EPA Chief Calls For ‘Aggressive’ Rollback Of Green Regulations

Newly minted Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt on Saturday spoke of an “aggressive” agenda of regulatory rollbacks, criticizing the previous Obama administration for being “so focused on climate change.” In a question-and-answer session at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland, Pruitt blamed the Obama administration for failing to tackle more state-based environmental issues, such as a decades-old water quality issues in Oregon tied to a nuclear facility in Washington. “What has happened over the past several years, is the previous administration was so focused on climate change and so focused on CO2 that some of those other priorities were left behind,” he said. “We as Republicans don’t have anything to be apologetic about with respect to the environment – nothing,” he added. “We have always believed that you can grow jobs, grow an economy, while also doing what?

Source: EPA Chief Calls For ‘Aggressive’ Rollback Of Green Regulations

20 New Papers Affirm Modern Climate Is In Phase With Natural Variability

20 New Papers Affirm Modern Climate Is In Phase With Natural Variability

Natural Variability Dominates Climate



Last week, the newly published Gagné et al. (2017) paper received some attention  because the authors pointed out that Arctic sea ice grew substantially between 1950 and 1975, consistent with the in-phase cooling trend during that period.

Gagné et al., 2017     Updated observational datasets without climatological infilling show that there was an increase in sea ice concentration in the Eastern Arctic between 1950 and 1975, contrary to earlier climatology in-filled observational datasets that show weak inter-annual variations during that time period.”

The AARI [Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute] and Walsh & Chapman sea ice data sets used in the paper (see graph above) included exclusively observational evidence  — “climatological infilling were not included … we only used observed data”.   Both observational data sets indicated that Arctic sea ice concentration anomalies were as low or lower in the early 1950s than they have been during recent decades.

During the early 1950s, CO2 concentrations hovered between 310 and 315 ppm.  Today, atmospheric CO2 has reached 400 ppm.  And yet early 1950s sea ice extent was similar to or lower than today.   This would imply that the Arctic sea ice recession observed in recent decades is well within the range of natural variability, or within the range of what has occurred without human interference or high rates of anthropogenic CO2 emissions.

In the recently published scientific literature, distinguishing between a presumably human-caused influence on climatic trends and natural or internal variability (or “noise”) has not only become more and more difficult, scientists are increasingly pointing out that an anthropogenic signal in climate trends “has yet to be detected above the level of natural climate variability.”

In addition to the more than 20 new scientific papers affirming a robust connection between solar forcing and climate already published in 2017, there are another new 20 scientific papers that indicate natural variability and/or natural oceanic/atmospheric oscillations (ENSO, NAO, PDO) dominate as modulators of precipitation, temperature/climate, and sea level/flooding.


Natural Variability, Ocean Cycles Dominate And Modulate Precipitation Patterns


1.  Lachniet et al., 2017     [M]onsoon dynamics appear to be linked to low-frequency variability in the ENSO and NAO, suggesting that ocean-atmosphere processes in the tropical oceans drive rainfall in Mesoamerica. … Climate model output suggests decreasing

Prominent Scientist: Warming world temperatures could be mainly Earth’s natural rebound from the Little Ice Age

Syun-Ichi Akasofu ( 赤祖父 俊一 Akasofu Shun’ichi ? , born December 4, 1930, Saku , Nagano , Japan) is the founding director of the International Arctic Research Center of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), serving in that position from the centre’s establishment in 1998 until January 2007.

Source: Warming world temperatures could be mainly Earth’s natural rebound from the Little Ice Age

Oh, darn! Declining Arctic sea ice influences European weather — but isn’t a cause of colder winters

From the UNIVERSITY OF EXETER and the “department of dashed alarm hopes”, comes this surprising study, but alas, it’s just another model, so take it with a grain of salt. Declining Arctic sea ice influences European weather — but isn’t a cause of colder winters The dramatic loss of Arctic sea ice through climate change…

Source: Oh, darn! Declining Arctic sea ice influences European weather — but isn’t a cause of colder winters

Correction: Climate activist Leo DiCaprio Did NOT Fly eyebrow artist 7,500 miles to do his brows for the Oscars

By Paul Homewood h/t Joe Public http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/leonardo-dicaprio-eyebrow-artist-oscars-tobey-maguire-flight-la-a7601731.html Even the failed Independent sees the hypocrisy! How much effort do you put into the appearance of your eyebrows?

Source: Leo flew eyebrow artist 7,500 miles to do his brows for the Oscars

Update: The UK Independent has officially retracted their report: See: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/leonardo-dicaprio-eyebrow-artist-oscars-tobey-maguire-flight-la-a7601731.html

Excerpt: “We previously reported that Leonardo DiCaprio was one member of the Hollywood elite who flew Hamilton the 7,500 across the Pacific Ocean, but we have since learnt that this was incorrect.”…