MITx course injects science into the global warming debate - MIT News Office

MITx course injects science into the global warming debate - MIT News Office: "Emanuel and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences also hope to change the dynamic around the study of climate change on the MIT campus. In part because the course is not a requirement, and in part because of the perception among students that climate-change study is mostly about politics and not hard science, the on-campus course has not seen the enrollment levels Emanuel would like to see. “Part of the problem is all the publicity of global warming has sent out a message that global warming is highly politicized, and has nothing to do with science,” he says. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”"

Watershed! BBC Now Sees Sun Developing Into A Potent 21st Century Climate Factor As A Real Possibility!

Watershed! BBC Now Sees Sun Developing Into A Potent 21st Century Climate Factor As A Real Possibility!: "Wow. The BBC has really opened the door, perhaps looking to upgrade the impact of solar activity to be on par with human activity. That’s huge compared to what the IPCC scientists claim about the impact of solar activity (negligible). You almost get the feeling that even the BBC is starting to have doubts about the supposed coming warming, and are opening up to the possibility of cooling."

Climate ignored CO2 from 1940 to 1977, but once the PDO shifted in 1977...

The World’s Stupidest People | Real Science: "The climate ignored CO2 from 1940 to 1977, but once the PDO shifted in 1977 – Mann-made CO2 decided to get up off its lazy ass and really warm the place up."

Hopefully this German media report is true: "European Union is seriously jeopardizing its global climate leadership role"

N N o N: Hopefully this German media report is true: "European Union is seriously jeopardizing its global climate leadership role": "The EU's reputation as a model of environmental responsibility may soon be history. The European Commission wants to forgo ambitious climate protection goals and pave the way for fracking -- jeopardizing Germany's touted energy revolution in the process."

Greens’ “Climate Impact Lens” an Even Worse Catchphrase Than “All of the Above”

Greens’ “Climate Impact Lens” an Even Worse Catchphrase Than “All of the Above”: "Yesterday a flock of green special interests sent a letter to President Obama, asking the Commander-in-Chief to stop using the stupid shibboleth “all of the above,” and instead view all energy policy through a “climate impact lens.”

As you can probably tell by my choice of modifiers, I disdain “all of the above,” even more so than environmentalists. The reason I hate this phrase is that it fails to account for the inane. If an energy source is intermittent and expensive, then it makes no sense to require people to use it…unless you buy into dumb ideas like “all of the above.” Alas, such is our plight."

The Invisible Judith Curry | NoFrakkingConsensus

The Invisible Judith Curry | NoFrakkingConsensus: "A bona fide climate scientist tells US Senators we have no idea whether human-caused global warming will be a serious problem. The media doesn’t report it."

Europe Likely To Roll Back Climate Goals | The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF)

Europe Likely To Roll Back Climate Goals | The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF): "Reports say European Commission President José Manuel Barroso is against binding targets for renewables. A leaked document says the EU will focus on cutting emissions but other climate protection measures will be rolled back."

More interesting stuff from Santer re: establishing human culpability, professional PR help, and nearly two dozen workshops (funded by NSF?) bringing together climate scientists and the media

▶ Chris Mooney and Dr. Benjamin Santer on Communicating Climate Science - YouTube: "[Uploaded Sept 2010] Climate Science Watch spoke with climate scientist Dr. Benjamin Santer and Chris Mooney, a science and political journalist and author, about how climate scientists communicate complex research findings to the public in an atmosphere of fierce politicization and competing demands."

At 1:38, Santer says "I had always assumed that if the science was credible, we could just rest our case on the science. It was enough to publish high-quality papers, to establish some human culpability in observed climate change, and that ultimately that would be good enough, and that policymakers would take the right decisions based on the best available scientific evidence."

At 11:08, Santer says Lawrence Livermore National Lab has a "high-quality very professional public affairs department.  They've been extremely helpful in my interactions with the media...They've given me a lot of advice and guidance...I've been very grateful that I haven't had to face this on my own."

At 12:40, Santer mentions "series of workshops organized by Bud Ward, a journalist who's brought together the leading climate scientists with people from the media world-newspaper editors, news anchors, TV weathermen and women...a series of probably nearly two dozen workshops organized that enable each side to understand the problems of the others."

More on the workshops:

Thanks to a series of workshops funded by the National Science Foundation, journalists and climate scientists have been able to address these barriers and develop recommendations for effective communication. These highly interactive workshop dialogues formed the basis of a new resource guide on communicating about climate change for editors, reporters, scientists, and academics.

More interesting stuff from Santer re: establishing human culpability, professional PR help, and nearly two dozen workshops (funded by NSF?) bringing together climate scientists and the media

▶ Chris Mooney and Dr. Benjamin Santer on Communicating Climate Science - YouTube: "[Uploaded Sept 2010] Climate Science Watch spoke with climate scientist Dr. Benjamin Santer and Chris Mooney, a science and political journalist and author, about how climate scientists communicate complex research findings to the public in an atmosphere of fierce politicization and competing demands."

At 1:38, Santer says "I had always assumed that if the science was credible, we could just rest our case on the science. It was enough to publish high-quality papers, to establish some human culpability in observed climate change, and that ultimately that would be good enough, and that policymakers would take the right decisions based on the best available scientific evidence."

At 11:08, Santer says Lawrence Livermore National Lab has a "high-quality very professional public affairs department.  They've been extremely helpful in my interactions with the media...They've given me a lot of advice and guidance...I've been very grateful that I haven't had to face this on my own."

At 12:40, Santer mentions "series of workshops organized by Bud Ward, a journalist who's brought together the leading climate scientists with people from the media world-newspaper editors, news anchors, TV weathermen and women...a series of probably nearly two dozen workshops organized that enable each side to understand the problems of the others."

More on the workshops:

Thanks to a series of workshops funded by the National Science Foundation, journalists and climate scientists have been able to address these barriers and develop recommendations for effective communication. These highly interactive workshop dialogues formed the basis of a new resource guide on communicating about climate change for editors, reporters, scientists, and academics.

2010 Ben Santer video: "Blogging is affecting me profoundly. Obviously, Mr. McIntyre has profoundly affected my life"

▶ The General Public: Why Such Resistance? - YouTube: "(February 25, 2010) Ben Santer, a research scientist from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, discusses the recent problems with the use of the freedom of information act for non-US citizens to demand complete records, including emails, on scientific research projects. Santer posits that this is a dangerous dilemma that will ultimately inhibit scientific research."

The video is 1 hour 46 minutes long.  The best stuff is around 42:30 to the end.

Santer uses words like harassment, frivolous, nonsense, hatred, bullies, "forces of unreason", abuse, and McCarthyism.  He'd like to get some support/protection from the Obama administration.

Santer at 1:26:37 "Blogging is affecting me profoundly. Obviously, Mr. McIntyre has profoundly affected my life".

Environmental Groups 'Break' with Obama | National Review Online

Environmental Groups 'Break' with Obama | National Review Online: "This isn’t a big deal. President Obama doesn’t need their endorsements — nor their money — and this frees Senate and House candidates to take a harsher stance against the president in the 2014 elections."

Emails Show Extensive Collaboration Between EPA, Environmentalist Orgs

ICECAP: "Internal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emails show extensive collaboration between top agency officials and leading environmentalist groups, including overt efforts to coordinate messaging and pressure the fossil fuel industry."

I already have a climate bet with a Brian Schmidt, I’d like to do another « JoNova

I already have a climate bet with a Brian Schmidt, I’d like to do another « JoNova: "Brian Schmidt offered to bet against Maurice Newman, but what’s interesting is just how startlingly weak and underconfident the bet is.

How times have changed.  In 2007 the IPCC seemed to be 90% confident that the world would warm by about 0.4 degrees over the next two decades. Now Brian Schmidt braves up to offer a bet of “anything above zero”. Is he really a sceptic? It appears so.

How much should we pay now to prevent “any warming above zero” in the next twenty years? $4.5 billion a year? How about nothing."

Overlooked? Phil Jones 2012 video: Talks about adjusting SST data up ~.3-.5C after WWII

Start at 5:30. He says average sea and land temperatures "can't really differ that much as a global average". If he didn't adjust sea surface temperatures, you'd "have great differences in sea and air temperatures that just couldn't happen naturally".

▶ Effects of climate change (Prof Phil Jones, HRTP) - YouTube (This video only had 80 views earlier today.)

US Suspends Wind Subsidies, For Now | The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF)

US Suspends Wind Subsidies, For Now | The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF): "Historic subsidies propping up US wind energy ended on January 1 and Congress refused to renew them, despite supporters arguing that the aid has made renewable power cheaper than coal."

"Leading fund managers could be breaking the law if they refuse to take into account the threats posed by climate change"

Fund managers who ignore climate risk breaching 'fiduciary duty': "Leading fund managers could be breaking the law if they refuse to take into account the threats posed by climate change, a leading UN official said yesterday."

NCDC: Contiguous US average temperature plummeted 2.9F in 2013

NCDC 2012 Overview:

In 2012, the contiguous United States (CONUS) average annual temperature of 55.3°F

NCDC 2013 Overview:

In 2013, the contiguous United States (CONUS) average temperature of 52.4°F

Deval’s getting warmed up with another way to soak us | Boston Herald

Deval’s getting warmed up with another way to soak us | Boston Herald: "So the way it works now is, if it’s hot, it’s climate catastrophe. If it’s cold, it’s climate catastrophe. If it rains a lot, or if it’s not raining — well, you get the picture.

Why do you think the same moonbats pushing climate catastrophe also want to legalize pot? It’s a lot easier to put this three-card monte game over on couch potatoes who are so stoned they can’t remember what happened 10 minutes ago."

‘Climate Change’: Unpacking a Political Term (looking through the looking glass) — MasterResource

‘Climate Change’: Unpacking a Political Term (looking through the looking glass) — MasterResource: "“Climate Change. A term, which attempts to take the natural weather pattern and attribute it to the activities of humans. Heavily adopted recently for use to promote cave living, the idea that humans are a noxious virus on planet Earth, and the practice of greater separation between the rich and the poor. I know the weather pattern is natural and everything we’re experiencing now has been experienced before, but I still feel all warm, fuzzy knowing that electricity companies are responsible for Climate Change and are being taxed accordingly because of it.”"

EU retreats on global warming while US pushes ahead | The Daily Caller

EU retreats on global warming while US pushes ahead | The Daily Caller: "“It is becoming obvious that Europe’s unilateral climate policy, the whole green agenda of the last 20 years, has turned into an unmitigated fiasco,” Dr. Benny Peiser, director of the UK-based Global Warming Policy Foundation, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Even EU leaders are beginning to accept reality.”"

The scientific abomination that is the “Circumpolar Monitoring Framework for Polar Bears” | polarbearscience

The scientific abomination that is the “Circumpolar Monitoring Framework for Polar Bears” | polarbearscience: "In short, Arctic government representatives at the Moscow forum agreed that all future polar bear research should be constrained by the premise that increases in global temperatures over the next century will occur exactly as predicted by climate models and will negatively affect polar bears precisely as predicted by models devised by polar bear biologists. Under the plan, subpopulations that are already showing predicted effects of global warming will get the bulk of research funds, while regions that are paradoxically not responding as predicted will get much less money for research and survey efforts. "

MoveOn Recruits "FrackingFighters" to Combat Climate Change

MoveOn Recruits "FrackingFighters" to Combat Climate Change - The Green Optimistic: "FrackingFighters receive a $500 grant to use for a campaign, a toolkit of materials like banners and clipboards, and training from experienced organizers."

So how do you get a temperature record from a place where there is no temperature record? Easy. You make it up!

GREENIE WATCH: "I was particularly fascinated by their claim:  "The 15-year 'pause' myth? Completely debunked".  Since even many prominent Warmists accept the pause as fact this is a good example of Nuccitelli refusing to retreat an inch from Warmism.  No contrary evidence or argument can move him.  He is the perfect dogmatist.

But what is the basis of his dogmatism in this instance?  I followed back his links and his basis for rejecting the pause is a paper by Cowtan & Way which said that the orthodox HADCRUT record was erroneous because it left out the temperature record in areas where there was no temperature record  -- such as parts of the Arctic and Antarctic.

So how do you get a temperature record from a place where there is no temperature record?  Easy.  You make it up!  They used a statistical estimation technique called "kriging" to produce the missing figures but in the end it's all just a guesstimate.  And that the missing areas all showed lots of Warming is just a coincidence of course!  Since nobody doubts that the vast Antarctic has been cooling overall the kriging has obviously not captured the facts."

Ugh -- Krugman Bringing Climate-Style Argument by Marginalization to Economics | Coyote Blog

Ugh -- Krugman Bringing Climate-Style Argument by Marginalization to Economics | Coyote Blog: "Climate alarmists have mastered the trick of portraying opposition to their theories as not just being wrong, but being anti-science.  For years many scientists who have not looked into climate science at all have reflexively signed petitions supporting the alarmists, in the belief they were supporting science against anti-science. (By the way, time and again when these physicists and Earth scientists have actually later looked at the quality of climate science work, they have been astounded at the really poor quality garbage they were implicitly supporting -- I know, I am in that camp myself)."

If Chris Turney’s warmists had stayed on their ship they wouldn’t still be at sea | Herald Sun Andrew Bolt Blog

If Chris Turney’s warmists had stayed on their ship they wouldn’t still be at sea | Herald Sun Andrew Bolt Blog: "You see, Turney and the other 51 passengers were rescued at enormous expense from the then ice-bound Shokalskiy and transferred to the Aurora Australis nearly two weeks ago. Their new ship still had other duties to perform for more serious Antarctic researchers, so Turney and his fellow warmists are stuck on board for at least another week before the Aurrora Australis returns to Tasmania.

Here is the new irony - to follow the one about see warmists being trapped by ice they still claim is melting away. It is that Turney and his team would be back on shore already had they not asked for “rescue” by the Australian icebreaker."