Administrator Pruitt’s first message to EPA employees: ‘Federalism matters’
US Environmental Protection Agency
February 21, 2017
20 New Scientific Papers Link Modern Climate Trends To Solar Forcing
20 New Scientific Papers Link Modern Climate Trends To Solar Forcing
A Robust Sun-Climate Connection Increasingly Affirmed By Scientists “The emerging causal effects from SS [solar activity] to GT [global temperatures], especially for recent decades, are overwhelmingly proved” — Huang et al., 2017 (1) Yndestad and Solheim, 2017 “Periods with few sunspots are associated with low solar activity and cold climate periods. Periods with many sunspots are associated with high solar activity and warm climate periods. … Studies that employ cosmogenic isotope data and sunspot data indicate that we are currently leaving a grand activity maximum, which began in approximately 1940 and is now declining (Usoskin et al., 2003; Solanki et al., 2004; Abreu et al., 2008). Because grand maxima and minima occur on centennial or millennial timescales, they can only be investigated using proxy data, i.e., solar activity reconstructed from 10Be and 14C time-calibrated data. The conclusion is that the activity level of the Modern Maximum (1940–2000) is a relatively rare event, with the previous similarly high levels of solar activity observed 4 and 8 millennia ago (Usoskin et al., 2003). Nineteen grand maxima have been identified by Usoskin et al. (2007) in an 11,000-yr series.” Below, the trends in Total Solar Irradiance for 1700-2013, which comes from the Yndestad and Solheim (2017) paper cited above, are shown to closely correspond to the temperature trends for the Northern Hemisphere (NH, derived from “the mean of 22 regional reconstructions of instrumental JJA [June-August] temperatures“) as shown in Stoffel et al., 2015. (2) Rydval et al., 2017 “[T]he recent summer-time warming in Scotland is likely not unique when compared to multi-decadal warm periods observed in the 1300s, 1500s, and 1730s … All six [Northern Hemisphere] records show a warmer interval in the period leading up to the 1950s, although it is less distinct in the CEU reconstruction. [E]xtreme cold (and warm) years observed in NCAIRN appear more related to internal forcing of the summer North Atlantic Oscillation. … There is reasonable agreement in general between the records regarding protracted cold periods which occur during the LIA and specifically around the Maunder solar minimum centred on the second half of the seventeenth century and to some extent also around the latter part of the fifteenth century coinciding with part of the Spörer minimum (Usoskin et al. 2007).” . (3) Huang et al., 2017 (full paper) “Various scientific studies have investigated the causal link between solar …
If Greens cared about CO2 they would dump renewable targets
If Greens cared about CO2 they would dump renewable targets
http://joannenova.com.au/2017/02/if-greens-cared-about-co2-they-would-dump-renewable-targets/
Those who say they want a “free market” in carbon still don’t understand what a free market is. RET’s or Renewable Energy Targets are screwed (in the head): If Tony Abbotts Direct Action plan was useless, RETS are five times more useless. In Australia the Renewable Energy Target (RET) in theory, helps wind and solar, so we lower CO2 emissions and cool the world, slow storms, things like that. But Tom Quirk calculates it costs $57 a ton (at best) for those “savings”. Since the Direct Action plan cost $11 a ton, we could reduce five times as much CO2 if we blew up the RET scheme. The secret is that the Abbott plan tackled CO2 directly rather than picking winners (see “competition”, “free markets” that sort of thing). Predictably, the Greens hated it — who needs CO2 reduction if you can support big-government-loving industries instead? (Especially the kind who lobby for the side of politics that wants more bureaucrats, more handouts, and less independent competition?) Those who say they want a “free market” in carbon still don’t understand what a free market is. It’s pretty simple, if they want a reduction in CO2, they need to pay for a […]Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
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Polar bear habitat update: Masie charts show more ice in 2017 than 2006
Polar bear habitat update: Masie charts show more ice in 2017 than 2006
It’s just an observation but NSIDC Masie ice charts show 14.7 mkm2 of sea ice for 2017 at 19 February (Day 50) but only 14.3 mkm2 for 2006 (see them copied below). In contrast, the NSIDC interactive graph shows almost the opposite: 14.3 mkm2 for 2017 and 14.4 mkm2 for 2006 (but with both below 2 standard deviations of average). Different treatment of ice concentration values probably account for much of the differences and it doesn’t mean much. But it needs to be pointed out while sea ice is lower than average this year, sea ice coverage was also below average in 2006 – and there was not a huge die-off of polar bears that year as a result. There is no evidence that polar bears require “X” amount of sea ice in late winter or spring. Anyone who suggests otherwise is making things up. Here is Masie 2017 for day 50 (cropped), 14.7 mkm2: Below is Masie 2006 for day 50 (cropped), 14.3 mkm2:
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Naomi Klein admits that it’s not about carbon—it’s about capitalism.
Naomi Klein admits that it’s not about carbon—it’s about capitalism.
http://theclimatescepticsparty.blogspot.com/2017/02/naomi-klein-admits-that-its-not-about.html
Former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Christiana Figueres gave the game away when she issued a press release admitting that their
aim is not to save the world from ecological calamity but to destroy capitalism.
Naomi Klein in her latest book: This Changes Everything admits something very similar: (link)
Forget everything you think you know about global warming. The really inconvenient truth is that it’s not about carbon—it’s about capitalism. The convenient truth is that we can seize this existential crisis to transform our failed economic system and build something radically better.
AND it certainly isn’t about Carbon dioxide.
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New Paper: Computer Predictions Of Climate Alarm Are Flawed
New Paper: Computer Predictions Of Climate Alarm Are Flawed
http://www.thegwpf.org/new-paper-computer-predictions-of-climate-alarm-are-flawed/
Claims that the planet is threatened by man-made global warming are based on science that is based on inadequate computer modelling. That is the conclusion of a new briefing paper published today by the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF). The report’s author, eminent American climatologist Professor Judith Curry, explains that climate alarm depends on highly complex computer simulations of the Earth’s climate. But although scientists have expended decades of effort developing them, these simulations still have to be “tuned” to get them to match the real climate. This makes them essentially useless for trying to find out what is causing changes in the climate and unreliable for making predictions about what will happen in the future. Professor Curry said: “It’s not just the fact that climate simulations are tuned that is problematic. It may well be that it is impossible to make long-term predictions about the climate – it’s a chaotic system after all. If that’s the case, then we are probably trying to redesign the global economy for nothing”. Prof Curry recently announced that she was abandoning academic life due to the attacks on her research and the “craziness” of the climate debate. Full paper (pdf)
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Another Climate Alarm Gets Silenced: Study Shows “Tiny Algae, Hugely Resilient”!
Another Climate Alarm Gets Silenced: Study Shows “Tiny Algae, Hugely Resilient”!
What follows is a press release from the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, Germany. It turns out that microalgae — “an important source of food in the oceans” — are far more resilient to changes in ocean pH than alarmists would like to have us believe. Hat-tip: Die kalte Sonne. =================================== Tiny algae, hugely resilient Microalgae are microscopically small, single-celled algae species and an important source of food in the oceans. Dr Clara Hoppe of the Alfred Wegener Institute examines how changed living conditions as a result of climate change affect Arctic microalgae. Clara Hoppe has been observing how Arctic microalgae react to climate change since years. (Photo: Paolo VeAWI biologist) Dr Clara Hoppe has always had a plan B in place for her Arctic expeditions. “Three years ago, when I started to work in the Arctic, everyone told me to think carefully about what I should do in case the Kongsfjorden area in Svalbard freezes over and I can’t leave with a small ship,” says Clara Hoppe. Many times she ran through the scenario of thick ice blocking the way into the fjord. But plan B never materialised. “So far, I have never experienced ice on the fjord. The water temperature was always above zero degrees Celsius,” the 32-year-old tells us. The factors that make Clara Hoppe’s job easier in practice, are also the subject of her research: She tries to understand how environmental conditions that are changing as a result of climate change, affect the microalgae of the Arctic Ocean. This includes the rise of the water temperature as well as the acidification of the oceans and changed light conditions in the water due to the decrease in sea ice. Unlike macroalgae, microalgae are not visible to the naked eye, they are microscopically small, single-celled algae species. They are so tiny that one millilitre of water can contain thousands of them. Because microalgae are an important source of food, such as for crustaceans like krill, a change in their growth, for example, could have far-reaching implications for the Arctic food web. A special feature about Clara Hoppe’s research: While traditional research on ocean acidification is often carried out in the laboratory, she and her team regularly take several hundred litres of water samples in the Arctic, which allows them to study a diverse community of several dozen …
Study: Being An Environmentalist Generally Isn’t Good For The Planet
Study: Being An Environmentalist Generally Isn’t Good For The Planet
‘Might be greener than they were before but they are still not really green’
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Cheers! EPA administrator Scott Pruitt did not mention climate change once in his first speech to the EPA
EPA administrator Scott Pruitt did not mention climate change once in his first speech to the EPA
Pruitt has consistently questioned the established science on climate change.Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt holds up a hat that was presented to him before speaking to employees of the EPA in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017. CREDIT: AP Photo/Susan WalshOn Monday, former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt addressed EPA employees for the first time since being confirmed as EPA administrator. His remarks were brief, lasting just under fifteen minutes. In that time, the former Oklahoma Attorney General expounded on his views of regulation, called for greater cooperation between the federal government and states, and chatted about his love of baseball.But nowhere in the speech did Pruitt mention climate change, which is quite possibly the greatest environmental threat facing both the United States and the planet.Trump’s EPA pick recently called climate change a ‘religious belief’For people familiar with Pruitt’s background, that’s not really a huge surprise. Pruitt has consistently questioned the mainstream consensus on climate change, arguing that there is still a great deal of debate about whether it is happening and what is causing it (in reality, there is a 97 percent consensus among actively publishing climate scientists that climate change is both occurring and primarily driven by human activity). As early as last year, Pruitt likened climate change to “a religious belief” and called calls for climate action the equivalent of a “political bumper sticker.” Pruitt also has publicly established ties to industry, including the fossil fuel industry. In 2014, an investigation by the New York Times showed Pruitt sending a letter of complaint to the EPA in his role as Oklahoma Attorney General, drafted by Devon Energy, the largest energy company in Oklahoma.In recent years, the EPA has attempted to curb the primary contributor to climate change — the burning of fossil fuels — by enacting emission limits on power plants and vehicles. Pruitt has pledged to revoke at least one of those regulations — the Clean Power Plan — which he challenged as part of a lawsuit brought by 26 attorneys general against the EPA. All told, Pruitt sued the EPA 14 times as Oklahoma Attorney General — a fact that did not make it into the biography portion of Monday’s EPA address.“Scott Pruitt’s inaugural speech did nothing to address our grave concerns about him,” Tiernan Sittenfeld, senior vice president …
Methane bomb (scare) bursts: catastrophic release of methane highly unlikely
By Thomas Richard
A new USGS report challenges the consensus belief that a warming climate would lead to an explosive release of methane into the atmosphere from the breakdown of frozen methane hydrates. Climate alarmists like Al Gore have called this the ‘methane bomb,’ where frozen hydrates stored beneath the permafrost and seabed floors warms up, allowing the trapped gas to escape.
The University of Rochester and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reviewed nearly a decade of preceding research done by USGS researchers and other scientific organizations studying these gas hydrates. The report said that if continued warming continues unabated, any methane released from hydrates would be negligible and large amounts highly unlikely. The report’s “sober, data-driven analyses” couldn’t find any evidence of a large-scale release of the odorless hydrocarbon.
Exclusive: The methane time bomb http://ind.pn/dCafrB
Exclusive: The methane time bomb
The first evidence that millions of tons of a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere from beneath the Arctic seabed has been discovered by…
independent.co.uk
