Bailout climate with a carbon tax? Bush’s Bank Bailout Treas. Sec. Hank Paulson in NYT: ‘The coming climate crash…Let’s not ignore the climate bubble’ – Implies tax will make weather less extreme!

Hank Paulson in NYT: Bailout the climate with a carbon tax? ‘The Coming Climate Crash…Let’s not ignore the climate bubble’

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/opinion/sunday/lessons-for-climate-change-in-the-2008-recession.html?_r=0

Henry M. Paulson Jr. is the chairman of the Paulson Institute at the University of Chicago and secretary of the Treasury from July 2006 to January 2009.

Excerpts:

We’re staring down a climate bubble

We’ve seen and felt the costs of underestimating the financial bubble. Let’s not ignore the climate bubble.

Some members of my political party worry that pricing carbon is a “big government” intervention. In fact, it will reduce the role of government, which, on our present course, increasingly will be called on to help communities and regions affected by climate-related disasters like floods, drought-related crop failures and extreme weather like tornadoes, hurricanes and other violent storms. We’ll all be paying those costs. Not once, but many times over.

Advocates ‘placing a tax on carbon dioxide emissions.’

There is virtually no debate among them that the planet is warming and that the burning of fossil fuels is largely responsible.The West Antarctic ice sheet has begun to melt, a process that scientists estimate may take centuries but that could eventually raise sea levels by as much as 14 feet. Now that this process has begun, there is nothing we can do to undo the underlying dynamics, which scientists say are “baked in.” And 10 years from now, will other thresholds be crossed that scientists are only now contemplating?

Looking back at the dark days of the financial crisis in 2008, it is easy to see the similarities between the financial crisis and the climate challenge we now face.

We are building up excesses (debt in 2008, greenhouse gas emissions that are trapping heat now). Our government policies are flawed (incentivizing us to borrow too much to finance homes then, and encouraging the overuse of carbon-based fuels now). Our experts (financial experts then, climate scientists now) try to understand what they see and to model possible futures. And the outsize risks have the potential to be tremendously damaging (to a globalized economy then, and the global climate now).I was secretary of the Treasury when the credit bubble burst, so I think it’s fair to say that I know a little bit about risk, assessing outcomes and problem-solving.…

Indian Environment Minister: ‘We need to grow’ – Developing Nations Have Right To Grow, CO2 Emissions May Rise

Indian Environment Minister: Developing Nations Have Right To Grow, CO2 Emissions May Rise

http://www.thegwpf.org/indian-environment-minister-developing-nations-have-right-to-grow-co2-emissions-may-rise/

“Unless we tackle poverty, unless we eradicate poverty, we cannot really address climate change. To that end, we need to grow. Our net CO2 emissions may increase”

Prakash Javadekar, India’s Environment minister has taken a bold stand on the carbon emissions issue and stated a stark and inevitable truth.Though he emphasised on the fact that India is committed to reduce carbon emissions, it may increase in the process of development and poverty eradication.
Speaking at a function on the occasion of the “World Day to Combat Desertification” he stressed on the fact that India, as a developing nation, needs to grow and prosper and in that process there is no denying the fact that carbon emissions will substantially increase. World’s climate is being ravaged by these carbon emissions, but it is a necessary evil for the nations that want to develop. Economic development and carbon emissions go hand in hand.
“We have to reduce our carbon emissions. But I have not created the carbon emisssion problems, which have been done by others. But I am not into any blame game. The issue is that I have a right to grow. India and developing countries have the right to grow. These are the emerging economies”, he said at the ongoing function.
Full story…

New paper predicts temperature decrease by 2020 of up to 1C due to low solar activity – Published in the Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics

New paper predicts temperature decrease by 2020 of up to 1C due to low solar activity

http://hockeyschtick.blogspot.com/2014/06/new-paper-predicts-temperature-decrease.html

A paper published today in the Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics finds long solar cycles predict lower temperatures during the following solar cycle. A lag of 11 years [the average solar cycle length] is found to provide maximum correlation between solar cycle length and temperature. On the basis of the long sunspot cycle of the last solar cycle 23, the authors predict an average temperature decrease of 1C over the current solar cycle 24 from 2009-2020 for certain locations. The authors also find “solar activity may have contributed 40% or more to the last century temperature increase” and “For 3 North Atlantic stations we get 63–72% solar contribution [to the temperature increase of the past 150 years]. This points to the Atlantic currents as reinforcing a solar signal.”

A co-author of the paper is geoscientist Dr. Ole Humlum, who demonstrated in a prior paper that CO2 levels lag temperature on a short-term basis and that CO2 is not the driver of global temperature.

The long sunspot cycle 23 predicts a significant temperature decrease in cycle 24

Jan-Erik Solheima, , ,
Kjell Stordahlb, ,
Ole Humlumc, d,

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DOI: 10.1016/j.jastp.2012.02.008

Open Access

Abstract

Relations between the length of a sunspot cycle and the average temperature in the same and the next cycle are calculated for a number of meteorological stations in Norway and in the North Atlantic region. No significant trend is found between the length of a cycle and the average temperature in the same cycle, but a significant negative trend is found between the length of a cycle and the temperature in the next cycle. This provides a tool to predict an average temperature decrease of at least  from solar cycle 23 to solar cycle 24 for the stations and areas analyzed. We find for the Norwegian local stations investigated that 25–56% of the temperature increase the last 150 years may be attributed to the Sun. For 3 North Atlantic stations we get 63–72% solar contribution. This points to the Atlantic currents as reinforcing a solar signal.

Highlights

► A longer solar cycle predicts lower temperatures during the next cycle. ► A 1 °C or more temperature drop is predicted 2009–2020 for certain locations. ► Solar activity may have contributed 40% or more to the last century temperature increase. …

New paper finds climate models simulate or predict only about 6% of altocumulus clouds – Published in Atmospheric Research

New paper finds climate models simulate or predict only about 6% of altocumulus clouds

http://hockeyschtick.blogspot.com/2014/06/new-paper-finds-climate-models-only.html

A paper published today in Atmospheric Research finds “Altocumulus clouds are important, yet climate models have difficulties in simulating and predicting these clouds” and “Approximately 93.6% of Altocumulus clouds cannot be resolved by climate models with a grid resolution of 1°.”

Thus, only 6.4% of observed altocumulus clouds are simulated or predicted by climate models. Needless to say, clouds have profound effects on Earth’s radiative balance and climate; a mere 1-2% change in global cloud cover alone can account for global warming or cooling. Among their many failings, climate models are unable to simulate clouds, ocean oscillations, solar amplification mechanisms, precipitation, sea ice, albedo, convection, etc. etc.

Spatial scales of altocumulus clouds observed with collocated CALIPSO and CloudSat measurements

Damao Zhanga, , ,
Tao Luoa,
Dong Liub,
Zhien Wang

Climatology of Ac horizontal scale and vertical depth is presented.

93.6% of Altocumulus clouds cannot be resolved by GCMs with a grid resolution of 1°.

Ac scale distributions are related to their formation mechanisms.

Ac vertical depth is impacted by CTT and environmental humidity.

Abstract

Altocumulus (Ac) clouds are important, yet climate models have difficulties in simulating and predicting these clouds, due to their small horizontal scales and thin vertical extensions. In this research, 4 years of collocated Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) lidar and CloudSat radar measurements is analyzed to study the along-track horizontal scales and vertical depths of Ac clouds. Methodology to calculate Ac along-track horizontal scale and vertical depth using collocated CALIPSO and CloudSat measurements is introduced firstly. The global mean Ac along-track horizontal scale is 40.2 km, with a standard deviation of 52.3 km. Approximately 93.6% of Altocumulus clouds cannot be resolved by climate models with a grid resolution of 1°. The global mean mixed-phase Ac vertical depth is 1.96 km, with a standard deviation of 1.10 km. Global distributions of the Ac along-track horizontal scales and vertical depths are presented and possible factors contributing to their geographical differences are analyzed. The result from this study can be used to improve Ac parameterizations in climate models and validate the model simulations.…