Wednesday 31 August 2016

IS THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT REAL OR NOT?

On some blogs, such as Roy Spencer's there are many in-depth discussions on the validity of the Greenhouse Effect. These often only lead to greater confusion, but here is one discussion that I came across recently that seems very convincing and is put forward in a very simple way without the mathematical formulae which put off many non-scientists.

Tuesday 30 August 2016

EARTH WARMING FOR 200 YEARS SAY EXPERTS

Here is a piece that refers to a study that concludes that the earth has been warming for around 200 years. In other words since the end of the Little Ice Age - something which most sceptics would agree with.  The problem for the experts is that they have to explain how the warming was caused when CO2 emissions were practically non-existent.

Monday 29 August 2016

SIR ANTONY JAY - BBC NEEDS TO BE CUT BACK

This piece is by the brilliant writer, Sir Antony Jay, who wrote the "yes Minister" series. Sadly he has recently died, but his wise words about cutting back the BBC still make complete sense. Unfortunately the government did not heed the advice.

Sunday 28 August 2016

SCOTTISH OIL REVENUES COLLAPSE

This article gives the details. without the oil revenues the Scottish government would have a very weak case for an independent Scotland. The Scottish government are in a bit of a quandary as they are completely sold on the idea of not using fossil fuels, while at the same time they are heavily dependent on revenue from the same fossil fuels. Climate alarmists have such a difficult life.

Saturday 27 August 2016

CLIMATE AFFECTED BY SOLAR ACTIVITY, CLIMATE NOT CONTROLLABLE BY MAN

This article refers to a scientific study that confirms that cloud cover is affected by solar activity. This in turn means that the climate is affected by something much more powerful and completely outside of human control. This may come as a shock to some, but in simple terms it means the climate is not controllable.

Friday 26 August 2016

SCIENTIST'S OWN GOAL ON ICE FREE ARCTIC ICE PREDICTION

This piece explains how an alarmist prediction of an imminent ice-free arctic ocean could easily back fire if it doesn't come true. These alarmists are gamblers in order to grab a headline, but in the end they are likely to come unstuck.

Thursday 25 August 2016

GW DAMAGE TO CORAL - IS IT 5% OR 93%?

This article refers to a new report that completely contradicts an earlier report on the extent of damage to coral reefs caused by global warming. The contrast could not be starker one report says 5% of coral was damaged and the other 93%. Which to believe?

Wednesday 24 August 2016

GREENHOUSE GAS CONTROVERSY, PART 2 OF "EARTH - OUR HABITABLE PLANET"

Here is the link to part 2 of the series. This part includes the section on Greenhouse Gases which, though much of it is accepted, contains some material that suggests that CO2 plays a more prominent part than it does. For example half way down there is a pie chart showing the amount that the various greenhouse gases contribute to the warming effect. It claims that CO2 contributes 50%, but the table omits water vapour which is by far the most important greenhouse gas and is responsible for at least 70% (and up to 90% at times). This is a common occurrence in teaching and it seems odd that well qualified lecturers should make such an error. If water vapour had been included then CO2 contribution would go down to around 5-10%.  I can only conclude that these lecturers are complicit in enhancing the part played by CO2, though why I am not sure.  Maybe it's just for a quiet life!

For Part 1 of the notes here is the link.

Tuesday 23 August 2016

EXAGGERATED CLAIMS ABOUT CORAL SENSITIVITY FOUND TO BE WRONG


Giant Coral Reef That ‘Died’ In 2003 Teeming With Life AgainThe New York Times, 15 August 2016

Karen Weintraub

In 2003, researchers declared Coral Castles dead. Then in 2015, a team of marine biologists was stunned and overjoyed to find the giant coral reef once again teeming with life.
 

A giant clam in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area. Credit Craig Cook/Undersea Medical   
 
 
On the floor of a remote island lagoon halfway between Hawaii and Fiji, the giant reef site had been devastated by unusually warm water. Its remains looked like a pile of drab dinner plates tossed into the sea. Research dives in 2009 and 2012 had shown little improvement in the coral colonies.

Then in 2015, a team of marine biologists was stunned and overjoyed to find Coral Castles, genus Acropora, once again teeming with life. But the rebound came with a big question: Could the enormous and presumably still fragile coral survive what would be the hottest year on record?

This month, the Massachusetts-based research team finished a new exploration of the reefs in the secluded Phoenix Islands, a tiny Pacific archipelago, and were thrilled by what they saw. When they splashed out of an inflatable dinghy to examine Coral Castles closely, they were greeted with a vista of bright greens and purples — unmistakable signs of life.

“Everything looked just magnificent,” said Jan Witting, the expedition’s chief scientist and a researcher at Sea Education Association, based in Woods Hole, Mass.

 

Divers from the New England Aquarium surveying reefs in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area last September. Credit Craig Cook/Undersea Medical   

Global climate change is wreaking havoc on corals worldwide. Coral bleaching has caused extensive damage to regions extending from the Great Barrier Reef to the Caribbean and nearly everywhere in between.

“Threats to tropical coral reefs worldwide have escalated to a level that imperils the survival of these complex, diverse and beautiful ecosystems,” Janice M. Lough, an Australian researcher, wrote in a February opinion piece in Nature.

Coral can be severely damaged by rising water temperatures, which cause acidification, as well as by pollution and human activity like tourism, fishing and shipping – prompting some governments to restrict such activities.

If Coral Castles can continue to revive after years of apparent lifelessness, even as water temperatures rise, there might be hope for other reefs with similar damage, said another team member, Randi Rotjan, a research scientist who led and tracked the Phoenix Islands expedition from her base at the New England Aquarium in Boston.

No one actually knows what drives reef resilience or even what a coral reef looks like as it is rebounding. In remote, hard-to-get-to places, our understanding of coral is roughly akin to a doctor’s knowing only what a patient looks like in perfect health and after death, Dr. Rotjan said.

Coral Castles’s revival might be an isolated situation, a fluke in a faraway place. But Dr. Rotjan and her team are on a quest to find out why this coral and other reefs nearby came back to life.

Monday 22 August 2016

AUSSIE TV SHOW WHERE SCIENTIST, BRIAN COX PUTS IMAGE OVER SUBSTANCE

This piece looks at a discussion programme on Australian TV where a panel of 'expert's give their answers to questions from the audience. TV scientist, Brian Cox seems unable to give a convincing answer as to the reality of global warming as he blusters with arguments from authority and dodgy graphs. See the clip for yourself at the link above 

Sunday 21 August 2016

DECLINING TRUST IN SCIENCE

This article gives the details of why scientists are trusted less, and a lot of it is to do with them straying into the area of politics, in particular the issue of so-called climate change, or global warming.

Saturday 20 August 2016

UK's CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY CAUSES TOXIC BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

This report gives the details of the hidden dangers of the UK's climate change policy on business, at a time when we need to give business a boost to ensure our success, post leaving the EU.

Friday 19 August 2016

UK GOVERNMENT GROSSLY UNDERESTIMATES THE COST OF THE CLIMATE CHANGE ACT

This article lays bare the deceit perpetrated on the British people. By artificially inflating the wholesale price of electricity the cost of subsidising renewables in years to come is grossly understated.  By 2030, the annual cost will be £15.6 billion, instead of the £8.0 billion claimed. Over the next fifteen years, the total cost will be £157 billion. Again, remember that this does not include the cost of providing standby capacity.

Thursday 18 August 2016

SUPERB SET OF LECTURE NOTES

This blog has been going since 2007 and I have built up a long list of links on the right hand side which are very informative and I wonder how many readers use them? I have noticed a big increase in the number of readers in recent weeks from all over the world, including Russia and Eastern Europe as well as Asia. Welcome to everyone.

I thought it might be useful to highlight some of these links to you, so I will start with a superb set of lecture notes from the University of Indiana, Bloomington by Professor Schieber, on the topic "Earth - Our Habitable Planet". Here is a link to the first part of the series. One of the chapters has been on the links list for some years, but in such a long list it could easily get over-looked. I have re-titled it to give it a more relevant title. There is a lot of material there. It is more like a textbook and should be read in short chunks, but it is mainly easy to read, though some scientific knowledge is useful for a complete understanding.

The next set of lectures cannot be obtained from the link on the website, but I have a link from Professor Schieber and I will be looking at these in a later post, including his notes on the Greenhouse Gases, in which I fear he seems to take the alarmist line. But despite this one disappointment I still believe these are a good set of lecture notes.  

Wednesday 17 August 2016

BIG CHILL: 'SUBSTANTIAL COOLING' PREDICTED WITHIN THE NEXT FEW YEARS

Here's a cheery thought for all UK readers:

Daily Star, 14 August 2016

Joshua Nevett
 
Climate boffins believe the UK’s topsy-turvy climate is in for a chilly twist within the next few years as three major forms of climate change trigger “substantial cooling”.
 

Drastic changes in ocean conditions, greenhouse gases and a weakening of the sun threaten increasingly worsening winters of blistering blizzards and severe snowstorms for years to come.

This cocktail of climate threats, paired with “hasty climate policies”, could mean “rolling blackouts” in the UK over the next few years, plunging the country into long period of darkness.

These “worse case scenario” climate threats will hit the elderly hardest, leaving “some pensioners alone in the dark” on a freezing nights resigned to a “lonely death”.
 


An intense La Nina weather front could wreak havoc on the UK’s climate, photo Getty

It is thought these will be brought about for the most part by a massive decrease in solar activity, meaning fewer “sunspots” and solar flares to warm up earth.

Scientists recently warned the sun’s activity is at its lowest for 100 years, meaning earth is experiencing eerily similar conditions to the period when the last mini ice age hit.

This drop in sunspot activity leads to a so-called Maunder Minimum, which is believed to be responsible for the cripplingly cold winters Europe experienced three centuries ago.

The last time Britain entered a Maunder minimum period was in the 1600s, when temperatures sunk so low, London’s river Thames froze over.

Drawing on 400 years of sunspot observations, experts believe we are heading for a similar temperature “minimum”.

However, Grahame Madge, meteorologist for the Met Office, told Daily Star Online although a “grand solar minimum” is expected, it will do little to counteract global warming caused by man-made change.

Another major factor in the predicted cool down could be the switch from an usually strong El Nino to a La Nina weather front in the pacific ocean.

Meteorologist for AccuWeather Tyler Roys told Daily Star Online La Nina could contribute to the chilly mix.

He said that the onset of La Nina – which is associated with cooler temperatures – has a much more drastic effect on weather in the British Isles and could spell a climate cool down.

He said: “Looking at the similarities of 1998 to last years El Nino event, one can assume there could be such a drop off.”

La Nina has more of an effect on the weather for the British Isles than El Nino does.

“A La Nina that is based over the eastern Pacific Ocean tends for favour a cooler and drier then normal weather pattern for much of western Europe.”

The Met Office said the onset of La Nina from 2017 is likely to “buck the trend” in terms of record breaking global temperature averages, predicting a cool down across the globe.

Tuesday 16 August 2016

SUN AND OCEAN CYCLES ARE MAIN CLIMATE DRIVERS SAY 35 NEW PAPERS

Here is the article from the excellent No Tricks Zone which highlights all 35 papers. Even if you don't read all 35, you must agree that it represents a considerable body of evidence. So when those alarmists ask for "proof" that the science is not settled in favour of CO2 controlling our climate, this is some of that proof.

Monday 15 August 2016

GERMANY HAS FROST IN AUGUST ICY BLAST

This piece explains how the Germans are faring. However I must balance this by saying that here in the UK we are being forecast to have very warm weather next Tuesday of around 30 degrees Celsius according to this forecast, though it is not expected to last. Overall we have had a mixed summer with very little hot weather so far. 

Sunday 14 August 2016

HINKLEY NUCLEAR POWER CONTRACT - THE FIRST BIG TEST FOR NEW PM

This piece gives the scene. The new Prime Minister, Theresa May, cannot afford to look weak in her first big test. The more pressure she is put under the more difficult it will be for her to let this deal go through after she has called it in. Of course the £2.5 Billion already spent will be money down the drain if the project is cancelled, but this is still better than signing up to a bad deal costing £30 billion to the customers in excess electricity charges.   

Saturday 13 August 2016

US SHALE GAS TO ARRIVE IN SCOTLAND FOR PROCESSING - EXPECT PROTESTS FROM GREENS

Here is the source of this story. Clearly these protestors, if they turn up, must be against Scottish jobs and industry in general. If the Scottish National Party give ground to these modern luddites then they are signalling that Scotland is not open for business.

Friday 12 August 2016

MURRY SALBY LECTURE SUMMARY

This article summarises a lecture by physicist Murry Salby in which he gives a tour de force on why CO2 is not a problem. The whole lecture is available at the link. 

Thursday 11 August 2016

A MILLION JOBS AND THE CHEAPEST ENERGY IN THE DEVELOPED WORLD

This article in the Mail highlights the success of fracking in the USA. We could enjoy a similar success here in the UK if only we could get on and start drilling. Perhaps we will do if this idea of giving people living near new fracking developments a reward is carried out.

Wednesday 10 August 2016

IF CALIFORNIANS REPLACE THEIR LAWN WITH STONES AND CACTII CLIMATE MODEL GIVES SURPRISING RESULTS

This piece gives the details. I am not surprised that the model predicts that it may increase day-time temperatures due to less evaporation, but what did surprise me was that it predicted lower night temperatures. The explanation being that "reducing soil moisture decreases upward heat fluxes from the sub-surface to the surface at night". Are they suggesting that the heat is retained in the soil? In which case the soil will get hotter and hotter! Of course it doesn't have to be correct as it is only a model. 

Tuesday 9 August 2016

WEST ANTARCTIC ICE STEADILY MELTING FOR THE LAST 7,500 YEARS, SAYS NEW STUDY

This article explains how this new in-depth scientific study has shown that the melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet, which has been put forward by alarmists as a prominent example of the effect of man on the climate, is in fact a natural occurrence. We must remember that the rest of the Antarctic is cooling which is undisputed. 

Monday 8 August 2016

IRISH PUBLIC STUNG BY INCREASED SUPPORT FOR RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY

This article looks at the increased cost of support to renewable electricity in the Irish Republic. No doubt similar burdens are being put on to electricity bills in many other Western nations. It is of little satisfaction to learn that outside the UK there is similar cost increases to those imposed here.

Sunday 7 August 2016

WHY IS THE ENTIRE ATLANTIC OCEAN COOLING?

This article tries to explain what is going on. Many noted and well-intentioned climate scientists and universities are now starting to publicly admit that overwhelming amounts of new research indicates that the theory of man-made global warming does not properly explain many observed climate trends. It certainly does not explain why the temperatures of Earth’s three most dominant fluid systems—the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the atmosphere—are trending in different directions.

Saturday 6 August 2016

GAZPROM BOWS TO GREEN PRESSURE TO CLAIM UK GOVERNMENT HANDOUTS

This piece gives the details. When subsidies are on offer, it's a no-brainer to do what is necessary to claim them. That is the law of business - follow the money (or subsidy).

Friday 5 August 2016

CLEXIT, THE LATEST WAY TO UPSET THE CLIMATE CHANGE ESTABLISHMENT

Here are the details of the new movement set up to campaign for exiting the climate change alarmist boondoggle. I am not sure how they are planning to do it, but they deserve our full support. My personal view is that the climate change bandwagon can only be halted by the climate itself not only not warming but actually cooling for several years, thus putting to rest the idea that CO2 is controlling it.

Thursday 4 August 2016

UK GOVERNMENT'S HOPELESS FORECAST (GUESS) AT THE FUTURE COST OF FOSSIL FUELS AND WHY HINKLEY NUCLEAR IS FAR TOO EXPENSIVE

This article by Matt Ridley contains so many important statistics that it is a must for anyone interested in the subject of renewable energy and the so-called 'cost' of carbon. For example  "In 2012 DECC forecast three scenarios for fossil fuel prices. In the “high” scenario, the oil price, per barrel, in 2016 was expected to be $137.2; in the medium scenario, $119.2 and in the “low” scenario, $98.8. The price today is $43". 

Our new PM, Theresa May is quite right to take a second look at the figures for the proposed new nuclear power plant at Hinkley. The article clearly shows that it is too expensive and the electricity it would produce would cost too much. Our government's obsession with reducing CO2 emissions is the root cause of the massive cost we are all having to bear.

Wednesday 3 August 2016

VOLCANIC CO2 EMISSIONS COULD BE MUCH LARGER THAN THOSE OF MAN

The global warming alarmists readily dismiss any suggestion that CO2 emissions from volcanic activity could provide an amount anywhere near that of mankind. Here is a very detailed paper which argues the case that these alarmists may be completely wrong and that the contribution of CO2 from volcanism may actually be much higher than previous (very sketchy) estimates.

Tuesday 2 August 2016

WHAT IS THE TRUE HISTORIC RECORD OF CO2 LEVELS IN OUR ATMOSPHERE?

There are many weak links in the chain that supports the catastrophic man made global warming hypothesis. One is that CO2 is now at record high levels in the atmosphere when compared with a very long period of tens of thousands of years. Here is an interesting article on Watts Up With That which looks at the evidence to support this idea. I recommend reading the comments as some of them seem to be well informed and add extra information to the subject. When you look at the evidence, one thing that jumps out is that it is certainly not strong, which is what is expected when trying to reconstruct the composition of our atmosphere such a long way back.

Monday 1 August 2016

REPLACE FREE ENTERPRISE CAPITALISM AND REDISTRIBUTE THE WORLD'S WEALTH

That is the true purpose of the climate change bandwagon, according to this article. The question is, why would Western governments deliberately  try and wreck their economies to go along with such a scheme?