases came after temperature rose -- usually hundreds of years later. Temperature went up first. I wanted to ask Mr. Gore about that and other things, but he wouldn't agree to talk about this." (News Busters) "SPPI Reports 35 scientific errors in
Gore’s climate movie: vindicates UK High Court" - "SPPI today reveals 35 errors in Al Gore’s
discredited climate movie An Inconvenient Truth (http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/monckton/goreerrors.html). "ROSEN: Al Gore's ignoble Nobel" - "Here's a prediction: Someday, when future generations look back on the Great Global Warming Panic of the early 21st century and Al Gore's 2007 Nobel Peace Prize (for fanning global warming hysteria with selective propaganda and gross exaggerations), Gore's award will be regarded as even more preposterous than Yasser Arafat's Nobel for bringing peace to the Middle East." (Mike Rosen, Rocky Mountain News) "Unstoppable
skeptic" - "In the great, never-cooling debate over the causes and consequences of global
warming, it's always clear whose side Fred Singer is on: not Al Gore's. Singer, who was born in Vienna in 1924,
was a pioneer in the development of rocket and satellite technology and holds a Ph.D. in physics from Princeton. "Global Warming Delusions" - "The popular imagination has been captured by beliefs that have little scientific basis." (Daniel B. Botkin, Opinion Journal) "Today’s forecast: yet another blast of hot air" - "Why I would rather be called a heretic on global warming" (David Bellamy, The Times) Brave
Liberty Speaks - Following on from my Sunday blog (‘The Liberty of Opinion’, October 21), I should
like today to ask you to read three brave commentaries and one hilarious article which challenge the tyranny of
the times: Poorly aimed scare piece: "Oceans
are 'soaking up less CO2'" - "The amount of carbon dioxide being absorbed by the world's oceans
has reduced, scientists have said.
Children are having nightmares about their carbon footprint. What a pretty pass modern man has brought himself to! Frightening children with scary stories about hell fire is the way our ancestors drilled society into conformity. It might have been hoped that the age of science would bring all that to an end, but now we have entered the post-scientific age, in which a new class of high priest returns to the traditional methods of enforcement. In order to establish the essential fear-provoking scenario they have nominated in the role of original sin one particular element, one atom out of the whole gamut. It is a choice that is bizarre to the rational mind, yet one that conforms to the long established principles of the founding of authoritative religions. Why is it bizarre? If you are of a mind to seek out magic and miracles look no further than the sixth member of the periodic table of elements. (Number Watch) Nothing like coloring your argument... "Worldwide
solutions are needed to deal with the effects of climate change" - "Nothing annoys scientists
who study climate change more than the question of whether it is really happening. Nothing, that is, with the
possible exception of the related question of whether climate change is a man-made phenomenon.
Still on coloring: "Climate
change blamed for fading foliage" - "EAST MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Every fall, Marilyn Krom tries to
make a trip to Vermont to see its famously beautiful fall foliage. This year, she noticed something different
about the autumn leaves. "The Global Warming Deceptions" - "The scientific opposition to the discredited theory of man-made global warming has been large and enduring. It also has been studiously ignored, dismissed, or attacked." (Michael R. Fox, Hawaii Reporter) "More a cause than a science: Global warming is the new Key to All Mythologies." - "Since the days of Isaac Newton, Western science has advanced our knowledge of the world and the cosmos to an almost miraculous degree. We know enough now perhaps to say with the force of real truth what was not possible to say before our time: that now we know how little we know." (Rex Murphy, CERC) Last week a few people got excited about a NOAA release on Arctic warming, so, here's
a couple of perspective pieces: "Ancient
Clues from a Frozen Forest" - "Troy L. Péwé once discovered an interesting patch of woods near
Ester, about nine miles east of Fairbanks. The spruce and birch trees of this forest were underground, sandwiched
between layers of earth. Each tree was 125,000 years old. II: "Formerly
Frosty Footing Causes Drunken Forests" - "Science Forum reader Trudy Parcher of Bellingham,
Washington, wants to know more about an eye-catching Alaska roadside attraction, the drunken forest. "As sea level rises, Bangkok is sinking"
- "The still expanding megapolis rests about 31/2 to 5 feet above the nearby gulf, although some areas
already lie below sea level. The gulf's waters have been rising by about a tenth of an inch a year, about the same
as the world average, says Anond Snidvongs, a leading scientist in the field. "A Man's Got To Do What Mann Won't
Do" - "No doubt many blog readers will be familiar with the infamous 'Hockey Stick' graph, which
used 'proxy' reconstructed temperature data up to 1980, grafted onto Hadley CRU instrumental data. The IPCC liked
it so much that it appeared several times in the Third Assessment Report of 2001, thus enhancing the man-made
global warming scare. A very different graph was used in the 1995 report, which clearly showed a Medieval Warm
Period and the Little Ice Age. "UN Climate Chief Looks for Bali Breakthrough" - "WASHINGTON - Global warming talks in Bali in December need to make a breakthrough or international efforts to limit greenhouse gases could be in "deep trouble", the top UN climate official said on Friday." (Reuters)
"Global
warming battle" - "After years of doing nothing on global warming, Congress may now be on the
verge of a serious, bipartisan effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Oh dear... "Commentary:
The Greater Caribbean This Week: Global warming today" - "Global warming today proves, if proof
were needed, that the world has always been a global village. We are all connected to one another, from one end of
the world to the other. Moreover, this phenomenon calls on us all to act to stabilise the atmosphere by at least 1°
C in the years to come.
"Little Green Lies" - "The sweet notion that making a company environmentally friendly can be not just cost-effective but profitable is going up in smoke. Meet the man wielding the torch." (Ben Elgin, Business Week) "EU Commission Delays Emissions Trading Proposals" - "LISBON - The European Commission has delayed for several weeks a package of sensitive proposals on sharing and trading greenhouse gas emissions and on renewable energy, a spokesman for the EU executive said on Friday." (Reuters) "'Global
action' needed on climate change" - "Australia can do nothing on its own to reduce the
environmental effects of climate change, a leading nuclear scientist says. Imagine that... "China:
Help poorer nations with climate change" - "A senior Chinese official urged the international
community in Washington to make greater efforts to help developing countries deal with climate change. Paid not to develop: "Scheme to stop deforestation will pay for carbon not emitted" - "Tropical countries that stop the logging or burning of their rainforests could be paid for the carbon they stop reaching the atmosphere, under proposals to be discussed at UN climate change talks in December." (London Telegraph) "Blackout Of Reason" - "Power plant permits have been rejected in Kansas, but not because the plants would discharge filth into the air. The denial was based on carbon emissions, the first time such a thing has happened in the U.S. It's a shameful milestone." (IBD) "KS Governor Sets Dangerous Precedent for Farmers" - "The administration of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius has blocked a new power plant from being built, despite looming energy shortages, because, like virtually all power plants, it will emit carbon dioxide(CO2). GOP legislators are upset about this." (Hans Bader, Cooler Heads Blog) "Price of Media Warm-mongering: Kansas Denies Coal-fired Power Plant License" - "On Thursday, for the first time in American history, a state denied an electricity producer a construction license for a coal-fired power plant due to manmade global warming fears." (Noel Sheppard, News Busters) "U.S. warms to the
Earth's 'untapped potential'" - "The federal government has been sending teams to the geysers
and lava fields of Iceland in recent weeks to search for ways to reduce U.S. dependence on coal and oil. <guffaw!> "Carbon health warnings for all new cars" - "All advertising for new cars will have to carry cigarette-style “health warnings” about their environmental impact, under a European plan to force manufacturers to reduce carbon dioxide emissions." (The Times) "Carmakers to Win Time on CO2 Cuts, Face Ad Rules" - "LONDON - Car makers are likely to be given three years extra breathing space on CO2 emissions cuts but could face environmental health warnings on their adverts following a European Parliament debate next week." (Reuters) "Exports fuel China's CO2 output" - "A quarter of China's greenhouse gas emissions are produced making goods exported to the West, a report from a UK government-funded body has found." (BBC) "Calif. Will Sue EPA Next Week on Emissions Waiver" - "LOS ANGELES - California will sue the Environmental Protection Agency next week in the state's bid to crack down on greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, a spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Saturday. (Reuters) "Farming Faces Phosphate Shortfall" -"RIO DE JANEIRO - Scarcity of phosphate, an indispensable crop fertiliser, is worrying soil experts, given the voracious plans of Brazil and many other countries in the race for biofuel leadership." (IPS) "EGYPT: An Environmental Make-Over for an Ancient Industry" - "CAIRO - Air pollution is so bad in Cairo that living in the sprawling city of 18 million residents is said to be akin to smoking 20 cigarettes a day. According to the World Health Organisation, the average Cairene ingests more than 20 times the acceptable level of air pollution a day." (IPS)
In the UK, we are in grave danger as a society. John Stuart Mill was a Londoner, born in Pentonville in 1806, and On Liberty is the most powerful defence of the freedom of opinion ever published. We should be deeply ashamed when the Science Museum of London, of all institutions, withdraws its invitation to speak from a distinguished scientist, the geneticist James Watson, because of his opinions. Moreover, as Henry Porter argues so tellingly in today’s The Observer about the Watson incident (‘His views are hateful. But so is the attempt to deny him a voice’), we should raise an eyebrow when we hear the Mayor of Mill’s London, the ever-opinionated Ken Livingstone, state that: “Such views are not welcome in a city like London.” As Mill wrote: “Truth gains more even by the errors of one who, with due study and preparation, thinks for himself, than by the true opinions of those who only hold them because they do not suffer themselves to think.” Moreover, I personally dislike a number of Mr. Livingstone’s own views, but I do not wish to ban him from London. (Global Warming Politics) "Emory paleontologist reports discovery of carnivorous dinosaur tracks in Australia" - "The first fossil tracks belonging to large, carnivorous dinosaurs have been discovered in Victoria, Australia, by paleontologists from Emory University, Monash University and the Museum of Victoria (both in Melbourne). The tracks are especially significant for showing that large dinosaurs were living in a polar environment during the Cretaceous Period, when Australia was still joined to Antarctica and close to the South Pole." (Emory University) "Birth of an iceberg"
- "This animation, comprised of images acquired by Envisat’s Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR)
instrument, shows the breaking away of a giant iceberg from the Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica. Spanning
34 km in length by 20 km in width, the new iceberg covers an area nearly half the size of Greater London. If at all unfamiliar, hype a scare: "Scientists have a new way to reshape nature, but none can predict the cost" - "Synthetic biologists say their technology could tackle climate change and feed the hungry, but its dangers are terrifying" (Madeleine Bunting, The Guardian) "Monsanto Files Suit Against French GMO Activists" - "PARIS - The French unit of US Biotech giant Monsanto has filed a lawsuit following the latest destruction of some of its test fields for genetically-modified maize. In a statement issued on Friday, Monsanto said that unidentified activists had ransacked three test fields in Valdivienne in central France after dark on Thursday." (Reuters) October 19, 2007 Where are the class action lawyers when you need them? Hey Al Gore, We Want a Refund! - ":A British judge ruled on the eve of Al Gore co-winning the Nobel Peace Prize that students forced to watch "An Inconvenient Truth" must be warned of the film’s factual errors. But would there be any science at all left in Gore’s "truth" if these errors and their progeny were excised? " (Steven Milloy, FoxNews.com) Follow up on yesterday's 'expanding Earth' animation, apparently the artist is serious and it is not a deliberate spoof. A number of people have commented on magical mass creation (why should the IPCC have an exclusive on Marvelous Magical Multipliers?), observed subduction etc., etc. and we have no intention of further wasting anyone's time on it. We still think it's a nice piece of art work though. "Arctic report card
warns of reduction in sea ice" - "Climate change is continuing to progress in the Arctic,
according to the first annual edition of an "Arctic Report Card" issued by a US-led team of scientists.
Interesting translation from Russia-InfoCentre: "What Does Arctic Climate Tell Us?" - "Russian scientist claims global warming can be just a temporary inconvenience, since climatic changes show their natural fluctuating patterns and depend on our Sun’s activity level. Research fellow of the Arctic and Antarctic research and science centre suggests the phenomenon, widely known as global warming, is not more than a natural variation." (RIC) "New Task for Coast Guard in Arctic’s Warming Seas" - "WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 — For most of human history, the Arctic Ocean has been an ice-locked frontier. But now, in one of the most concrete signs of the effect of a warming climate on government operations, the Coast Guard is planning its first operating base there as a way of dealing with the cruise ships and the tankers that are already beginning to ply Arctic waters." (New York Times) "Drunken Trees" - "The other week the busy little bees who are working on Nobel Al’s new book… what, you didn’t know Gore was working on a new book? Yep, apparently in the works is a book on climate change and its solutions, supposedly titled “A Path to Survival” in which Gore lays out, well, you can probably figure that out. As we have detailed previously Gore is more than just a little out there when he starts talking about the climate change threats to human’s survivability on Earth. So, we don’t yet know whether his new title will be shelved in the science or science fiction section." (WCR) "BBC: 'I've Got A Little List” - "Over the next six years, the BBC is going to have to cut 2,500 jobs (see: ‘BBC cuts back programmes and jobs’, BBC Online Entertainment News, October 18). I’m sure the Director General, Mr. Mark Thompson, will have a rough time making tough choices. I therefore thought he might appreciate some help. Here, then, is my little list (with deepest apologies to W. S. Gilbert, The Mikado, and above all to Ko-Ko, Lord High Executioner of the town of Titipu):" (Global Warming Politics) "Geological Decoupling Of CO2" - "Although this blog largely focuses on the politics of ‘global warming’, from time to time I shall aim to bring to the fore critical science on climate change that may have been overlooked in the Johnsonian “clamour of the times”. Today, I wish to highlight a thoughtful examination of the lack of correlation between atmospheric carbon dioxide and climate during three key geological time periods." (Global Warming Politics) "Skeptics Fight on in Climate Debate" - "Some scientists say politics and power are drowning out valid concerns" (Epoch Times) "More
rain and no change in drought and flood occurrences due to global warming" - "Countless times
and time again, we are being told that we will be getting more droughts and less rain due to global warming. We've
also discussed how the CSIRO website climatechangeinAustralia has looked at devastating trends since 1950. "Andrew Bolt: Mad ideas crack me up" - "NOT a month goes by without even more crackpot schemes to save a planet that shows no sign of sickness - and we are the ones to suffer." (Herald Sun) "Sensational"
- "The findings by the UK judge announced last week that Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth failed to tell the
whole truth on more than a few occasions received a fair degree of press coverage and, of course, a great deal of
outcry from Gore defenders worldwide. "When Ants Go Sweating: Zoologists to Study Climate Change Effects" - "A North Carolina State University zoologist is the lead researcher on a five-year, $3 million study that will turn up the heat on a number of ant species to learn more about the effects of climate change." (NC State) "Hungry microbes share out the carbon in the roots of plants" - "Sugars made by plants are rapidly used by microbes living in their roots, according to new research at the University of York, creating a short cut in the carbon cycle that is vital to life on earth." (University of York) We could wish... "Brisbane
'will be part of tropics'" - "A PROJECTED temperature rise in southern Queensland that would
effectively make the region part of the tropics could spell disaster for its grain industry, researchers suggest. "Lawmakers
Propose Bill on Global Warming" - "A Senate blueprint for tackling global warming would require
power plants and vehicles to reduce their greenhouse gases by 70 percent. A chief sponsor said President Bush's
approach of voluntary action will not meet the goal. "Inhofe Slams New Cap-and-trade Bill As All ‘Economic Pain For No Climate Gain'" - "WASHINGTON, DC - Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, commented on the introduction of S. 2191, "America's Climate Security Act" by Senators Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and John Warner (R-VA), calling the legislation yet another in a series of global warming cap-and-trade bills that would cripple our economy while achieving no real environmental benefits." (E&PW) "Climate Change is
Investment 'Megatrend' - Deutsche" - "BEIJING - Government efforts to tackle climate change are
creating a "megatrend" investment opportunity that should tempt even those sceptical about the nature
and pace of global warming, Deutsche Bank analysts said on Thursday.
"Water whets the appetite
of commodity traders with an eye to the next fortune" - "Global shortages of water could lead to
the precious liquid being exchanged in a similar way to permission schemes used by countries for carbon dioxide,
the head of one of the world’s leading exchanges said yesterday. "Ethical Development to Cool Off the Planet" - "BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil - Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva suggested an ethically and politically sustainable development model at a conference in this southeastern Brazilian city that has brought together national and international authorities and experts, business leaders and researchers to discuss solutions to fight climate change in the region." (IPS) "BOLIVIA: Slash and Burn - a Smoking Gun" - "LA PAZ - Every year, when the (southern hemisphere) spring arrives in Bolivia, the skies are covered with smoke, while anti-pollution campaigns to dissuade farmers from using their traditional slash-and-burn farming technique fall on deaf ears." (IPS) "Chinese
growth 'to overtake US'" - "For the first time in modern history, China will next year
contribute more to global economic growth than the United States. "EU attacks
China's trade empire" - "The European Union launched a concerted attack on China's expanding
trade empire yesterday, accusing it of building up surpluses through unfair practices. "Cold colony vulnerable to
environmental challenge" - "Owners of the Antarctic territories may be ill-prepared to face a
major environmental challenge to the continent, according to a Queensland University of Technology academic. "Plans
for coal power plants scrapped" - "BILLINGS, Mont. - At least 16 coal-fired power plant
proposals nationwide have been scrapped in recent months and more than three dozen have been delayed as utilities
face increasing pressure due to concerns over global warming and rising construction costs. "Experts Worry That World Oil Production May Soon Peak" - "Energy experts from around the world have gathered in Houston for a three-day conference on the issue of peak oil, which involves predictions that world oil production will soon reach its peak and then go into decline. This could cause a global economic crisis since demand for energy is not expected to slow, but, in fact, is expanding rapidly. VOA's Greg Flakus has more from Houston." (VOA News) "Energy-hungry India seeks to tap Africa for
oil" - "New Delhi, Oct 16 Keen to increase its fossil fuel supplies from Africa, India is
organising a hydrocarbon conference that would be attended by oil ministers from 15 African countries. "India, China will outpace other countries
with the help of nuke power by 2027: IAEA official" - "Shanghai, Oct.16: A senior International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) official has said that China and India will outpace other countries in the next two
decades with the help of nuclear power. "Renewable fuels lobby calls for--drum roll please--more government support!" - "In this post, I comment on Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen’s opening statement, “America’s Energy Future Is at a Crossroads,” at this week’s “Cellulosic Ethanol Summit” in Washington, D.C. Dinneen’s remarks are indented; my comments follow." (Marlo Lewis, Cooler Heads Blog) "Victims of the ethanol rush: Loss of the native prairie" - "The Great Plains of Kansas are being transformed by America's thirst for alternative fuels. Some are calling it an ecological disaster. Leonard Doyle reports from Beaumont." (London Independent) "First Analysis of the Water Requirements of a
Hydrogen Economy" - "One of the touted benefits of the futuristic US hydrogen economy is that
the hydrogen supply—in the form of water—is virtually limitless. This assumption is taken for granted so much
that no major study has fully considered just how much water a sustainable hydrogen economy would need. "How Many Economists Does It Take..." -
"To oppose energy legislation that will undoubtedly affect the nation's lightbulbs? Well, the National
Taxpayers Union has a letter from 234 economists warning Congress against making the same old mistakes: "Gateses' bold new
goal: to wipe out malaria" - "The last time a drive was launched to eradicate malaria, the year
was 1955 and the call came from the governments of the world through the United Nations. Support the campaign against DDT scaremongering with a DDT T-shirt! "Bulldozing the American Dream" - "‘Urban renewal’ schemes that rely on eminent domain disproportionately harm the poor, writes Timothy B. Lee." (The American) Don't know how they do it... "Influenza spreads readily in winter conditions" - "Low temperatures and relative humidities have been linked to the rapid spread of influenza in a new study by researchers, led by Dr. Peter Palese, from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The study, published in PLoS Pathogens, supports the theory of the seasonal flu." (Public Library of Science) "Who are we working for?" - "Concerns over the pervasive and growing influences of vested interests in the practice of medicine, clinical practice guidelines and pay-for-performance measures, public health policies, medical and nursing school training, and medical research, including clinical trials, have been growing for years and discussed here frequently. But realizing just how extensive and deep the conflicts have infiltrated medicine can be hard to grasp. A report just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has attempted to quantify academic-industry ties and the results may be startling to some." (Junkfood Science) "Government forecasts" - "The obesity news coming from the UK has been a source of international incredulity. This week, the report commissioned by the UK government’s Foresight Programme of the Office of Science and Technology was released, in support of some of the most massive governmental anti-obesity policies in the history of the world. Led by chief scientific advisor at the government office, Sir DavidKing, the Foresight project was overseen by “a high level Stakeholder Group” to gather “scientific evidence from across a wide range of disciplines to inform a strategic view of this issue.” (Junkfood Science) "James Watson: an inconvenient father of DNA" - "James D. Watson, a 79-year-old American co-discoverer of the DNA molecule - one of the most profound discoveries of the 20th century science - and a Nobel prize winner for a hard discipline became the latest target of political correctness." (The Reference Frame) "As he arrives in Britain, DNA
pioneer breaks his silence on racism row" - "James Watson, the Nobel laureate who shocked the
world with his views on race and intelligence, has defended his position in an exclusive article for The
Independent today in which he seeks to justify his theory that there is a genetic basis behind differences in IQ. "Transgenics transformed: Maize mini-chromosomes can add stacks of functional genes to plants" - "A new method of constructing artificial plant chromosomes from small rings of naturally occurring plant DNA can be used to transport multiple genes at once into embryonic plants where they are expressed, duplicated as plant cells divide, and passed on to the next generation -- a long-term goal for those interested in improving agricultural productivity." (University of Chicago Medical Center) October 18, 2007 Junkman Steve Milloy Responds to Shrill Claims of Ethanol Lobbyists -
WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 -- Speaking to the Cellulosic Ethanol Summit taking place in Washington DC, Renewable Fuels
Association president Bob Dinneen issued a statement which may be read here: "John Stossel Exposes
Global Warming Myths" - "'20/20' co-anchor John Stossel is going on the attack against
“experts” who warn about manmade global warming – along the way berating Al Gore for saying the debate over
climate change is over. Good question: "How can you predict global warming if you can't predict rain?" - "Some say climate change is part of a complex natural cycle – so complex, in fact, that it can't be forecast. Are current climate models reliable?" (The Christian Science Monitor)
"Earth’s Albedo Tells an Interesting Story" - "Thanks to one of our commenters (thanks Henry), this unique project called “Earthshine” being done at the Big Bear Solar Observatory has been brought to my attention. The project is simple in concept:" (Watts Up With That?) "The
Global Warming Learning Curve" - "Data discrepancies are fascinating. I was researching the
topic of global warming and happened upon the results of a survey conducted in July by Yale University's School of
Forestry & Environmental Studies addressing American opinions of global warming. According to the press
release issued by the school, "Americans consider global warming an urgent threat." I didn't pause very
long before diving quickly into our data to see if this urgent threat was reflected in the way we search. If, as
the study claimed, "nearly half of Americans believe that global warming is either already having dangerous
impacts on people around the world or will in the next 10 years," we have a funny way of showing it. This again... "Acid
oceans warning" - "The world’s oceans are becoming more acid, with potentially devastating
consequences for corals and the marine organisms that build reefs and provide much of the Earth’s breathable
oxygen.
"The fastest continent" - "50 million years ago the Indian sub-continent collided with the enormous Eurasian continent with a velocity of about 20 cm/year. With such a high velocity India was the fastest of the former parts of Gondwanaland, according to a report by a team of scientists from the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (GFZ, Germany’s National Lab for Geosciences) and the National Geophysical Research Institute, India, in the 18th October 2007 edition of the Science Magazine "Nature". Due to this collision at such high velocities the largest mountain belt on Earth, the Himalayas, was formed, as was the massive Tibetanplateau." (Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres)
"The dangers of fried food and a fried planet" - "Claims that the ‘obesity epidemic’ is as bad as climate change suggest that modern society is bingeing on scare stories." (Rob Lyons, sp!ked) "RFK Jr Makes Outlandish Claim" - "This one takes the cake. If there was a Nobel Prize for Absurd Assertions (hmmm, perhaps there is) RFK Jr would win it hands down with this one:
There is no such study. The NAS did not conduct such a survey. This is either a complete fabrication or a massive confusion. Neither speaks well about RFK Jr’s credentials to speak as an authority on the subject. I think RFK Jr is simply confused. Here’s where I think he got it from: a few years back, Naomi Oreskes, an historian, wrote an “Essay” feature for the magazine Science, which is published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, entitled “The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change” (subscription required). She claimed to have reviewed
This was an error. As she admitted in an Erratum, she actually searched under the terms “global climate change.” If she had used just “climate change” she would have got about 10,000 results." (Iain Murray, Cooler Heads Blog) Now might be a good time to repeat: "Digging up the roots of the IPCC" - "The UN's all-powerful climate change panel is no straightforward scientific body. It is a deeply political organisation that was born out of disenchantment with progress." (Tony Gilland, sp!ked) "Global warming policies
skewed by consultant: JLF analyst says environmentalist group pushed alarmist agenda" - "RALEIGH
– North Carolinians should question the process that’s leading to proposals for fighting global warming in the
Tar Heel state. That’s the warning from a John Locke Foundation analyst who has monitored the process. At least partly right... "Don't
neglect poor for sake of the environment, says World Bank boss" - "The west will fail to combat
global warming unless it can convince deeply sceptical poor nations that the fight to reduce carbon emissions will
not come at the expense of poverty reduction, the president of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, said last night.
Another one... "Ex-UN Boss Launches Forum for Climate Change Fight" - "GENEVA - Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan on Wednesday launched a "Global Humanitarian Forum" which he said would focus on coordinating international efforts to counter the effects of climate change." (Reuters) "‘Planet in Peril’ Thanks to CNN Marketing Team" - "Last night on the Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert took CNN's marketing team to task, pointing out the hypocrisy of putting a "six foot square poster in each of the 2.3 million copies of today's the USA Today. That's 13.8 million square feet of ‘Planetary Peril.'" Planet in Peril a program airing next week on CNN. Colbert who could barely keep himself from laughing went on to say, "Now the paper is recycled but hopefully that glossy ink isn't going to biodegrade anytime soon, so awareness of this threat is going to be around for centuries. Brilliant marketing CNN, you have strategically insured the planet will still be in peril by the time your special airs next week." (News Busters) "Gore Wins; Facts
Lose" - "The world has become such a difficult and dangerous place that I am deeply appreciative
of recent amusing events, which seem as if they were written by the Marx Brothers or Monty Python. I have in mind,
it should go without saying, Al Gore winning both an Academy Award and the Nobel Peace Prize. The very sentence
sounds like a punch line. But I can't quite figure out who is supposed to be the butt of the joke. I rather
suspect that he has one more award to come -- the trifecta of absurdism. Perhaps he will be pronounced the world's
greatest jockey or the world's most graceful dancer. It only makes sense, given Al Gore's acknowledged role in
bringing the Internet to humanity. Whatever the award, the world will receive it with the same demeanor it
displayed in appreciating the emperor's new clothes several centuries ago. "Al Gore's Wacky Facts" -
"Facts don't matter. Only spin matters. "Al
Gore Got a D in Natural Sciences at Harvard" - "Want to know why Nobel Laureate Al Gore likely
doesn't want to debate any of the myriad of scientists and politicians that have challenged him to such a tête-à-tête
regarding his manmade global warming theories? "Rising Temperatures Said Endanger Arctic"
- "The Arctic is under increasing stress from warming temperatures as shrubs colonize the tundra, changing
wildlife habitat and local climate conditions, researchers said Wednesday.
"Global Warming Good for Greenland?" - "For some in Greenland these days, the grass is looking greener." (National Geographic News) "Get
Ready for NBC’s Weeklong Global Warming Propaganda Blitzkrieg" - "Just when you thought it was
safe to turn on an NBC-owned station, the network is getting ready to bombard citizens with a weeklong manmade
global warming propaganda blitzkrieg that's destined to make Nobel Laureate Al Gore and his Norwegian sycophants
smile like a polar bear that's just bagged a juicy seal. "Reporting
on global warming not clean, simple" - "So NBC's "Today" show has unveiled big plans
for next month to jet its stars to the far reaches of the planet -- Matt Lauer in the Arctic, Al Roker at the
Equator and Ann Curry in Antarctica -- for live broadcasts aimed at alerting us to the effects of global warming. From the Monty Python playbook: "Miners
join walk for cooler future" - "The miners' union has joined a national campaign lobbying the
Federal Government to combat global warming.
"Climate
change creating jobs for some" - "Climate change presents unprecedented headaches for the
nation's farmers but will fuel a jobs bonanza in agriculture, according to new research. "Green groups condemn UK's claim in Antarctica" - "Environmental groups yesterday condemned British plans to claim sovereignty over a vast tract of the seabed off the coast of Antarctica, with Greenpeace and WWF expressing dismay that the Foreign Office was contemplating possible oil, gas and mineral exploration in the region." (The Guardian) "Researchers examine world's potential to produce biodiesel" - "What do the countries of Thailand, Uruguay and Ghana have in common? They all could become leading producers of the emerging renewable fuel known as biodiesel, says a study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies." (University of Wisconsin-Madison) "Scientists estimate state-by-state mercury emissions from US fires" - "Forest fires and other blazes in the United States likely release about 30 percent as much mercury as the nation's industrial sources, according to initial estimates in a new study by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Fires in Alaska, California, Oregon, Louisiana, and Florida emit particularly large quantities of the toxic metal, and the Southeast emits more than any other region, according to the research. The mercury released by forest fires originally comes from industrial and natural sources." (National Center for Atmospheric Research) "EU Tackles National Governments Over Air Pollution" - "BRUSSELS - European Union regulators initiated legal action against five member states on Wednesday for having air pollution levels that exceed EU limits and which can cause health problems. The European Commission, the 27-nation bloc's executive, said it was starting legal procedures against Britain, France, Italy, Spain and Slovenia for too-high levels of sulphur dioxide (SO2), a pollutant that can cause breathing difficulties and affect cardiovascular health." (Reuters) "Fewer toxins emitted by US, Canadian industry: study" - "Fewer toxic chemicals are being released into the environment by big manufacturers in the United States and Canada according to the latest findings of an annual study released Wednesday." (AFP) "EU Chides Governments Over Chemical Plant Safety" - "BRUSSELS - Twelve European Union countries have failed to draw up emergency plans to prepare for possible industrial accidents near plants that deal with dangerous substances, the EU's executive said on Wednesday." (Reuters) "EU Targets Governments Over Electronic Waste Rules" - "BRUSSELS - Several European Union countries have failed to turn the bloc's rules on electronic waste into national law and now face legal action from Brussels, the European Commission said on Wednesday." (Reuters) Go for the vectors: "Newest
Malaria Medicine May Be Losing Potency in Asia, WHO Says" - "A malaria treatment considered the
most effective weapon against drug-resistant strains of the lethal disease may be losing potency in Asia, doctors
say. Support the campaign against DDT scaremongering with a DDT T-shirt! "Mind Over Malaria" - "As the Gates Foundation meets this week, it should take a closer look at the ‘global subsidy’ campaign, writes ROGER BATE." (The American) "New Lancet study: Malaria vaccine candidate has promising safety, tolerability profile in infants" - "First 'Proof of Concept' of world's most advanced malaria vaccine candidate in African infants shows protection against malaria" (Eurekalert) "A Potential Breakthrough in Malaria Prevention" - "Parents of infants in sub-Saharan Africa, where a million or more die each year, have new hope, thanks to a group of multinational researchers, led by Dr. John J. Aponte of the University of Barcelona and colleagues from Mozambique. They evaluated a new malaria vaccine's safety and efficacy in 214 infants in rural Mozambique, an area of high incidence of malaria, and found that the vaccine against Falciparum malaria, the most severe form, reduced the rate of new infections by almost two thirds. The vaccine also delayed the timing of first infection, another important determinant of overall severity. The study was published in The Lancet today, in an early-release, online only version." (Gilbert Ross, ACSH) 'peas continue the Green fascination with everyone's bathroom practices: "Greenpeace
tears into retail 'eco-villains'" - "Boots and Somerfield, two of the biggest names on the
British high street, have been branded "eco-villains" for failing to ensure that their tissue and
lavatory paper products are environmentally friendly. "Siege of Amazon Greenpeace activists ends" - "BRASILIA - Police escorted a group of Greenpeace activists from a remote town in the Brazilian Amazon on Wednesday after hundreds of loggers and townspeople besieged them overnight in protest against an anti-global warming campaign, the environmental organisation said." (Reuters) "A New Battle of Logging vs. Spotted Owls" - "The Bureau of Land Management is considering an increase in logging in the northwest that would endanger a plan established to protect the northern spotted owl." (New York Times) “Consensus is a political concept, not a scientific one.” - "A thought piece appeared in the Financial Times examining what is science and why it is so critical for us to distinguish it from scientific consensus." (Junkfood Science) "Obesity a
consequence of modern life" - "LONDON - Obesity does not result simply from over-eating and a
lack of exercise but is a consequence of modern life, a government think-tank said on Wednesday. "Rice-producing nations call for increased focus on production" - "Rice production, which helps feed almost half the world, has been under increasingly intense pressure lately" (International Rice Research Institute) October 17, 2007 "Failure to Measure Up: The U.N. abuse of science." - "At the end of September, The Lancet, a British medical journal, published papers demonstrating the United Nations’s misuse of scientific information in relation to child mortality, and especially in relation to malaria. It is pleasing that the Lancet has exposed this misuse because it is a rare event — the exposure, not the misuse of data. More alarming, however, is that the U.S. media chose not to report on this significant abuse. One wonders if data manipulation from the U.S. government, on say, climate change, would receive no headlines as well." (Roger Bate, NRO) "Eating soya could slash men's sperm count" - "Men who eat just half a serving of soya a day have drastically fewer sperm than those who do not consume such foods, according to a small, preliminary study." (NewScientist.com news service)
"JFS Exclusive: Part Two of the country’s largest clinical trial on healthy eating" - "Last year, the primary outcomes of the Women’s Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial were reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Even though this was one of the largest, longest and most expensive randomized controlled diet clinical trials in the history of our country — and finally tested the claims being made about “healthy” eating that are the foundation of the government’s nutrition and obesity prevention initiatives — few of us heard the results." (Junkfood Science) "Obesity genetics" - "New evidence that genetics plays a key role in obesity is published today in the International Journal of Bioinformatics Research and Applications. The findings relate to the genetics of modern Pima Indians who have an unusually high rate of obesity but could be extrapolated to all people. Their obesity is thought to be linked to a thrifty metabolism that allowed them to metabolize food more efficiently in times when little was available but causes problems when food is in abundance." (Inderscience Publishers)
"Environment Link Probed in Cancer Cases" - "Scientists are looking at possible environmental factors that might have harmed the genes of children who developed leukemia in the Fallon area and in Arizona." (AP)
"Ecologists discover city is 'uber-forest' for big owls" - "It may be news to its bankers, but Charlotte, the biggest city in North Carolina and a major center of the American financial industry, is actually an old growth forest. At least that’s the way the barred owls see it." (University of North Carolina at Charlotte) "Why are we losing Louisiana?" - "The Mississippi Delta region was losing land long before Hurricane Katrina came ashore. But the correlation between land loss and the risk of flooding in the region is now more evident than ever." (Geological Society of America) Who writes this rubbish? "British explorer to measure depth of Arctic ice cap" - "LONDON — A British explorer who was the first man to reach the North Pole solo announced plans Tuesday to lead an expedition to measure the thickness of the Arctic ice caps." (AFP)
"Greenland
Climate: Now vs. Then, Part I. Temperatures" - "We at World Climate Report have been
spending some time over at the local library digging through some old journals looking for information about
climate conditions in Greenland during the early-to-mid 20th century—a time when it pretty well established that
much of Greenland was as warm, or warmer, than it is presently. This fact, however, seems largely ignored by
alarmist scientists and the media who continue to turn up the volume on rhetoric claiming that Greenland is
experiencing events that have not been experienced there for time immemorial. Knowing what we do about the climate
history of Greenland, we can’t help to wonder whether time immemorial only extends back about 50 years or so. "Skeptic of global warming gives
lecture on causes" - "The auditorium of the Reichardt building was the setting last Thursday for
a presentation by Alaska's most respected skeptic on global warming, Dr. Syun-Ichi Akasofu, adding more ammunition
to a current debate filled with propaganda and vitriol from both sides. "The not-so-disappearing polar bear" - "The case of the not-so-vanishing polar bears shows that we shouldn't let the smartest solutions get lost amid the hype, writes Bjørn Lomborg" (Daily Telegraph) Uh-huh... "Ozone
Hole Over Antarctica 'Relatively Small'--WMO" - "GENEVA - The hole in the ozone layer over
Antarctica is "relatively small" at about 25 million sq km this year, but it will still take decades for
it to heal over, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said on Tuesday.
"Hurricane Fears Cost Homeowners Coverage" - "Millions of homeowners in Northeast states are losing their policies as companies try to limit their exposure." (New York Times) "Anthropogenic
Climate Change Theory and Busted Sod" - "Anthropogenic theories of climate change have a
neglected and tragic precedent of acceptance by consensus. Before Al Gore's Nobel prize for helping politicize the
theory of Global Warming came the widely-believed theory that "Rain Follows the Plow." "Apocalypse
Now: Globe's Global Warmist Makes Even Gore Look Cool" - "When it comes to global-warming
alarmism, it takes a lot to make Al Gore look moderate. Even the IPCC, the UN group that shared the Nobel with
him, predicts on average a sea-level rise only 1/12th as high as the 20 feet by 2100 that Gore has forecast. Everyone wants to claim gorebull warming for everything: "Carteret
Islands sinking fast" - "THE Carteret Islands are almost invisible on a map of the South
Pacific, but the horseshoe scattering of atolls in eastern-most Papua New Guinea is on the frontline of climate
change, as rising sea levels and storm surges eat away at their existence.
"CLIMATE CHANGE-US: Delay Now, Pay Dearly Later" - "BROOKLIN, Canada - The United States is facing hundreds of billions of dollars in weather-related damages in coming years if it does not act urgently on climate change, the first-ever comprehensive economic assessment of the problem has found." (IPS)
"Global Warming Delusions" - "Global warming doesn't matter except to the extent that it will affect life -- ours and that of all living things on Earth. And contrary to the latest news, the evidence that global warming will have serious effects on life is thin. Most evidence suggests the contrary." (Daniel B. Botkin, Wall Street Journal) | For the access-challenged "China’s drive
for wealth means end of our low-carbon dreams" - "Hu Jintao wants to make every Chinese twice as
rich by 2020. He has done it once – in just five years, income per capita doubled to $2,000 (£983) - and the
only obstacle in the Chinese President’s path is the fuel needed to stoke the boiler in China’s locomotive. "Statistical Incompetence at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology" - "The Australian Bureau of Meteorology, might well be good at collecting data, in fact they are world recognised as amongst the best. All that is however completely useless if you cannot analyse the data well. It would seem that either they don't employ statisticians to analyse their data or that the statisticians that they employ are well, incompetent." (Gust of Hot Air) "Fran O'Sullivan:
Climate of concern at emissions forum" - "Climate Change Minister David Parker is facing fire
from business organisations over his plan to rush legislation on the emissions trading scheme into Parliament. "Global Warming Starts to Divide G.O.P. Contenders" - "The Republican presidential candidates are divided over the policy solutions to global warming." (New York Times) "While
Gore basks, South America shivers for fuel" - "Call it a very inconvenient article. On Saturday,
as the New York Times usual green posse of reporters – Andrew Revkin, Elisabeth Bumiller, Walter Gibbs, et al
– wrote press releases celebrating Al Gore’s Nobel (three articles and they couldn’t find a single critic
that thought the award was controversial?), another Times story (credit the paper for running it at all) - buried
inside on A13 - should have been an eye-opener for readers lulled by media propaganda into believing that the
world is both frying and that “going Green” is a painless solution. "Gore and Peace" -
"Portuguese neurologist Egas Moniz received the 1949 Nobel Prize in medicine for "his discovery of the
therapeutic value of [prefrontal lobotomy] in certain psychoses," including depression and schizophrenia. The
prefrontal lobotomy operation, in which the nerve fibers connecting the frontal lobe with other parts of the brain
were cut, and which often made patients zombie-like, would be repudiated by the medical community within a decade. "Who'd Buy a Property by the
Sea?" - "It was claimed in 'An Inconvenient Truth' that sea levels could rise by up to 20 feet
in the 'near future' due to melting ice sheets. Anyone who believed such a claim wouldn't really be expected to
buy a property near San Francisco Bay, would they? "Sucked dry" - "While we're misled on the effects of climate change, costly plans to cut emissions are hampering cheaper, effective solutions to problems we face now, says Bjorn Lomborg" (The Guardian) From CO2 Science
this week: Medieval
Warm Period Record of the Week: Subject Index Summary: Plant Growth Data: Journal Reviews: Climate Variability in a Warming World: The Situation in Switzerland: What do Swiss data suggest about one of the most common climate-alarmist contentions? Basic Plant Responses to Long-Term Atmospheric CO2 Enrichment at Three Natural CO2 Springs in Japan: How do light saturated photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, water use efficiency and photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency respond to long-term elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations in the real world of nature? Effects of Elevated CO2 on Yield and N2O Emissions of a Mixed Stand of Timothy and Red Clover: How does yield-enhancing atmospheric CO2 enrichment affect soil N2O emissions? Effects of Warming on Aphid Densities of Sagebrush Plants: Do rising temperatures mitigate or exacerbate the negative effects of the insects on the plants? Temperature
Record of the Week: "As President, Would You Back a Carbon Tax?" - "As part of its ongoing efforts to ask policy-makers and public leaders the tough questions, Cybercast News Service asked the Democratic presidential candidates: "As president, would you support enacting a national carbon tax?" Following are the responses received. (Sens. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, former Sen. John Edwards and Gov. Bill Richardson did not respond to requests for comment.)" (CNSNews.com) "No long-term global
oil shortage: US" - "THERE is no long-term global oil shortage, a senior US official said in
Australia yesterday, on a day when the oil price went almost to $US87 a barrel because of the Turkey-PKK
situation. "If corn is biofuels king, tropical maize may be
emperor" - "When University of Illinois crop scientist Fred Below began growing tropical maize,
the form of corn grown in the tropics, he was looking for novel genes for the utilization of nitrogen fertilizer
and was hoping to discover information that could be useful to American corn producers. "FEATURE-Do food miles make a
difference to global warming?" - "WASHINGTON, Oct 17 - The U.S. local food movement -- which
used to be elite, expensive and mostly coastal -- has gone mainstream, with a boost from environmentalists who
reckon that eating what grows nearby cuts down on global warming. October 16, 2007 "AFM Commentary on 'WHO Promotes DDT?'" - "Hans Overgaard and Michael Angstreich argue in The Lancet Infectious Diseases (subscription required) that the World Health Organization (WHO) has consistently provided support for the use of DDT for malaria control. AFM responds to their miseading an dishonest arguments about DDT and WHO as well as to their characterization of AFM as an organization that promotes DDT as a "panacea for the world's malaria problems" (AFM) Support the campaign against DDT scaremongering with a DDT T-shirt! "Amazon tribe hits
back at green 'colonialism'" - "It's one of the most fashionable ideas to save the planet from
global warming: buying up tropical rainforest to save it from destruction. Gordon Brown has even appointed the
millionaire founder of one such charity, Johan Eliasch, as his special adviser on deforestation. "Canada Not Listening to Leading Environmentalist" - "TORONTO - David Suzuki, Canada's best-known environmentalist, has spent a generation encouraging Canadians to look after the environment, but it seems they have not been listening." (Reuters)
"High
street's climate message not getting through" - "Most consumers have no idea what major
high-street companies are doing about climate change, new research reveals.
"What Happens to Companies That 'Go Green'" - "Mutual fund manager explains why consumers, shareholders and business leaders should be skeptical of global warming regulation lobbying and 'market-based' solutions." (Jeff Poor, Business & Media Institute) Isn't Al on Apple's Board? "Greenpeace slams Apple over iPhone's hazardous chemicals" - "Tests undertaken by environmental lobby group finds iPhone contains hazardous substances already eradicated by some rival phone manufacturers." (James Murray, BusinessGreen) | Missed Call: iPhone's hazardous chemicals .pdf (Greenpeace)
"Dupont Says US Not
Pursuing PFOA Criminal Charges" - "NEW YORK - DuPont Co said Monday it has learned the US
Department of Justice has concluded its perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) investigation of DuPont and will not pursue
criminal charges. "California OKs Phthalates Ban on Children's Products" - "SAN FRANCISCO - Siding with activists who urged action against "toxic toys," California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill on Sunday banning chemicals called phthalates in children's products." (Reuters) "Scaring Women Into Breastfeeding: Mention Leukemia Risk to Baby" - "A journalist claims that science suggests millions of kids have been put at risk by not breast-feeding, but the science says otherwise." (Rebecca Goldin, STATS) "Junkfood Science Exclusive: The big one — results of the biggest clinical trial of healthy eating ever" - "Everybody knows what it means to eat healthy. We’ve heard about healthy foods and the importance of eating right our entire lives: “To be healthy and prevent heart disease, cancers and other chronic diseases of aging — and to maintain a slim, “healthy” weight — we should eat a low-fat and high-fiber diet with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains.” This advice comes from respected doctors and health officials and we hear it everywhere, so it is unfathomable that these dietary beliefs have never actually been clinically tested...until recently." (Junkfood Science) "Schools told to tackle teenage obesity crisis" - "Schools should be doing more to convince teenage girls to take part in sport including scrapping "embarrassing" gym kits and offering alternative activities such as frisbee and yoga sessions in an effort to halt the growing obesity crisis, the secretary of state for families has told the Guardian." (The Guardian) "Food industry's ethics under
scrutiny over obesity" - "Marketing junk food to children has to become socially unacceptable, a
leading obesity expert will say today, warning that the food industry has done too little voluntarily to help
avert what a major report this week will show is a "far worse scenario than even our gloomiest
predictions". "All Quiet Alert" - “'All Quiet Alert' - That sounds like an oxymoron, and maybe it is, but the sun is extremely quiet right now, so much in fact that the Solar Influences Data Center in Belgium has issued an “All quiet alert” on October 5th. Since then, the sunspot number has remained at zero." (Watts Up With That?) "As a land thaws, so do Greenland's aspirations for independence" - "As global warming makes Greenland's mineral wealth more accessible, talk of independence from Denmark is also heating up." (The Christian Science Monitor)
Definitely not PC: "British
scientists dig in arctic mud" - "A British research team from the University of Plymouth is
developing a new method of tracking changes in Arctic sea ice over the past 1,000 years.
"The Studies Do No Such Thing" - "Today the USA Today announced in a headline: From the article:
Here is what makes me immediately suspicious, even at this point in the article: No one can accurately come up
with an empirical proof of how much of the warming from 1973-99 was due to man's activities and how much was due
to natural effects (the best you can find are studies that say "most" or "a lot of" or
"some". Therefore, it is impossible that anyone was able to attribute a humidity rise just to the
man-made portion of the warming, since we don't know how much that was. "IPCC: the dangers of enforcing ‘consensus’" - "While appearing to be the ultimate experts on global warming, the UN's climate panel has actually distorted public discussion of the issue." (Tony Gilland, sp!ked) Oops! "Johnn (sic) Hari: Gore tells the truth. His enemies smear him" - "What is portrayed as a plucky school governor taking on the former vice-president is in fact very different." (London Independent)
"Man Made Climate Change Advocates Say Challenge To Gore Film Is Huge Industrialist Conspiracy" - "Advocates of the man made global warming theory have jumped on an article in yesterday's London Observer which insinuates that a recent court case which attempted to stop Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth being shown to school children in the UK is part of a vast conspiracy secretly being implemented by big industry insiders." (Steve Watson, Infowars.net) "Peace
Prize for Gore like Lit Prize for comics" - "Here's an inconvenient truth: Al Gore won the Nobel
Peace Prize thanks to a movie that needs more warning labels than a carton of unfiltered Camels. "Al Gore’s ‘good lies’" - "When is an error not an error? When it’s in a film designed to raise awareness about climate change and make us change our behaviour." (Brendan O'Neill, sp!ked) "The Warming Debate's Gray Area" - "A top climate scientist calls the theory that won Al Gore an Oscar and a Nobel Peace Prize "ridiculous." Others would speak out, he says, if they didn't fear retribution from those who put ideology over science." (IBD) "Al's Ignoble Nobel" - "Let's make this really, really simple. The Nobel Peace Prize Committee gave the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize to Al Gore and about 3,300 UN bureaucrats and professors who worked on the chi-chi, politically correct, ultra-hip topic of global warming. As far as I know, none of the 3,300 ever had to put his or her life on the line. Mostly, they worked in air-conditioned classrooms and labs and were well paid. Al Gore has made an enormous business of his opposition to the oil companies. He has made literally tens of millions from his crusade (far, far more than any oil company executive presently working )." (Ben Stein, American Spectator) This Left-Coast publication liked it though: "World warms up to climate challenge" - "The pairing of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was an inspired decision by the Norwegian selection committee. (Seattle Times) "Journalist Conference Takes Left Turn on Climate Change" - "Professional organization that prides itself in its Code of Ethics hosts one-sided global warming session at its annual event." (Jeff Poor, Business & Media Institute) "Climate deniers to
send film to British schools" - "Secondary schools across Britain are to be sent copies of the
controversial television film The Great Global Warming Swindle, as the polemical battle over climate change heats
up in the wake of last week's Nobel Peace Prize award to former US vice president Al Gore and the UN's climate
change panel. "Kyoto climate
approach 'bad policy' - Bush" - "ARKANSAS - US President George W. Bush says his
administration's approach of emphasising voluntary approaches to address climate change was working and he
denounced Kyoto-style mandatory caps as "bad policy". "Hot
World? Blame Cities." - "It's all the suburbs' fault. You know, everything -- traffic
congestion, overweight kids, social alienation. Oh, and lest we forget, global warming and rising energy costs,
too. "Scientists gauge
greenhouse gases above S.F. in warming experiment" - "In a first-of-its kind experiment, a group
of university and government scientists has begun to monitor greenhouse gases in the air above San Francisco. "Accurate Climate Change Assessment, An Impossible Task?" - "Recently, a critical adjustment was made by NASA to its US Annual mean temperature record since 1895, due to discovering an error in their adjustments found by Steve McIntyre, who also blew the whistle on the flawed hockey stick of Mann, Bradley and Hughes. Tellingly, the adjustment came without a press release or even an explanation on the site, sparking considerable attention in the blogosphere but drawing little mention in the national media. One can rest assured had the adjustment been the other way (a warming), there would have been press releases, widespread hype and headlines for several days." (Joe D’Aleo, CCM) "Global Warming: The Conservatives’ Opportunity" - "This is a two-part column. Part one is what you might expect from a politically conservative person who believes “global warming” is a secular religion and that Al Gore deserved the Nobel Peace Prize as much as Yasser Arafat, Le Duc Tho and a myriad of other low-wattage lights, which is to say not at all. The second part may surprise my liberal friends." (Cal Thomas, Human Events) "Pacific island could be submerged due to global warming" - "One of the world's tiniest countries fears it will submerge from the map unless rich nations act against global warming." (London Telegraph)
"Killer cow emissions" - "Livestock are a leading source of greenhouse gases. Why isn't anyone raising a stink?" (LA Times) Bovine something... "Holy
cow! We’re crazy to farm livestock like this" - "I prefer not to eat food that has a face. But
many of my nearest and dearest love their meat, and who am I to ask them not to eat so much of it? Until now, that
is. Uh-huh... "The
UHT route to long-life planet" - "It’s enough to put the nation off breakfast. Civil servants
have suggested that Britons put long-life milk in tea and pour it on their cornflakes to save the planet from
global warming.
"A loophole could dim impact in proposed energy-saving bill" - "New legislation is slated to phase out inefficient bulbs, but efficiency groups are concerned a loophole could diminish impact." (The Christian Science Monitor) Protectionism trumps environmentalism: "EU Gives Green Light to Disputed China Bulb Duties" - "LUXEMBOURG - The European Union approved a one-year extension of anti-dumping duties on imports of Chinese energy-saving light bulbs on Monday, despite protests from environmentalists, leading companies and several EU capitals." (Reuters) "Britain accused of scuppering EU's
renewable energy plan" - "Britain was accused yesterday of trying to wreck planned EU
legislation to enforce a binding target of using renewable power to produce 20% of Europe's energy by 2020. "Road-pricing plans 'to be
shelved'" - "A national road-pricing scheme that would have cost motorists up to £1.30 a mile
is to be shelved, it was claimed today. "Retrofit energy-saving technology in homes" - "Britain must upgrade its ageing housing if it wants to hit energy-saving targets, British Gas says. The Government wants to cut emissions by 60 per cent of 1990 levels by 2050 and has ordered all new homes be carbon neutral by 2015." (London Telegraph) "EU Set to Rubberstamp Imports of Four GMO Crop Products" - "BRUSSELS - The European Union is likely to authorise imports of four separate genetically modified (GMO) crop products next week for sale across its 27 national markets for the next 10 years, officials said on Monday." (Reuters) "Scientists ramp up ability of poplar plants to
disarm toxic pollutants" - "Scientists since the early '90s have seen the potential for cleaning
up contaminated sites by growing plants able to take up nasty groundwater pollutants through their roots. Then the
plants break certain kinds of pollutants into harmless byproducts that the plants either incorporate into their
roots, stems and leaves or release into the air. "All About: GM Rice"
- "Feed the world's starving. Cure vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Put an end to crop failure. Combat
global warming. Such are the promises of genetically modified (GM) rice. But if it all sounds too good to be true,
environmentalists say, that's because it is. October 15, 2007 NEW BLOG: Global Warming Politics - Emeritus Professor Philip Stott writes: “‘Global warming’ has become the grand political narrative of the age, replacing Marxism as a dominant force for controlling liberty and human choices. In this blog, I hope to be able to deconstruct the ‘myth’ in order to reveal its more dangerous and humorous foibles and follies. I shall focus as much on the politics as on the science.” "Hurricane Threats to Florida - Climate Change or Demographics?" - "Summary for Policy Makers: Despite the lack of any trends in hurricane landfalls along the U.S. and Florida coasts, or damage to U.S. coastlines when population demographics are taken into account, the impact from a single storm can be enormous. The massive population and infrastructure build-up of the US coastline has vastly raised the potential damage that a storm can inflict. It is stunningly dishonest and irresponsibly dangerous to insinuate, let alone assert, that CO2 mitigation policies could cage the destructiveness of nature, particularly in hurricane-prone Florida." (Robert Ferguson, SPPI) "Laurie David: Blaming kids for
global warming" - "The media are full of stories about global warming. Hurricanes, we are told,
are stronger and more prevalent due to global warming. Summers are warmer as a result of global warming. We are
lead to believe that there is scientific consensus global warming is human caused. Not sure I would have framed it quite this way... "Be wary of climate process Osama endorses, doctor argues" - "OTTAWA -- Osama bin Laden's recent endorsement of the international Kyoto Protocol on climate change is proof that government policies to slash greenhouse gas emissions could be more dangerous for industrialized countries than terrorism itself, says a well-known Canadian global warming skeptic." (Mike De Souza, CanWest News Service)
All workers report for compulsory education... "City
Workers Shown 'Truth'" - "Watching Al Gore's movie about global warming is now part of the job
at City Hall.
"How to Create and Protect a Consensus" - "We are all aware of a claimed consensus on climate science, although what the consensus actually is and how far it goes has yet to be defined, in my view. That is not the issue raised here. A book authored by Janis, I. L. & Mann, L. (1977) Decision-making: A psychological analysis of conflict, choice, and commitment (New York Free Press), explores the concept of ‘Group Think,’ which shows a remarkable parallel with the way the climate science consensus is operated and protected." (JenniferMarohasy.com) Letter of the moment: To the Editor, "NASA and the Warmest
Year" - "Back in August, 2007, there was a flurry of news items about how NASA had revised its
temperature measurements and was now showing 1934 to be the warmest year on record, not 1998. The global warming
story was one of steadily increasing temperatures, so this sounded very significant. A lot of the right wing blogs
had a field day with it and made it sound like NASA couldn't get its math straight. James Hansen of NASA and other
warming researchers replied that the revision was minor and didn't change the big picture at all. <chuckle> "Look
who's in denial about global warming now" - "For the last several years, environmental leaders
and writers have blamed stealthy misinformation efforts by a handful of global warming deniers for the lack of
national political action on global warming. Two years ago, Mother Jones pointed to the $8 million Exxon-Mobil had
pumped into 40 conservative groups between 2000 and 2003, concluding, "They've delayed action for 15
years." Greenpeace protested the company's activities and launched ExxonSecrets.com. And in a cover story in
August, Newsweek declared that, "The reason for inaction was clear ... well-funded naysayers."
"Gore's climate
theory savaged" - "ONE of the world's leading meteorologists has described the theory that
helped Al Gore win a share of the Nobel prize "ridiculous". "Gore Wins Thanks to Media's Fever Pitch on Global Warming" - "Climate alarmist receives Nobel Peace Prize with conveniently red hot support from journalists." (Dan Gainor and Jeff Poor, Business & Media Institute) "Climate
change threatens mankind" - "Statement from the Nobel Prize committee awarding the 2007 Nobel
Peace Prize to former U.S. vice-president Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "Climate change threatens the fight to end poverty" - "The former United Nations secretary-general, Kofi Annan, brought about a remarkable consensus among world leaders to establish the Millennium Development Goals and for the world to meet these by 2015. But, as Annan's successor, Ban Ki-moon, told about 80 heads of state and government in September, it is now clear that climate change threatens the achievement of these goals, so vital to the wellbeing of human society and the elimination of widespread poverty." (Rajendra Pachauri, SMH) "Critics slam Nobel
winner" - "THE award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Al Gore and the UN's top climate panel on
Friday has prompted a fresh chorus of criticism from global warming sceptics -- with one dubbing the award "a
political gimmick". Got a question for Al? Try this: "Ask this Year's Nobel Laureates a Question!" - "Ever wanted to quiz a Nobel Laureate? Now’s your chance. Submit your question to one or more of this year’s Laureates, and we’ll pose the most interesting ones to the Laureates who are participating in “Nobel Minds”, an SVT/BBC World TV programme that will be aired in December, or who will feature in a special Q&A article that will appear on this website after the Nobel Prize ceremonies." (Nobelprize.org) Dumb as doorknobs? "A
Prize for Mr. Gore and Science" - "One can generate a lot of heartburn thinking about all of the
things that would be better about this country and the world if the Supreme Court had done the right thing and
ruled for Al Gore instead of George W. Bush in 2000. Mr. Gore certainly hasn’t let his disappointment stop him
from putting the time since to very good use.
"Alongside Al Gore, an Indian 'climate control' engineer" - "Rajendra Pachauri heads the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Control, which was the co-winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize." (The Christian Science Monitor) "Inconvenient truths about the UN’s global warming panel." - "In relation to climate change, there is a clear present need to build up a sounder basis for reviewing and assessing the issues. Governments should ensure that they and their citizens are more fully and more objectively informed and advised." (Professor David Henderson, Wall Street Journal) "Support For Call For Review Of UN IPCC" - "Dr Vincent Gray, a member of the UN IPCC Expert Reviewers Panel since its inception, has written to Professor David Henderson, to support the latter’s call for a review of the IPCC and its procedures. But Dr Gray goes further: calling for IPCC's abolition." (New Zealand Climate Science) "Nobel Prize for Al Gore: ‘Old
Europe’ fires back at the Bush administration" - "The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to
former Vice President Al Gore is a political statement by the European bourgeoisie about the policies of the Bush
administration and the politics of the United States. Rarely has there been such an open intervention by the
European ruling elite in the internal politics of America. Hey lookit! The
Tyndall Centre News: IPCC and Al Gore win Nobel Peace Prize - The Tyndall Centre and UEA has had more
named authors within the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change than any other University in the world
"Does Nobel change debate?" - "California prepares to file lawsuit: Award could add fuel to fight against climate change." (Sacramento Bee)
"Al Gore and the Mission of the Nobel Prizes" - "Al Gore has won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. This choice, more than any other Nobel Committee selection, marks the end of a 105-year era. In direct contradiction of Alfred Nobel's last will and testament, the selection of Gore essentially means the Peace Prize can no longer be said to be an award for improving the condition of humankind. Looking at Gore's writing, it's far from clear that Gore even believes that humanity is his most important priority." (John Berlau, American Thinker) "Run, Al, Run!" - "For burning lots of jet fuel spreading panic around the globe, Al Gore gets a Nobel Peace Prize. But if he really thinks his global warming theory could withstand public scrutiny, why not run for president? (IBD) "Kristol
and Krauthammer Nail the Absurdity of Gore Winning Nobel Peace Prize" - "Truth be told, I was
hoping "Fox News Sunday" would totally ignore Friday's announcement that the Global Warmingist-in-Chief
won the Nobel Peace Prize. "Algore’s Nobel Prize for Globaloney"
- "So, former Vice President Al Gore is worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize, awarded every year with a nice bag of
money “to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations, for the
abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.” The first
thought that naturally springs to mind is a movie by a politician of him giving speeches about something that,
well, won’t stand up in court. "Nobel Prize ignores
inconvenient untruths to reward Gore" - "THERE is a beautiful congruency about Al Gore receiving
the Nobel Peace Prize 24 hours after a High Court judge had declared it illegal to screen his 'man-made' climate
change propaganda film An Inconvenient Truth in schools, unless accompanied by contradictory information to
correct its scientific falsehoods. The judge identified nine scientific errors that would mislead pupils. "Please, sir - Gore's
got warming wrong" - "THE tormentors of Al Gore, who last week won a legal victory against his
film, An Inconvenient Truth, are to step up their battle by sending British secondary schools a documentary
attacking the science of global warming. "Gore's
prize: A fraud on the people" - "Five Norwegians gave a prize to Al Gore, and all the world is
supposed to heed his counsel henceforth. No, thanks. It's alright though, Nude Socialist rides to Al's defense: Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth: unscientific? "ABC Touts Gore Some More; Lets RFK Rant About Exxon Conspiracy" - "Saturday’s Good Morning America kept up the applause for Al Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize award, featuring a completely one-sided report from correspondent Bill Blakemore -- who said that scientists were “joyous” over the award to Gore because “scientists have been far more worried than anyone about global warming, finding it's far more dangerous, coming much quicker, than they expected” -- followed by an equally slanted interview with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who lectured an admiring Bill Weir that the media have failed to suppress any disagreement with his liberal views “because of a massive propaganda campaign by the Exxon corporation.” (News Busters) "One Man
Challenges the World According to Gore" - "Stewart Dimmock of Kent, England deserves a
nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, though I doubt he’ll make the list. "Doom if Saint Al loses
carbs" - "A COUPLE of days before Al Gore was awarded his Nobel Peace prize, Michael Burton, an
English High Court judge and apparently a fine film critic, ruled that Al's Oscar-winner An Inconvenient Truth was
prone to "alarmism and exaggeration" and identified nine major factual errors. Woe is them: "'Climate
Year' Heads for Uncertain End" - "It's October and global warming campaigner Al Gore has won the
Nobel Peace Prize. In November the U.N.'s climate scientists issue a capstone report on where the planet is
headed. And in December envoys of almost 200 nations gather in Bali, Indonesia, hoping for action to head off the
worst of climate change. And if you believe this they'll tell you another: "IPCC
reports Bible of climate change" - "NEW DELHI: The IPCC is a panel of hundreds of scientists put
together under the United Nations and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in 1988 to evaluate the risk of
climate change brought on by humans and to explain to the world, in layman's language, where unsustainable
consumption is leading the planet. It's change but it's not change, it's just changing: "Climate
change making Mont Blanc even higher" - "CHAMONIX, France: Western Europe's highest mountain,
Mont Blanc, is taller than ever due to snow piled atop its summit, in what experts meeting in France have
described as a climate change-related phenomenon. "Global Climate-Change Bills
Before Congress" - "Members of Congress and their staffs are facing a growing body of
legislation intended to address global climate change. Given the tremendous complexity of this issue, and given
that few offices have any specialized expertise in it, understanding the implications of these climate-change
bills may seem like an impossible task. "World Bank Carbon Fund to Pay for Protecting Forests" - "WASHINGTON - A new fund being developed by the World Bank would pay developing countries hundreds of millions of dollars for protecting and replanting tropical forests, which store huge amounts of carbon that causes climate change." (Reuters) "Heaps of climate gas: Pasturing cows convert soil to a source of methane" - "The cow as a killer of the climate: This inglorious role of our four-legged friends, peaceful in itself, is well-enough recognised, because, with their digestion, the animals produce methane, which is expelled continuously. Now, however, a team of German scientists from the Institute of Soil Ecology of the GSF – National Research Center for Environment and Health (Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres) and Czech colleagues at the Budweis Academy of Science have been able to show that bovine animals can also boost the production of this climate gas in soil." (GSF - National Research Center for Environment and Health ) Um, no... "Even as economy lags, corporate 'green' push may advance" - "Companies used to shelve environmental initiatives when times got tough, but now, with oil so expensive, spending on green projects is expected to accelerate." (The Christian Science Monitor)
"EU Lightbulb Duties Now Facing Court Challenge" - "BRUSSELS - The European Commission is facing a court challenge to its controversial anti-dumping duties on imports of energy-saving light bulbs from China, a lawyer said on Friday." (Reuters) "'No Nukes' Stars Reunite to Fight Nuclear Power" - "LOS ANGELES - Nearly three decades after they banded together for a series of "No Nukes" concerts that yielded an album and movie, musicians Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Graham Nash have revived their protest of nuclear power." (Reuters) "UK can't afford cold feet over nuclear power" - "The most important decision facing Gordon Brown is not how robustly he should defend Britain's "red lines" at the EU summit in Lisbon, nor whether to have a referendum on the treaty, nor even whether to attend the rugby World Cup final and cheer on England. It is a far more crucial question: when will Britain reinstate its nuclear power programme?" (London Telegraph) Current eye-roller: "Obesity
crisis ‘on the same scale as global warming’" - "Ministers are drawing up plans for a
concerted fight against obesity as they believe that there is a looming public health crisis to rival that of
climate change. "Harvard’s Inconvenient Data About Diet and Cancer" - "Harvard’s massive pooling project is challenging conventional wisdom about diet and health – and a delay in publishing the most controversial finding has politicians demanding answers." (Trevor Butterworth, STATS) "Social networking
diet" - "The web has become the place to see and be seen, especially for young people. The
social scene for many has moved online, as communities of “friends” take on increasing importance in their
lives. These groups are where many also turn to for information about serious issues, such as their health. It’s
easy to believe that faceless entities are who they say they are and that the information and advice they give is
trustworthy. "A refreshing reminder: food is good" - "Remember when newspaper and magazines shared the joys of delicious foods without all of the baggage of health scares, dietary prescriptions and politicalization of our food choices? Remember when we were regularly reminded that food is one of life’s greatest pleasures? How long has it been since we’ve heard good news about the food we love and been encouraged to enjoy food without guilt and worry?" (Junkfood Science) "This is scholastic achievement?" - "From the “What are they teaching our children?” file comes another school-based childhood obesity initiative with no sound basis in science. Worse, it teaches children to fear healthful foods they need and teaches prejudices against their heavier classmates." (Junkfood Science) "Scholastic update" - "For the multitude of readers who have written in response to yesterday’s story, here is additional information that may be of help." (Junkfood Science) "The State on behalf of children" - "Fifteen more state governments were recently awarded one-year grants of $100,000 apiece in recognition of their Governors making childhood obesity a top priority. The awards were given by the National Governors Association for Best Practices." (Junkfood Science) "Ghostwriter update" - "The three-year controversy over the publication of the results of a clinical trial written by a ghostwriter who was working for a pharmaceutical company that simultaneously kept the study’s raw data from the researcher has had an interesting development." (Junkfood Science) "Tiny tots not tiny enough?" - "Dr. Robyn Silverman has written tips for parents to help their children who feel fat in today’s thin-obsessed environment. As a child and adolescent development specialist and expert on body image, Dr. Silverman says she has heard it all as children struggle to fit in in a world that focuses on an idealized outside appearance, rather than what’s inside. What may be startling is how young extreme weight concerns begin and how quickly little girls are hit with ridicule from their friends for being even the tiniest bit heavier." (Junkfood Science) "Targeting the poor" - "There’s gobs of money to be made taking advantage of poor people and convincing them slimness and nutritional products mean better health and social acceptance. And, as the Los Angeles Times revealed, plenty of people are willing to do just that." (Junkfood Science) "Chocolate cake" - "RioIriri has written a personal essay examining good food-bad food beliefs and the psychological self-torture people put themselves through over every bite of food. She talks to those struggling with healthy food choices and the guilt or shame we’re supposed to feel when eating something that’s been labelled “bad.” As she says, it’s not the cake that’s going to hurt us at all, it’s all the stuff surrounding us to make us feel miserable and keep us from enjoying life and being glad for what we have." (Junkfood Science) "First
ever government database on us and our children" - "The largest and most expensive government
study on child health in the history of the United States was launched this past week. Is this a clinical trial to
test a cure for cancer or promising new treatment for a devastating child disease? "Nitrogen -- the silent species eliminator" - "Nitrogen pollution from agriculture and fossil fuels is known to be seriously damaging grasslands in the UK. A new European study is starting to show that the effect is Europe-wide, confirming that current policies to protect ecosystems may need a re-think." (European Science Foundation) "French Farm Union Urges GMO Law Rapidly" - "PARIS - France's largest farm union urged the government on Friday to introduce a law governing GMO crops as soon as possible so that long-standing disagreements over the issue could give way to progress." (Reuters) October 12, 2007 "DDT Backlash Continues" - "Ever since the World Health Organization reversed the environmentalist-promoted ban on DDT in 2006, eco-activists have scrambled to devise new ways to malign the life-saving insecticide in order to salvage their badly marred reputation." (Steve Milloy, FoxNews.com) Only available from the JunkScience.com Store. Al Gore wins Nobel Prize for Propaganda! Why was Al Gore's movie one-sided? ... Because uncertainty would only fuel opposition to greenhouse gas regulation! - A must-watch clip! (BBC)
"Some Inconvenient Truths For Gore" - "Al Gore's documentary on climate disaster has been ruled a work of fiction by a British judge. In legal terms, his global warming hysteria has been assuming facts not in evidence." (IBD) Enter the excusers: "Science and politics collide" - "The presence of a few errors in Al Gore's film should not undermine the thrust of his message." (Mark Lynas, The Guardian) "Seriously Inconvenient Truth: Producers of Gore’s Film Asked to Return Oscars" - "As media in America fall all over themselves with glee at the thought of the Global Warmingist-in-Chief winning a Nobel Peace Prize, Wednesday's findings by a British judge that Al Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth" contained nine material falsehoods has prompted a request to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to strip the movie's producers of the Oscars they received in February for "Best Documentary." (News Busters) "What has Al
Gore done for world peace?" - "Today we will learn whether Al Gore has won the Nobel peace
prize. As someone who cares passionately about climate change, I'll be saying a little prayer. That he doesn't
win, of course. "Bookies warm to Al for Nobel Peace Prize" - "Swedish bookmakers say Al Gore and a Polish woman who saved 2,500 Jewish kids from the Holocaust have a 4-1 chance at winning the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday." (Daily News) "Students’ play could lead to Nobel Peace
Prize for Polish social worker" - "Eight years ago, in a tiny southeast Kansas town, four girls
had a goal: Tell the story of a woman who saved 2,500 children during the Holocaust. "Mixed Atlantic Hurricane Season Puzzles Experts" - "MIAMI - Judge the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season by the 13 storms so far, and it looks like a relatively busy year. But look at the number of days a hurricane has swirled in the Atlantic, or use other measures of a storm season's ferocity, and 2007 has been surprisingly benign." (Reuters)
"Scientists Use GPS Signals to Measure Earth's Atmosphere" - "Using a technique originally developed in the 1960s for understanding the atmospheric properties of far-away planets, scientists around the world have been using radio signals from GPS satellites to learn more about the atmosphere of our own planet." (SPACE.com) "Study of bacterial communities may provide climate-change clues" - "As part of the world carbon cycle, bacterial communities in freshwater lakes break down carbon in decaying organic matter, converting it into carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere." (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Whoa! Under the AIP banner, no less! "Are
we asking the wrong questions about global warming?" - "Public discussion over global warming is
often caught in a vortex of misinformation perpetuated by extreme forces who say it’s all just a big hoax.
"USHCN Station Surveys - Completion by State" - "www.surfacestations.org volunteer Gary Boden has provided me an updated version of the Excel speadsheet I use to chart this project. This version calculates the completion of USHCN surveys by state, as seen below. We could really use some help in Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, North Dakota, and West Virginia. If you live in these states, and can help complete this important survey of official climate stations, please visit www.surfacestations.org and sign up." (Watts Up With That?) "Warming isn't our No. 1
woe" - "So much of the global warming phenomenon is strictly showbiz. Public policy showbiz
accomplishes little other than to make the participants feel better by creating the illusion that they're doing
something constructive. Wearing a colored ribbon or bracelet is showbiz. Candlelight vigils -- group showbiz.
Having troops patrol airports with unloaded guns is also showbiz, Big Government style. Enviro disaster-porn feature: "Planet in Peril a CNN Worldwide Investigation, Takes Viewers to Front Lines of Environmental Change" - "In a sweeping four-hour documentary about the threats to the world's environment, Planet in Peril takes viewers to places where environmental change is not a theory or just a future forecast, but a crisis happening in real time." (Press Release) More climate disaster-porn: "The
time has come for drastic action" - "Living as we did in the 1950s may save the Earth and us. "Widening Arctic meltdown chills Canadian scientists" - "This year may be seen as 'tipping point' in march of climate change, official says" (Ed Struzik, The Edmonton Journal) "Climate
Change Likely to Increase Fires" - "LAS VEGAS - Climate change is likely to increase the number
of wildfires fueled by invasive weeds that are spreading throughout the Great Basin, researchers told a U.S.
Senate subcommittee Thursday. It isn't pollution... "The
unheralded polluter: cement industry comes clean on its impact" - "There were no climate change
protesters waiting to jeer as the chief executives and other senior figures of one of the world's biggest
industries gathered on Wednesday. Yet they represented a business that produces more than 5% of mankind's carbon
dioxide emissions. And they were in Brussels to discuss climate change. "EU's Path Leads to a Dead End" - "After speaking with some erstwhile skeptics of the environmentalists' agenda it appears that it is quite important that the education of policymakers improve regarding Europe's actual experience with Kyoto-style global warming regulation. I say this after sitting in on a meeting between a European lawmaker and a pivotal congressional leader on the matter. This involved an individual bringing a message of the EU experience that the U.S. lawmaker quite plainly did not wish to hear. Further, the latter’s deflections of the European’s message were verbatim what, e.g., Greenpeace says publicly: “it’s just too early to state that the EU Emissions Trading Scheme has been unsuccessful.” (Chris Horner, Cooler Heads Blog) "A Quest for Energy in
the Globe’s Remote Places" - "HAMMERFEST, Norway — For a quarter-century, energy executives
were tantalized by vast quantities of natural gas in one of the world’s least hospitable places — 90 miles off
Norway’s northern coast, beneath the Arctic Ocean. "New membrane strips carbon dioxide from natural gas faster and better" - "A modified plastic material greatly improves the ability to separate global warming-linked carbon dioxide from natural gas as the gas is prepared for use, according to engineers at The University of Texas at Austin who have analyzed the new plastic’s performance." (University of Texas at Austin)
"Candor on How CAFE Overrides Consumers' Preferences" - "Writing in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, columnist Holman Jenkins relayed a priceless quote on CAFE from new Ford CEO and former Boeing executive Alan Mulally:
It’s not often you see such refreshing candor on how fuel-economy regulations actually work." (Joel Schwartz, Planet Gore) "China and India biofuels said threat to food output" - "OSLO - Plans by China and India to raise biofuels production from irrigated maize and sugarcane could aggravate water shortages and undermine food output, an international report said on Thursday." (Reuters) "Nuclear-Free Sweden is Still Only a Dream" - "STOCKHOLM - Nearly thirty years after Sweden voted to phase out nuclear energy, firms are quietly increasing plant capacity and there is no end in sight for a power source still providing half of the nation's electricity." (Reuters) "Germany alarmed by Brussels' renewable energy
plans" - "Germany is concerned that European Commission legislative plans will harm its system
of subsidy policy for renewable electricity, resulting in a loss running to billions of euros. "A sea change: the wind farm revolution" - "Giant turbines are rapidly becoming a feature of the landscape. And now a wave of applications is poised to make Britain the world leader in offshore wind power generation. But there's one hurdle in the way of this breakthrough for renewable energy: bureaucracy. Ian Herbert reports" (London Independent) ‘‘Exporting Monkeys for Research Helps Conservation’’ - "PORT LOUIS - Some 10,000 macaque monkeys, considered a nuisance in Mauritius, were exported last year to the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan to be used in medical research." (IPS) "Skeptics' Circle — Puzzling evidence" - "The latest edition of Skeptics’ Circle has just been posted at Infophilia. The theme is logic puzzles. This issue will require some hard thinking. As the host says: “After all, logic is one of the best razors against irrational thinking, and like any razor it needs to be periodically sharpened.” (Junkfood Science) October 11, 2007 "UN Urges Preparedness for
More Frequent Disasters" - "UNITED NATIONS - Amid a dramatic increase in climate-related
disasters, international relief agencies are calling on countries to increase their commitment to disaster risk
reduction, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
"Democracy, GDP and Natural Disasters" - "Amartya Sen won the Nobel Prize in economics in 1998 with the observation that there has never been a famine in a nation that has a democratic form of government and a free press. A similar relationship exists for natural disasters: Deaths associated with natural disasters are lower for nations with democratic forms of government and the associated higher national income, or Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In general, the World Bank’s Democracy Index, a measure of how strong a democracy is, and a nation’s GDP are stronger predictors of a natural disaster’s humanitarian impact (as measured by deaths) than either the size of the event or the population density in the area of the disaster. Global increases in democracy and GDP may therefore partially explain the apparent paradox of the generally decreasing death toll associated with natural disasters despite the increased population density in high-risk areas." (Gregory E. van der Vink and co-authors, Geotimes) Uh-huh... "Agency:
Pollution Cuts Europe Lifespans" - "BELGRADE, Serbia - Poor air and water quality, and
environmental changes blamed on global warming, have cut Europeans' life expectancy by nearly a year, Europe's
environmental agency warned Wednesday.
"Climate change film to stay
in the classroom" - "A parent has failed in his legal action to prevent Al Gore's climate change
documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, being shown in schools in England.
"SCIENTIFIC FRAUD 'BY UN IPCC AND OTHERS'" - "Expert reviewer says 'the IPCC is not a regular scientific organisation but one set up to support the global warming lobby at any costs, including the loss of scientific integrity.'" (New Zealand Climate Science Coalition) "Misplaced Trust" - "Governments world-wide are mishandling climate-change issues. Policies to curb "greenhouse gas" emissions too often take the form of costly specific regulations rather than a general price-based incentive such as a carbon tax. More fundamentally, there is good reason to question the advice on which governments are basing their policies." (David Henderson, Wall Street Journal) | .pdf for the access-challenged "CLIMATIC CHANGES IN SUBARCTIC EURASIA
BASED ON MILLENNIAL TREE RING CHRONOLOGIES" - "INTRODUCTION: - According to calculations based
on climatic models, the strongest warming should be observed in the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere,
with an increase of 3-4 C (Kelly et al. 1982; Budyko, Israel 1987). However, data obtained from analysis of the
radial growth of trees from the sub-Arctic area of Eurasia, an area closely tied to the temperature changes, do
not show such significant changes in climatic conditions (Briffa et al. 1998; Naurzbaev, Vaganov 2000; Sidorova et
al. 2005 ). The rate and amplitude of the current warming testify about its uncommonness during the past centuries
(Briffa et al. 1995; Mann et al. 1998). The Medieval Warm Period (A.D. 900-1300) is a recent, possible analog,
although available data disagrees in many respects relative to its magnitude and duration (Bradley 1999). Other
studies suggest similar temperature in the Northern Hemisphere during this period and the current warming
(Dahl-Jensen et al. 1998; Naurzbaev, Vaganov 2000; Sidorova, Vaganov 2002; Esper et al. 2002, Sidorova et al.
2005).
Lot of this nonsense about: "A key threshold crossed" - "An Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report to be released next month will show that the limit on greenhouse-gases scientists hoped to avert has already been surpassed." (The Christian Science Monitor)
"Corporate
response to carbon survey falls short" - "More Canadian companies are tallying how climate
change will affect their operations, but they're leaving investors in the dark about it, a report says.
Ooh... bad timing: "Nobel
laureates feel vindicated as climate change moves to fore" - "POTSDAM, Germany: Sixty-two years
after the victorious Allied leaders convened in this stately Prussian town to create the post-World War II world,
15 Nobel Prize laureates assembled here this week for another momentous task: saving the world from global
warming.
"Camille
Paglia on 'fancy-pants, speculative, climate models'” - "Camille Paglia is listed as one of the top
100 intellectuals in the world today, in fact she’s at number 20. So, it is with some surprise that I read her
response to a question on climate change in a column on Salon.com. See page two on this link. Indoctrination and propaganda in the virtual real -- how apt: "EA And BP Collaborate To Include Climate Education In SimCity Societies" - "Electronic Arts and BP have collaborated to include climate change education within SimCity(TM) Societies, the next iteration in the genre-defining city-building franchise that has sold more than 18 million games to date. The collaboration brings together world-class game building skills and industry expertise on energy, electricity production and greenhouse gas emissions to highlight the impact of electricity generation on the emissions of carbon dioxide that are linked to climate change." (SPX) "Why greens don’t want to ‘solve’ climate change" - "Environmentalists are cagey about techno-fixes to climate change because berating mankind for its impact on nature is their raison d'être." (James Woudhuysen, sp!ked) 'peas call to murder children's favorite: "Greenpeace urges kangaroo consumption to fight global warming" - "MORE kangaroos should be slaughtered and eaten to help save the world from global warming, environmental activists say." (Herald Sun)
Uh-huh... "Earth Getting Wetter and Stickier, Researchers Say" - "LONDON - Greenhouse gases are making the earth's atmosphere wetter and stickier, which may lead to more powerful hurricanes, hotter temperatures and heavier rainfall in tropical regions, British researchers reported on Wednesday." (Reuters)
"Drought Update" - "Have you been hearing a lot about drought recently? Or maybe you’ve been hearing a lot about flooding recently? Probably depends on where you live. The map below (Figure 1) shows the current state of drought (and extreme moisture) across the United States as of a few days ago, and the map shows “Extreme Drought” in much of the American West (a pattern that extends well into Canada), “Extreme Drought” in the Southeast, but “Extreme Moist” conditions in Texas and parts of the middle of the country. Add in some record-breaking high temperatures in October in the Northeast, and the global warming crowd is once primed to blame everything you see on the dreaded build-up of greenhouse gases. This week, we even learned that the fashion industry is gearing up for a world with milder winters, orangutans are feeling the heat, presidential hopefuls are pledging to do something about the changing climate, and who knows what else?" (WCR) "Surfacestations.org updated, now at 800 mark" - "With 421 stations surveyed, we now stand at 800 stations remaining to be surveyed. The rate of surveying slowed during the month of September, which is to be expected as people end summer vacations, start school, and other end of summer activities. I expect we’ll see it pick up in the weeks ahead as people get back to new routines." (Watts Up With That?) "A Convenient Untruth About
Climate Changes" - "It's one thing for a group of elitists to develop questionable theories
about environmental issues that escape proof or disproof in the near term; however, it is quite a different thing
when their unproven theories find their way into the U.S. tax code. "Global-warming skeptics: Is it only the news media who need to chill?" - "Some who discount humans' role in altering Earth's climate point to the 'global-cooling' scare of the 1970s." (The Christian Science Monitor)
'Rehabilitating Carbon Dioxide' - Presentations from the Workshop For David Archibald's Occasional Address to the Lavoisier Group's AGM, 'Failure to Warm', please click here. (The Lavoisier Group) "Brian Fallow: Emissions bite deepens" - "Whatever the merits of the emissions trading scheme unveiled by the Government last month, saving the taxpayer money over the next five years really isn't one of them." (New Zealand Herald) "Robert
Redford is a hypocrite but still damn cool" - "In an interview with Playboy Magazine, actor and
all-around cool guy Robert Redford says he drives a hybrid but - guilty pleasure alert - he enjoys speedy sports
cars. "US Ethanol Rush May Harm Water Supplies - Report" - "NEW YORK - The US ethanol rush could drain drinking water supplies in parts of the country because corn -- a key source of the country's alternative fuel -- requires vast quantities of water for irrigation, the National Research Council reported on Wednesday." (Reuters) "Tax Code Changes Are In Order To Deal With $1 Tril Energy Bill" - "Energy security and prices in the U.S. remain a paramount national issue. The need to enhance electricity supplies and distribution is evidenced time and again with strained grids and rolling blackouts every summer." (Margo Thorning, IBD) "Chevron Says Gorgon Project Gets Australia Approval" - "SYDNEY - US energy major Chevron Corp said the Australian government has given final approval for the massive Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, following years of delays caused by environmental concerns." (Reuters) "Govt Snub Kills UK Coal-Fired Power Plans" - "LONDON - A new breed of clean coal fired power plants may never get built in Britain, companies say, after the government ruled them out for cash help in favour of those using another technology." (Reuters) "CHILE: International Campaign for a Dam-Free Patagonia" - "SANTIAGO - "Patagonia is THE symbol of nature in the world," says U.S. lawyer Aaron Sanger, who is leading an international campaign against Hidroaysén, a joint venture that is planning to build five huge hydroelectric stations in the south of Chile." (IPS) "BRAZIL: Elephant Grass for Biomass" - "RIO DE JANEIRO - Sugarcane is gradually being edged out of pole position for biofuel efficiency, as studies by the Agrobiology Centre at the state Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) are finding that elephant grass has even greater potential." (IPS) "Five Arrested for 50-Foot 'Green' Protest at CBOT" - "CHICAGO - Protesters draped a 50-foot banner on the Chicago Board of Trade building Wednesday, accusing agribusiness giants ADM, Bungeand Cargill of destroying rainforests to produce renewable fuels." (Reuters) "Statist NGOs wreak havoc in Africa" - "Long after the pith helmets and starched uniforms of the colonisers have left Africa, a new breed of colonialist is emerging..." (Temba Nolutshungu, Soapbox) "In soup-kitchen freezers, more meat from hunters" - "'Hunters for the hungry' campaign is racking up record donations of deer, wild hog, and squirrel, drawing both accolades and censure." (The Christian Science Monitor) "How shyness and other normal human traits became sickness" - "What's wrong with being shy, and just when and how did bashfulness and other ordinary human behaviors in children and adults become psychiatric disorders treatable with powerful, potentially dangerous drugs, asks a Northwestern University scholar in a new book that already is creating waves in the mental health community." (Northwestern University) "This is scholastic achievement?" - "From the “What are they teaching our children?” file comes another school-based childhood obesity initiative with no sound basis in science. Worse, it teaches children to fear healthful foods they need and teaches prejudices against their heavier classmates." (Junkfood Science) "Baking cookies is now an act of civil disobedience" - "Cookies, brownies and other homemade treats are the latest victims under the guise of state officials protecting us from ourselves. Bake sales have been banned from campus at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, citing food safety concerns." (Junkfood Science) "Nethaway:
From saturated fat to global warming" - "Before doctors started meddling, I used to eat whatever
tasted good. "Poor Indian Labourers Happily Scrap 'Toxic' Ship" - "ALANG SHIPYARD, India - After over a year of protests by environmentalists, poor workers in west India have happily begun dismantling a controversial cruise liner, ignoring potentially serious risks to their health." (Reuters) "Genetically engineered corn
may harm stream ecosystems" - "A new study indicates that a popular type of genetically
engineered corn--called Bt corn--may damage the ecology of streams draining Bt corn fields in ways that have not
been previously considered by regulators. The study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, appears
in the Oct. 8 edition of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "Austria's Biotech Bans Back in EU Spotlight" - "BRUSSELS - Austria, one of the European Union's more sceptical countries when it comes to genetically modified (GMO) foods, may soon face a third attempt by EU regulators to force it to lift bans on two GMO maize types." (Reuters) October 10, 2007 Latest from the interminable 'global warming' soap -- play this
video clip before continuing: "Fast
cuts can't halt climate change" - "SIGNIFICANT climate change may be inevitable even if the
world agrees to cut emissions of greenhouse gases immediately. Oh... "Greenhouse
gas emissions hit danger mark" - "SYDNEY - The global economic boom has accelerated greenhouse
gas emissions to a dangerous threshold not expected for a decade and could potentially cause irreversible climate
change, said one of Australia's leading scientists.
"A convenient fraud now
being exposed" - "A WORD of advice to the many teachers who have been scaring our children with
screenings of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. "Science is the pursuit
of the truth, not consensus" - "Michael Schrage’s comment on politics and science (September
26) struck a raw nerve: and provoked an extended response from the president of the UK’s Royal Society. Lord
Rees advocates that we should base policy on something called “the scientific consensus”, while acknowledging
that such consensus may be provisional. "Bushwhacked: Europe, Media Can’t Handle the Truth" - "A strange, almost funny thing recently happened at the State Department. This was unusual not solely because proceedings at Foggy Bottom generally prompt fits of sobbing rather than bemusement. At a gathering for his “Major Economies Meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change”, President Bush stood before the media, representatives of more than a dozen European and other nations, plus antagonists from Capitol Hill and, buried in his speech, offered long-overdue if curiously lukewarm defense of U.S. performance on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs)." (Christopher C. Horner, Human Events) Based on ENSO phase: "Most of U.S. Warmer Than Normal This Winter - NOAA" - "WASHINGTON - The United States will have warmer-than-normal temperatures this winter in most of the country, except for the northern Plains and Northwest states, government weather experts predicted on Tuesday." (Reuters From the rubber-room: "Heat may kill hundreds more in NYC region by 2050" - "NEW YORK - The number of heat-related deaths in and around New York City will nearly double by 2050 - and could rise as high as 95 percent -- due to global warming if no efforts are made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a new study shows." (Reuters Health) "Thinning trees may curb 'global warming'" - "Global warming enthusiasts insist our "carbon footprint" is causing climate change and thus we must eliminate it. The California Forestry Association may have an answer, or at least a program that can slow the so-called "carbon imprint" without significantly changing our lifestyle. (I'm sure our environmental groups are holding their breath in anticipation of having the people who cut trees give them ideas about curbing global warming.) The forestry people say, "cut down old growth trees for wood products, and replace them with new ones!" (Paradise Post) Right... "Ancient African Megadroughts May Have Driven Human Evolution -- Out Of Africa" - "From 135,000 to 90,000 years ago tropical Africa had megadroughts more extreme and widespread than any previously known for that region, according to new research." (Science Daily) but: "Migration of Early Humans From Africa Aided By Wet Weather" - "The African origin of early modern humans 200,000--150,000 years ago is now well documented, with archaeological data suggesting that a major migration from tropical east Africa to the Levant took place between 130,000 and 100,000 years ago via the presently hyper-arid Saharan-Arabian desert." (Science Daily) "All
eyes on Calif. climate-change fight" - "SAN FRANCISCO — Make big-rig trucks more aerodynamic.
Allow docked ships to shut off engines and plug into electrical outlets. Require oil-change technicians to check
tire pressure. Excellent! "Plasma
TVs facing ban" - "MOST current plasma TV models would be banned from sale in Australia as early
as October next year under onerous mandatory energy requirements recommended in a report commissioned by the
Federal Government.
"Boost for carbon trading
auction scheme" - "Britain is to push ahead with reforms to the carbon emissions trading system
- a key part of the EU's battle against climate change, Alistair Darling said yesterday. "Decline of species in experts' study
exposes threat of climate change" - "THE increasing threat of climate change to Scotland's
wildlife and its habitats has been laid bare in the most comprehensive report on the country's biodiversity ever
published. From CO2 Science
this week: Medieval
Warm Period Record of the Week: Subject Index Summary: Plant Growth Data: Journal Reviews: The Upper Colorado River Basin (USA) Super-Megadrought of the Mid-1100s: What does it imply about earth's current climatic status? Sea-Surface Temperatures of the North Icelandic Shelf: How have they varied over the past 3000 years? ... and what are their implications? Drought Stress Effects on Wheat and the Mitigating Effect of CO2: We describe the results of a pertinent FACE study conducted in Germany. Impact of Elevated CO2 on Shortgrass Steppe Soil Organic Matter: Does the extra carbon taken up by plants in CO2-enriched air ultimately lead to an increase in soil carbon content? Temperature
Record of the Week: "World Steel Makers to Collect Global Climate Data" - "BERLIN - The world steel industry has agreed a global approach on climate change with voluntary collection of pollution data, world industry body International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI) said on Tuesday." (Reuters) What's missing here? (Gus Van Horn) "Shell Says Has Key to
Clean Coal as Demand Soars" - "LONDON - Royal Dutch Shell's technology to turn coal into gas to
fuel power plants could allow developing countries to meet surging energy demand without a matching rise in
emissions, Shell executives said on Tuesday. "Britons Top Table of Carbon Emissions from Planes" - "LONDON - Britons are the world's worst offenders when it comes to carbon emissions from air travel, according to figures published on Wednesday by market research company Global TGI." (Reuters) "Green tax on passengers
switched to planes" - "The government shamelessly pilfered the Conservatives' policy portfolio
for a flagship green initiative yesterday, announcing plans to switch green taxes on aviation from passengers to
planes in a move that will raise up to £2.5bn annually by 2010. "Shipping pollution
'far more damaging than flying'" - "New research suggests that the impact of shipping on climate
change has been seriously underestimated and that the industry is currently churning out greenhouse gases at
nearly twice the rate of aviation. Quintessential Moonbat: "In this age of diamond saucepans, only a recession makes sense" - "Economic growth is a political sedative, snuffing out protest as it drives inequality. It is time we gave it up." (George Monbiot, The Guardian) Et tu, Nature? "Egg
colour indicates DDT: Poison that thins eggshells shows up in speckles." - "Collectors have long
been fascinated by the colours and patterns of bird eggs. Now research has shown that these marks of beauty can
also function as indicators of toxic chemicals.
Only available from the JunkScience.com Store. "Ghostbusters' work is never done" - "The most credible scientific information often doesn’t get published — not only is it shut out from mainstream media, as this author learned after years of effort (hence this blog, because people deserve to know the science), but it’s also blocked from professional journals — if it might go against the interests of the sponsors, an advertiser or powerful entity in the profession." (Junkfood Science) "Antioxidants do not prevent degenerative eye disease" - "A diet rich in antioxidant vitamins and minerals does not seem to prevent the degenerative eye disease known as age related macular degeneration, finds a study published on bmj.com today." (PhysOrg) "Discouraging fizzy drink consumption has no long term impact on childhood obesity" - "An education programme which successfully cut the level of obesity in children by teaching them about healthy eating and discouraging fizzy drinks was no longer effective three years after the intervention came to an end, according to a study published on bmj.com today." (PhysOrg) "HRT scares
'have caused suffering for millions'" - "Millions of women are suffering the effects of the
menopause unnecessarily because of unfounded health scares, experts have said. October 9, 2007 "Distribution of Nets Splits Malaria Fighters" - "Mosquito nets have the potential to save lives in malaria-plagued countries. But what is the best way to get them to those who need them most?" (New York Times) "Obesity
Paradox #13 — Take heart" - "What is most amazing is how long it has been known that body fat
doesn’t cause heart disease or premature death, yet how vehemently people hold onto this belief. “The notion
that body fat is a toxic substance is now firmly a part of folk wisdom: many people perversely consider eating to
be a suicidal act,” wrote Dr. William Bennett, M.D., former editor of The Harvard Medical School Health
Letter and author of The Dieter’s Dilemma. “Indeed, the modern belief that body fat is a mortal
threat to its owner is mainly due to the fact that, for many decades, the insurance companies had the sole
evidence, and if it was wrong they would presumably have had to close their doors.” That can still be said
today, although the obesity interests have since grown considerably larger. "Diet and Fat: A Severe Case of
Mistaken Consensus" - "In 1988, the surgeon general, C. Everett Koop, proclaimed ice cream to a
be public-health menace right up there with cigarettes. Alluding to his office’s famous 1964 report on the
perils of smoking, Dr. Koop announced that the American diet was a problem of “comparable” magnitude, chiefly
because of the high-fat foods that were causing coronary heart disease and other deadly ailments. "When health officials can't see" - "A major health alert was issued across England today with more troubling evidence that children and young people are being harmed from the incessant messages to eat ‘healthy’ and watch their weight. One-third of all British teenage girls admit to being on a diet, but it’s much more serious than that may sound." (Junkfood Science) "A Heavy Toll From Disease Fuels Suspicion
and Anger" - "MIDDLEBOROUGH, Mass., Oct. 6 — The big news in this struggling southeastern
Massachusetts community is a proposed $1 billion casino complex that many hope will bring financial salvation.
"A
sense of perspective — hamburger scares" - "Across the country, scientists and their families
have been stocking up on ground meat this past week. Why? Because of all the supermarket deals to be had. "Mobile phone cancer risk 'higher for children'" - "Children should not be given mobile phones because using them for more than 10 years increases the risk of brain cancer, a leading scientist has said." (London Telegraph) “National Security Agency of the Nanny State” - "When a parent learned what his child’s pediatrician had done during a check-up in order to comply with preventive health guidelines issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics, this scathing Op-Ed in the Boston Herald resulted. He found that children are being used to spy and report on their parents' behavior. It’s an eye-opening read." (Junkfood Science) Here we go again: "Diet
experts compare salt to a global plague" - "Americans love salt. But like so many things we love
to eat in excess, such as foods prepared with saturated fats and refined sugars, eating a diet high in salt is
hazardous to your health. "Clear-Eyed Optimists" - "The world is getting better, though no one likes to hear it." (Stephen Moore, Wall Street Journal) A joke, hopefully: "Climate Campaigners Tipped for Nobel Peace Prize" - "OSLO - Former US Vice President Al Gore and other campaigners against climate change lead experts' choices for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, an award once reserved for statesmen, peacemakers and human rights activists." (Reuters) "Al
Gore, Ignoble Laureate" - "The front-runners for this year's Nobel Peace Prize are a couple of
global warming alarmists. With dozens of wars raging, the committee couldn't find a single person laboring
honorably for peace? "Court Identifies Eleven Inaccuracies in Al Gore’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth’" - "Here's something American media are virtually guaranteed to not report: a British court has determined that Al Gore's schlockumentary "An Inconvenient Truth" contains at least eleven material falsehoods." (News Busters) "What Is Endangered: Climate or Freedom?" - "Thank you very much for the invitation to this important gathering. Thank you for giving me a chance to address this very distinguished audience." (EUportal) "Global talks on tackling climate change creating hot air of their own" - "THE emission of hot air at international meetings designed to prevent the earth from warming is rising. Just last week, more than 80 heads of state convened in New York under the aegis of the UN to decide how to tackle climate change." (Irwin Stelzer, The Times) Philip in full cry! Must listen audio: "A Cool Look at Global Warming" - "Lord Lawson and Professor Philip Stott at the CPS 2007 Conservative Party Fringe Event" (Centre For Policy Studies) Listen to audio "Researcher: Global Warming Began 250 Years Ago" - "800,000 years of Siberian temperature history. Left is colder temperatures, right is warmer. Note the recent warming spike near the top of the graph. Siberian warming predates the industrial era; does the trend apply to the entire world?" (Michael Asher, Daily Tech) "More
on The Great Pacific Climate Shift and the Relationship to Temperatures and Arctic Ice" - "In a
recent guest blog, John McLean explained how Australia’s CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology (Power and Smith)
respectively were reporting a period of unprecedented El Niño dominance the last 30 years, which they blamed on
human activity. Last year in May it was Vecchi who told us there was a just 1% probability that this was due to
natural events. On The Weather Channel blogs, meteorologist Stu Ostro, also found a similar continuity shift in
weather pattern starting 30 years ago. Blog comments back to Stu and John McLean’s blog here showed how the
change had precious little to do with anthropogenic factors but was a large scale cyclical climate shift known for
decades as the Great Pacific Climate Shift and in more recent years as a phase change in what has come to be known
as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. "UD students, faculty monitor
glaciers for long-haul study" - "“For the last 10,000 years, alpine glaciers in the mid
latitudes in the northern hemisphere have fluctuated back and forth,” he said, “and what we're studying now
are how changes in precipitation and temperatures over a span of years are affecting the larger valley glaciers in
the region.” D'oh! "Corals May Have Defense Against Global Warming" - "Ancient corals may have been more adaptable to changing ocean chemistry than previously thought, a new study shows." (National Geographic News) "Global Warming Hot Enough for CNN a Second Day" - "Meteorologist points out more flaws in Gore film 'An Inconvenient Truth.'" ( Dan Gainor, Business & Media Institute) "California
Climate, PDO, LOD, and Sunspot Departure" - "Below is a paper by former California State
Climatologist, Jim Goodridge. Jim has been quietly working on a number of rainfall and climate projects both for
himself, and as a consultant for the California Department of Water Resources. What, no hoot owls? "Almanac
forecasters changing predictions to keep up with global warming" - "Bill O'Toole has seen a lot
of changes in weather forecasting, but he expects many more. As the weather prognosticator for the Hagers-Town
Town and Country Almanack for nearly 40 years, he is faced with altering long-range forecasts to suit the world's
warming temperatures. "Big Apple Hurricanes" - "Imagine if a large hurricane struck New York City during this tropical cyclone season – the devastation would be incredible and during and following the disastrous event, global warming would undoubtedly be blamed for the all that happened to the Big Apple. Believe it or not, this will happen sometime in the not-so-distant future, it’s a virtual lock! New York City has been struck many times in the past by tropical cyclones, and it is just a matter of time before another hurricane passes directly over the city. Officials there are fully aware of the threat, as this brochure attests, providing plenty of information about hurricane evacuation zones located throughout the metropolitan area." (WCR) "Two Environmentalists Anger Their Brethren" - "For angry heretics on the run, Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger sure know how to enjoy themselves. Sitting in a cozy Berkeley restaurant just a few blocks from San Francisco Bay, exchanging tasting notes on the vermentino ("cold white wine is so good with fatty, fried food," Shellenberger says), they recount with perverse pleasure, in tones almost as dry as the wine, how they've been branded as infidels by fellow environmentalists. It started in 2004, when they published their first Tom Paine-style essay accusing the movement's leaders of failing to deal effectively with the global warming crisis. "We thought that someone was going to take a swing at us," Shellenberger says. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope published withering counterattacks, and the two men were dubbed "the bad boys of American environmentalism" by author Bill McKibben." (Wired) "Blinding Us With 'Science'" - "Hillary Clinton says she'll end the Bush administration's "assault on science." But causes she supports and methods she embraces are anything but scientific." (IBD) Dangerous obsessions: "Can science really save the world?" - "Endless treaties to cut carbon emissions and halt global warming have failed to turn the tide of pollution. Now scientists want to intervene on a planetary scale, changing the very nature of our seas and skies. Ahead of a major report on 'geo-engineering' we reveal the six big ideas that could change the face of the Earth." (Robin McKie and Juliette Jowit, The Observer)
"High-tech
solutions for climate change" - "Scientists desperate to combat climate change have drawn up
high-tech plans which include firing giant mirrors into space and covering the earth in a cloud of sulphur. "The last green taboo: engineering the planet" - "'Geo-engineering' sounds like a bland and technical term but it is actually a Messianic movement to save the world from global warming, through dust and iron and thousands of tiny mirrors in space. It is also the last green taboo." (Johann Hari, London Independent) "US Finally Taking Warming Seriously - Gorbachev" - "NEW ORLEANS - Much time has been lost in the fight to stop global warming, but the United States, the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has finally begun to take the problem seriously, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said on Friday." (Reuters) More Krupp: "Decade
of Innovation Could Spark Climate Fix" - "NEW YORK - The explosion in interest about the threat
of global warming should unleash innovations over the next 10 years that begin to cut greenhouse gas emissions and
slow climate change, experts told a Reuters summit. "Why Climate Change Can't Be Stopped" - "Environmental advocates have finally managed to put the issue of global warming at the top of the world’s agenda. But the scientific, economic, and political realities may mean that their efforts are too little, too late." (Paul J. Saunders, Vaughan Turekian, Foreign Policy) Keep 'em poor? "Carbon-heavy
growth 'suicide' for India, says climate expert" - "High incomes and high carbon dioxide
emissions go hand-in-hand all over the world, but the head of the globe's top scientific body on climate change
says India can be different. "Paul Chesser:
Beware of climate control" - "WASHINGTON - While the media and environmentalists regularly
hammer the Bush administration for its alleged lethargy in addressing global warming, an activist group is working
through individual states and substantially influencing how they will reduce their output of greenhouse gases.
Taxpayers and energy consumers will take a hit to their household budgets because of it. Climate Strategies Watch - Exposing stealth environmental advocacy by the Center for Climate Strategies "Indonesia demands cash for conservation" - "Indonesia wants to be paid $US5-$US20 ($A5.50-$A22.20) per hectare not to destroy its remaining forests, the environment minister says, for the first time giving an actual figure that he wants the world's rich countries to pay." (Sydney Morning Herald)
"Prepare for Cooling, not Warming" - "The world is cooling. Global temperatures have declined since 1998 and a growing number of climate experts expect this trend to continue until at least 2030. This, happening while carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions continue to rise, is in complete contradiction to the theory of human-induced (anthropogenic) global warming (AGW). The CBC and other die-hard AGW proponents respond by publicizing selected glacial melts and the impact of dramatic but improbable sea level rises, the only warming issues that seem to grab public attention." (Dr. Tim Ball and Tom Harris, CFP) "Chill
out. Stop fighting over global warming -- here's the smart way to attack it." - "All eyes are on
Greenland's melting glaciers as alarm about global warming spreads. This year, delegations of U.S. and European
politicians have made pilgrimages to the fastest-moving glacier at Ilulissat, where they declare that they see
climate change unfolding before their eyes. Good grief! "New northern ice age could send refugees to Aust" - "Australia is firming as the destination of choice for what are becoming known as climate change refugees. A new study from the Australian National University (ANU) has found that this country may not be as severely affected by a new ice age as countries in the Northern Hemisphere. ANU paleoclimatologist Timothy Barrows and his fellow researchers used a new dating technique that measures the radioactive elements in some rocks. Dr Barrows explains that Europe is at risk of a new ice age as a result of global warming" (Australian Broadcasting Corp.)
Hmm... "Oceans Interact to Dry Australia Further" - "SYDNEY - Interactions between major oceans, triggered by climate change, will produce increasingly dry conditions in southern parts of Australia for decades to come, projections by the country's main science organisation show." (Reuters)
"In Inner Mongolia, Steppes are Turning to Sand" - "BAOLIGEN, China - The steppes of Inner Mongolia are arid even at the best of times, but low rainfall as world temperatures rise is turning these grasslands into sand." (Reuters)
"Egypt Plan to Green
Sahara Desert Stirs Controversy" - "CAIRO - It looks like a mirage but the lush fields of
cauliflower, apricot trees and melon growing among a vast stretch of sand north of Cairo's pyramids is all too
real -- proof of Egypt's determination to turn its deserts green. Uh-huh... "Fashion warms to reality of climate change" - "LEADING international fashion designers and industry experts say unpredictable and typically warmer weather worldwide is wreaking havoc on the industry." (The Age) "Some Inconvenient Truths" - "Rep. John Dingell wants his colleagues to be honest about the costs of tackling global warming." (Kimberley A Strassel. Wall Street Journal) "Voluntary, Then Mandatory Path for CO2 Scheme - Japan" - "TOKYO - Japan wants to impose mandatory caps on industrial emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, and plans to expand a voluntary scheme as a first step, its Environment Minister said on Friday." (Reuters) "France Unlikely to Meet CO2 Emissions Target - Report" - "PARIS - France is unlikely to meet its target of a fourfold reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide by 2050, according to a report by a government-appointed commission, business daily La Tribune reported on Monday. (Reuters) "Automakers Appeal Vermont Court Decision on Emissions" - "WASHINGTON - Major US and overseas auto manufacturers on Friday appealed a Vermont court decision that upheld a stringent vehicle emissions law and handed a victory to states trying to regulate greenhouse gases." (Reuters) "Conergy Plans A$2 Bln Australia Wind Farm" - "SYDNEY - Conergy Germany's largest solar energy company by sales, said on Monday it plans to build a A$2 billion (US$1.8 billion) wind farm in Australia as part of a plan to expand the company's presence in Asia-Pacific." (Reuters) "Energy plan confuses wind farm companies" - "The federal government's clean energy target - expected to replace state-based schemes by 2010 - is causing uncertainty for renewable energy providers, a company behind plans to build a $2 billion wind farm in NSW says." (Sydney Morning Herald) "Bird Deaths Stir Oversight for US Wind Power" - "SAN FRANCISCO - The growing US wind power industry is drawing increased scrutiny from states and the federal government over the problem of spinning wind turbines killing birds." (Reuters) "EU May Trim Biofuel Crop Cash After Extra Land Sown" - "BRUSSELS - European Union agricultural regulators are likely to reduce subsidies paid to farmers to help them grow more biofuel feedstock crops after planting rose more than expected, officials said on Monday." (Reuters) "Green Fuels Will Save the Earth - Or Not" - "HONG KONG - The earth is too small to accommodate all the biofuels projects envisioned for the globe, and this raises doubts whether green fuels will ever play a big role in weaning the world off crude oil." (Reuters) "More on Mercury Dangers of Gore’s Carbon Footprint Reducing Light Bulb" - "Perhaps it would be appropriate for Al Gore’s Web site to display a disclaimer warning you about the dangers of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), but he doesn’t." (News Busters) "Space Based Solar Power Fuels Vision of
Global Energy Security" - "BRECKENRIDGE, Colorado – The deployment of space platforms that
capture sunlight for beaming down electrical power to Earth is under review by the Pentagon, as a way to offer
global energy and security benefits – including the prospect of short-circuiting future resource wars between
increasingly energy-starved nations.
"Human urine as a safe, inexpensive fertilizer for food crops" - "Researchers in Finland are reporting successful use of an unlikely fertilizer for farm fields that is inexpensive, abundantly available, and undeniably organic -- human urine. Their report on use of urine to fertilize cabbage crops is scheduled for the Oct. 31 issue of ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry." (ACS) "Study shows genetically engineered corn could affect aquatic ecosystems" - "A study by an Indiana University environmental science professor and several colleagues suggests a widely planted variety of genetically engineered corn has the potential to harm aquatic ecosystems. The study is being published online this week by the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences." (Indiana University) October 5, 2007 "Global Warming's Trillion-Dollar Turkey" - "A trillion dollars doesn’t buy what it used to -- at least when it comes to global warming, according to a new analysis from the Environmental Protection Agency." (Steve Milloy, FoxNews.com) For the first time ever... Al Gore Debates Global Warming - Since former vice president and global warming activist Al Gore has so far refused to debate global warming skeptics, the debate has been brought to him. The public may now watch Al Gore make his case head-to-head against expert climatologists in the first episode of the new environmental education video series, “We Debate, You Decide,” launched by DemandDebate.com.
"Detailed
Comments on An Inconvenient Truth" - "Foreword by the blog moderator: "CNN Meteorologist: ‘Definitely Some Inaccuracies’ in Gore Film" - "CNN Meteorologist Rob Marciano clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Finally," in response to a report that a British judge might ban the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" from UK schools because, according to "American Morning," "it is politically biased and contains scientific inaccuracies." (News Busters) Looks like everyone wants to give Al a clip under the ear: "The sky is falling" - "After watching Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," I saw that Gore, despite his monotonous tone and poor use of humor, is indeed a great persuasive speaker. But that is just it - Gore employs useless rhetoric and persuasive techniques, such as showing the image of a cute, fuzzy polar bear, to convince the world of global warming's validity, rather than sticking to the facts." (Daniel Earnest, Daily Texan) Misanthropist-in-chief and the animal nutters... what a combination: "Gore
sounds warning on warming" - "Former Vice-President-turned-environmental-crusader Al Gore
aroused admiration and ire during an impassioned speech Tuesday night at the Colorado Convention Center. What's this? Juliet Eilperin not only admits but features dissent (albeit somewhat negatively): "An Inconvenient Expert" - "MIT climatologist Richard Lindzen is pushing a controversial idea: that mankind isn't to blame for global warming and that Al Gore's apocalyptic warnings are mostly hot air. Right or wrong, why do so many people think he should be silenced?" (Juliet Eilperin, Outside Magazine) Greenies should love it: "Chinese
bid to cast one-child policy as emissions curb raises eyebrows" - "Should a country's efforts to
control population growth qualify it for greenhouse gas reduction credits? "Bush Rebuffs EU, Again" - "The big question facing international climate negotiators is what will replace or follow the Kyoto Protocol when its emission reduction targets expire at the end of 2012. It can take years to negotiate a climate treaty and additional years for the requisite number of countries to ratify it. Realistically, negotiators have until late 2009 to resolve all substantive disagreements if there is to be no gap between the 2008-2012 Kyoto compliance period and the start of a new treaty." (Marlo Lewis, Cooler Heads Blog) "LOST: Backdoor Kyoto" - "There are many serious objections to LOST, but one of the chief is that it provides a backdoor route to implementing UN environmental treaties, including the Kyoto protocol." (Myron Ebell, Cooler Heads Blog) "Meanwhile, in Congress..." - "Congress's apparent lack of activity since coming back from the August recess threatens to be replaced by a feverish amount of activity. Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has released his plan for a carbon tax. It would put a 50 cents a gallon tax on gasoline and a tax of 50 dollars per ton of carbon dioxide on coal, oil, and natural gas. As my more expert colleague, Marlo Lewis, reads the proposal, the gasoline tax and the carbon tax would both be levied on gasoline, so this adds up to roughly one dollar per gallon of gas." (Myron Ebell, Cooler Heads Blog) "What's John Dingell Up To?" - "Last week (September 28), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) caused quite a stir by proposing global warming legislation that would directly and openly increase the cost of gasoline and home ownership." (Marlo Lewis, Cooler Heads Blog) Unintended consequences: "MRS T IS NO GLOBAL WARMING ALARMIST" - "In the UK, Conservative Party spokesmen are claiming that their demands for rapid, drastic action to cut carbon emissions are congruent with Mrs Thatcher's views. This is a shaky claim at best." (Iain Murray, Cooler Heads Blog)
Really? "Clinton Says She Would Shield Science From Politics" - "Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s remarks Thursday amounted to a spirited attack on President Bush for waging what she called a “war on science.” (New York Times)
A paltry 3 decades? "French
wines gauge earth warming" - "ROUFFACH, France - On a cobweb-encrusted rafter above his giant
steel grape pressers, Rene Mure is charting one of the world's most tangible barometers of global warming.
"Activists
seek new data on mammals threatened by global warming" - "SAN FRANCISCO – Environmentalists
sued the federal government Thursday for allegedly failing to adequately track populations of marine mammals
threatened by global warming. "Salmon
need help to survive climate change" - "VANCOUVER — Salmon in British Columbia will need human
help to adapt to changes being brought on by global warming, but some streams may simply become uninhabitable to
the cold-water fish, a government advisory body declared Thursday.
Oh boy... "Global
warming could cause rise in sewer bills" - "Global warming, already on the hook for declining
polar bear populations, disappearing glaciers and rising sea levels, may also increase your sewer bill. "Global Warming Could Save
Lives - Sceptic" - "OSLO - Global warming could save lives, a self-styled "Skeptical
Environmentalist" said on Thursday. "Eco-Rebels" -
"Maybe it happened the day after Hurricane Katrina or the night Al Gore won an Oscar for An Inconvenient
Truth, but the first phase of the global-warming debate has ended. Even Skeptic-in-Chief George W. Bush recently
convened a global-warming summit, where Condoleezza Rice told foreign diplomats that "climate change is a
real problem--and human beings are contributing to it."
BS flying thicker & faster: "Counting
the cost of climate change" - "Climate change will likely cost every global citizen something in
the years ahead, although the payback will be much greater, policymakers, scientists and officials told a Reuters
summit this week.
And more... "Climate change disaster is upon us, warns UN" - "A record number of floods, droughts and storms around the world this year amount to a climate change "mega disaster", the United Nation's emergency relief coordinator, Sir John Holmes, has warned." (The Guardian) More Krupp: "Reuters
Summit-Decade of innovation could spark climate fix" - "NEW YORK, Oct 4 - The explosion in
interest about the threat of global warming should unleash innovations over the next 10 years that begin to cut
greenhouse gas emissions and slow climate change, experts told a Reuters summit.
If only this were meant to be the joke that it is: "Climate
inaction will hit output" - "SOME of Australia's biggest greenhouse polluting industries, such
as coal, iron and steel, and agriculture, could see major cuts to their output by 2050 if no action is taken to
contain global warming.
"World Climate Deal Faces Hurdles for '09 Deadline" - "OSLO - A growing sense of urgency is pushing world leaders to agree a new treaty to fight climate change but the US presidential election might still foil hopes of a deal by the end of 2009, experts told a Reuters summit." (Reuters) Down under, the Hummer is a girlie-car: "Hummer a hit with women, but not environment" - "THE Hummer, the humungous, petrol-guzzling off-roader modelled on a US military vehicle, will soon be invading a street near you - and don't be surprised if the person behind the wheel is a woman." (The Australian) "Clean
energy can't meet growing demand" - "Demand for renewable energy is outstripping supply, pushing
up prices and raising the specter that some states may not meet clean-energy mandates. "Report Challenges EU Subsidies for Biofuels" - "BRUSSELS - The European Union's support for biofuels may not be the most cost-effective way for the 27-country bloc to tackle climate change, a new study has concluded." (IPS) "Biofuel Bandwagon Slows as Feedstock Prices Surge" - "LONDON - The biofuels bandwagon may be running out of gas with soaring costs for feedstocks like wheat and palm oil prompting producers to shelve planned plants and cut output at existing facilities." (Reuters) "More Doctors in Texas After Malpractice Caps" - "After Texas limited awards in medical malpractice lawsuits, doctors arrived from all over the country." (New York Times) "Fats, meat unlikely to impact prostate cancer risk" - "NEW YORK - New data from a large ethnically diverse group of men provides no evidence that eating a lot of fats and meat substantially affects a man's risk of developing prostate cancer." (Reuters Health) "Eat fish
while pregnant, U.S. experts recommend" - "WASHINGTON - Pregnant and breast-feeding women should
eat at least 12 ounces (340 grams) of fish or other seafood a week because the benefits for infant brain
development outweigh any worries about mercury contamination, a group of U.S. experts said on Thursday. "It’s
better to die of HIV than be fat?" - "Whenever you hear news about a presentation made at a
meeting or conference, it is best to take it with a grain of salt. Wait until the research is actually published
— and its methodology, data and findings are available for scrutiny — before taking it seriously. (You’ll
quickly find that few studies presented at meetings are good enough to ever go on to be published in journals.)
The media isn’t able to verify the study claims, either. In fact, invariably, the media stories are all
identical and come out on exactly the same day, because they came from the same press release embargoed for that
date, meaning they’re marketing. "Salmonid hatcheries cause 'stunning' loss of reproduction" - "The rearing of steelhead trout in hatcheries causes a dramatic and unexpectedly fast drop in their ability to reproduce in the wild, a new Oregon State University study shows, and raises serious questions about the wisdom of historic hatchery practices." (Oregon State University) "U.S. corn yields soar thanks to
stellar genetics" - "CHICAGO, Oct 4 - Stellar genetics and favorable weather are boosting corn
yields to unheard of levels this harvest season in the United States, agronomists and grains analysts said on
Thursday. October 4, 2007 "Tanzania for indoor DDT spraying next year in fight against malaria" - "Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Prof David Mwakyusa said yesterday that the country starts indoor spraying of DDT insecticides against mosquitoes early next year in the drive to control malaria." (AFM) Unfortunately a significant section of the populace will be frightened by such
irresponsible scare mongering as this: "New
Evidence Links Breast Cancer to Pesticide DDT" - "OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 2 -- At a time when the
pesticide DDT is once again being promoted to combat malaria, researchers have found new evidence linking DDT to
breast cancer, according to a study to be published in the scientific journal "Environmental Health
Perspectives."
"Science by press
release" - "Every few months brings another news story telling fat pregnant women that they need
to lose weight so they don’t contribute to the ‘obesity epidemic’ or have fat babies. With so many press
releases coming out all saying the same thing — especially when they come from the same sources and quote the
very same researchers — women and their loved ones need to know that they’re seeing marketing, not science. Really? "Pollution kills up to 25,000 Canadians yearly: Study" - "Pollution is killing up to 25,000 Canadians every year and it's costing the health-care system up to $9.1 billion. Those are among the findings of a just-released study led by David Boyd, an environmental lawyer and the Trudeau Scholar at the University of B.C." (Clare Ogilvie, The Province)
"Researchers Discover Link Between Schizophrenia, Autism and Maternal Flu" - "A team of California Institute of Technology researchers has found an unexpected link connecting schizophrenia and autism to the importance of covering your mouth whenever you sneeze." (Caltech) "Herbal
medicine 'risks harmful side-effects'" - "Vulnerable patients are being duped into taking herbal
medicines that could be dangerous, scientists have warned. People wising up at last? "Green charities lose out as donors ignore environmental issues" - "Despite growing concern for the state of the environment from Government and the public alike, only a tiny proportion of donations to charities go towards green causes, a report has revealed. Less than 2 per cent of UK charitable grants go towards environmental concerns, and only 5 per cent of the £8bn donated annually by private individuals goes to green charities." (London Independent)
"Nine Roads Through the Virgin Wilderness" - "BARILOCHE, Argentina - In the name of development and integration, roads, bridges, dams, gas pipelines, ports and other infrastructure works are expanding in South America. But many of the projects are trampling roughshod over protected areas that preserve unique ecosystems and vulnerable native cultures." (IPS)
"US plan to protect owl 'polluted
by politics': lawmakers" - "US Democratic lawmakers have accused the Bush administration of
"polluting" a plan to protect an endangered owl species and make it more favorable to the timber
industry, while scientists have rejected the plan as seriously flawed.
"MoveOn Cracks Down On
Critics" - "MoveOn.org, the left-wing extremists who bashed the commander of American forces in
Iraq as a traitor, should get out of the political kitchen. Should be obligatory reading for all politicians: "It’s
Tires, Not Global Warming" - "PARIS - A World Health Organization official has claimed that the
current chikungunya outbreak in Northern Italy is the result of climate change: this widely reported absurdity
undermines rational debate at a time when world leaders were negotiating climate policy in New York and
Washington. UK court rules against Al Gore: Schools must warn of Gore climate film bias - "Schools will have to issue a warning before they show pupils Al Gore's controversial film about global warming, a judge indicated yesterday. The move follows a High Court action by a father who accused the Government of 'brainwashing' children with propaganda by showing it in the classroom. " (Daily Mail)
"Al Gore Getting Rich Spreading Global Warming Hysteria With Media’s Help" - "Americans willing to look at the manmade global warming debate with any degree of impartiality and honesty are well aware that those spreading the hysteria have made a lot of money doing so, and stand to gain much more if governments mandate carbon dioxide emissions reductions." (News Busters) Today's "So what?" "Ozone hole has shrunk by nearly a third: European Space Agency" - "The ozone hole over Antarctica shrank by 30 percent this year compared with the record loss recorded in 2006, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Wednesday." (AFP)
"Newsweek: Global-Warming Skeptics Are Like Moon-Landing Deniers" - "Magazine's Senior Editor dismisses 'fairness/accuracy/balance' in climate change reporting because deniers lack 'empirical merit.'" (Jeff Poor, Business & Media Institute) "Newsweek's 'Hoax' Cover Story Raises Ire of Deniers, ... and also Criticism from Within" (Bill Dawson, Yale Forum on Climate Change & The Media) "Climate warming skeptics: Is the research too political?" - "Some say findings of human-caused global warming say more about politics than about science." (The Christian Science Monitor) "Ignore
Pacific Climate Shift - Just Blame Humans" - "Hardly a day goes by without a new claim about a
human influence on climate. In the last 18 months we’ve been told, not once but three times, that the air
circulation across the tropical Pacific is slowing down and it’s all our fault. D'oh! "A
Swiftly Melting Planet" - "THE Arctic ice cap melted this summer at a shocking pace,
disappearing at a far higher rate than predicted by even the most pessimistic experts in global warming. But we
shouldn’t be shocked, because scientists have long known that major features of earth’s interlinked climate
system of air and water can change abruptly.
"Recent
Rapid Decline in Sea Ice caused by Unusual Winds, says NASA" - "A few of our commentators on
this blog found this story earlier today and I thank them. "Arctic Sea ice loss - “its the wind” says NASA" - "A science blogger named Tamino, in a post he made here, challenged me to “explain it or shut up” related to the loss of northern hemisphere Arctic ice this season which he claimed was …” undeniable, that it’s not natural variation” in contrast to the southern hemisphere Antarctic setting a new record for ice extent. While I suspect that sea ice is not his specialty, nor is it mine, I will bring some things to the attention of my readers available from literature." (Watts Up With That?)
Not sure if this is an article or a UN job application from India’s former Foreign
Secretary: "The
Earth Will Survive, The Human Race May Well Perish" - "As the issue of climate change becomes an
ever greater source of anxiety throughout the world, advocacy groups have pushed hard for the UN to step up its
efforts to halt the rush towards environmental disaster. The Secretary-General has tried to take an initiative at
the current session of the General Assembly, for the UN’s role is crucial and the essential international
instruments aimed at remedial action were devised under UN auspices. Um... "UN best forum for addressing climate change" - "The world appears to have arrived, grudgingly in some cases, at a consensus that climate change is a serious environmental threat and the global policy-making machine has slowly started creaking into gear. Various initiatives are picking up speed on multiple tracks." (Jutta Brunee, Financial Post)
"Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide" (.pdf) - "ABSTRACT: A review of the research literature concerning the environmental consequences of increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide leads to the conclusion that increases during the 20th and early 21st centuries have produced no deleterious effects upon Earth’s weather and climate. Increased carbon dioxide has, however, markedly in creased plant growth. Predictions of harmful climatic effects due to future increases in hydrocarbon use and minor greenhouse gases like CO2 do not conform to current experimental knowledge. The environmental effects of rapid expansion of the nuclear and hydrocarbon energy industries are discussed." (Arthur B. Robinson, Noah E. Robinson, And Willie Soon, Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons (2007) 12, 79-90) "Sun still main force in climate change" - "Rebuts widely publicized study this summer by UK scientists." (WND) Funny: "Even Tougher Warming Curbs May be Needed" - "LONDON - Governments may need to step up the fight against global warming to a level beyond even the toughest existing goals to help safeguard the planet, the head of the UN climate panel said on Wednesday." (Reuters)
Stupid... "Polar Bear Endangered Status 'Likely'" - "LONDON - An accelerating melt of Arctic sea ice is likely to make the polar bear officially "endangered" in the very near future, the head of a global wildlife conservation network on Wednesday." (Reuters)
"Countless Exaggerations in Climate Change Report" - "In the new Climate Change in Australia report the predictable catastrophic scenarios are outlined. The report, done jointly by CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology is very surprising, and it would seen that the Bureau of Meteorology haven't bothered to look at their own stats to come to the reports conclusions." (Gust of Hot Air) "Australian Fires Add to Fears on Climate Change" - "As the first bush fires of the year rage through Australia’s national forests, concern over climate change and its effects is intensifying." (New York Times)
Eye-roller, whether he was misquoted or not: "Australia
'in danger' from climate change refugees" - "Australia must populate its undeveloped tropical
north or face invasion by Asian refugees driven south by climate change, an outspoken Government MP has warned. "Heffernan
disputes climate change quotes" - "The Bulletin magazine is standing by a controversial article
in which Liberal senator Bill Heffernan warned climate change would lead to a possible invasion of Australia by
Asians looking for water. "Japan: Gas emission reduction steps to be reassessed as Kyoto deadline looms" - "The government will reassess by March its steps to counter global warming so it can come closer to attaining its greenhouse gas emission reduction goals under the Kyoto Protocol, officials said Tuesday." (Kyodo News) "The truth about carbon markets" - "As the Kyoto Protocol reaches its final leg, it is increasingly clear that no successor agreement can be successful without India and China taking the lead. Until the G8 summit at Heiligendamm this June, the role of China and India in climate change was primarily seen in terms of their potential contribution to the volume of certified- emission-reduction credits (CERs) from clean development mechanism (CDM) projects." (Times of India) "Forests could
capture and store gases" - "UP to two-thirds of Australia's greenhouse emissions could be
captured and stored in a nation-building campaign to plant millions of native trees and shrubs over the next 50
years, according to the chief scientist.
"Brazil Urges World Support for Amazon" - "BRASILIA - Brazil's environment minister said on Wednesday the international community was failing to honor pledges to help protect the Amazon and other tropical forests but that her government rejected specific deforestation targets." (Reuters) Finally, some rational commentary: "Despite Warming, Ships to Shun Northwest Passage" - "OTTAWA - While there has been much talk that Arctic trade routes will open up as northern ice melts, shipping companies and experts say using the fabled Northwest Passage through Canada's Arctic archipelago would be too difficult, too dangerous and totally impractical." (Reuters) "Coal is 'Whipping Boy' for Greens - Exec" - "NEW YORK - The coal industry has become the "whipping boy" of environmentalists who fail to come up with realistic alternatives for energy, the head of one of America's biggest coal producers said." (Reuters) "Florida Gov. Might Allow New Coal Power Plants" - "NEW YORK - Florida's Gov. Charlie Crist said he does not want new coal power plants built in his state because of their greenhouse gas emissions, but stopped short of ruling out new plants fired by the fuel." (Reuters) "Green Doesn't Mean Sacrificing US Lifestyle - Crist" - "MIAMI - Americans do not need to pare back their lifestyles to help protect the global environment but may need to use sugar or orange peel to power their energy-guzzling Hummers and Cigarette boats, Florida's governor said Tuesday." (Reuters)
"Nuclear Power's New Dawn" - "Nuclear power's rise to popularity hasn't been a smooth ride. For countries that supply the world's uranium, heightened demand has stirred up old battles over land and environment" (Epoch Times) "EPA Asked to Regulate Ship
Emissions" - "SAN FRANCISCO -- Environmental groups and California Attorney General Jerry Brown
asked the federal government Wednesday to require oceangoing ships to limit emissions of heat-trapping gases
blamed for global warming.
Just say "No!" "EPA on track to act on California emissions waiver" - "WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency is on track to decide by year's end whether to let California set its own stricter vehicle emissions standards to fight global warming, but will not meet the state's demand for a decision this month, EPA's chief said on Wednesday." (Reuters) "Ethanol Produces More Greenhouse Gas than Fossil Fuels!" - "It is now almost universally accepted in some circles that bio-fuels such as ethanol are the answer to America’s energy woes. Additionally, many ethanol enthusiasts have said that use of ethanol rather than fossil fuels will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions which global warming adherents believe may cause climate change. Yet, a new study conducted at University of Edinburgh concludes that ethanol actually produces substantially more greenhouse gas than fossil fuels." (George C. Landrith, Opinion Editorials) "Bulb brilliance at Wal-Mart as CFLs go mainstream" - "One of the biggest hurdles to widespread approval of the energy-efficient light bulbs is price, and the big-box company is working on that." (The Christian Science Monitor)
"Scientists Are Making Brazil’s Savannah Bloom" - "Brazil is today the world’s top exporter of soybeans and beef. How has it become an agricultural superpower?" (New York Times) "EU Environment Chief Faces GMO Hot Potato" - "BRUSSELS - Europe's environment chief faces a showdown this month with his colleagues in the EU's executive Commission over biotech foods and crops, officials say." (Reuters) "Korea, Germany bio-engineers to cooperate in improved rice development" - "Korean and Germany bio-engineers have agreed to work together to develop an improved rice plant that has better yield and will be more resilient to pests and disease, the government said Thursday (Oct. 4)." (Korea.net) October 3, 2007 "Cap-and-trade
fraud: Proponents misunderstand the dynamic marketplace" - "In response to the global warming
consensus, political momentum is building to cap greenhouse-gas emissions (GHGs), subdivide the cap into smaller
parts (or emissions allowances similar to rationing coupons), and distribute the emissions allowances, either by
auction or on a no-cost basis to businesses that emit greenhouse gases. Cap-and-trade like Soviet-style central planning "How Hot IS It? The records tell
unsettling tales." - "By anybody’s definition, Tucson, Arizona, is a warm place. The question
of just how warm started attracting special attention about 20 years ago when the government’s official
climate-monitoring station began racking up a series of daily record high temperatures, with a greater number of
new records set each year. Please tell us education has not collapsed to the point anyone will fall for this: "American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment" - "We, the undersigned presidents and chancellors of colleges and universities, are deeply concerned about the unprecedented scale and speed of global warming and its potential for large-scale, adverse health, social, economic and ecological effects. We recognize the scientific consensus that global warming is real and is largely being caused by humans. We further recognize the need to reduce the global emission of greenhouse gases by 80% by mid-century at the latest, in order to avert the worst impacts of global warming and to reestablish the more stable climatic conditions that have made human progress over the last 10,000 years possible." (Second Nature) "Antarctic Sea Ice Undergoes Massive Meltdown In Less
Than Two Weeks" - "According to New York Times reporter Andrew Revkin, that is. In today’s
Science section, Revkin writes that “there
has been a slight increase in sea-ice area around Antarctica in recent decades.” But in a Sept. 21 article,
“Scientists Report Severe Retreat of Arctic
Ice”, he reported that “sea ice around Antarctica has seen unusual winter expansions recently, and this
week is near a record high.” "Record SH sea ice maximum and NH sea ice minimum" - "UPDATE: Monday, October 1, 2007 -- Just when you thought this season's cryosphere couldn't be more strange .... The Southern Hemisphere sea ice area narrowly surpassed the previous historic maximum of 16.03 million sq. km to 16.17 million sq. km. The observed sea ice record in the Southern Hemisphere (1979-present) is not as long as the Northern Hemisphere. Prior to the satellite era, direct observations of the SH sea ice edge were sporadic." (Cryosphere Today)
Uh-huh... "From
the air, the evidence of climate change is striking" - "The airport in Greenland's capital,
Nuuk, doesn't look like any other airport. Outside, the tiny runway accommodates a lone helicopter. Inside the
waiting room, the chairs are upholstered in seal skin.
Letter of the moment: "Gore
wrong on warming" - "Re: "The planet has a fever," Sept. 30. "U-turn on showing of Al Gore climate change film in school" - "A lorry driver from Kent has forced the Government to rewrite guidance for schools that want to show Al Gore’s climate change film, An Inconvenient Truth." (London Times) "The
Al Gore Circus rolls through Austin" - "Some wrap-up notes to last night’s Al Gore appearance
at the Erwin Center: "Czech President Clashes with Environmentalists after UN Speech" - "PRAGUE - "The recent rise in global temperatures has been very small in historical comparison, and its impact on man and his activities are basically negligible," Czech President Vaclav Klaus told a United Nations conference on global warming last week, causing domestic uproar." (IPS) Wonder if Gwynne spends a lot of time looking out for black helicopters? "Gwynne
Dyer: Divide and stall, Bush's cynical answer to tackling climate change" - "When denial fails,
try evasion. Almost all the climate change deniers, even US President George W. Bush, now allow the forbidden
phrase to pass their lips. But that doesn't mean they have really accepted the need to do something about it. The
preferred tactics now are distraction, diversion and delay. Reply to Lockwood and Fröhlich – The persistent role of the Sun in climate forcing (Svensmark, H. and Friis-Christensen, E., Danish National Space Center, Scientific Report 3/2007)
"Solar wind warming up Earth"
- "Lev Zeleny, director of the Institute of Space Research at the Russian Academy of Sciences and an Academy
corresponding member, believes that before making Kyoto Protocol-like decisions, we should thoroughly study the
influence of all factors and receive more or less unequivocal results. In order to treat an illness, we must
diagnose it first, he insists. Although still fullofit: "Scientists
rein in climate forecasts" - "NEW climate change projections for Australia have lowered
worst-case forecasts of temperature rises by 1 degree Celsius but are more certain of temperature increases
causing more droughts and bushfires this century.
Sad... "Tackling
climate change 'our duty'" - "AUSTRALIA'S chief scientist says it is the duty of countries like
Australia to lead the world in tackling climate change.
"Forecaster Predicts Two More Atlantic Hurricanes" - "MIAMI - The La Nina weather phenomenon in the eastern Pacific will likely extend the Atlantic hurricane season this year, with four more storms forming and two becoming hurricanes, a noted forecasting team said on Tuesday." (Reuters) "Hurricane/Global
Warming Link Weakened" - "“Given this state of affairs, projections of changes in [tropical
cyclone] intensity due to future global warming must be approached cautiously.” Who writes this rubbish? "Cyclones
may speed up climate change" - "The CSIRO says cyclones could accelerate climate change.
Just because it made me smile: "Al Gore Warns of New Environmental Crisis" - "Now that he has found the solution to global warming (it's global air conditioning) former Vice President, Oscar winner and environmental activist, Al Gore, warns of a new environmental crisis threatening our planet: Global storming." (The Spoof) "Et tu, FT?" - "It is well-understood that EU bureaucrats and politicians worship rhetoric over substance, but nowhere in “Yo, Kyoto – Bush shifts his stance on global warming” (Fiona Harvey, Financial Times, 1 October , 2007) did the FT actually note comparative U.S. and EU greenhouse gas emissions performance. The piece dwells on U.S. “rhetoric”, its “position”, “attitude” and “motivation”, which apparently are of more use to FT readers than actual U.S. performance for which it is so excoriated by the embarrassingly under-performing European Union. Further, as regards the White House claim that “Last year America grew our economy while also reducing greenhouse gases,” FT felt compelled not to quantify (or debunk), but only to wistfully mischaracterize it as a claim that “going green can lead to economic growth.” Despite Bush having apparently already "gone green", FT then notes that “the EU and other governments that have been frustrated at the lack of progress on tackling greenhouse gas emissions left last week’s meetings unconvinced.” (Chris Horner, Cooler Heads Blog) "That'll Teach You to Grow" - "I
love the UNFCCC's decision to "rethink" the list of haves and have-nots for a post-2012 agreement, such
that Russia is preemptively given the nod that it need not fear about pressure to stay in the game. Bulgaria,
which was recently bribed in (a la Russia) on the promise of selling 60 MMT to Europe -- Heaven knows, they'll
need them -- has no business being among the "haves" and we thank them for playing, here's a lovely
parting gift. Romania, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland certainly no longer need apply, either, but make way for
Bermuda, the Channel Islands, San Marino...who knows, maybe the Savoy will seize the moment to make a comeback
(don't forget Qatar, UAE, Kuwait and Singapore, all of whom are far richer than many of the Kyoto Parties).
EU-member and Kyoto free-rider Cyprus is as wealthy as South Korea; surely we should expect them to pony up now? "EPA: Competing Bills Achieve Same Goal" - "WASHINGTON -- Three competing Senate proposals calling for limits on greenhouse gases would have roughly identical success in curbing global warming, but only if other nations also significantly cut heat-trapping emissions, a government analysis says." (AP)
"No US Climate Law Under Bush - Key Senator" - "WASHINGTON - No US law curbing climate-warming emissions is likely until President George W. Bush leaves office in 2009, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, Democratic chairman of the powerful energy committee, said on Tuesday." (Reuters) Massive incentive for Australian's to vote Coalition: "Australia
may adopt Kyoto on Bali eve" - "The upcoming UN climate convention talks in Bali in December may
get a last-minute shake-up with signs that Australia, an opponent of the Kyoto Protocol and key US climate ally,
may well switch sides on the eve of the meeting. "Tory climate change
sceptics warm to their theme" - "No matter what Zac Goldsmith and David Cameron may say, there
is one corner of the Conservative party that is forever sceptical about global warming. That corner gathered in a
small studio above the Grand Theatre in Blackpool last night, where the Freedom Association was holding a meeting
provocatively titled "Let Cooler Heads Prevail". "China Would Follow US Lead on Climate - NRDC" - "NEW YORK - China would soon follow the US lead if Washington agrees to tackle its emissions in the next few years because China's government takes the threat of global warming more seriously than the United States does, a climate expert said on Tuesday." (Reuters)
Oh boy... "Climate
change and public health" - "There are few contemporary issues as ubiquitous as that of climate
change. Yet, even with all this coverage of its current and potential implications, we are in a rather peculiar
situation insofar as real action on it seems extremely slow if not completely absent. Seemingly, we are in a state
of denial towards a problem that, if left unchecked, could lead to a catastrophe on par with nuclear war! From CO2 Science
this week: Medieval
Warm Period Record of the Week: Subject Index Summary: Plant Growth Data: Journal Reviews: A New History of Total Solar Irradiance Since AD 1700: How was it derived? ... and what does it look like? The Photosynthetic and Transpiration Responses of Canola Siliquas to Elevated CO2 and UVB Radiation: What are they? And what do they imply about the future strength of the aerial fertilization and anti-transpiration effects of the ongoing rise in the air's CO2 content? CO2 and Temperature Effects on Marine Picocyanobacteria: Isolates of two major groups of cyanobacteria exhibit radically different responses. Cadmium Toxicity in a Green Microalga: How is it affected by atmospheric CO2 enrichment? Temperature
Record of the Week: "A greenhouse in order to
study the impact of climate change on plants" - "The University of Navarra has installed a
thermal gradient greenhouse in order to study the impact of climate change on plants. This is a pioneering
methodology for studying the simultaneous effect of increased CO2 and ambient temperature. The research project,
which will be undertaken by researchers from the area of Plant Biology of the University, could become a reference
for later scientific studies in this area. "Fear and Mythology: Dow’s energy proposal." - "In his National Review Online piece yesterday, Dow Chemical’s Andrew Liveris paints a near-tipping-point picture of the U.S. manufacturing sector to support his call for Carteresque restraints on energy consumption. But there are two problems with Mr. Liveris’s argument: the predicate and the proposition." (Daniel Ikenson, NRO) And with winter coming, too: "Gazprom-Ukraine
rift threatens EU gas supply" - "Fears of a new energy crisis in Europe were mounting after
Russia threatened to cut gas supplies to Ukraine just two days after an election that could see a pro-Western
government formed in Kiev. "Bush's good idea on global warming"
- "Washington - Imagine this: The Republican governor of a large, trendsetting state works with leaders of
his state legislature from both parties to enact groundbreaking legislation that requires private corporations and
others operating in the state to meet stringent pro-green goals. Is this Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in California,
2007? It could be. But it could also be Gov. George W. Bush in Texas, 1999. The Renewable Portfolio Standards Act
adopted by Texas that year required the state's energy retailers to produce 5,000 megawatts of electricity from
renewable sources by 2015.
"Citigroup, Bank of America Raked Over Coal" - "WASHINGTON - U.S. environmentalists seeking to turn up the heat on the coal industry, which they blame for a litany of problems, are targeting two banks they say have taken the lead in financing mines." (IPS) "CLIMATE CHANGE: U.S. Moving Backwards" - "BROOKLIN, Canada - As global warming melts the Arctic, the United States's biggest banks are investing billions of dollars in as many as 150 new coal-fired power plants around the country." (IPS "Idyllic holiday destinations raise alarm over climate change" - "DAVOS, Switzerland - Idyllic island and beach holiday destinations on Tuesday launched their cry of alarm about the impact of climate change, warning that it was threatening their scenery and their livelihoods." (AFP) "MEPs retreat on aviation emissions
plan" - "Hopes of curtailing the rapid growth of greenhouse gas emissions from the aviation
sector have been hampered by the European Parliament's environment committee, say environmental groups Transport
& Environment, WWF, Friends of the Earth and Climate Action Network. "Whether over Nessie or Diana, we’ ve got to grow up" - "Our columnist on the rise and fall of modern myths" (London Times) "Dangers of a soundbyte world" - "If scanning the headlines and catching the soundbytes on the news is how you get most of your health information, you’re not alone. Marketers count on the fact that most people are too busy to take the time to read the science behind the headlines and understand the real story. But relying on soundbytes can be really bad for your health. Here is one example in the news today." (Junkfood Science) Dodgy data dredge of the moment: "Long-term
cell phone use increases brain tumor risk" - "NEW YORK - Using a cell phone for more than a
decade can double the risk of some brain tumors, according to a new analysis of previous studies. "Weight issues plague heavy, thin teens alike" - "NEW YORK - Many teenagers are dealing with weight issues, from obesity to eating disorder symptoms, and these problems seem to have some causes in common, new research suggests." (Reuters Health)
"Not all
types of fat are harmful" - "HONG KONG - While it has long been held that too much fat in the
liver may result in diabetes, researchers appear to have discovered that not all types of fat are harmful.
"Obesity may
push US health costs above Europe" - "WASHINGTON - Nearly twice as many U.S. adults are obese
compared to Europeans, a key factor leading Americans to suffer more often from cancer, diabetes and other chronic
ailments, a study released on Tuesday found.
"Good Food, Bad
Science" - " Why the UN’s approach to gene-spliced foods is hopelessly flawed. October 2, 2007 Will global warming hurt your nest egg? SEC Should Require Companies to Disclose Risk of Global Warming Regulation, Study Says; Companies Risk Earnings While Keeping Shareholders in the Dark, Reports Free Enterprise Education Institute - The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) should take immediate steps to require publicly-owned corporations to reveal the potential harm caused by global warming regulations on earnings and shareholder value, concluded a study released today by the Free Enterprise Education Institute (FEEI). (PR Newswire)
Get this for your kids! DemandDebate.com Endorses New Global Warming Primer for Students; 'The Sky Isn't Falling': Informs and Provides Needed Balance in Environmental Education - "Author and Montana State University resource economist Holly Fretwell has done a magnificent job in presenting the facts on global warming for students in an easy-to-read and scientifically accurate manner," said Steve Milloy, executive director of DemandDebate.com. "'The Sky Isn't Falling' should be mandatory reading for every student," added Milloy. (PR Newswire)
Alarm & Win! "Climate skeptics up ante" - "Junkscience.com would love nothing more than to pay you $125,000 to cause a catastrophic increase in global warming." (Washington Times) Cap-and-trade like Soviet-style central planning New from 21st Century Science: True CO2 Record Buried Under Gore by Laurence Hecht (pdf of full text) See also: CO2: The Greatest Scientific Scandal of Our Time by Zbigniew Jaworowski (pdf of full text) "Totalitarianism vs state climatologist in Virginia" - "The members of the global warming movement have offered us another piece of evidence that their thinking and behavior is not too different from the Nazis and communists." (The Reference Frame) "George Taylor, Climatologist Defending Himself From Attacks" - "Previously, I posted a link to a video interview with George Taylor, of Oregon State University and the Oregon State Climatologist. Here is his reply to an attack article criticizing his view that man and carbon dioxide emissions are not to blame for global warming. The vicious nature of the personal attacks on global warming skeptics is typical." (Pete's Place) "Weather Stations Giving Bad Global Warming Data -- MSM MIA" - "A few months ago, the blogosphere and talk radio were abuzz with the story of how the nation's various weather stations and temperature reading devices have been improperly located or badly constructed and how the data received from these improper devices must be suspected as inaccurate. The MSM briefly mentioned this story but quickly dropped it like the proverbial hot rock. It makes one wonder why?" (News Busters) "How not to measure temperature, part 32" - "A common theme with official climate stations of record is their placement with city and county fire stations. The reason? An observer is needed to transfer the data from the thermometer to the B91 form sent to NCDC every month. Unfortunately, fire stations are often not good places to measure temperature due to the amount of concrete and equipment around them, and often their placement to better serve the city population." (Watts Up With That?) Will really annoy... "Caribbean
forests thrived in 'Little Ice Age'" - "Some Caribbean forests were at their densest for the
past 2000 years during the 'Little Ice Age', new research shows.
Garbage In, Garbage Out... "Too late to avoid warming: climate report" - "Sydney could face an annual temperature rise of up to 4.3 degrees by 2070, and a tripling of the number of days a year when the thermometer soars above 35 degrees, if global greenhouse gas emissions are not cut steeply, a new report has found." (Sydney Morning Herald)
"CSIRO warns of climate chaos" - "AUSTRALIANS have been warned to brace for catastrophic heatwaves, bushfires, drought and severe water shortages as climate change causes widespread havoc." (Herald Sun)
The Top 100 Effects of Global Warming - Eye-watering hysteria piece from the Center for American Progress Action Fund's Mic Check Radio
"High
hills chilled by changing climate" - "WHISTLER, B.C. -- High in the mountains that tower over
North America's most popular ski resort, wisps of cloud linger over a light dusting of snow. Not far below, the
hundreds of ski runs that cut across Whistler and Blackcomb mountains look like the world's most challenging golf
course, winding their way down the steep sides in wide paths of bright green grass. "UN: Climate change driving forced migration" - "Climate change, environmental degradation and economic deprivation are among forces increasingly driving the dramatic growth in migration, the head of the United Nations refugee agency said on Monday, pointing to desertification, rising sea levels, water shortages and political conflicts." (Mail & Guardian) "Back When All News Wasn't Bad" - "In 1996, Camille Parmesan published a paper in Nature magazine that supposedly was the first documentation that animal species (in this case Edith’s Checkerspot Butterflies) were shifting their range because of presumably anthropogenic climate changes. Parmesan told the New York Times, “I cannot say that climate warming has caused the shift; what I can say is that it is exactly what is predicted by global warming scenarios…” (WCR) Alternative Views on Climate Change - Backgrounder (Council on Foreign Relations) "Gore Dodges Repeated Calls to Debate Global Warming" - "As over 150 heads of state and government gather at UN headquarters in New York to discuss climate change, former Vice President Al Gore, the most prominent proponent of the theory of the human-induced, catastrophic global warming, continues to refuse repeated challenges to debate the issue." (Bonner R. Cohen, TCS Daily) "Rich Must Reduce Emissions for Poor to Develop" - "NEW DELHI - Rich countries like the United States must reduce their carbon footprint to support poor nations who have no choice but to increase their emissions if they are to lift themselves out of poverty, a leading environmentalist said." (Reuters) "Pollution
keeps rising despite wish to make cuts: Canadian emissions in 2005 set record, 32.7% above Kyoto goal"
- "After years of telling pollsters we demand drastic action to cut greenhouse gas emissions, Canadians have
voted with their furnaces, factories and SUVs to keep real-life emissions at a record high in 2005. "Something Rotten in Denmark" - "I
have noted previously the outrageous moralizing by (particularly, but by no means exclusively) Denmark’s
Environment Minister last week, when she claimed to be an increasingly impatient emissary on behalf of “the
planet”, demanding that the U.S. make the same promise as Europe to reduce its greenhouse gas (principally CO2)
emissions. Paper offered for open review: A
CHALLENGE TO THE CARBON DIOXIDE / GLOBAL WARMING CONNECTION One issue that seems to have been lost or avoided in the debate over the connection between atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and global warming is the miniscule mass of CO2 that is being blamed for so many past, present and predicted natural disasters. The mass of atmospheric CO2 is extremely small when compared to the total mass of the Earth’s atmosphere and even smaller when compared to the combined masses of the land and water features on the Earth’s surface as well. The directly proportional relationship that exists between the mass of any object and its heat capacity is essentially axiomatic: all other factors being the same, the larger the mass of an object, the greater its ability to capture, store, transport and release heat. Since the concentration of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere is so small, the notion that it is causing global warming seems to ignore this basic truth. It should be noted that CO2 exists only as a gas within the the temperature extremes of the earth’s atmosphere and as such, is uniformly distributed throughout the atmosphere. It cannot form layers that are capable of acting as reflective surfaces or insulating barriers. Although CO2 can absorb heat energy from the Sun in the form of infrared radiation, the bulk of that energy is absorbed by the Earth’s surface, itself, as well as by atmospheric water, oxygen and non-greenhouse gases. The objective here is to demonstrate that the mass of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere is too small to absorb solar energy in quantities, sufficient to cause catastrophic global warming; and thus, to challenge those who support the connection between CO2andglobal warming to explain their theories in terms of classical science. The arithmetic application of established physical data to classical science can be used to construct models that demonstrate the basic premise of this challenge. Each model must include a measured mass of CO2 to capture a measured quantity of heat energy from the Sun and to transfer that heat to a measured mass of the Earth’s surface. Here's a thore point: "Arctic Thaw May be at 'Tipping Point'" - "OSLO - A record melt of Arctic summer sea ice this month may be a sign that global warming is reaching a critical trigger point that could accelerate the northern thaw, some scientists say." (Reuters)
Somewhat more accurately: "Arctic Melt Unnerves the Experts" - "Scientists are unnerved by this summer’s massive polar ice melt, its implications for the future, and their ability to predict it." (New York Times)
For the arithmetically inclined: Do The Math--Proof that Greenland's Melting Ice is a LONG-term problem - Let me take an engineer's view of melting Greenland's Ice Sheets. You can look these numbers up on the internet and wade through the math yourself to check the calculations:
Not true, one Kj = 0.000277778 kWh That's a lot of energy and it must all come from somewhere. The sun is really the only source available. Barrow, Alaska, is at about the same latitude as the middle of Greenland. Solar radiation falling on Barrow averages about 2 kwh/square-meter/day (Funny; no one seems to know the insolation for Thule, Greenland.) (Source: http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/old_data/nsrdb/redbook/atlas/serve.cgi)
Nope, using these calculations that'd actually be 77,284 days or 212 years That is a little over 12,700 years. And this is just to melt the ice that has already reached 0 deg-C; it takes more to raise the temperature from ambient to the melting point. (What's the average temperature of the ice today? I dunno...) It's just an opinion, but this tells me that my distant great-great's will have plenty of time to move from their beach-front property---if a melt really does occur... (If you were good with thermodamics and heat transfer, you could probably take the IPCC temperature foreguesses and figure how long it would take for the "warmer" air temperatures to melt the ice, too.) -- Correspondence from Bill Brown "Hollywood sending
mixed messages on global warming" - "LOS ANGELES ---- From "green carpets" at awards
shows to organic fruit served to actors on sets, Hollywood is going all out to promote itself as being
environmentally hip. "From Gaia to Geoengineering: A Radical Cure for Global Warming" - "A letter to Nature proposes “an emergency treatment for the pathology of global warming.” The scheme itself — putting giant pipes in the ocean — sounds rather problematic, but I’m intrigued by who’s daring to propose it: James E. Lovelock, the British environmentalist renowned for the Gaia hypothesis of the Earth as a kind of self-regulating superorganism." (John Tierney, New York Times) "A modest proposal to reduce DC's carbon
footprint" - "DC outpaces other nations in "pollution," Washington Post reports "Japan to remap climate plans to reach Kyoto goal" - "TOKYO - Japan will draw up new measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions by next March in an attempt to meet its targets under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, a top official said on Tuesday." (Reuters) "Arnie
makes climate change plea to Tories - then goes for a drive in his carbon-belching gas guzzler" -
"His passionate speech on climate change was set to be one of the highlights of the Tory conference. "Green Jobs Are a Myth" - "CA
Senator Barbara Boxer maintains that greenhouse gas emissions regulations would create “millions” of green
jobs. And MN Governor Tim Pawlenty claims that compulsory emissions reductions would be a “boost” to the
economy. "WORLD'S CLEANEST HUMVEE" - "Al Gore claims: We can’t sell our cars in China today because we don’t meet the Chinese emissions standards. And Sir Nicholas Stern dutifully repeats: You can’t export an American car to China: it does not satisfy the emissions standards. Take a look, gentlemen: Via a Chinese-reading correspondent, who emails: “Not only is China importing US vehicles. Not only are they
importing gas-guzzling US Hummers. Now they’re importing US Hummers stretched to breaking point. "Climate
change: The new talk of farm country" - "From the vineyards of Ontario's Niagara Peninsula to
the wheat fields of the Prairies, farmers across the country are in the thick of harvesting. "Strength Needs Energy" - "As I’ve talked with other industrial and business leaders in the U.S. over the past several years, I’ve come to one inescapable conclusion: This country is in the middle of what could be a long and painful energy crisis." (Andrew Liveris, NRO) "Colin James:
Climate change - it's a matter of hard economics" - "Do you think humanity will do anything
serious about climate change? Does humanity think it much matters whether it does or doesn't? "CEOs call for action on
climate change" - "OTTAWA - Canada's top business leaders have endorsed a plan to combat global
climate change that calls for government intervention and acknowledges that business, as well as the public, will
have to pay a stiff price. "Green Group to Target Banks Financing Coal Projects" - "NEW YORK - Environmentalists are stepping up their assault on the coal industry by targeting two major banks that finance the mine companies blamed for greenhouse gas emissions." (Reuters) "Solidarity Of Silliness" - "Question: When will San Francisco and Los Angeles look like North Korea? Answer: On Oct. 20, when lights are expected to go out in both cities, leaving them as dark as the benighted regions of the Democratic People's Republic." (IBD) "The Future of Bioenergy"
- "With oil close to $80 per barrel, a series of businesses, ranging from chemicals and textiles through
agriculture and utilities, are already facing heavy cost pressure. Hundred-dollar oil could be catastrophic for
some. But despite OPEC's promises, supplies are so tight that we may be one hurricane, political crisis, pipeline
explosion or major refinery accident away from some very grim earnings reports. "Barrage of turbines across
the Severn could provide 5% of UK's electricity" - "Tidal power generated from more than 200
turbines in a 10-mile long barrage across the Severn estuary could provide nearly 5% of Britain's electricity for
120 years with minimal climate change emissions and should be investigated urgently, government advisers said
yesterday. Green, cheap... and American: "Mandelson told to halt biofuel flood" - "BIOFUELS firms are demanding the British government and the European Union take action to stop American rivals exploiting subsidies to flood the European markets with cut-price fuel." (Sunday Times) "Don't Blame Ethanol for
Food Prices - USDA's Conner" - "WASHINGTON - The growing use of corn to produce ethanol is not
chiefly to blame for rising US food prices, the top federal farm official said on Friday. "Tourism
industry faces rising climate change threat" - "DAVOS, Switzerland – Booming demand for
international travel is exacerbating climate change pressures and threatening many coastal, mountain and outdoor
destinations, United Nations experts said on Monday. "UN aviation body rejects EU
emissions proposals" - "BRUSSELS — Members of the International Civil Aviation Organization
rejected EU proposals Friday to cut carbon emissions made by the aviation industry, the European Commission said. "ICAO rejects EU's right to impose emissions trading 'without mutual consent'" - "ICAO delegates supported a resolution at the organization's 36th Assembly last week stating that "emissions trading schemes should not be applied [by states and governing bodies such as the European Union] to aircraft of foreign countries without mutual consent," effectively rejecting non-EU airlines' participation in the EU's emissions trading scheme." (ATW Online) "Red tape and
cuts see householders give up on green grants, MP says" - "Householders have all but abandoned
their efforts to go green by using renewable technologies such as solar power, because the government's tightening
of the rules has made grants almost impossible to obtain. "Europe Energy Chiefs Urge Public to Trust Nuclear" - "MADRID - European energy executives urged governments on Monday to work on the attitudes of their citizens so they can reopen the door to nuclear as a carbon-free source of power for the continent over coming decades." (Reuters) "Nuclear industry pushes for early approval of new plants by warning of bottlenecks" - "Government warned that energy plans could be thwarted by shortages of skills and components." (The Guardian) New from 21st Century Science: 1972 EPA Report Concluded DDT Should NOT Be Banned! (Ruckelshaus Banned It, Anyway) (pdf of partial text) Press release: 1972 EPA DECISION SUPPORTING DDT NOW POSTED ON 21ST CENTURY WEBSITE Only available from the JunkScience.com Store. Green advertising... Visual pollution, anyone? "Taking Green Message to Great Outdoors" - "A New York marketing firm has created a network of 500 ad venues near parks and ski resorts throughout the country as it looks to tap into the growing number of big brands launching "green" marketing campaigns." (Wall Street Journal) "Rancher Violates Endangered Species Act by Killing Wolf to Save Cattle" - "A Montana rancher killed a wolf to protect his cattle herd, and now federal officials say he violated the Endangered Species Act. This apparently extreme instance led one conservative analyst to claim that the act is doing more harm than good, because it forces landowners to "shoot, shovel and shut up." (CNSNews.com) "INDIA: Fisherwomen Question Tourism's 'Magic'" - "THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Kerala - Beatles star Sir Paul McCartney described his 2002 Kerala tour in one word – 'magical'. For thousands who throng the state's green villages, picturesque backwaters and beaches, the experience is no less than a 'Magical Mystery Tour’. But local fisherwomen say it means new and harsh realities for them." (IPS) "Obesity
Paradox #9 — Fat on the brain" - "The media’s not too keen on reporting studies that might
give people the idea that body fat is normal and might actually be healthy. The natural weight gain that comes
with aging seems especially “bad news,” even though the weight of evidence continues to support that having
body fat reserves is a survival advantage. "Mercury News Urges Crack Down on Rubber Ducks" - "But where’s the science in paper’s call on Governor Schwarzenegger to sign bill banning phthalates in children's toys?" (Trevor Butterworth, STATS) "U.N. Body Wants Data Sharing on GMO Crops" - "MAKUHARI, Japan - Countries that have approved the use of genetically modified (GMO) crops should share information about them to reduce risks of disruption to the global food trade, a U.N. body said on Friday." (Reuters) October 1, 2007
"Doesn’t
anyone care about global warming? No one shows up for learning event at River Bend Nature Center" -
"CALEDONIA — Perhaps the problem on Saturday was that too many people were out enjoying the Earth on a
fine, warm autumn day rather than gathering indoors to learn about saving it. The Partisan Post? "Less Visibility in Store After Boss's Departure: Global Warming Views Drew Criticism" - "The University of Virginia's climatology data center is seeking a lower profile after its former top official, the state climatologist, resigned this past summer amid questions over whether he should use the position to promote his doubts about theories on global warming." (Washington Post)
"WaPo's
Inconvenient Truth: No Alarm Sounded on Virginia Sacking Warming Skeptic" - "A respected state
climatologist resigns his post citing inability to do his job due to political pressure. Sounds exactly like the
"inconvenient truth" scenario that Al Gore complained about in his book and documentary. Only thing is
in this case it's a Democratic governor, Tim Kaine of Virginia, arguably silencing a climatologist who believes
the globe is warming, but that the Gore-ian forecasts of doom are overwrought. "The
incredible James Hansen" - "If you've paid any attention to the global warming debate, you've
heard of James Hansen. "NASA’s
Hansen Claims He’s Being 'Swift-boated' by Critics" - "A fascinating new liberal defense
mechanism has arisen in the past couple of years: Whenever you want to dodge criticism, just claim you are being
swift-boated. "Gore finally finds an audience" - "His Inconvenient Truth turned him from a loser to a pop phenomenon" (Doug Ward, Vancouver Sun)
Well, some do: "Gore's
climate DVD 'promotes propaganda' in schools" - "Al Gore's climate change documentary, 'An
Inconvenient Truth' was described in the High Court today as containing "serious scientific inaccuracies,
political propaganda and sentimental mush". "It’s All About Money" -
"Those wonderful folks in Congress who say the world is about to be roasted on the global warming spit have
some great ideas on how to stop Mother Nature from barbecuing us and they even have plans on how to pay for the
weapons against climate change. Ils ne veulent point payer un centime! "French face tough choices to help save the planet" - "In a huge consultation exercise starting this week, the people of France will be asked whether they want to save the planet." (New Zealand Herald) "Ever Sense That You Were on to Something?"
- "Ever sense you were on to something? "Climate
change may sink Maldives" - "Unless the world starts taking climate change seriously, the
Maldives could become uninhabitable this century, the president of the Indian Ocean archipelago Maumoon Abdul
Gayoom says.
"Insurance companies react to the peril of climate change" - "Montana is burning again. This summer, some of the nation's worst wildfires incinerated homes, barns and fences, killing livestock and forcing families to evacuate. Wildfires have increased fourfold since the 1980s, and they are bigger and harder to contain because of earlier-arriving springs and hotter, bone-dry summers. Last year's fires broke records; this year could be worse. As courageous firefighters beat back the flames, insurance companies continue to pay out billions for wildfire losses across the West." ( John Morrison and Alex Sink, The Washington Post)
"Russian official says prolongation of Kyoto
Protocol ineffective" - "NEW YORK, September 25 - The prolongation of the Kyoto Protocol on the
reduction of carbon emissions, which expires in 2012, will be ineffective, the head of the Russian
hydrometeorology service said.
"Climate Change: Filling the Bush Gap" - "Climate change geeks with a thing for international conferences — like me — were spoilt for choice this past week. You could rub shoulders with national leaders from over 80 countries — or just their junior advisers, depending on the color of your badge — at the United Nations high-level meeting on climate. You could Amtrak down to the White House and hear President George W. Bush tell the world's major economies that this global warming thing might actually be a problem and that we should maybe consider doing something about it eventually. Or you could catch the Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting in Manhattan, where billionaire executives, extremely smart people and star-struck journalists listened raptly as Brad Pitt detailed his plans to rebuild New Orleans in fabulously green fashion." (Time)
Video: Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting Energy & Climate Change Working Session
"Czech president: talk in Salt Lake City" - "The text mostly argues that it is difficult to accept environmentalism after communism. Yesterday, MF DNES published a new interview with the president." (The Reference Frame) "Al Gore In Heels" - "Global Warming: The White House goes green at a climate conference, presenting a false choice between economic and planetary health. Man's impact on temperatures is overrated. The world's need for energy is not." (IBD) Fact Sheet: Toward a New Global Approach to Climate Change and Energy Security - President Bush Addresses Climate Change At First Major Economies Meeting On Energy Security As Part Of His New Initiative In May 2007 And Welcomed By G8 Leaders In June And APEC Leaders In September (Whitehouse.gov) President Bush Participates in Major Economies Meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change (U.S. Department of State) Oh my... "Climate change: Bush goes on the attack" - "WASHINGTON — President George W. Bush went on the offensive on climate change Friday, proposing a summit next year among major emitters of greenhouse gases that would set a long-term global goal for curbing this dangerous pollution." (AFP)
"On Warming, Bush Vows U.S. 'Will Do Its Part'" - "President Bush assured the rest of the world yesterday that he takes the threat of climate change seriously and vowed that the United States "will do its part" to reduce the greenhouse gases that are warming the planet, but he proposed no concrete new initiatives to reach that goal." (Washington Post) "Do Your Own Thing" - "I've long maintained that the administration’s greatest weakness on this issue – that is, after the habit of providing futile rhetorical overtures to appease the greens which are only used against them in ways never intended, but quite obviously invited – is the failure to tout U.S. emissions performance and/or burst our antagonists’ bubble about their purported superiority simply because they made a promise (that, someone official needs to note, they are spectacularly breaking while we reduce emissions growth to near zero). True to form, the President did not discuss comparative emissions other than to say unnamed countries have done similar things." (Chris Horner, Cooler Heads Blog) "Bush Taken to Task for Sidestepping
Global Efforts on Climate Change" - "UNITED NATIONS, Sep 28 - Environmental groups and human
rights activists are up in arms about the Bush administration's move to pursue a separate strategy instead of
contributing to the UN-led global efforts to fight climate change.
"Europeans
criticize Canadian, U.S. approach to climate change" - "The Canadian and U.S. governments
dismissed criticism from European leaders yesterday at the start of a major climate change summit in Washington,
insisting that they will continue to lead the fight against global warming. "Leading Article: Bush's hollow words on climate change" - "Anyone unacquainted with the White House's tactics over the years of sabotaging international efforts to combat climate change might be excused from taking some encouragement from this week's US-hosted conference in Washington." (London Independent) "Bush's green plan 'disappointing'" -
"WASHINGTON–U.S. President George W. Bush has called for an international fund to develop technology to cut
greenhouse gas emissions, part of a White House bid to reshape the global environmental debate following the
expiration of the Kyoto Protocol.
The clueless Crone: "Still
Out in the Cold" - "President Bush’s two-day summit on global warming this week was not, as
some of the European delegates complained privately, a total bust. Our own expectations weren’t high, but we can
note several positive outcomes. The Beeb being 'impartial': "Critics angry at Bush climate plan" - "US President George W Bush infuriated his critics by professing world leadership on climate change at his meeting of the top 16 world economies - while offering no new substantive policy and implicitly rejecting binding emissions controls." (BBC) Speaking of dispassionate reporting: "CLIMATE CHANGE: The Skunk at His Own Garden Party" - " After years of denial, the U.S. White House-sponsored summit on climate change ended Friday with President George W. Bush admitting that global warming was real and humans were responsible and asking for heads of state to join him at yet another summit next year (when his presidency ends)." (IPS)
"Canada defends presence at climate talks"
- "WASHINGTON–The Bush administration has opened a two-day climate change conference here fighting off
charges it is undermining the United Nations and choosing voluntary goals over mandatory cuts in a post-Kyoto
world. Meanwhile: "Climate change issue must be resolved through development" - "UNITED NATIONS -- Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said here Friday that climate change is ultimately an issue of development and can only be resolved through development." (Xinhua) "Technology key to
climate change, says Blair" - "Advances in technology to reduce carbon emissions will be key to
solving the issue of climate change without damping growth for developing countries, Tony Blair, the former UK
prime minister, said on Thursday. "Nature Imitated in Permanent CO2 Storage Project" - "Icelandic, American, and French scientists launched today a project aimed at storing CO2 in Iceland's lavas by injecting the green-house gas into basaltic bedrock where literally turns to stone. Carbon dioxide turning into calcite is a well known natural process in volcanic areas and now the scientists of the University of Iceland, Columbia University and the CNRS in Toulouse are developing methods to imitate and speed up this transformation of the gas that is the prevalent contributor to global warming. The project's implications for the fight against global warming are considerable, since basaltic bedrock susceptive of CO2 injections are widely found on the planet. Reykjavik Energy, a global leader in geothermal energy, is the main sponsor of the project." (Ad Hoc News) "The Skinny on Bush's Climate Strategy" - "There are reports from reliable sources that the Environmental Protection Agency is moving rapidly to propose new rules to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from new automotive vehicles. This is being done in order to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision on April 2 in Massachusetts v. EPA. That 5 to 4 opinion ruled that greenhouse gas emissions fall within the Clean Air Act’s definition of air pollutants and that the EPA therefore had to consider a 1999 petition to regulate them." (Myron Ebell, Cooler Heads Blog) "How
old masters are helping study of global warming" - "The English landscape painter JMW Turner
said his work was not to be understood but "to show what such a scene was like". Now global warming
experts are taking advantage of his prosaic nature to improve their predictions of the consequences of climate
change.
"CLIMATE CHANGE: Time For Some Slightly Mad Ideas?" - "BROOKLIN, Canada - Lack of governmental action on climate change is forcing scientists to consider radical climate geo-engineering schemes such as giant vertical pipes in the ocean and growing vast blooms of plankton to try and prevent the worst from happening." (IPS)
"Algae Against Climate Change?" - "BERLIN - Research into the use of algae to capture carbon dioxide from the air is changing the negative reputation of these organisms, often seen as a plague associated with agricultural fertiliser run-off." (IPS) "Greenhouse mania" - "A SUCCESSION of public figures succumbed to climate change hysteria this week as if it were a contagion. Sufferers exhibited symptoms that included an inability to deal with facts and a propensity to offer wild surmises, to adopt irrational positions and to ignore practical solutions." (The Australian) "A Whole New World? The climate debate could be changing." - "Global warming is a complex issue to figure out, but one thing about it is actually quite simple — discerning which side dominates the debate right now. For the past year, those who view global warming as a crisis justifying a major federal response have had just about everything going in their favor." (Ben Lieberman, NRO) "The heat is on national security, Australia told" - "Climate change is emerging as a major national security issue for Australia." (New Zealand Herald) "Climate
change bill calls for 50-cent fuel tax" - "WASHINGTON - U.S. drivers would pay a 50-cent tax on
each gallon of gasoline they pump to encourage less fuel use and cut greenhouse gas emissions, under draft
legislation to fight global warming released on Thursday. "Foul Winds for Renewable Energy" - "Environmental regulations and NIMBYism slow the growth of wind and wave power." (Jonathan H. Adler, NRO) "The Break-Up: Time for a green divorce." - "After the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, environmental groups saw an opening. They realized that national-security hawks would be open to proposals to replace Middle Eastern oil, which they believed was financing terrorism, with alternative energy sources. Overtures were made. Then, slowly but surely, “bipartisan” coalitions began to produce reports aimed at killing two birds with one stone — the flow of dollars to terrorists and the risks of global warming. The proposals may sound compelling, but they will do nothing to strengthen America, and would weaken it instead." (Iain Murray, NRO) "Editorial: Fireplaces on hiatus" -
"Anyone who breathed the acrid smoke that hung across the Sacramento Valley when forest fires raged this
summer must understand why the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District has proposed a common-sense
rule to restrict wood burning this winter. From the beginning of November to the end of February, those cozy wood
fires are the single largest source of lung-piercing fine particulate pollution. "Swell Swine: North Carolina's hogs join the
fight against global warming." - "North Carolina's global-warming activists are in hog heaven.
Late last month, Gov. Mike Easley, a Democrat in his second term, signed legislation mandating that more electric
power in his state come from "green" sources such as wind, solar energy, and hog and chicken waste. "NYT
Front Page Shocker: Ethanol Causing Rise in World Hunger" - "Here's something you don't see
every day on the front page of a major American newspaper: an article about how the rising demand for ethanol has
sent corn and grain prices so high that it's resulted in more people around the world going hungry. "Ethanol’s Boom Stalling as Glut
Depresses Price" - "NEVADA, Iowa, Sept. 24 — The ethanol boom of recent years — which
spurred a frenzy of distillery construction, record corn prices, rising food prices and hopes of a new future for
rural America — may be fading. "Corn
Farms Prosper, but Subsidies Still Flow" - "RADCLIFFE, Iowa -- Corn farmer Jim Handsaker has
found a slew of ways to ride the heartland boom in biofuels that is reshaping the economy of rural Iowa. "Tories abandon green
taxes" - "George Osborne today rowed back from environmental policies that have enraged the
right as the Tories geared up for their annual conference - and a possible snap election. "Taxing times" - "The Conservative party which just a year ago urged voters to 'vote blue, go green' looks like it may have reached the limit of its eco-flirtation." (The Guardian)
"Class Is Out, And Lunacy
In, At Columbia" - "Have American academics lost their collective minds?
"SOUTH AFRICA: High Stakes Battle Between Mining and Environment" - "JOHANNESBURG - Environmentalists and tour operators appear to be losing the battle against mining companies in Mpumalanga, a province in the east of South Africa. This confrontation -- which also pits two ministries against each other -- will determine the future of hundreds of lakes and rivers, and has implications for the economic sustainability of the province." (IPS) Just what no one needs: "Gov. Spitzer Picks Activists to Make State a Bit Greener" - "Gov. Eliot Spitzer has drawn from the top echelons of the environmental movement in New York in assembling his administration. (New York Times) Uh-huh... "Human Behavior, Global Warming, and the Ubiquitous Plastic Bag" - "The supermarket as a lab for examining individual decisions." (New York Times) ... but wait, there's more! "Plastic
bag tax 'would increase waste'" - "Waste advisors to the Government have today warned against a
tax on plastic bags on the basis that it could have a detrimental effect on the environment. "W is for wifi woo"
- "When the news recently reported of a British woman who’d become so afraid of electromagnetic radiation,
that she’d become incapacitated and wore a strange-looking beehive hat that she believed protected her from
wifi, a lot of people laughed. News in Europe has been filled with wifi scares and ominous headlines for years.
Even this week, the International Herald Tribune reported that “Exposure to the invisible cloud of energy called
electrosmog is rising,” with an article that offered nothing constructive but build a foreboding sense that
electromagnetic radiation has us surrounded. "'Bad carbs' not the enemy, UV professor finds" - "The latest common wisdom on carbohydrates claims that eating so-called “bad” carbohydrates will make you fat, but University of Virginia professor Glenn Gaesser says, “that’s just nonsense.” Eating sandwiches with white bread, or an occasional doughnut, isn't going to kill you, or necessarily even lead to obesity, he said." (University of Virginia) |