NYT’s Andrew Revkin Admits UN IPCC Operates Like Religion: Process ‘is not too dissimilar to the white smoke rising from a Vatican chimney’
New Chair of the U.N. Climate Panel
Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo: Entire GOP Has ‘Turned Their Back on Science’
http://ecowatch.com/2015/10/06/mark-ruffalo-climate-deniers/
He then said, “You’ve had a whole political party turn their back on the science that 97 percent of the world has accepted.” Ruffalo blamed the corrupting influence of money and industry lobbyists for the current state of American politics.
“It’s a phenomenon unlike anything ever seen in American history,” he said, then considered, “maybe slavery. Money blinds people. It’s all about money.”…
Climatologist Dr. Tim Ball: ‘Environmentalists Are The New Puritans: Religious Bullies’
Environmentalists Are The New Puritans: Religious Bullies.
http://drtimball.com/2015/environmentalists-are-the-new-puritans-religious-bullies/
This article first appeared on The Rebel website. Religion is fine, but problems begin when it is forced on others. Proselytizing is the characteristic of Puritanism, which H. L. Mencken defined as, “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere is having a good time.” Mencken’s quote applied to traditional religious extremists but is equally applicable to […]
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Warmist claim: Climate Change Linked To Low Birth Weight
Climate Change And Extreme Weather Linked To Low Birth Weight
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/10/06/3709407/low-birth-weight-climate/
The world has learned much in recent years about the harmful health effects of climate change, such as heat-related deaths, respiratory and heart problems caused by air pollution, and emotional disorders that result from the consequences of extreme weather. Now researchers have found that it poses a surprising new danger: low birth weight. In a first-of-a-kind study, scientists from the University of Utah spent two years examining the relationships between fetal development and pregnant women’s exposure to low precipitation and very hot days. The research, which looked at data from 19 African countries, found that reduced rainfall and high heat resulted in newborns who weighed less than 2,500 grams, or about 5.5 pounds. “In the very early stages of intra-uterine development, climate change has the potential to significantly impact birth outcomes,” said Kathryn Grace, assistant professor of geography at the university and lead author of the study, which appeared in Global Environmental Change. “While the severity of that impact depends on where the pregnant woman lives, in this case the developing world, we can see the potential for similar outcomes everywhere,” including in the United States. “Women who are pregnant are more sensitive to heat stress, dehydration, etc.,” although access to air conditioners in this country “would likely reduce the exposure and the stress,” she said. Low birth weight already is a major global public health problem, associated with a number of both short- and long-term consequences, according to the World Health Organization. The WHO estimates that up to 20 percent of all births worldwide are low birth weight, representing more than 20 million births annually. Low birth weight infants face the potential of multiple health issues, including infections, respiratory distress, heart problems, jaundice, anemia, and chronic lung conditions. Later in life, they are at increased risk for developmental and learning disorders, such as hyperactivity and cognitive deficits. Because of this reliance on rainfall, this makes these communities particularly sensitive to climate change As a result, the cost of caring for these infants can be considerable — newborn intensive care unit stays, for example — posing a significant financial burden in developing countries where such services are not always available, and where societies often stigmatize physical disabilities. “For so long, scientists and researchers have not studied the uterine environment and the quality of life of pregnant women in detail, …
Climatologist Dr. Roy Spencer: South Carolina Flooding is NOT a 1 in 1,000 Year Event
South Carolina Flooding is NOT a 1 in 1,000 Year Event
http://www.drroyspencer.com/2015/10/south-carolina-flooding-is-not-a-1-in-1000-year-event/
There is no question that the flooding in South Carolina is exceptional, even historic. But a once on 1,000 year event? Sorry, but there is no way to determine that…there are simply not enough rainfall statistics over a long enough period of time to establish such a claim. But we do have information on previous floods over the last 100 years or so. So, let’s look at how the current event compares. The greatest multi-day rainfall reported on the CoCoRaHS cooperative rainfall monitoring website was 27 inches in Columbia, SC. The Congaree River crested at 31 ft. there on Sunday: Congaree River gage height at Columbia, SC. Here’s a photo taken about the time the river crested: Photo of Congaree River, Columbia, SC, Oct. 4, 2015, taken about the time of cresting. Now, for comparison, take a look at a bridge over the Congaree River during the record flood of 1908, when the river crested at 40 ft…about 9 ft. higher than the current flood event: Congaree River bridge in Columbia, SC, during the 1908 record flood event. Not to discount the misery and likely billions of dollars of damage caused by the current event, but when someone claims that a weather disaster is 1 in a 1,000 year event, they need to back it up. Unfortunately, there seems to be an trend toward classifying events as “1 in 1,000 years”, when there is no way of knowing such things. This is especially true for floods, where paving of urban and suburban areas causes increasing runoff, making river flooding worse for the same amount of rainfall. This is a big reason why flood events have gotten worse in the last 100 years…it has nothing to do with “climate change”. For some areas the current flood is no doubt a 1 in 100 year event, or even worse. But remember, it is perfectly normal to have a 1 in 100 year event every year…as long as they occur in different locations. That’s how weather records work.
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Science Mag.: Climate scientist requesting federal investigation feels heat from House Republicans
A scientist who helped organize a call for a federal investigation of the fossil fuel industry—for allegedly orchestrating a cover-up of climate change dangers—has himself become the target of a congressional probe.
Last week, Representative Lamar Smith (R–TX), the chairman of the science panel of the House of Representatives, announced plans to investigate a nonprofit research group led by climate scientist Jagadish Shukla of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He is the lead signer of a letter to White House officials that urges the use of an antiracketeering law to crack down on energy firms that have funded efforts to raise doubts about climate science.…
Top International Lawyer: Make Climate Change Illegal And Silence Skeptics Forever
6 Oct 2015
Climate change is such a pressing, dangerous and universal threat that it should be made illegal under international law, a top barrister has told a conference of leading lawyers in London.
Philippe Sands QC, an international law specialist and Professor of Law at University College London, argued that the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) should make it an “obligation under international law” to ensure that global temperatures never rise more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
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That target, they clearly aren’t aware, has no serious scientific basis. It was the invention of one man – German left-wing activist Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) – who himself admits that he plucked the figure from the air for political reasons at the height of the climate scare in the mid-1990s.
“Two degrees is not a magical limit — it’s clearly a political goal,” says Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). “The world will not come to an end right away in the event of stronger warming, nor are we definitely saved if warming is not as significant. The reality, of course, is much more complicated.”
In other words were that arbitrary limit to be exceeded, it is entirely possible that the benefits would far outweigh the disadvantages. But even if they didn’t, there’s absolutely no point in trying to legislate to prevent it happening because, as has become abundantly clear after the last couple of decades’ intense study, the ability of humans to alter the climate in any significant way is minimal.…
Walter Williams: ‘Suppressing Free Speech’: ‘The global warming agenda is a desperate effort to gain greater control over our lives’
http://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/walter-e-williams/suppressing-free-speech
My university, at which I’ve toiled for 35 years, has a political makeup like that of most other universities — middle of the road to liberal/progressive. What distinguishes my liberal/progressive colleagues is that they are courteous and civilized, unlike many of those at universities such as the University of Massachusetts and the University of California, Berkeley.
So I investigated this call for the use of RICO, or the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. It turns out that Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., has called for the criminal investigation of people and organizations who are seen as global warming deniers.…