Does global warming diminish with accurate temperature measurements? Part 1

If we don't know what the temperature is today, how can we say it is getting warmer? If we don't know what the temperature was in the past, how can we say it is, umm, getting warmer?

There are controversies brewing about measurements in global warming. Some of them are very new, some of them have been bubbling along unsettled for a while. Let's review, starting with measurements of land temperatures here in the United States.

Skeptic's Corner: Playing chicken with reality

California officials are beginning to worry that the state's focus on transitioning to renewable-energy sources could lead to power shortages in the near term.

The state has been so keen to develop renewables that relatively few conventional power generators, such as gas-fired plants, have been built lately. That risks a possible energy shortfall in certain places if the economy rebounds any time soon.

Showing Off With a Solar Thermal Salute - Green Inc. Blog - NYTimes.com

The company’s five-megawatt Sierra demonstration power plant northeast of Los Angeles deploys 24,000 mirrors — each one capable of being individually moved by computer. “To celebrate Independence Day,” the company announced at its Web site late last week, “eSolar’s Sierra SunTower power plant has employed this high-precision technology to declare energy independence.”

The display, of course, was designed to show off eSolar’s technological prowess — and it’s not the first time the company has deployed the gimmick.

I'm afraid this declaration of energy independence might be premature--I just checked my car, and it still appears to be powered by some sort of fossil fuel, rather than by solar electricity from Los Angeles.

C3: 2005 Experts: “Global warming meltdown just 10 years away.” How's That Prediction Holding Up In the Real World?

Read here.