Fun with summer statistics. Part I: USA « Roy Spencer, Ph. D.

[Christy] There has been a relatively steady rise in high TMin records (i.e. hot nights) which does not concur with TMax, and is further evidence that TMax and TMin are not measuring the same thing. They really are apples and oranges. As indicated above, TMin is a poor proxy for atmospheric heat content, and it inflicts this problem on the popular TMean temperature record which is then a poor proxy for greenhouse warming too.

Before I leave this plot, someone may ask, “But what about those thousands of daily records that we were told were broken this year?” Unfortunately, there is a lot of confusion about that. Records are announced by NOAA for stations with as little as 30 years of data, i.e. starting as late as 1981. As a result, any moderately hot day now will generate a lot of “record highs.” But, most of those records were produced by stations which were not operating during the heat waves of the teens, twenties, thirties and fifties. That is why the plots I’ve provided here tell a more complete climate story. As you can imagine, the results aren’t nearly so dramatic and no reporter wants to write a story that says the current heat wave was exceeded in the past by a lot. Readers and viewers would rather be told they are enduring a special time in history I think.
...In Alaska, for example, the last 12 months (-0.82 °C) have been near the coldest departures for any 12-month period of the 34 years of satellite data.

Al's Journal : Meet Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s new running mate, has a history of anti-climate science statements and votes, according to Brad Johnson:

Why The Gain In Antarctic Sea Ice Is Important | Real Science

There is more sea ice around Antarctica than in the Arctic, and it is all at lower latitudes than in the Arctic – so it reflects a lot more sunlight back into space. The whole point of alarmists being hysterical about September Arctic ice loss is the albedo feedback (as if there was actually any sunshine at the North Pole in September) – but the negative feedback around Antarctica is probably larger than any Arctic effects. Missing Arctic ice in the autumn also allows more LW radiative loss into space.

Additionally, NSIDC reports ice loss or gain as a percentage rather than absolute numbers – which conveniently hides the incline in Antarctica.

Al Fin: China: The Biggest Loser in Green Energy?

China is losing a lot of money on solar -- even more than Obama lost betting on the intermittent unreliable form of energy!

China’s top ten photovoltaic makers have accumulated a combined debt of 17.5 billion U.S. dollars so far, leading the whole industry to the brink of bankruptcy, data from U.S. investment agency Maxim Group showed.

Goodness. That’s 35 Solyndras!