Global Warming – Governments, Media Close Down Debate

Is the media corrupt, dumb, lazy, or seeking a quiet life?”

I don’t believe in conspiracy theories, but maybe I should. After all, governments and politicians around the world seem united in saying CO2 emissions by humans are warming the climate and unless action is taken soon, we will all drown or fry.

And yet any rational, sane or fair person examining the evidence linking humans to climate change would be amazed by the thinness, the inconclusiveness, of the evidence. Reporters like me, who as Reuters’ Science and Technology Correspondent in the 1990s had access to the world’s most impressive climate scientists, know that the balance of evidence points to there being no link between climate change and human activity.

Despite this, the politicians’ zeal to save us gains momentum. President-elect Barack Obama said reducing greenhouse gas emissions will remain a central plank of his new administration’s policy.

“Few challenges facing America – and the world – are more urgent than combating climate change. The science is beyond dispute and the facts are clear. Sea levels are rising. Coastlines are shrinking. We’ve seen record drought, spreading famine, and storms that are growing stronger with each passing hurricane season,” Obama said, in a video shown to delegates at a climate conference in Poznan, Poland.

But this isn’t true.

The science is disputed by an array of impressive scientists. Sea levels may be rising, but at the snail’s pace we’ve seen since the end of the last ice age. Some coastlines are being eroded by tidal action, sure, but that’s got nothing to do with climate change. Even climate change alarmists have been beaten into submission by having to acknowledge that hurricanes aren’t growing stronger with each passing season, although building in likely hurricane-inflicted areas has gathered pace.

The Reference Frame: Mathematica WeatherData: 17,168 stations

For example, you can pick a station in Florida and determine when its managers started their barbecue party last Sunday (most U.S. weather stations are cleverly attached to a grill, see wattsupwiththat.com).

Romm versus Motl

Big-time Warmist Joe Romm, however, seized on Motl's comment -- mistakenly attributing it to Marc Morano -- and made much of the "inaccurate" heading. Romm even went to the author of the paper to get her confirmation that "up to approximately 50%" did not mean "50%".

Motl can and no doubt will defend himself, if he thinks such a storm in a teacup is important, but I can see no fault in his logic. Why would the sun stop having an influence on climate in 1850? Who threw the switch? Because there is no such switch known or even imaginable, Motl took the high end of the estimate.

Population growth contributes to emissions growth

"A lot of people say population pressure is a major driving force behind the increase in emissions, and that's absolutely true," the U.N.'s top climate official Yvo de Boer said. "But to then say 'OK, that means that we need to have a population policy that reduces emissions,' takes you onto shaky ground morally."

Solar panel glut expected in 2009: Suntech | Reuters

POZNAN, Poland (Reuters) - The solar power sector will produce an over supply of solar panels in 2009, said Zhengrong Shi, chief executive of the world's biggest module manufacturer Suntech.