Global Warming Hyperbole September 2007 Archives

More bubblehead babble...
Isolationism won't keep global warming away - Charlotte Bridgeman may be one of many Americans who live in an isolationist bubble ("Global warming theory is a scam," Sept. 24). No, global warming has not affected the average American because of location and continental size. We do not see the immediate results in North Carolina.
I suggest Bridgeman travel to a large city such as Los Angeles or Beijing, China, to experience the effect of smog. Is this not caused by man? Actually, Los Angeles does have a unique condition called haze. But I've never heard anyone argue that smog is not caused by man. Do these emissions contribute to global warming? Not in any significant amount. Furthermore, forests in Europe are dying because of the acid rain that falls on them. What causes acid rain? Seems very likely that the junk we put into the atmosphere has something to do with it. Really? It used to be a big problem in North America. Has acid rain migrated to Europe now? How can we explain melting of the ice caps and glaciers? The same way we explain growing ice caps and glaciers such as Antartica and Mount Shasta in California, natural processes. Why do we suddenly have new opportunities for trade routes between East and West? I wonder if anyone asked that question when airplanes were invented? Seems likely that higher temperatures are needed to melt more ice. Ya think?
The planet is like the human body. This is just absurd. The planet is not like a human body at all. This is the ridiculous assertions often regurgitated by environmentalists. The human body has a normal temperature. Just what is the planet's normal temperature anyway? If we eat nutritious food and take care of our bodies, we benefit. If we eat high-fat fast food every day, drink gallons of carbonated beverages and fail to exercise, we cannot expect to maintain a healthy weight or a healthy body. Other nations do not have as many obese people as we do. Some nations have more obese people than we do. So what? In fact, were only 9th. Here's the fattest 49.

Rank	Country	%
1.	Nauru	94.5
2.	Micronesia, Federated States of	91.1
3.	Cook Islands	90.9
4.	Tonga	90.8
5.	Niue	81.7
6.	Samoa	80.4
7.	Palau	78.4
8.	Kuwait	74.2
9.	United States	74.1
10.	Kiribati	73.6
11.	Dominica	71.0
12.	Barbados	69.7
13.	Argentina	69.4
14.	Egypt	69.4
15.	Malta	68.7
16.	Greece	68.5
17.	New Zealand	68.4
18.	United Arab Emirates	68.3
19.	Mexico	68.1
20.	Trinidad and Tobago	67.9
21.	Australia	67.4
22.	Belarus	66.8
23.	Chile	65.3
24.	Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	65.2
25.	Seychelles	64.6
26.	Bahrain	64.1
27.	Andorra	63.8
28.	United Kingdom	63.8
29.	Saudi Arabia	63.5
30.	Monaco	62.4
31.	Bolivia	62.2
32.	San Marino	62.1
33.	Guatemala	61.2
34.	Mongolia	61.2
35.	Canada	61.1
36.	Qatar	61.0
37.	Uruguay	60.9
38.	Jordan	60.5
39.	Bahamas	60.4
40.	Iceland	60.4
41.	Nicaragua	60.4
42.	Cuba	60.1
43.	Germany	60.1
44.	Brunei Darussalam	59.8
45.	Slovenia	59.8
46.	Peru	59.6
47.	Vanuatu	59.6
48.	Finland	58.7
49.	Jamaica	57.4

Other nations have for some time been trying to take care of the Earth. We (The United States) have been trying to take care of the Earth too. Again, so what? When will the isolationists realize that we are not alone on this planet and we are responsible for its continued survival? ~ Jackie Dwelle, Laurinburg People who understand that man-made CO2 plays no significant role in climate change aren't isolationists, we're just too smart to be led around on a leash by Al Gore, and the band of criminals at the UN. (09/30/07)

Science and global warming - When Thomas Friedman touts carbon dioxide as the cause of global warming in his column "Doha and Dalian" (Sept. 20), I respond as a physicist that he cannot comprehend that it is still not proven that carbon dioxide emissions actually are causing global warming. Correlation does not prove Causation.
The Earth's climate changes all the time. Did carbon dioxide emissions cause the Medieval Warm Period, when Vikings raised crops on Greenland's coast? What caused the cold climate from 1700 to 1850? In 1975, articles were published predicting we were entering a New Ice Age.
Reputable scientists oppose this unwarranted alarmist hysteria. If fanatic leftists who hate America's progressive capitalistic system had not opposed the building of nuclear power plants by wild allegations and interminable lawsuits, the United States could have built dozens of safe, modern reactors. These provide plentiful, reliable energy and, incidentally, emit zero carbon dioxide.
Understanding climate change is an extremely difficult scientific problem. Giant computers generating climate models cannot be trusted so far. As any computer person knows, garbage in means garbage out. If research suggests subtle variations in our Sun's radiation reaching Earth are causing global climate change, what would Friedman recommend? ~ Howard D. Greyber, Ph.D. (Physics), San Jose, California (09/30/07)

Oops!
Doesn't anyone care about global warming? - No one shows up for learning event at River Bend Nature Center - By DAVID STEINKRAUS, Journal Times - CALEDONIA -- Perhaps the problem on Saturday was that too many people were out enjoying the Earth on a fine, warm autumn day rather than gathering indoors to learn about saving it.
Whatever the reason, no one showed up for a learning session on global warming held at River Bend Nature Center. Perhaps it was because there were also other environmental activities going on around the area, said Adrienne Roach of the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters. She was seated on a circle of benches with Rebecca Eisel, a volunteer with the National Wildlife Federation, and Kari Olesen of the Sierra Club. Olesen's colleague, Laura Feider, waited outside for people to show up.
It wasn't just global warming that the group was prepared to talk about. They also wanted to tell people about Senate Bill 81, a proposal in the Wisconsin Legislature which would set limits on the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
The bill would require the Department of Natural Resources to set an emissions limit for 2020 that would be equivalent to the emissions produced in 1990. No later than Jan. 1, 2010, the DNR would have to approve a plan for reducing those emissions using methods that would be feasible and cost-effective.
There was a hearing on the bill on Tuesday, Roach said, before the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee. "We only had four people who spoke against, and the other 32 spoke for it."
With Saturday's event a no-go, Eisel was looking ahead a few weeks. Nov. 3 will be the date for Step It Up 2. "It's going to be a call to our leaders to step up their leadership and do something about global warming," she said. The first Step It Up was held in the spring at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Organizers are still looking for a venue for the coming local event, she said. (09/29/07)

NewsBusters: WaPo's Inconvenient Truth: No Alarm Sounded on Virginia Sacking Warming Skeptic - By Ken Shepherd - A respected state climatologist resigns his post citing inability to do his job due to political pressure. Sounds exactly like the "inconvenient truth" scenario that Al Gore complained about in his book and documentary. Only thing is in this case it's a Democratic governor, Tim Kaine of Virginia, arguably silencing a climatologist who believes the globe is warming, but that the Gore-ian forecasts of doom are overwrought.
So how did the Washington Post report Dr. Pat Michaels's complaint of political pressure infringing on his academic freedom? By penning an article downplaying an arguable intrusion of political influence in the sanctuary of scientific inquest...more (09/29/07)

NewsBusters: NYT Front Page Shocker: Ethanol Causing Rise in World Hunger - By Noel Sheppard - Here's something you don't see every day on the front page of a major American newspaper: an article about how the rising demand for ethanol has sent corn and grain prices so high that it's resulted in more people around the world going hungry.
Even more shocking: the article in question was on the front page of Saturday's New York Times... (09/29/07)

NewsBusters: Media Ignore Congressman Dingell's 'Painful' Tax Plan to Solve Global Warming - By Noel Sheppard - It has been regularly reported by NewsBusters that media are doing everything in their power to withhold from the public the financial ramifications of global warming alarmism.
Be it the marketing of totally useless carbon offsets, or proposals for additional taxes on consumers and corporations, press outlets have been seemingly coordinated in their silence regarding such matters.
Another fine example of such a boycott occurred last week when House Energy and Commerce Committee chair John Dingell (D-MI) discussed a rather elaborate tax plan with the Associated Press Wednesday that virtually no major media outlet outside of Detroit bothered to report... (09/29/07)

Global warming alarmists have dishonest agenda - By Cleveland Witt - The environmentalists and news media would have you believe the earth is doomed due to global warming.
They claim the earth's temperatures are getting hotter every year, and that 1998 was the hottest year on record.
Many of these claims are based on NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), a U.S. government agency. Its findings have been used and manipulated by insiders and environmentalists for years to promote their agenda as gospel. They claim their position represents scientific consensus.
So what are the facts that we have not been told?
* Temperatures have actually declined over the past two years.
* History records 1934 as the hottest year on record since 1880.
* Four of the hottest years were all in the 1930s - only three were in the last decade. Continued... (09/29/07)

NewsBusters: NASA's Hansen Claims He's Being 'Swift-boated' by Critics - By Noel Sheppard - A fascinating new liberal defense mechanism has arisen in the past couple of years: Whenever you want to dodge criticism, just claim you are being swift-boated.
In fact, this has become such a part of political parlance that Microsoft Word now recognizes the term "swift-boated" without highlighting it as errant. Isn't that special?
With that in mind, the head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, James Hansen, is claiming that recent accusations made about him - that he was involved in a GISS report in 1971 predicting an ice age, and that he received money from multi-billionaire George Soros - are nothing more than swift-boating by his critics. more... (09/29/07)

Global Warming: Swift Boating - In my post, "Follow the Money" I point out that the campaign for Global Warming was paid for in large measure by George Soros' money groups. For Global Warming activist James Hansen, that figure is about $720-thousand.
In "Oregon's Energy Policy: It's About Shoes & Stuff" I point out that our state governor's approach to Global Warming as evidenced by his Climate Change Group was flawed.
But the criticism remains. The Global Warming hoax has an agenda. And while complaining about reports on his funding sources--he refers to those who criticize him as "swift-boaters and contrarians"--he actually lets you take a peek at the economic agenda driving the Global Warming Hoax... (09/29/07)

Warmist writes dishonest scathing review of Lomborg's new book. This is the most idiotic slanted unobjective review of what is in reality, a very objective and practical look at global warming. This is a perfect example of the global warming jihad's intolerance to anything that deviates from their socialist agenda. Absolutely disgraceful!

The Pollyanna of global warming - ALANNA MITCHELL - In high-school biology class, we used to do an experiment with fruit flies. You put flies and food in a jar, screw the top on tight and wait to see what happens as the flies reproduce like mad.
The goal is to see at what point the limits of the jar - air, food, space - begin to affect the ability of the fruit flies to exist. At some point, the jar becomes inhospitable and the flies die en masse.
If Bjorn Lomborg, Danish author of Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming, were to write up that high-school experiment, he would focus on the point just before the flies began to hit the limits.

Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming

Bjørn Lomborg

He would wax on about how the population of flies had never been stronger, trot out statistics to show how astoundingly well the population had reproduced over time, and gush boyishly about the excellent living conditions in the jar. And he would be right. Given those facts, examined at that specific point in the arc of the experiment, he would have drawn the correct conclusions.
But he would have missed the facts that the food supply was getting low, that the air was becoming fouled and that fruit-fly catastrophe loomed.
In other words, he would be correct on carefully selected points of fact, but fatally incorrect about the larger picture, or the meaning of the information he was looking at... more (09/29/07)

UN and Global-warming Activists Turn Up the Heat
- The United Nations and the environmental lobby are turning up the political heat in preparation for the big UN Climate Change Conference in December on the Indonesian island of Bali. The Bali Conference, says the UN Chronicle Online, "will build upon the political momentum generated by the UN General Assembly thematic debate on 'Climate change as a global challenge' and the high-level meeting on climate change to be convened by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 24 September." more (09/29/07)

No wonder Patrick Moore left these idiots.
Greenpeace Activists Protest US Inaction on Global Warming - Nearly Fifty Arrested at International Climate Meeting at State Department - WASHINGTON, DC - September 28 - Greenpeace USA Executive Director John Passacantando and nearly fifty other activists were arrested at a protest today outside the Bush administration's 'Big Emitters' meeting on global warming as they sent the message: "Bush: Wrong way on global warming." "We're here to register our protest at this charade," Passacantando said. "President Bush is trying to take the world in the wrong direction on global warming, and this meeting is nothing more than a propaganda effort to deflect international criticism." more... (09/28/07)

Economic analysis of feebates to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from light vehicles for California - By Walter McManus - A growing majority of climate scientists are convinced that unless emissions are reduced, global warming would cause a number of adverse effects throughout the United States. In California, rising temperatures would reduce the snow pack in the Sierra-the state's primary source of water-and lead to less water for irrigating farms in the Central Valley. Global warming would increase the number of extreme heat days and greatly increase the risk of poor air quality across the state. California's 1,100 miles of coastline and coastal communities are vulnerable to rising sea levels. Concerted action could curb global warming, but all sectors would need to take immediate steps to reduce heattrapping pollution. In California, the transportation sector consumes well over half the oil used statewide, and passenger cars and trucks emit 20 to 30 percent of the state's global warming pollution. Vehicles therefore are a central focus of the immediate action required to reduce global warming. The state of California's regulatory approach involves phasing in limits to average global warming emissions from passenger cars and trucks beginning in 2009 and culminating in 2016. This regulation is often called "Pavley," after its author, Assemblywoman Fran Pavley. The federal government's approach provides tax incentives to buyers of hybrid vehicles, which emit significantly lower amounts of global warming pollution than most conventional vehicles. However, the hybrid incentive affects only a small portion of the vehicle market. A third approach that could be used to enhance or replace existing regulations would be a feebates program. A feebates program creates a schedule of both fees and rebates that reflects the amount of global warming pollution that different vehicles emit. Purchasers of new vehicles that emit larger amounts of heat-trapping emissions pay a one-time surcharge at the point of purchase. These surcharges are then used to provide rebates to buyers of new vehicles that emit less pollution. A feebates program has several advantages over other approaches: Market-oriented: A feebates program recognizes the power of price signals to change consumer behavior. That is, incentives spur consumers to purchase and manufactures to produce cleaner vehicles. Self-financing: A feebates program can be designed so that the surcharges collected equal the rebates paid. Affects entire market: A feebates program applies to all new vehicles-clean and dirty-spurring a transformation of the entire market. Consumer choice: A feebates program can be designed so that consumers have the option to buy vehicles that carry no surcharge in each vehicle class, such as cars, trucks, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), and minivans. This study explores the economic impacts on consumers and manufacturers of the existing Pavley regulation and a feebates program by analyzing four alternative scenarios, using information from 2002 as the base year. Our findings show that a feebates program is an effective strategy to reduce global warming pollution by up to 25% more than Pavley alone. Also, under a feebates program consumers will save thousands of dollars and retailers will see their revenue rise by as much as 6%. (09/27/07)

Warmists can't get their 'facts' straight - Two unrelated articles, both appearing today September 28, both warning of the impending man-made CO2 climate "catastrophe", but they seem to have trouble agreeing on their facts.

Global warming, Kyoto Protocol and developing countries - Md. Asadullah Khan - ...A cursory look at the world consumption of fossil fuels will reveal that we are adding a net three billion tons a year of carbons to the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide, methane and chlorofluorocarbons popularly known as CFCs...

How to End Global Warming - By Jeremy J. Siegel - ...Key facts: I believe that global warming is real, that it stems mostly from the increase in greenhouse gases and that it does pose a long-term threat. The basic facts are well known. The world is pumping about 8 billion tons of carbon emissions from fossil fuels into the atmosphere each year, up nearly 500% from 1950...

Needless to say, there is a huge difference between 3 billion and 8 billion tons. Which one is right? It really diesn't matter, does it?

Newsbusters: Will Media Report Flaw in Manmade Ozone Hole Consensus? - By Noel Sheppard - One of the most disgraceful assertions from global warming alarmists such as soon-to-be-Nobel Laureate Al Gore is that a scientific consensus exists concerning man's role in climate change.
Of course, skeptics around the world accurately counter that science isn't accomplished by a show of hands, and that until it can be proven that man is indeed responsible for the slight increase in global average temperatures in the past 100 years, the percentage of people who "feel" that way is totally irrelevant.
With that in mind, a new study published Wednesday in the journal Nature (subscription required) tears apart the "scientific consensus" regarding the cause of a hole in the ozone layer, and should act as a warning to folks claiming that the climate change debate is over, assuming of course the media pay any attention to this paper... (09/28/07)

Newsbusters: Activist Jane Goodall Condemned Biofuels for Hurting Rainforest - By Lynn Davidson - Say goodbye to the Great Green Hope. Biofuels are on the endangered list, although the media in America won't tell you that. Reuters reported in its September 26 article that Jane Goodall, the internationally famous primate scientist and environmental icon who presented at Al Gore's Live Earth, added her criticism of vegetable-based biofuels to a growing list experts... (09/28/07)

Two warmist elite "peas in a pod"...
Bloomberg at Home With Bill Clinton - By SARA KUGLER - NEW YORK (AP) -- Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been a Republican and he's now an independent. But on Thursday he cozied up to the Democrats' biggest star.
Bloomberg joined former President Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative conference at a session billed as a BBC debate over global warming.
Instead, the pair were in constant agreement, leaving the host, Zeinab Badawi, playing the role of devil's advocate.
Throughout the hourlong discussion, Badawi persisted with questions based on the argument that addressing climate change will hurt economic growth.
At times, Clinton shook his head, Bloomberg sighed and both interrupted her to try to argue that there are sustainable solutions that are economically good for the private and public sectors, such as energy-saving light bulbs.
Badawi said she was simply representing the position taken by many and reflected in "the Bush administration line about 'We care about global warming, but we care about economic growth.'"
Clinton responded: "We care about economic growth, too. We think it is the way to economic growth."
Then Badawi noted Clinton's now famous mantra - "It's the economy, stupid" - from his 1992 presidential campaign.
"That's right," the former president shot back, "and with all respect, I think my opinions on the economy are entitled to at least as much respect as these naysayers that are in control now."
Badawi tried to respond, but Bloomberg interjected: "Remember, he got elected, they didn't," an apparent crack about the disputed 2000 presidential election that sent George W. Bush to the White House. How pathetic. They'll never get over Al Gore's defeat, even though there has been over 50 independent recounts in Florida. NOT ONE showed that Gore beat Bush.
Bloomberg, who also has been a Democrat, is now a potential third-party candidate for president who is always trying to burnish his nonpartisan credentials. This week, he also spent time with President Bush, who was in town for a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. (09/28/07)

A Whole New World? - The climate debate could be changing - By Ben Lieberman - Global warming is a complex issue to figure out, but one thing about it is actually quite simple - discerning which side dominates the debate right now. For the past year, those who view global warming as a crisis justifying a major federal response have had just about everything going in their favor.
Granted, the Bush administration continues to resist first-ever mandatory limits on carbon-dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, but the Democratically controlled Congress has introduced a number of so-called cap-and-trade bills to do just that. Some of them have bipartisan support. And many of the leading presidential candidates have endorsed these efforts.
Several other factors, including a recent Supreme Court decision compelling the Environmental Protection Agency to consider global warming measures, as well as state and local efforts to bypass the feds and impose their own controls, all seem to be forcing Washington's hand... (09/28/07)

Series on global warming "optimists" looks at sun spots and cosmic rays - I was a little bit surprised last week to see a story in the Christian Science Monitor titled "Might warming be normal". It featured doubters of human-caused climate change, including George Taylor from Oregon State University who I had the opportunity to watch in a debate earlier this year... (09/27/07)

Newsbusters: Ann Curry Kisses for Global Warming Cause - By Geoffrey Dickens - If you've got an extra-billion dollars laying around and you happen to be a fan of "Today" co-host Ann Curry, just donate that extra cash at a Bill Clinton-fronted foundation conference and you may just get a kiss from her... (09/27/07)

Latest Global Warming Alarmists' Talking Point: "Carbon Dioxide levels are higher than they've been in the last 600,000 years" - Yes but temperature is not! I should leave it here but I can't resist...

I feel the need to respond to this one since it's so easy. Below is letter that appeared in today's Modesto Bee. Who reads that anyway? You'll have to ask the Google Gods why the Modesto Bee and other insignificant small pissant Northern California papers appear so prominently in their search results...but I digress. Ironically in his letter, Mr. Kirkbridge attacks the messenger for attacking the messenger. But let's begin...
Killing global warming messenger - In "Don't buy the hype on global warming" - (Sept. 17, Page B-5), Jay Ambrose makes the common mistake of killing the messenger, Al Gore, whose prominence and passion have led him to add his voice to those of thousands of scientists worldwide. Gore didn't invent the science (or the internet) of studying ice-core samples taken worldwide that show carbon dioxide far exceeding anything in the last 600,000 years, as well as those samples showing rising temperatures. True, but what Al Gore did do in his movie was deliberately misrepresent what the ice core records revealed -- that temperature ie. warming, drives carbon dioxide levels (higher), not the other way around. The ice core records show that temperature warms first, then after several hundred years, CO2 levels rise. This is undisputed and been been found in every single ice core sample to date. The reason for this in theory, is because the oceans are so vast, that it takes several hundred years for them to warm significantly enough to begin to release more carbon dioxide.
Ambrose points out the few spikes in temperature before 1940 and says, "See there!" Had he been a scientist, he would have recognized nature's variabilities with or without human intervention and, looking at all science over the long run, would have come to the same conclusions that the vast majority of scientists have arrived at -- human activity in all its shapes and forms are driving the warming of the planet beyond anything ever recorded. Wrong! This one is simply untrue. Temperatures have been warmer than today at many times in Earth's long history. Several thousand years ago during the the Holocene Maximum temperatures were significantly higher -- and by the way, the polar bears as well as humans, did survive this "catastrophy", obviously.

And as recently 1000 years ago during the Medieval Warm Period temperatures were also higher than they are today. The warmists are now attempting to rewrite history on the Medieval Warm Period by claiming that during the Period temperatures were not higher than today or by asserting that the temperature records during the Medieval Warm Period do not represent "global" temperatures accurately. Even without the Medieval Warm Period, there is no dispute that during the Holocene Maximum, global temperatures were significantly higher than today, and CO2 concentrations were significantly lower. "See there!"

The now infamous "Hockey Stick" grapgh: Notice that the Medieval Warm Period has mysteriously disappeared!

Ambrose is right about some of the directions we are following to achieve oil independence with regards to ethanol. This country and the world must identify all causes of warming and work at sensible solutions that don't create undue hardships on any one country. But solutions without some sacrifice are unrealistic. ~ WAYNE KIRKBRIDE, Twain Harte. (09/27/07)

Business leaders to lawmakers: Don't act alone on global warming - Associated Press - DENVER (AP) - Business leaders say they realize something must be done to curtail global warming. But Peter O'Connor of the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry says they're worried that Colorado lawmakers will set tougher standards than other states, which could drive up costs and hurt their competitiveness. (09/27/07)

PC and global warming - We shouldn't become too politically correct about the environment and global warming, writes Vaclav Klaus, the President of the Czech Republic, in FAKT, a conservative tabloid newspaper.
As a matter of fact, he claims, global warming in recent years, decades and centuries has been slight and hasn't had any real influence on people and their activity, says Mr Klaus. The serious debate concerning reasons and implications of climate changes is underway and it would be premature to settle the question now. Unfortunately, that's what the world is already doing. The United Nations should listen to both sides of the discussion and they should be treated equally, which also means equal financial support for both of them, says Vaclav Klaus... (09/27/07)

Beyond Kyoto - By Samuel Thernstrom - Will George Bush salvage his legacy on climate change?
Later today, President Bush will deliver what may be the most important environmental speech of his administration, as he addresses participants at an international White House summit on global warming. Key developing nations such as China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, and South Korea will be at the table, along with Australia, Russia, and the European Union, ready to hear the president's ideas about alternatives to the Kyoto Protocol. It remains to be seen, however, whether Bush will propose truly bold policy options that might actually change the way people think about warming - and even if he does, whether anyone is still listening.[...]
Pressure on America to return to the Kyoto fold will only grow over the next two years. Absent an alternative, it is nearly certain that Kyoto II will be more of the same - attractive symbolism that overlooks the inconvenient truth: We cannot stop global climate change through short-term emissions reductions. Due to our technological and economic constraints, such reductions would only slow warming by an infinitesimal amount. The Kyoto Protocol and its successor agreements, well-intentioned though they may be, have about as much chance of stopping global warming as the United Nations has of stopping war. We may spend billions trying to cut emissions, but there is no realistic chance of success... (09/27/07)

Global Warming- Do You Care? - Uh, no. Our MTV Switch campaign survey reveals a shocking result...
MTV Switch has launched this week to promote the climate change with the scary results of a worldwide survey.
We quizzed thousands of young adults and children from 14 countries around the globe about what worried them most about the future.
The USA youth thought of environmental issues last followed closely by the UK said the poll.
Young people in less developed countries like Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico think about the environment most, says the survey.
Switch is a call to action asking you- Britain's youth to pledge their support by agreeing to act greener by taking their iPods, mobile phones and TVs off standby and being more eco-aware round the house. (09/27/07)

Key Brit Faults Bush on Global Warming - On the eve of a meeting of world leaders on climate change to be hosted by the Bush administration, a top British diplomat who will participate spoke out forcefully against a voluntary approach to attacking global warming.
The White House has made clear in briefings leading up to its Meeting of Major Economies on Energy Security and Climate Change that it intends to tout the success of voluntary steps to cut greenhouse gases in the sessions on Thursday and Friday in Washington. But John Ashton, a leading environmental adviser to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, at a forum sponsored by the nonprofit United Nations Foundation, said such an approach would be insufficient, given the magnitude of the problem of reducing fossil fuel emissions.
"Are we going to bind ourselves to doing this, and doing it quickly, or are we just going to do what's easy to do, what's convenient, what's voluntary?" asked Ashton. "The word voluntary means what you can do without heavy lifting, what you can do without mobilization of real political imagination. It's not going to crack this problem." Hey Ashton, until you (end every one else in this world) start paying taxes in the United States, anything we (the US) do will be voluntary. Our backs are already sore from doing all the heaving lifting over the last century. (09/26/07)

Absurd Global Warming "Solution" of the day...
Giant Ocean Tubes Proposed as Global Warming Fix - By Kate Ravilious for National Geographic News - Imagine an ocean full of giant pipes that pump up cold, nutrient-rich water from deep below, encouraging surface algae to bloom and suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
That's the controversial new vision of James Lovelock, the independent British scientist best known for proposing the Gaia hypothesis, and Chris Rapley, a space physicist and director of London's Science Museum.
The pair claims that such climate engineering solutions may be the only way to hold global warming at bay given its current progress. (See a global warming interactive.)
"Global warming appears to be an irreversible process, and if we don't do anything then the world will just heat up to a stable, hot state," Lovelock said. "The stakes are now so high that we have to act."
But other experts are skeptical, pointing out that the scheme could release more carbon than it absorbs while putting fragile marine life in danger... (09/26/07)

NewsBusters: NASA's Hansen Mentioned in Soros Foundations Annual Report - By Noel Sheppard - As NewsBuster Jake Gontesky reported, an editorial in Investor's Business Daily Monday claimed one of billionaire leftist George Soros's foundations gave $720,000 in 2006 to the head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, James Hansen.
Since this editorial was published, according to LexisNexis and Google News searches, not one major media outlet has reported these allegations.
Maybe even more shocking is that had press outlets looked into this matter - you know, acted like journalists instead of advocates! - they would have found Hansen's name prominently mentioned in the 2006 Soros Foundations Network Report (relevant section on page 123):
Scientist Protests NASA's Censorship Attempts -
James E. Hansen, the director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies at NASA, protested attempts to silence him after officials at NASA ordered him to refer press inquiries to the public affairs office and required the presence of a public affairs representative at any interview. The Government Accountability Project, a whistleblower protection organization and OSI grantee, came to Hansen's defense by providing legal and media advice. The campaign on Hansen's behalf resulted in a decision by NASA to revisit its media policy.
Fascinating, wouldn't you agree?
Here, in Soros Foundations' annual report, is a direct connection to Hansen, along with an admission that "The campaign on Hansen's behalf resulted in a decision by NASA to revisit its media policy."
As is typical, a global warming obsessed media don't find this newsworthy. Think they'd be so disinterested if this smoking gun involved an oil company giving money to a Republican official?
While you ponder, forward to page 143 (emphasis added):
note: The Strategic Opportunities Fund includes grants related to Hurricane Katrina ($1,652,841); media policy ($1,060,000); and politicization of science ($720,000).
Add it all up, and everything the IBD editorial claimed - that a high-ranking official at NASA may have received money from an organization funded by George Soros in order to politicize science -- is actually available in this annual report.
Yet, not one media outlet thought this was newsworthy.
How disgraceful. (09/26/07)

The Real James "Hack" Hansen
Newsbusters: Is Global Warming Alarmist James Hansen a Shill for George Soros? - By Jake Gontesky - The claims against anthropogenic global warming skeptics are often the same: they're all shills for big oil or other industry wishing to poke holes in the 'consensus theory' of global warming (which isn't a consensus at all). Under the so-called "politicization of science" program, George Soros' (the favorite fundraiser of many democrats) has reportedly given as much as $720,000 to Hansen to help package his alarmist claims and get them pushed by the mainstream media (The Soros Threat to Democracy):

How many people, for instance, know that James Hansen, a man billed as a lonely "NASA whistleblower" standing up to the mighty U.S. government, was really funded by Soros' Open Society Institute , which gave him "legal and media advice"?

That's right, Hansen was packaged for the media by Soros' flagship "philanthropy," by as much as $720,000, most likely under the OSI's "politicization of science" program.

So he got some big paychecks from Soros - but was there a quid pro quo? The evidence certainly indicates as much:

That may have meant that Hansen had media flacks help him get on the evening news to push his agenda and lawyers pressuring officials to let him spout his supposedly "censored" spiel for weeks in the name of advancing the global warming agenda.

Hansen even succeeded, with public pressure from his nightly news performances, in forcing NASA to change its media policies to his advantage. Had Hansen's OSI-funding been known, the public might have viewed the whole production differently. The outcome could have been different.

Did Soros' funding pay off? You be the judge. Do a quick google search on James Hansen to read any of the thousands of mainstream media stories touting Hansen's claims of censorship by the Bush administration. This wouldn't be the first time credibility questions have been raised regarding Hansen and his alarmist claims [see "When does 1,400 Media Interviews = Muzzled" (03/20/07)].

But the alarmist's favorite poster-boy James Hansen is hardly the only benefactor of Soros' funding designed to get more media play for politicized topics important to the left - check out the full article for more on the non-disclosure disclosures regarding immigration and other big topics of the day.
___________________

Jake Gontesky routinely writes columns exploring the mainstream media coverage of the global warming debate and other topics in the world of atmospheric science. As a meteorologist, his viewpoints are frequently explored from a scientific standpoint rather than a purely political one. Read more at Notes in the Margin. (09/26/07)

Will Media Expose Global Warming Alarmism's Ties to Child Labor Exploitation? - By Noel Sheppard - Assume for a moment that one of the world's leading oil companies was identified to be using child laborers in various countries in order to cut payroll costs. Do you think that would be front page, headline news in the States?
Well, it appears that the carbon offset scam, devised largely to assuage the environmental guilt of wealthy people, is resulting in the exploitation of children in India. Yet, it seems a metaphysical certitude that global warming obsessed media won't bat an eye.
Why might that be?... (09/26/07)

Climate Quote Of The Day - Carbon Dioxide Levels are now higeher than at any point in the last 650,000 years ~ Global Warming Solutions (GWSO) But the temperature is NOT!

Global Warming Not Affected by Man - By: Philip V. Brennan - The mass hysteria over the alleged warming of the planet, with everyone from the president to, reportedly, the Pope buying into the global warming alarms and calling for Draconian steps to stop Mother Nature from turning up the thermostat reminds me of one of the more bizarre examples of widespread panic created by a fictional crisis. (09/26/07)

An excellent "common sense" article.
Global Warming Skeptics Not the Same as 'Deniers' - By Tibor R. Machan - Someone I know in the community of academic philosophers who works mostly in environmental ethics recently labeled me a "global warming denier" because I - along with quite a few lay and expert individuals interested in the topic - am skeptical about the human contribution to global warming and related environmentalist contentions. (09/26/07)

The Clothesline Makes A Comeback : "Right To Dry" Movement Promotes Clotheslines As Energy-Saving Devices - (Christian Science Monitor) By Caitlin Carpenter - It started out innocently enough. Concerned about global warming and her family's energy consumption, Michelle Baker wanted to hang her wash outside. She scoured stores for a clothesline durable enough to withstand Vermont winters and classy enough for her Waterbury backyard. She came back empty-handed every time.
So Ms. Baker and her husband made their own: a few lines of pristine white rope hung between two Vermont cedar poles. Soon, friends and neighbors were enviously asking where they got it. Born of enterprise, enthusiasm, and wet shirts flapping in the breeze, the Vermont Clothesline Co. debuted in April.
And just in time, as a national clothesline - or "Right to Dry" - movement escalates. In fact, Vermont is the latest state to introduce a bill that would override clothesline bans, which are often instituted by community associations loath to air laundry even when it's clean. Now, clothesline restrictions may be headed the way of bans on parking pickup trucks in front of homes, or growing grass too long - all vestiges of trim and tidy hopes that may not fit with the renewed emphasis on going green.
"This trend ... is about people making a little change to help the environment as opposed to something like solar panels which is much more of an investment," Baker says.
Baker's orders have steadily risen. While most initial buyers were fellow Vermonters, the company now receives orders from across the United States, including such places as Tennessee, Texas and Arkansas.
Over in New Hampshire, clothesline activists have asked for legislative advice from Project Laundry List - the first U.S. clothesline activist group, according to the group's founder, Alexander Lee. And North Carolina recently passed a law invalidating city or county limitations on "energy devices based on the use of renewable resources." In addition, the clothesline movement there is hoping to find a "test case" to legally establish clothesline rights in North Carolina, Mr. Lee says.
"We get e-mails and calls every day from people wanting to know where they can get the materials to hang out their clothes or how to deal with homeowners' association rules," says Bryan Wentzell, the group's chairman of the board. "[The Right to Dry movement] could take off all across the country," he says, noting that independent states like Vermont will be the first to jump on the bandwagon."
Maybe. In June, Vermont's Gov. Jim Douglas (R) vetoed an energy bill with Right to Dry language - though not because of the clothesline clause, according to state Sen. Dick McCormack (D). Proponents are now revising a bill to be introduced in January, one similar to legislation in Florida and Utah that prohibits "state or local laws or regulations or private contracts from limiting the ability of dwellers to erect and use clotheslines for the drying of clothes."
Dryer Data
At last count, in 2005, there were 88 million dryers in the US, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. Annually, these dryers consume 1,079 kilowatt hours of energy per household, creating 2,224 pounds of carbon-dioxide emissions.
Besides the global-warming and cost-saving aspects of clotheslines, proponents say hanging out clothes requires exercise and time outside - elements that are missing from many Americans' lives. "So much of our lives have become automated," Mr. Wentzell says. Plus, using a clothesline makes "your clothes last longer and smell better."
Despite clotheslines' purported benefits - and a scent that can rival dryer sheets' "fresh rain" fragrance - "the overwhelming majority" of community associations regulate or ban them, says Frank Rathbun, vice president of communications for the Community Associations Institute in Virginia. Sixty million Americans belong to one of 300,000 homeowners' associations, according to the institute, a national organization of community association leaders and management firms.
The rules exist for aesthetics, residents' expectations and property values, Mr. Rathbun says: Environmental leanings have to be balanced against the desires of those who find their neighbors' blue jeans, khakis, and the occasional flannel nightgown to be unseemly, unsightly, or both.
Senator McCormack dismisses such concerns. Amid growing concern about global warming, he says, governments have a responsibility to protect people's right to voluntarily conserve, if not actively support energy conservation.
On Sept. 14, Project Laundry List will participate in an event at the energy company Hydro-Québec, protesting the diverting and damming of the Rupert River. Such damming would not have to occur, Lee says, if people adopted energy-saving methods like clotheslines. The group will display messages on T-shirts and sheets hung from - what else? - a 400-foot clothesline.
The group is getting the word out through other art forms, too. Several painters and quilters who specialize in depictions of clotheslines have donated work to Project Laundry List to be auctioned off, with proceeds going to the cause.
And, hoping for more, Wentzell is thinking outside the box and beyond the laundry room: "Hey, maybe we'll get some celebrities taking up the cause by hanging out their laundry behind their mansions!" (09/26/07)
Copyright © 2007 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved.
And then there's this!
Clothesline regulation hangs the environment out to dry : Laundry - A Bend woman discovers that aesthetics outweigh her energy-saving efforts in an upscale neighborhood - By MATTHEW PREUSCH The Oregonian Staff - BEND -- A Bend woman is facing possible legal action for hanging her laundry out to dry.
Susan Taylor, who lives in the upscale Awbrey Butte neighborhood, says she's trying to do the right thing for the planet by stringing up her family's clothes. But in doing so she's violating rules meant to keep up appearances in her subdivision, which means she might become a martyr in the so-called right-to-dry movement.
The trouble began last spring after Taylor, 55, decided to do her part to address global warming by stringing up her family's clothes between the pines behind their 2,400-square-foot house.
"This is the right thing to do with what's going on with our climate," said the part-time nurse, standing beside her Toyota hybrid sedan.
But neighbors soon complained.
In June, Taylor got a letter from the neighborhood's developer, Bend Brooks Resources Corp., saying she was violating Awbrey Butte's covenants, conditions and restrictions. LMAO! (09/25/07)

NYT's Environmental Writer Paid $12,500 to Speak About Global Warming - By Noel Sheppard - NewsBusters readers are aware that one of my contentions concerning global warming alarmism is that those involved are doing it for the money.
Well, this editorial from the Olympian in Washington state will give you an idea that it's not just folks like Al Gore, Laurie David, and carbon offset marketers that are cashing in on this scam.
Now, media members are getting into the act as well. (09/25/07)

No imminent threat to Siachen glacier due to global warming - Manali, Sept. 25 (PTI): Contrary to the concerns raised by scientists over the adverse effect of global warming on the Siachen glacier, temperatures at the world's highest and coldest battlefield are indeed falling.
This is revealed by the country's eminent glacial scientist, R N Sarvade, the Director of Manali-based Snow and Avalanche Studies Establishment (SASE).
According to Sarvade, temperatures recorded in Siachen have maintained a receding trend over the years.
However, the findings were yet to be confirmed as the team was still continuing its studies, the scientist said.
"We need to analyse our recordings over a longer period of time," Sarvade said in a presentation made to the visiting Minister of State for Defence, M M Pallam Raju here.
What the findings could mean is that while scientists are raising concern over the receding glaciers, especially in the Himalayas, there appears to be no erosion in the size of the 72-km long glacier, the second largest in the eastern Karakorams. (09/25/07)

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a consensus! Nearly 8 out of 10 of you are stupid enough to believe in the CO2 Boogeyman.
BBC survey: Humans cause global warming - (UPI) -- A British Broadcasting Corp. poll finds 79 percent of people in 21 nations believe human activity causes global warming.
The BBC's World Service poll indicates nine of 10 say action is needed to address global warming, with 65 percent choosing the strongest position, saying, "It is necessary to take major steps starting very soon." (09/25/07)
But...
Global warming leaves Russians cold - By Artyom Liss, BBC News, Moscow - More than 50% of Russians asked about global warming say they haven't heard much about it, according to a BBC World Service poll of 22,000 people in 21 countries.
The Russian media focus on what seem to be more pressing problems.
There are burning social issues, there's uncertainty about the security, there's a falling-out with the West, and, crucially, it is a very cold country.
A meteorologist in Arkhangelsk, in the north of Russia, once told me: "I know global warming is a problem, but I would welcome a bit of warmth up here. Then I could grow my own tomatoes."
We spoke as we stood on ice in the middle of the frozen Dvina river. The temperature was approaching -25C...

Global Warming Hysteria - By Walter E. Williams - Despite increasing evidence that man-made CO2 is not a significant greenhouse gas and contributor to climate change, politicians and others who wish to control our lives must maintain that it is... (09/25/07)

Klaus challenges global-warming theory at UN - Prematurely proclaiming victory for either side in the warming debate would be a "tragic mistake", Klaus said.New York, Sept 24 (CTK) - "The increase in global temperatures has been in the last years, decades and centuries very small in historical comparisons and practically negligible in its actual impact upon human beings and their activities," Czech President Vaclav Klaus said at the world politicians' meeting on global warming today... (09/25/07)

The Soros Threat To Democracy - By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY - Democracy: George Soros is known for funding groups such as MoveOn.org that seek to manipulate public opinion. So why is the billionaire's backing of what he believes in problematic? In a word: transparency.
George Soros & MoveOn.org: Exclusive Series
How many people, for instance, know that James Hansen, a man billed as a lonely "NASA whistleblower" standing up to the mighty U.S. government, was really funded by Soros' Open Society Institute , which gave him "legal and media advice"?
That's right, Hansen was packaged for the media by Soros' flagship "philanthropy," by as much as $720,000, most likely under the OSI's "politicization of science" program.
That may have meant that Hansen had media flacks help him get on the evening news to push his agenda and lawyers pressuring officials to let him spout his supposedly "censored" spiel for weeks in the name of advancing the global warming agenda.
Hansen even succeeded, with public pressure from his nightly news performances, in forcing NASA to change its media policies to his advantage. Had Hansen's OSI-funding been known, the public might have viewed the whole production differently. The outcome could have been different.
That's not the only case. Didn't the mainstream media report that 2006's vast immigration rallies across the country began as a spontaneous uprising of 2 million angry Mexican-flag waving illegal immigrants demanding U.S. citizenship in Los Angeles, egged on only by a local Spanish-language radio announcer?
Turns out that wasn't what happened, either. Soros' OSI had money-muscle there, too, through its $17 million Justice Fund. The fund lists 19 projects in 2006. One was vaguely described involvement in the immigration rallies. Another project funded illegal immigrant activist groups for subsequent court cases.
So what looked like a wildfire grassroots movement really was a manipulation from OSI's glassy Manhattan offices. The public had no way of knowing until the release of OSI's 2006 annual report. More. (09/24/07)

Climate Justice? Doesn't the word "justice" imply that a crime has been committed? It's no surprise that these environmental groups view Westernization as an injustice. After all Friends of the Earth was formed because the Sierra Club wasn't extreme enough for it's founder...
Africa: Climate Justice Needed to Address Global Warming - Friends of the Earth (London) - ..."Industrialised nations which have contributed disproportionately to climate change must take lead in radically reducing their emissions of greenhouse gases," said Meena Raman, Chair of Friends of the Earth International in New York. [...]
"The United States must join the rest of the world in tackling climate change within the United Nations framework, instead of promoting purely voluntary measures that will not achieve necessary emissions reductions", said Elizabeth Bast of Friends of the Earth US in Washington.
"The major economies meeting is another attempt by the Bush administration to send the world the 'wrong way' in the global fight against climate change," she added.
Friends of the Earth and other organizations will be rallying outside the 'major economies' talks in Washington on Friday Sept.28 by holding 'wrong way' signs. Of course they will. Climate change is George Bush's fault you know... (09/24/07)

Global Warming: Now the Media Get Religion - By Matthew Sheffield - In recent years, the liberal press has become increasingly upset with conservative religious people who maintain the rightfulness of having their political views stem from their religious ones on issues like abortion, gay rights, and welfare. Such views, according to the media, are illegitmate and even threaten the balance of church and state within our society.
Trouble is, though, liberal journalists don't apply this standard consistently. While the media are adamantly opposed to religious motivations on cultural issues, rarely do you hear the media grouse about Christians and Jews who oppose capital punishment on religious grounds. That's because religion is like anything else to the radical left--a means to an end. In the eyes of the media, the moral value of anything or anyone is directly proportional to its usefulness to liberalism.
It's for this reason that I highly doubt you'll hear any complaints from the press gallery about the latest initiative of Pope Benedict XVI, promoting the idea of human-caused global warming: ...more (09/24/07)

Reuters: Bush Pulled United States Out of Kyoto - By Richard Newcomb - Journalists like to tell us about their professionalism and the many layers of editors that ensure their accuracy. However, somewhere in those layers of editors, have reporters lost the ability to perform basic research? In the case of Reuters reporter Jeff Mason, it would seem to be so. Mason wrote an article on California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Monday speech on global warming, in which he wrote,
President George W. Bush pulled the United States out of the Kyoto accord, saying it unfairly burdened rich countries while exempting developing countries like China and India.
This is a startling revision of history. Apparently Mason forgot, if he ever knew, that although then-President Bill Clinton signed Kyoto, he never submitted the Kyoto treaty to the Senate for ratification. And according to Wikipedia's entry for Kyoto,
The United States (U.S.), although a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, has neither ratified nor withdrawn from the Protocol. The signature alone is symbolic, as the Kyoto Protocol is non-binding on the United States unless ratified. Story continues... (09/24/07)

The Top 100 Effects of Global Warming - This piece (of shit) is from the Center for American Progress Action Fund's Mic Check Radio. Global Warming Wrecks All the Fun. So now that Hillary is a shoe-in for the Democratic Nomination, this is how John Podesta and friends are going to spend their time??? (09/24/07)

The most hysterical article of the day belongs to Dr. Phillip S. Chua. This greenie takes the "Chicken Little First Prize" for his ability to pack the most nonsensical doom and gloom hyperbole into a single article. Even I'm scared now...NOT!
HEART TO HEART TALK: Destroying our planet - By Dr. Philip S. Chua, Cebu Daily News - Our planet would be at an imminent grave risk of being destroyed, if Global Warming, more appropriately termed Climate Change, continues unabated. And like the multitudes of problems threatening the world, this major one is caused by its intelligent inhabitant, man himself, and his careless and irresponsible behavior, especially in the last two hundred some years. Human beings are not new to self-abuse, self-destruction, and to irreverence to his environment, in spite of their education, culture, and massive data in this age of exploding informational technology and mind-boggling advances in science and medicine.
Man's self-abuse and rape of his environment are almost certain to doom the world he lives in, unless he listens to Mother Nature and promptly starts to take a wise proactive strategy in dealing with his present ecologic dilemma. Man cannot afford to lose this one, his only sanctuary in the galaxy. And what's happening is scary. Read on, there's more. (09/24/07)

Tornadoes: Global warming 'not to blame' - By Philip Eden - Whenever the UK experiences "freak" weather conditions such as the tornadoes which hit England, forecasters like myself are inevitably asked two questions: is global warming to blame, and are such events becoming more commonplace?
The simple answer to both questions is no.
Britain has always experienced tornadoes, usually between September and December, and often in swarms, where several tornadoes form in quick succession, as we saw yesterday.
Although they can form under thunder clouds in spring and summer, it is more usual for tornadoes to occur when a cold front meets warmer weather coming from a different direction and causes a sudden change in wind direction and severe gusts of wind, some of which can become tornadoes.
This is exactly what happened today, when tornadoes formed on a cold front which marked the boundary between a humid air-mass coming up from the tropics, which had brought temperatures as high as 23C, and polar air-mass with temperatures around 10C which had travelled down from Greenland.
Although some of the damage caused may have been down to conventional gusts of wind (often called straight-line winds in the business) others were undoubtedly tornadoes, judging by eyewitness reports.
I repeat, however, that global warming is not to blame; these tornadoes were caused by nothing more sinister than what we would refer to as weather... (09/24/07)

Scientists Speak Out Against AP's Climate Change Fear-mongering - By Noel Sheppard - Scientists from all over the world are coming out strongly against an inexcusably hysterical article recently published by the planet's leading wire service.
As NewsBusters reported Saturday, the Associated Press published an unbelievably disgraceful article about global warming induced sea level rises supposedly destined to wipe out large amounts of American coastal communities in the next 100 years...more (09/24/07)

Letters to the Observer: Global warming theory is a scam - Congratulations to whoever devised the man-caused global warming theory. It is the almost perfect scam.
I have some questions about how global warming works. Do schools get grants for exposing students to global warming propaganda?
Does the Weather Channel get anything other than the hope of better ratings for slanting their reporting and encouraging the payment of carbon offsets? Has anyone noticed the change of their background to a very warm and unbecoming shade of orange?
Does anyone really believe that minuscule mankind can alter the climate?
Other than lining the pockets of the global warming creators and trying to convince the population that global warming is a reality, what are the monies collected to save the world used for?
If we accept this theory, we can be manipulated, regulated, fined and taxed, not to mention have fault found with just about anything we do by those in charge.
An increase in the carbon dioxide level is said to be the cause of global warming. Since human beings take in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, we had better pray for a cooling trend, because someone has finally figured out how to charge us for the air we breathe.
I said this was an almost perfect scam. It will only continue to work if people believe it. This one is in the same league as the one in which the perpetrator said that if you tell a big enough lie long enough, people will believe. ~ Charlotte Bridgeman, Fayetteville (09/24/07)

Global warming letter was refreshing to read - I just wanted to say that it was great that you printed a letter about global warming from an intelligent person (Jeffrey Murray's Sept. 15 letter, "Global warming is natural process").
Most of the media only repeat what Al Gore is spewing: untruths. Everything that he says can be repudiated.
Please read a book called "Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years" by Dennis T. Avery and S. Fred Singer. Everyone can do their part to make our environment better without scare tactics. ~ Mike Podrybau, Salem (09/24/07)

Letters: Warnings about global warming a lot of hot air - Political motivation has fragmented society and clouded judgment leading to misplaced priorities.
A case in point is Joseph Janssen's statement in his Sept. 11 letter that global warming is "by far the greatest threat to our security, prosperity and stability." The only plausible scenario where this might be true is if the alarmists win the debate. Good people are already losing jobs because of their opposition to the hysteria.
The alarmist position on global warming has two major flaws - perspective and hypocrisy. Accepting that global warming exists and assuming that mankind has some responsibility, the claims about its dire consequences such as a catastrophic rise in sea levels is a stretch.
The activist argument focuses only on water expansion and ice melting due to rising temperatures but never mentions the offsetting increase in evaporation and transpiration - warmer air holds more water. In fact, these two events are contributing to lower water levels in the Great Lakes.
The best estimate of ending global warming is at least 100 years away if all contributing activity were halted at once. Bearing in mind that the first gasoline powered automobile was built 118 years ago before my grandfather was born, a great many inevitable changes will occur within the next 100 years, including the likely development of pollution-free vehicles and the deaths of my yet-to-be-born great-grandchildren.
Every day, we're being preached to about how we should change our lifestyles to reduce the global warming threat by people who fly around in private jets, drive SUVs and use excessive amounts of electricity. Talk about hypocrisy.
Their feel-good purchase of carbon offsets is nothing more than asking someone else to do for them what they are unwilling to do themselves.
If they expect to taken seriously, then they'd better show their resolve with action behind the words. ~ Duane E. Hanson, Appleton (09/24/07)

EXCELLENT!
From Papal Indulgences to Carbon Credits: Is Global Warming a Sin? - By Alexander Cockburn - In a couple of hundred years, historians will be comparing the frenzies over our supposed human contribution to global warming to the tumults at the latter end of the 10th century as the Christian millennium approached. Then, as now, the doomsters identified human sinfulness as the propulsive factor in the planet's rapid downward slide.
Then as now, a buoyant market throve on fear. The Roman Catholic Church was a bank whose capital was secured by the infinite mercy of Christ, Mary, and the Saints, and so the Pope could sell indulgences, like checks. The sinners established a line of credit against bad behavior and could go on sinning. Today a world market in "carbon credits" is in formation. Those whose "carbon footprint" is small can sell their surplus carbon credits to others, less virtuous than themselves.
The modern trade is as fantastical as the medieval one. There is still zero empirical evidence that anthropogenic production of CO2 is making any measurable contribution to the world's present warming trend. The greenhouse fearmongers rely entirely on unverified, crudely oversimplified computer models to finger mankind's sinful contribution. Devoid of any sustaining scientific basis, carbon trafficking is powered by guilt, credulity, cynicism, and greed, just like the old indulgences, though at least the latter produced beautiful monuments. By the 16th century, long after the world had sailed safely through the end of the first millennium, Pope Leo X financed the reconstruction of St. Peter's Basilica by offering a "plenary" indulgence, guaranteed to release a soul from purgatory...more (09/24/07)

Greening for God's creation sake - Catholic community finds new ways of meeting ecological responsibilities - By Mary Jo Dangel, St. Anthony Messenger (www.americancatholic.org) - CINCINNATI, Ohio (St. Anthony Messenger) - Long before the environmental movement began and global warming became a hot topic, God told us in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis that caring for creation is our moral responsibility. But evidence is mounting that we haven't been doing a very good job, and the results are catching up with us.
Thus, people of faith, including Catholics, are going green because of their religious convictions. Some of them are finding out that saving the earth saves them money, too... I think it's interesting to note that warmists often liken "denialists" to creationists. How ironic that the warmists are prepared to take it on faith that the invisible CO2 Boogeyman in the Sky is warming the Earth, not the all mighty Creator. There's no longer any denying that Global Warming is a religion in itself. (09/24/07)

Global warming: the cold facts - IAN JOHNSTON - IT IS a vast, largely unexplored wilderness, a place of extraordinary stillness that can erupt into storms of unbearable fury. To date, the wrath of Antarctica has only been felt by explorers and scientists.
But, with global warming, this frozen continent could unleash a flood of biblical proportions. Vast ice sheets a mile thick contain 70 per cent of the planet's fresh water. Sea levels would rise by 200ft if this melted and the UK would turn into a series of small islands. But...
The good news is scientists believe the warming climate will actually thicken the ice sheets because it will increase snowfall, particularly in the eastern Antarctic, and should compensate for the loss of ice, mostly from the west. (09/24/07)

Biofuels Produce More Greenhouse Gases Than Oil and Gasoline - By Noel Sheppard - Here's an inconvenient truth our global warming obsessed media seem certain to withhold from the public: biofuels produce more greenhouse gases than oil and gasoline.
Fortunately, as has been noted by NewsBusters before, foreign press outlets are more willing than ours to present the facets of this issue that go counter to the prevailing climate change agenda...continued (09/23/07)

More reviews: Children's Books.
WORD PLAY For Earth's sake - By Sonja Bolle, Special to The Times - Environmental awareness, you may have noticed, is no longer just the province of tree-huggers. With fundamentalist Christian pastors preaching stewardship of the Earth and half the businesses you walk into announcing the steps they've taken to conserve resources, environmentalism has now become an American value.
Chances are, there's a movement brewing at your child's school to make the place more environmentally responsible. From no-trash lunches to reducing paper waste to retooling playground surfaces, schools are taking a look at their habits and involving children in these deliberations.
This year has seen the publication of several children's books devoted specifically to the issue of global warming. "An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming" (Viking/Rodale: $16, paper, ages 11 and up), an adaptation of Al Gore's book for adults, and "The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming" (Scholastic: $15.99, paper, ages 9-12), a book by environmental activists Laurie David and Cambria Gordon, cover much the same territory for slightly different age groups. They aim to educate (indoctrinate) kids about rising temperatures, how human activity is affecting the Earth's climate and humanity's responsibility to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
When you are selecting a book on this topic for your children, look at the first pages. The tone of each book is easy to discern in the first paragraphs.
Gore's tone is dignified and elegant -- some might say earnest -Dignified and elegant? Earnest? Please! It's full of lies, mistruths, exagerations and hyperbole.- and shows all the signs of having been polished over many revisions. Polished? You mean revised as in edited over and over again as more lies, exagerations and ridiculous assertions are exposed and deleted. Many still exist. And indeed it has: This is the second print version of the presentation Gore has been touring for years, although Jane O'Connor's text adaptation alleviates his tendency to sound like a policy wonk. The illustrations are beautiful, even when they're documenting grim realities; the attention to visuals shows the book's origins as a slide presentation. Gore's memory of his mother reading her children Rachel Carson's classic, "Silent Spring," which argued, in Gore's words, that mankind "now had the power to seriously harm the environment," gives a sense of history to the environmental movement.
David and Gordon, writing for a somewhat younger audience, take a jokier approach, using cartoons, throwing in silly remarks (cows and methane gas are a natural here) and breaking up the text into easy-to-read blocks. But the essentials and intentions are the same as in Gore's book: to raise awareness and persuade children to consider the environment in the choices they make in daily life. From the macro (the oceans as carbon "sponges") to the micro ("pancakes get drier" as maple trees produce less sap during shorter winters), the authors demonstrate the interconnectedness of the planet's systems and bring their arguments home for schoolchildren.
Presenting itself as an antidote to the alarmist views of environmentalists is "The Sky's Not Falling!: Why It's OK to Chill About Global Warming" (World Ahead Publishing: $17.95, paper, ages 9-12), by Holly Fretwell, a natural resources policy expert and self-described optimist. HIGHLY RECOMENDED! This book should be required reading for every child as it's founded in scientific facts, not environmental alarmism! Her opening pages cast scientists who profess concern about global warming as the hysterical lead in "Chicken Little" (hence the title). Although the book asks children to remain open-minded and not be swayed by "garbage in, garbage out" scientific analyses, the main concern here is clearly not science. It's unclear what would constitute sufficient scientific proof of human influence on climate change, as far as Fretwell is concerned. But that's not really her point. Her concern is the business environment, not the natural one. The underlying theory of this book -- much less provable than human influence on climate, in my opinion -- is that government interference in business (specifically, regulation aimed at protecting the environment) is a greater threat to human life than anything climate change could bring.
To people who don't want governments protecting the environment, I can only say: I'm grateful to the South Coast Air Quality Management District for seeing to it that my child can play sports all summer without ever experiencing the tight, burning lungs that I remember on many hot days in my own L.A. childhood. The smog in this city would certainly not have abated in a few decades by the simple force of businesses discovering that their polluting ways were not profitable; only regulation could accomplish that. I guess we know where this reviewer stands.
There is a fine line between concern and anxiety, and some parents blanch when their children worry that the electrical consumption of their night lights is responsible for the demise of the polar bears. The aim of these books is to prevent children from feeling like powerless victims of environmental degradation and to turn them into active citizens.
Gore's book, focused on thorough understanding of the problem -- the "inconvenient truth" of climate change -- offers little in the way of practical advice for change. The David and Gordon book, consciously more upbeat, includes a chapter on things kids can do, both on the political and practical fronts. They also offer a list of possible jobs kids might aspire to, none of which yet has the cachet -- or the costuming possibilities! -- of firefighter or pirate (solar sales representative?). Yeah, solar sales rep is OK but how about oil company executive? Na, they're "evil".
For inspiring children to think about environmentally friendly practices, however, the best bet is still "50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth" (Andrews McMeel: $9.95, paper, ages 9-12), which, even in 1990, talked about compact fluorescent light bulbs (then a novelty). Although slightly outdated with its discussions of acid rain and the ozone layer, this lovely little book, utterly lacking in glossy layout, imaginatively gives projects and experiments that increase understanding and care. For instance, how many of us know which substances dumped in municipal recycling bins are actually reused? There's a good question to research with the family, or a class.
A different approach is offered in "Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion" by Loree Griffin Burns (Houghton Mifflin: $18, ages 9-12), which examines the work of several oceanographers studying currents through the drift of objects such as tub toys and lost sneakers. Even kids not remotely interested in science might find this work captivating. Where will 35,000 Nikes end up if they're washed overboard during a storm in the North Pacific? What drifts faster: a rubber duck or a sneaker? (Hint: Which one catches more wind?) And then there's the Great Garbage Patch, marking a low spot on the ocean's surface where surface waters are drawn down by deep-sea currents. Debris gets trapped in the swirling currents, and today the mass of waste materials is growing with no sense that it will ever stop--unless, of course, we reduce our dependence on materials like plastic. The book gradually comes around to the notion that people might change their habits to better preserve the natural world, underlined by a motto as compelling as "reduce, reuse, recycle": "study, understand, protect." Now there's a model for activism.
Sonja Bolle is a freelance book editor and children's book reviewer. Her column Word Play appears monthly. (09/23/07)

Excellent! A must read...
Global Warming Hysteria or Freedom and Prosperity? - By Václav Klaus - One can tell - with a high degree of confidence - what topics are expected to be raised here, this morning when it comes to discussing the key challenges of today's world. The selection of the moderator and my fellow-panelists only confirms it. I guess it is either international terrorism or poverty in Africa. Talking about both of these topics is necessary because they are real dangers but it is relatively easy to talk about them because it is politically correct. I do see those dangers and do not in any way underestimate them. I do, however, see another major threat which deserves our attention - and I am afraid it does not get sufficient attention because to discuss it is politically incorrect these days.
The threat I have in mind is the irrationality with which the world has accepted the climate change (or global warming) as a real danger to the future of mankind and the irrationality of suggested and partly already implemented measures because they will fatally endanger our freedom and prosperity, the two goals we consider - I do believe - our priorities.
We have to face many prejudices and misunderstandings in this respect. The climate change debate is basically not about science; it is about ideology. It is not about global temperature; it is about the concept of human society. It is not about nature or scientific ecology; it is about environmentalism, about one - recently born - dirigistic and collectivistic ideology, which goes against freedom and free markets.
I spent most of my life in a communist society which makes me particularly sensitive to the dangers, traps and pitfalls connected with it. Several points have to be clarified to make the discussion easier...more (09/23/07)

Political hot air contributes to Global Warming - Press Release: Direct Democracy Party Of NZ - The biggest contributor to Global Warming is political hot air, says Direct Democracy Party.
"The political hysteria being whipped up around the issue of Global Warming via Carbon Emissions is reminiscent of the story Chicken Little. The erroneous belief that Carbon Emissions are somehow going to negatively effect the planet is a parallel to "the sky is falling" when in fact it isn't" says the Leader of the Direct Democracy Party (www.ddp.co.nz), Kelvyn Alp.
"Common sense dictates that climate change is constant, as nothing in the environment remains stagnant. Real science has been abandoned in favour of those that have taken leave from their senses, like Global warming advocate Al Gore and his farcical presentation of bias in his documentary film "An inconvenient truth". Gores documentary is now so widely discredited as junk science that it simply beggars belief that anyone would give it any credence at all in this debate" says Mr Alp.
"The "tax at all costs" mentality employed by the New Zealand Government fails to address some key issues or effects of such a ridiculous policy implementation as Carbon Credits. Primarily among these is the scarcity of money in existence. When you have a population that currently struggles to survive and purchase the necessities, how does adding to those costs benefit anyone?"
"It seems that the sole purpose of this initiative is to further indebt people and dispossess them of what little they have left, ensuring a compliant citizenship that will rely on the state to provide. After all, who would then bite the hand that feeds them?"
"There are many solutions to the problem of climate change and its effects. For example, we could start to live with the land instead of against it; not build on current or historical flood plains; encourage and actively create self-sufficient communities so when we do have a natural disaster the tyranny of distance is not a barrier to survival and supply for people; ensure that people have more money for change of operating procedures, instead of taking it off them and then pointing the finger for being unable to finance change - there are many viable alternatives, but no alternative will happen through a restriction of purchasing power".
"Perhaps Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, a leading UK commentator on climate change issues, summarises the situation best. Below is a link to an interview Viscount Monkton conducted with Newstalk ZB's Leighton Smith on 21/9/07. The interview begins at 17.40 minutes, and ends at 29.15 minutes."
www.newstalkzb.co.nz/weekondemand.asp?menu=2&menuitem=3
Friday September 21st, Viscount Monkton File 14287814, fast forward to 17.40 minutes until 29.15.
Fri, Sep 21 11.00 trn-newstalk-zb-akl.asf 14287814 21/09/2007 10:56:52.
The New Zealand Climate Science Coalition also has a sound summary of the issues at
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0709/S00255.htm
"Let us at least stick to the facts of science, as opposed to the ideology of the Carbon credit lobbyists, before we make any significant and far-reaching decisions on this matter" says Mr Alp. (09/23/07)

A re-hash, but well worth the reminder that James Hansen, (Al Gore's mentor) is nothing but an environmental hack.
Global Warming Scientist Once Warned Of 'Ice Age' - By Doug Ware, KUTV.com - (KUTV) WASHINGTON - A NASA scientist, who is now sounding the alarm over global warming's threat to the planet, once believed that pumping too many greenhouse gases into the air would have the opposite effect -- a modern day ice age.
James Hansen is currently among scientists who believe that carbon dioxide emissions are warming the planet's atmosphere -- posing a grave threat to the environment and humans' ability to adapt to it. Many others -- like public preachers Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio -- share the same view in what seems to be the "hot button" issue of the moment.
But 36-years ago, it appears, Hansen had a completely different warning -- in what may be the scientific equivalent of a grandiose political 'flip-flop.'
In a Washington Post story dated July 9, 1971, Hansen -- then a research associate at Columbia University -- warned of a modern day ice age, which would cause the planet's temperature to plummet as many as six degrees.
The reason, he said then, was a fine dust emitted into the air via carbon dioxide pollution that would eventually become so dense that it would block sunlight and result in cooler temperatures -- a scenario exactly the opposite of what leading climatologists say is happening now, that greenhouse gases are trapping heat inside the Earth's atmosphere.
Hansen and one of his research partners believed that the problem was so severe that the "ice age" could happen between five and ten years after the report -- putting the prediction for extreme global cooling between about 1976 and 1981.
It didn't happen.
Now a scientist for NASA, Hansen is facing criticism by some for an immense change of heart. How could he have predicted something so importunate at the time -- only to make a 180-degree turn 35-years later, and completely head in the opposite direction?
In fact, the 1971 report even claims that Hansen and his associate dismissed the idea of global warming.
"They found no need to worry about the carbon dioxide that fuel-burning puts in the atmosphere," the Washington Post report. (09/23/07)

More Questionable Global Warming Data Hijinks - By Steve Verdon - Steve McIntyre at Climate Audit appears to have caught NASA and James Hansen quietly changing data that is available on NASA's website. (09/22/07)

And more would-be indoctrination from the Progressive-U mush heads...
GLOBAL WARMING...WHO'S RESPONSIBILITY IS IT? - A topic that I've just started researching but am very interested in after seeing the ex-Vice President's speach on Oprah - yes, Oprah!
I always new that it was up to us as individuals to be good stuarts to our earth but, It was very interesting to know how in depth that goes. It's not just "don't litter" as we were taught in school. It goes much further than that.
Who's responsibility is it to teach up about global warming and the steps we can take to protect our earth? I think elementary school would be a grand place to start.
What do you think? Please respond with what you know about global warming, any ideas you have about simple ways for individuals to help... What do I think? I think public schools have as much responsibility to teach my kid about Bigfoot, Santa Clause, and Creationism as they do the CO2 Boogyman. (09/22/07)

Unbelievably Disgraceful Global Warming Hysteria by the AP - By Noel Sheppard - The political battle over climate change has clearly taken a dramatic turn for the worse this month, for it now seems media are actually competing to see which outlet can present the most hysterical report concerning imminent planetary doom at the hands of manmade global warming.
After ABC News published a disgraceful photo essay featuring computer generated pictures of drowned American cities at its website last Friday, followed by NBC News reporting Monday that Greenland's ice sheets are melting so quickly that it "could ignite worldwide disaster," the Associated Press on Saturday cautioned that "In about a century, some of the places that make America what it is may be slowly erased."
Seems almost like they're playing a game of "Can You Top This" doesn't it? more (09/22/07)

John Roughan: Gas trading just a load of hot air - By John Roughan - The last sceptic has left the room and turned out the light. Not many of us may be convinced in our bones that climate change is calamitous but we are resigned to the attempt to do something about it... (09/22/07)

PM's climate plan 'misleading' - Government accused of exaggerating its proposals for cutting emissions in report by advisory panel - By Peter Gorrie, Environment Reporter - The federal government's latest climate change plan is badly flawed and won't help Canada to hit its international climate change targets, its own advisory group says.
All nine programs in the plan, unveiled last month after Parliament passed a law that ordered the government to comply with the Kyoto Protocol, won't do the job, the National Roundtable on the Environment and Economy said yesterday.
"With respect to the realization of Canada's Kyoto commitments, we conclude that the plan ... will likely not allow Canada to meet those commitments," the report states. Oh the horror! (09/22/07)

Ensley: August was a sizzler, but don't blame global warming - By Gerald Ensley, DEMOCRAT SENIOR WRITER - Sunday is officially the first day of fall - but the frisky weather has already started.
Temperatures "plunged" into the high 60s the first three mornings of last week. The air has been dry, and light breezes have been blowing. Neighbors are walking in droves, and dogs are barking in glee. Even the alligator in the lake at the park seems a bit more energized.
Autumn is always a great respite - especially after a scorching August.
According to the National Weather Service, Tallahassee endured its hottest August in history with an average daily high temperature of 94.8 degrees. Every day offered the potential for heat stroke.
It was the kind of month that seemed to put another log on the fire of global warming.
Not so fast, caution local scientists.
They say you should never make judgments about weather based on a single event, such as a month of record temperatures. August was hotter than normal in Tallahassee, but June and July had typical temperatures.
They note that Florida actually is enjoying cooler years: The annual average temperature - which is the average of the daily highs and lows - in much of Florida has dropped by one to three degrees over the past century.
And just for fun, they note that fall has been coming earlier to Tallahassee.
So before you start looking for examples of global warming, recognize climate is a complex matrix of factors. (09/22/07)

Did Noah's Flood spark global warming? - New documentary says temperature rising for last 5,000 years - Yes, global temperatures are rising, says a new video documentary, but it's not because of manmade carbon dioxide gases as former Vice President Al Gore insists.
It's because Earth has been warming slowly but surely ever since Noah's Flood 5,000 years ago, says a retired geophysicist and climate researcher in the video.
In "Miraculous Messages: From Noah's Flood to the End Times," the latest release from Grizzly Adams Productions, John Baumgardner, who spent 12 years working on a Global Ocean Model at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and was directly involved with climate research, does not dispute the Earth's experience of increasingly warmer temperatures. But he contends the primary cause is not related to man's burning of coal and oil... (09/22/07)

Moonbeam Update: Dan Walters recaps Moonbeam's latest escapde regarding the ridiculous law suit that was (fortunately) thrown out this week. An excellent article.
Jerry Brown grabs hold of whatever's fashionable - By Dan Walters - When California Attorney General Bill Lockyer sued the six major auto manufacturers a year ago, claiming that they were liable for adverse consequences of global warming, it was widely seen as an election year stunt.
Lockyer, who was being forced out of the attorney generalship by term limits and running for state treasurer, filed the suit just 48 days before the election but insisted that it was a serious effort to make automakers pay for producing cars that generated greenhouse gases that could damage California. Many others, however, questioned whether there was any legal basis in federal law for the suit.
Interestingly enough, the man who was running to succeed Lockyer as attorney general, former Gov. Jerry Brown, was not very sanguine about the lawsuit's chances of success. During an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune shortly after it was filed, Brown questioned its legal integrity.
"One of the principles of tort law is that damages should not be speculative," Brown said, wondering aloud whether Lockyer could prove "causation" between the automakers' products and shrinkage in the Sierra snow pack, which was one of Lockyer's claims.
Once he was elected, however, Brown did the sort of political pirouette for which he was justly famous as governor three decades ago, declaring that the suit was "a solid case and we're going to pursue it vigorously...to prevent the catastrophic consequences of this global warming problem." (09/22/07)

Climate - Will the Developing World Risk Growth for Green? - By JEFFREY BALL - Back-to-back, high-profile meetings on global warming this week are likely to produce a lot of hot air about whether the industrialized world should subject itself to tighter greenhouse-gas "caps."
In New York on Monday, a United Nations session is likely to call for tighter emission mandates. In Washington on Thursday and Friday, a Bush administration conference is expected to talk up voluntary pledges.
But the debate over how to prod emission cuts by industrialized countries is fast being eclipsed by a more-practical question: how to create incentives for the cuts in the developing world... (09/22/07)

Livestock fart claims just hot air in warming debate - New research has suggested reducing world red meat consumption would slow down global warming, but WAFarmers says such a move would be dangerous for human health. (09/21/07)

Climate change may help rainforests - Climate change may lead to lush growth rather than catastrophic tree loss in the Amazonian forests, researchers from the US and Brazil have found. A study, in the journal Science, found that reduced rainfall had led to greener forests, possibly because sunlight levels are higher when there are fewer rainclouds. (09/21/07)

Al Gore's Unbeatable Deal! - Global warming at twice the cost. - By Iain Murray - Just imagine the infomercial: Have I got a deal for you! You may not know it, but your house is leaking energy, which means that you are the victim of colossal waste. In fact, your waste of energy will cost you a total of $22,000 over the rest of your life. But I've got a package of home improvements we can install to slash that to a mere $10,000. What? The cost of these improvements? It's a pittance really - a mere $34,000.
Sound implausible? It should, but that's exactly the sales pitch - minus admission of the actual cost - that Al Gore, Sir Nicholas Stern of the U.K. Treasury, and a host of climate doomsayers are pushing on governments around the world.
The significant problems that might be caused by global warming are indisputable; all the major figures in climate economics agree. Yet they also, with the exception of Sir Nicholas, agree that drastic action now would be even more costly. (09/21/07)

Reducing CO2 emissions won't work, will hurt the poor - By Bryan Fischer - In evangelical circles, one of the primary justifications for urging dramatic limitations in greenhouse gas emissions is the supposed harm being done to the poor by environmental degradation.
However, the simple truth is that imposing severe restrictions on carbon emissions, which evangelical environmentalists unfortunately support, would confine the world's poor to extended poverty, hunger and disease, and therefore such restrictions should be resisted in the name of Christian compassion alone... (09/21/07)

Climate Quote Of The Day - "An abundance of new peer-reviewed studies, analysis and data error discoveries in the last several months has prompted scientists to declare that fear of catastrophic man-made global warming bites the dust, and the scientific underpinnings for alarm may be falling apart." ~ U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma.

Global warming issues to be discussed - The Fond du Lac County Republican Party will host a global warming presentation, "How Much of Global Warming is Hot Air," at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 8, at the Ramada Plaza Hotel, 1 N. Main St. According to an event press release, state Rep. Jim Ott of the 23rd Assembly District will discuss global warming issues and myths from a scientific point of view. Ott is a member of the American Meteorological Society and is a former broadcast meteorologist. His presentation is free and open to the public. For more information on the Fond du Lac County Republican Party, visit www.fdlcounty.gop.com. (09/21/07)

.Slightly off topic, but an ironic example of do-gooders running amok in the land of fruits and nuts.
State Promotes Health, But Gives Potential Poison - State Lunch Bags Contain High Lead Levels - By Mark Hedlund - Thousands of free canvas lunch boxes the state public health department gave to California school children to promote healthy eating are now suspected of containing high levels of lead.
And while the first tests showing a problem came in late July, state health officials are only now alerting the public to the danger.
"We think we took appropriate steps based on the information available at the time," said Dr. Mark Horton, Director of the California Department of Public Health. "We're urging Californians not to use those lunch boxes and keep them away from infants and young children."
As many as 300,000 of the lunch boxes, printed with the logo, "Eat Fruits & Vegetables And Be Active," have been given away at schools and health fairs. CDPH distributed them through county health departments and schools beginning in 2005, said Horton.
The lunch boxes in question, about 56,000, are green in color. Three tested for high lead levels. While Horton didn't say what the lead numbers were, he said, "A number of tests indicated, for example, above the levels we would consider to be dangerous in paint." That level is 600 parts per million.
"It's outrageous, the fact that the state would allow tainted lunch boxes to go to families in California, where kids are going to be exposed to lead by doing nothing more than eating fruits and vegetables that are in their lunch box," said Dan Jacobson, of the advocacy group Environment California. "These are families that depend upon the state." more... (09/21/07)

A Green Fund for Global-Warming Skeptics - By Richard Widows, TheStreet.com Ratings Financial Analyst - Not everyone is sold on environmentalism, but it's hard to argue with the returns of some mutual funds that invest in "green" companies. The recent performance of the Allianz RCM Global EcoTrends Fund (AECOX) should convert skeptics faster than a code-red air-quality alert.
The $131 million fund has appeared in the top 10% of stock funds for several months this year. It advanced 28.13% in the six months through August, smartly outperforming the 5.71% total return of the S&P 500 over the same period.
Even more impressive, the fund turned in a very respectable 4.26% return for the three months ended Aug. 31, compared with a 3.28% decline in the S&P 500.
Since inception in January of this year, it is up 19.3%. (09/21/07)

Biofuels could boost global warming, finds study - Growing and burning many biofuels may actually raise rather than lower greenhouse gas emissions, a new study led by Nobel prize-winning chemist Paul Crutzen has shown. The findings come in the wake of a recent OECD report, which warned nations not to rush headlong into growing energy crops because they cause food shortages and damage biodiversity.
Crutzen and colleagues have calculated that growing some of the most commonly used biofuel crops releases around twice the amount of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) than previously thought - wiping out any benefits from not using fossil fuels and, worse, probably contributing to global warming. The work appears in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics and is currently subject to open review.
"The significance of it is that the supposed benefits of biofuel are even more disputable than had been thought hitherto," Keith Smith, a co-author on the paper from the University of Edinburgh, told Chemistry World. "What we are saying is that [growing many biofuels] is probably of no benefit and in fact is actually making the climate issue worse." (09/21/07)

New from the JunkMan!
Green Hypocrisy's Gold Standard - By Steven Milloy - Is billionaire investor George Soros using environmental pressure groups to block a gold-mining project for his own financial benefit?
Last week the Romanian government suspended the environmental review process for Canadian company Gabriel Resources’ proposed gold-mining project in the Transylvanian village of Rosia Montana.
The ostensible reason for the suspension was a court challenge filed by the local anti-development activist group and the U.S.-based Open Society Institute about some paperwork unrelated to the environmental review.
As discussed previously in this column and in the documentary "Mine Your Own Business," controversy over the mine has been fabricated by what has seemed to be a leaderless and slapdash international collection of green non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, all oddly focused on this one mining project in a remote part of eastern Europe.
But the curtain is rising on the NGOs’ efforts to stop the mine and it seems that Soros, through the Open Society Institute he chairs, may be at the controls for reasons that have little to do with protecting the environment. (09/20/07)

Cooling the hysteria over global warming - By Bryan Fischer - In today's Wall Street Journal, Pete du Pont reminds readers that global warming and cooling have occurred cyclically in Earth's history, and most of these oscillations occurred prior to increases and declines in CO2 levels.
Examples: the earth warmed during the Roman Warming period from 200 B.C. to A.D. 600, cooled during the Dark Ages (600 to 900), warmed during the Medieval Warming period (900 to 1300), and cooled again during the Little Ice Age (1300 to 1850).
Global temperatures actually fell between 1940 and the late 1970s, which led to the global cooling hysteria of the '70s in which environmentalists were making catastrophic predictions of an imminent ice age which would destroy civilization as we know it.
Half the global warming increases since the mid-1800s occurred before gas emissions began their significant increases in the 1950s, and temperatures actually declined into the 1970s at exactly the same time CO2 levels were increasing.
The earth warmed in the 20th century by just one degree Fahrenheit, and today the world is a grand total of 0.05 degree warmer than it was in 2001... (09/20/07)

The sun - not CO2 - affects climate - A recent publication by S. Fred Singer, professor emeritus of Environmental Science at the University of Virginia, research scientist and president of the Science and Environmental Policy Project, is extremely detailed.
He states:
1) There is no such "scientific consensus" that burning fossil fuels is the chief cause of global warming.
2) "The widely touted consensus of 2,500 scientists in the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change is an illusion" because only 52 panelists had scientific qualifications.
3) Estimates of the open rebellion within the American Meteorological Society rank and file scientists regarding manmade global warming are well over 50 percent.
Singer also states that observed and predicted patterns of global warming by computer models are incompatible. He states that: cloudiness reduces the warming effect of increased CO2; development of ethanol and hydrogen is counterproductive because of the great amounts of energy needed. Tens of thousands of interested persons benefit from the global warming scare to the tune of multi-billions of dollars.
Professor Singers states that "slightly warmer climates with more CO2 is beneficial" and will increase the GNP and raise the standard of living. CO2 is plant food and is essential to the growth of crops and trees and ultimately to the wellbeing of animals and humans. Canada, Russia and northern Europe including Mongolia come out to be clear winners due to slight global temperature increases with more CO2 because of large projected increases in agricultural production.
Research has shown it is the impact of the sun on past climate changes over thousands of years. It is the sun that affects the climate, stupid, not manmade CO2. Why do people believe the Associated Press and politicians who probably share a single brain cell amongst them? ~ Archie McPhee (09/20/07)

Singer to Challenge Common Views on Climate Change - I want to be better prepared to sort out the facts about climate change from the emotion, hysteria and media noise. Story by Dan Page - S. Fred Singer, the scientist, speaks his mind: Al Gore, the politician and filmmaker, is wrong about global warming.
Singer believes Gore and his devotees want to lead this country toward public policies that make no sense. And it's worse than that. Singer believes we cannot afford to make the decisions we are being compelled to make.
Payne Engineering Co. Inc. in Scott Depot is lead sponsor in bringing Singer to Charleston for a presentation scheduled for 7 p.m. Sept. 25 in the Charleston Civic Center Little Theater. Henry E. Payne III, president of the Scott Depot-based manufacturer of high-technology silicon power controls, wants West Virginians to hear a view about climate change that he believes is drowned out in today's media world.
The event is free and open to the public.
Payne, one of the founders of The State Journal in 1984, wants to remind West Virginia residents that their state is the source of reliable, affordable energy. Much of the state's economy is based on carbon-based energy, and Payne believes the West Virginia economy will suffer enormously if we make the wrong political decisions.
"I believe we must consider the science and avoid rushing into decisions that would have disastrous effects on the nation's economy and especially West Virginia's economy," Payne said in a news release.
Singer is a scientist. The author of "Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years" is professor emeritus of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia. He is a distinguished research professor at George Mason University and president of the Science and Environmental Policy Project. He is a graduate of Ohio State University. He holds a Ph.D. in physics from Princeton University. (09/20/07)

Dueling Kid's Books Clash Over Global Warming - World Ahead Media (WebWire) - Los Angeles, CA (Sept. 21, 2007) -- Laurie David, former talent scout and self-proclaimed environmental activist, is not content with having made just one disconcerting mistake when it comes to her new kids book about global warming, she has made two. So says the publisher of a book designed to counter David's specious claims about the environment, called "The Sky's NOT Falling: Why It's OK to Chill about Global Warming" (Holly Fretwell, Kids Ahead Books, 0-9767269-4-7, for ages 8-12, Sept. 2007).
In a recent post to a left-wing website, David attacks evidence gathered by the Science and Public Policy Institute (SPPI.com) that exposed a major error in her book, a graph that mislabels CO2 and temperature trends in a way that "proves" the producer's shrill, unraveling beliefs. "The Sky's Not Falling," on the other hand, has the science right.
In her post David writes: "It turns out one of the illustrations in the book was accidentally mislabeled. This has got the gang at the at the Science and Public Policy Instituted up in arms -- or at least pretending to be -- no doubt hoping to ride our coattails, create some controversy, and promote their own new book." Can you believe the arrogance of this self-rightous bitch?
"First of all," says Eric M. Jackson, CEO of World Ahead Media,"'The Sky's NOT Falling' is not SPPI's book -- it is a Kids Ahead book. David is guilty once again of ignoring facts while falsely impugning SPPI's motives."
Second, the error that SPPI caught is not minor. It is in fact central to David's argument, asserts "Sky" author, natural resources policy expert and college professor Holly Fretwell.
But then, David and her co-author Cambria Gordon are pretty light on the science when it comes to proving that mankind is causing global warming, or that the trends we are seeing now are abnormal when compared to historical cycles. "They are far more interested in indoctrinating children than they are in educating them," Fretwell notes.
Which is what makes "The Sky's Not Falling! Why It's OK To Chill About Global Warming" a breath of fresh air. In "Sky," author Fretwell shows kids 8-12 that it's human ingenuity and adaptability - not a mindless fear of change - that are most likely to guarantee the Earth a healthy future. Parents who've comforted children upset by Photoshopped pictures of stranded animals and faux "the-end-is-near" documentaries will embrace this smartly-written, factual and entertaining book.
No wealthy Hollywood dilettante, Holly instead brings genuine educational credentials and practical experience to the environmental debate, giving kids the straight scoop about global warming -- and the potentially devastating human and economic consequences of politically motivated responses to it. She gives a balanced look at a complex issue, offering a refreshing, accessible combination of science and economics that will enlighten while it entertains.
"In 'Sky,' Holly Fretwell shows that human innovation and creativity, combined with individual choice, will yield better environmental outcomes than the draconian, self-congratulatory approaches advocated by Al Gore and his ilk," notes Eric Jackson. "If Laurie David is interested in seeing a more careful treatment of the facts that she butchered in her own book, we'll be happy to send her a copy." (09/20/07)

OUTRAGEOUS INDOCTRINATION ALERT!
Lorry driver in challenge to Gore school film - By Joshua Rozenberg, Legal Editor - A lorry driver is taking the Government to court over a film that he believes is biased and shouldn't be shown to children in schools - "The debate over the science of climate change is well and truly over." So said David Miliband in February. Mr Miliband, who was then environment secretary, was responding to a report from the IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This left the minister so confident that there was nothing more to say on the matter that he and Alan Johnson, the then education secretary, announced that they would be sending a film about climate change to all 3,385 secondary schools in England. A neutral, objective assessment of the evidence, perhaps? One that took care to present all sides of the argument so that pupils could make up their own minds? Not at all: it was Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, described by Mr Johnson as "a powerful message about the fragility of our planet". Since ministers regarded the debate as well and truly over, they were "delighted" to send school children a polemic that took as its central thesis the argument that climate change - the increase in global temperatures over the past 50 years - was mainly the result of man-made carbon dioxide emissions. This is indeed the view of the IPCC, and most of the world's climate scientists. But other people disagree. One of them is Stewart Dimmock, 45, a lorry driver and school governor from Kent. His sons, aged 11 and 14, attend a secondary school in Dover which has presumably received a copy of Mr Gore's film...more (09/20/07)

Global Warming, Corporate Agenda A Perfect Match - By Rick Coddington - SOCORRO, New Mexico (STPNS) -- Last week, I wrote about Al Gore playing the casino circuit to promote the global warming hoax. Yes folks, it is a monumental hoax.
In Britannica's words, a hoax is "something accepted or established by fraud or fabrication." Now in today's sue-everybody-at-the-drop-of-a-hat society I won't try to cry fraud. Instead, we will concentrate on fabrication.
The burning question: If you have an issue so strong that it is beyond debate, why lie about it? If you have to lie about something to promote it, how, in this age of information at everyone's fingertips can you expect to get away with it?
Simple, I believe that it was Goebbels, Hitler's "minister of propaganda and national enlightenment," who said that if you make a lie big enough and tell it often enough, people will believe it.
Take a moment and consider the second part of Goebbels title, "national enlightenment." There is a direct parallel to all these great visions of the future that the enviro-nazis keep pushing on us in supposed "education enlightenment." Certainly the global warming hoax is huge, so that just leaves telling it often enough to fulfill Goebbels plan... (09/20/07)

Must read!
Andrew Bolt: Al gores us at hot lunch - Article from: Herald Sun - I WOULD hate the businessmen who've each paid $1000 to hear former US Vice-President Al Gore speak today to be bored, Andrew Bolt writes. When you pay top dollar you deserve a good show, not more same-same droning on our global warming doom from the faith's high priest. So, as a community service to all those needy lawyers and global-warming carpetbaggers slithering into Melbourne's Sofitel this lunchtime for a bore from Gore, I offer this column. Ta-daah! It's a how-to guide to getting true value from Gore's speech. To getting $1000 of guaranteed fun. Yes, guaranteed, because I can boast that I'm a Victor Kiam: I like my advice so much that I bought it myself. Last year I, too, heard Gore, the star of An Inconvenient Truth, preach about the warming apocalypse. It was as deadly as any hour-long sermon about sin, guilt, hell and redemption, and came alive only at the end, when I asked Gore to explain several glaring problems with his man-made heating-to-damnation theory... (09/20/07)

Margaret Thatcher-not Al Gore-made global warming a public policy issue - By Janet L. Conley - GREAT BRITAIN'S CONSERVATIVE PARTY has a problem with climate change. The complaint? The nation is moving too slowly to combat this impending crisis. While climate change remains a divisive topic in the United States, the debate, to the extent there was one, was over years ago in the U.K. where the Conservative Party's main criticism of the ruling Labour Party on climate change has been that it hasn't done enough... (09/20/07)

Aviation and global warming - By Giovanni Bisignani - Is aviation a major contributor to global warming? Is it the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions? Hyperbole characterizes the debate on aviation and climate change. Who to believe? Politicians? Environmental activists? Airlines? Scientists? So let's look at the facts. And let's take them from the world's most authoritative body on this issue, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC estimates that aviation today is responsible for 2 percent of global CO2 emissions with a total climate change impact of 3 percent. These figures have remained largely unchanged over the last two decades, despite the growth of air traffic. Projecting forward to 2050, the IPCC has aviation at 3 percent of global CO2 emissions and 5-6 percent of climate change impact. We are and will remain a small part of the big problem of climate change. (09/20/07)

Read the wisdom of one of our future journalists. Seems qualified to be an "environmental journalist" to me!
Global warming with a tall glass of ice water - Staff Commentary By Larry Brown (a senior majoring in journalism) - Life is too short. Stop being stupid. Ask that little voice in your head if smoking under the trestle is such a good idea. I mean if it seems obvious to you then it's obvious to everyone else. The same goes for drinking underage, kids. Be careful please. I know campus safety is just doing their job but let's not make it so easy, eh? In the end of college, yes it does eventually end, unfortunately, it's all about that piece of paper. The diploma: it's the holy grail of your undergraduate studies. You can't get anywhere in the world anymore without that little store receipt of your four years here. You can't get much of anywhere without some kind of paper, be it a diploma, a passport, or a $10 bill. So much of your life depends on this one amalgam of flattened tree pulp. Funny. I know Al Gore can stand on stage and preach to you about the importance of our dying environment and as scary as it is you'll just sit there. Why don't we get up and do something about it? I don't get it! I'm guilty of it too, all those kumbaya songs I sang in boy scouts never phased me much either. But this land is your land, this land is my land... Do something about it. The world is crumbling at its rusty seams. (09/20/07)

One More Reason to Distrust Global Warming Predictions - By Jerome J. Schmitt - "Garbage in, garbage out" has become a cautionary maxim of the computer age, reminding us that bad data corrupts computer software and many other artifacts of modern technology. What then are we to make of global warming scientists who present us with temperature charts purporting to display changes in the global mean temparture for the last century-plus. Who was measuring global mean temperatures in the 1880s? Political observers are familiar with "margin of error" in opinion polls. Polls seek to measure the political prospects of candidates competing for elected office. The "true value" of the candidate's political viability is established when the votes are counted. Similarly, the mathematics of physical measurements require knowledge of potential sources of errors in measurements to place bounds on the likely true value. Estimated errors are expressed as "error bars" in plots of empirical data. The true value could be any value within the margin of the error. With this background, I was astonished to see the assurance with which climatologists writing about global warming report Global Mean Temperature over Land & Ocean as far back as 1880 -- as shown in the US Government's "official" NOAA Chart reproduced below... (09/20/07)

Canada facing legal challenge for breaking federal global warming law - MEDIA RELEASE - (Ottawa, Canada, September 20, 2007) The Government of Canada is once again facing a legal challenge for failing to take action on global warming -- this time for refusing to respect a federal law that requires reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Late yesterday an Application for Judicial Review was filed with the Federal Court seeking to force the Government to comply with the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act. Filed by eminent Canadian lawyer Chris Paliare and Ecojustice (formerly Sierra Legal) on behalf of Friends of the Earth Canada, the application alleges that the federal Minister of the Environment is ignoring the rule of law by failing to comply with the Act, passed by Parliament in June 2007. Under the legislation, the government was legally required to publish, within 60 days, a plan to comply with the country's commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. The Harper government responded in late August with a plan that the applicants allege plainly fails to meet the requirements of the Act. (09/20/07)

Lifting The Fog - Environmentalism: Global warming alarmists were hit with a well-deserved setback Monday, when a federal judge threw out a lawsuit against automakers. Too bad, though, that the ruling won't end the fearmongering. Exactly one year ago, then-California Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed suit against the six largest automakers in the U.S. -- General Motors (NYSE:GM) , Ford, Toyota, Chrysler, Honda and Nissan -- claiming they make vehicles that contribute to climate change that is hurting the state. Relying on a theory that has yet to be proved, the suit sought damages for pollution, beach erosion and reduced water supplies. It was so much hogwash that even a Clinton appointee saw through Lockyer's legal fog. Judge Martin Jenkins of the Northern District of California rejected the argument, saying that the "the global warming thicket" is a political matter that should be sorted out by policymakers, not the courts. (09/19/07)

The Spoof
Global Warming Miracle! - An amazing new plan to end hippies moaning about the global warming swindle has been announced today. The UN has unveiled radical new plans today in an attempt to silence the organizations critics who are now holding meetings at least once a week to discuss why no one is listening to them. The plan involves spreading thousands of tons of the miraculous growing aid Miracle Grow over millions of acres of rainforest throughout the Amazon and other major rainforests and jungles worldwide. This is hopefully enough to encourage at least 200% extra growth and hence ridding the atmosphere of Carbon dioxide. (09/19/07)

Hahaha
Dayjet Gives Global Warming the Finger - As the planet begins to whistle like a kettle on the boil, most of us are at least making a passing effort at stopping our carbon footstep being the one that finally sinks the planet. However, one firm in the US is intent on make a Yeti size carbon footprint, by offering a flying taxi service. Where might this service be, the remote wilds of Maine, or a string of isolated islands surrounding Hawaii? No, Florida. Dayjet is offering customers an on-demand, per seat service to allow executive customers the advantage of not being 'at the mercy of commercial scheduling'. The company's jets can carry between 1 and 3 people, how very spacious, prices will be set on an individual basis and eco-friendless passengers can roll up to the airport anytime. What is truly galling about this, is that John and Jane Smiths are being told by everyone, from the government to their dentist, to drop their once yearly, cattle class holiday flight in order to save the environment. Meanwhile, Mr and Mrs Moneybags are presumably flying in the lap of luxury, while dumping bags of burning coal onto dolphin reserves below. (09/19/07)

Global warming, baby - BY JOHN VALENTINE - Here he comes, rounding the table in the living room, toddling toward the inviting stairs. Our neighbor's little boy just turned 1. There's no one cuter. He's so cute he has two nicknames, one for the country, one for town. Everything stops when he comes by to visit. I'm the frozen bagel man. My wife's the peek-a-boo queen. He's always barefoot, he loves the outdoors. We think he said his first word, a variation on "kittykitty," when he peered with intense curiosity through a lower window. Our kitty always comes and visits him. She loves his stroller. (09/19/07)

'Today' Anchors Push Laurie David's Global Warming for Kids Book - By Geoffrey Dickens - Environmental activist and An Inconvenient Truth producer Laurie David received a very warm welcome, from the green-friendly anchors on the Wednesday "Today" show, when she came on to promote her children's book, A Down-To-Earth Guide to Global Warming. During David's interview NBC's Natalie Morales noted that the book's publisher, Scholastic, was trying to place the book into schools everywhere and proclaimed: "We hope to see it there." Morales even bragged that her own son was already being indoctrinated: "They're already talking and learning about this in school. I mean, my own son already knows, 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.' You know the three 'R's." (09/19/07)

Australia's Liberal Party Bans Members from Al Gore Events - By Noel Sheppard - Warning: The following report is guaranteed to elicit uncontrollable bouts of laughter that could be hazardous to your computer if you are currently eating or drinking. Fair and final warning. The Global Warmingist-in-Chief, Emmy award-winning schlockumentarist and fear monger Al Gore, is currently touring Australia to drum up climate change hysteria while certainly padding his wallet and emitting more carbon dioxide on the trip and during speeches than most people do in a year. Yet, even more delicious, Australia's Liberal Party has banned all of its members from attending any of Gore's events. (09/19/07)

Cold yet? - NASA scientist James E. Hansen, who has publicly criticized the Bush administration for dragging its feet on climate change and labeled skeptics of man-made global warming as distracting "court jesters," appears in a 1971 Washington Post article that warns of an impending ice age within 50 years. "U.S. Scientist Sees New Ice Age Coming," blares the headline of the July 9, 1971, article, which cautions readers that the world "could be as little as 50 or 60 years away from a disastrous new ice age, a leading atmospheric scientist predicts." (09/19/07)

Belching British Bogs Fueled Ancient Global Warming - By Kate Ravilious in York, Britain for National Geographic News - Huge belches of methane from bogs in what is now Britain likely contributed to global warming some 55 million years ago, a new study says. The emissions probably amplified an ancient and extreme global warming event that heated Arctic Ocean waters to a balmy 73 degrees Fahrenheit (23 degrees Celsius). The finding adds weight to the idea that methane being released from wetlands today may accelerate modern global warming. [...] "If the increase in methane emissions were widespread, the increased methane flux from these settings could have amplified the warming occurring at this time," Pancost said. Because methane is a key greenhouse gas, some scientists worry that a similar scenario today could trigger a runaway greenhouse effect. So... the sky is NOT falling, the Earth is burping! (09/19/07)

Another nut-case warmist uses the Holocaust denier line, and more...
- Evidence of global warming surrounds a skeptic - By JOEL CONNELLY - AS A CITY THAT reads, Seattle is on the A-minus list for authors' book-launching tours, and its "green" reputation makes the Emerald City a natural destination for professional enviro-skeptic Dr. Bjorn Lomborg. In his book "Cool it: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming," published earlier this month, the controversial Danish academic pooh-poohs warnings of potential catastrophes caused by climate change.
[...] Global-warming skeptics make more excuses than Holocaust deniers. They blame faulty fire-suppression efforts. They claim the pine beetle has always been around. They argue that Lomborg's Danish ancestors were settling Greenland nearly 1,000 years ago. (09/18/07)

'GMA': It's All about Saving the Global Warming Mascot - The Polar Bears - Despite reports of a thriving polar bear population, 'Good Morning America' global warming alarmist warns of 'loss of the homeland for polar bears.' - By Jeff Poor - It's become a favorite topic of ABC's "Good Morning America." Since July 4, ABC's morning show has mentioned global warming 31 times in stories ranging in everything from the 2008 presidential election cycle to an increase in poison ivy. The September 18 "GMA" wasn't much different. "And now, an Arctic update," said "GMA" weatherman Sam Champion. "We've shown you pictures where this is all that's left of the ice around the North Pole after the summer melt. Later today, the National Snow and Ice Data Center will announce exactly how much Arctic ice has shrunk. But we do know that they believe it is the lowest ever recorded - just about 1 million square miles." But then Champion reported the historic upside of the melting. "Take a look at the two possible paths of the fabled Northwest Passage - the northern route connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans," Champion said. "They could finally become passable to ship traffic. That's a two-edged sword for many environmentalists. While taking the shorter northern route than the southern route could save a tremendous amount of energy." The Northwest Passage would shave about 4,000 miles off ships' travel from Europe to Asia, avoiding having to travel through the Panama Canal or Suez Canal. But there's a catch, according to Champion. "There's great concern about the impact of the melting ice on the wildlife in that area," Champion said. "For example, the loss of Arctic ice could mean the loss of the homeland for polar bears." If the polar bears are struggling because of melting ice, they're certainly not showing it. According to a study reported in the September 3 Telegraph (U.K.), the polar bears are thriving. "There aren't just a few more bears," said Mitch Taylor, a polar bear biologist who has spent 20 years studying the animals, to the Telegraph. "There are a hell of a lot more bears." Still, Champion depicted the polar bear as a species on the brink of extinction. (09/18/07)

Editorial: The real issue of global warming - Our recent editorial asking the question "Is anyone paying attention to climate change?" has prompted some responses from readers. Predictably, some dispute the scientific premise on which the observed evidence of global warming is based - whether it is partially or wholly attributable to greenhouse gases generated by mankind. However, this is not and never will be the issue for the Cayman Islands. The issue for us is whether or not global warming is taking place at all - and not what is causing it. It really doesn't matter to us whether the climate is changing as a result of human activity or a natural environmental cycle, or a combination of the two. And the reason why it doesn't matter to us is because we cannot do anything about it. Even if the entire country became "carbon neutral" it would make no difference whatsoever in the global scheme of things. And to think that our voice would lend any weight at all in convincing the worst offenders to clean up their act when it comes to the emission of greenhouse gases is even more farfetched. Another reader points out that Antarctic ice is in fact growing not melting, which sounds comforting until one researches it further and finds that it is increasing because of greater precipitation, caused by higher sea temperatures. (09/18/07)

Moonbeam suffers setback: A moment of clarity in the land of fruits and nuts...
Global Warming Lawsuit in Calif. Tossed - By PAUL ELIAS - SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - It is impossible to determine to what extent automakers are responsible for global warming damages in California, a federal judge ruled in tossing out a lawsuit filed by California against the world's six largest automakers. In his ruling Monday, District Judge Martin Jenkins in San Francisco noted that many culprits, including other industries and even natural sources, are responsible for emitting carbon dioxide. The ruling was a defeat for California Attorney General Jerry Brown, who has made fighting global warming a priority. In its lawsuit filed last year, California blamed the auto industry for millions of dollars it expects to spend on repairing damage from global warming-induced floods and other natural disasters. (09/18/07)

Global warming just a parade - By Andrew Bolt - IT'S a toss-up as to who's making a bigger fool of themselves over climate change: our politicians or our Miss Earth contestants, Andrew Bolt writes.
At least the girls in the Miss Earth beauty pageant can afford to look stupid, since they aren't in charge of anything important, like the vanishing water supplies of our cities. They've just wanted to preach green messages in a bikini and tiara, as they fought last week for the titles of Miss Earth Australia, Best in Swimsuit and Best Environmental Speech... (09/18/07)

Making the Greens see Red - Northern Ireland journalist Phelim McAleer's controversial documentary Mine Your Own Business is a devastating critique of western environmentalists who campaigned against a gold mine in Romania.

Is NASA's Hansen Playing Enron Accounting Games With Climate Data? - By Noel Sheppard - Since NASA's James Hansen finally released computer codes related to how climate data are collected and adjusted, anthropogenic global warming skeptics around the world have been waiting to see what a scientific examination of this information would produce. On Monday, Canada's Steve McIntyre, who himself debunked Michael Mann's ridiculous "Hockey Stick" theory as well as identified Hansen's Y2K bug, released information identifying that Hansen recently made additional changes to climate data akin to how companies like Enron used creative accounting to exaggerate earnings and defraud investors. (09/17/07)

Reuters: Wooly Mammoth Dung Speeds Global Warming - By Warner Todd Huston - Now, you're gonna read that headline and laugh imagining that I must surely be employing the best hyperbole. Reuters can't possibly be touting a story that says wooly mammoth dung could be making global warming worse... could they? I am sad to say that they are, indeed, making this claim in a story on the crackpot theories of a Russian "scientist." I know, I know. It seems like an entry from "The Onion" news satire website, but it isn't. Reuters gives us the pooper scoop in "Mammoth dung, prehistoric goo may speed warming," posted on the 16th. Sounding like a bad copy of an old Cheech and Chong skit, "scientist" Sergei Zimov grabs some wooly mammoth dung, puts it to his face and proclaims, "It smells like mammoth dung." Reuters gives him the space to revel in his crappy theory that this millions-year-old, melted mammoth dung is speeding globaloney. (09/17/07)

Colbert: Fighting global warming means "the earth wins." - At last night's Emmy Awards, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert debated whether or not celebrity awards shows should be cancelled in order to help combat climate change:

STEWART: Perhaps even the very act of gathering tonight for an awards show, no matter how green, is wasteful. Maybe we shouldn't even have award shows.
COLBERT: WHAT? Jon. If entertainers stop publicly congratulating each other, then the earth wins.
STEWART: You're right, you're right. You're absolutely right. We can't give in to that bastard. But what if winners were notified by e-mail or phone? And we didn't have to...
COLBERT: Like common MacArthur Genius Grant winners, or Nobel Prize winners? No, no, not on my watch, Jon. (09/17/07)

The Heartland Institute: October 2007 Environment & Climate News - by James M. Taylor - The October 2007 issue of Environment & Climate News reports on new developments in both the science and politics of climate change. On page 1:
Greenhouse gas restrictions proposed by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist have come under fire from state elected officials and grassroots citizens' groups. U.S. temperature data compiled and reported by NASA since 2000 contained errors that caused the organization to falsely claim a number recent years were the hottest or among the hottest on record. U.S. House and Senate negotiators spent the August recess preparing to hammer out differences in their respective energy bills, which President George W. Bush has threatened to veto. In a fight against a court decision that many have characterized as unnecessary regulation of fishermen, business people, and private property owners, Pacific legal Foundation attorneys have filed a notice of appeal to defend the positive impact of hatchery fish on salmon populations. Also in this issue: global warming indoctrination, air quality, renewable energy, nuclear power, asbestos, aerosols, global warming and health, solar power, and more. Science Director Jay Lehr, Ph.D. reviews Bulls Don't Blush, Bears Don't Die by economist Barry Asmus. Download the entire PDF. (09/17/07)

Alaska Teachers Indoctrinated with Misleading Global Warming Materials - By James M. Taylor - Schoolteachers across Alaska are being fed exaggerated and false global warming alarmist materials to distribute to their students, thanks to the taxpayer-funded University of Alaska-Fairbanks. This summer, approximately 60 teachers attended the university's Science Teacher Education Program, during which they were given global warming propaganda that has been thoroughly rejected by sound science. (09/17/07)

Floridians Rebel Against Governor's Global Warming Proposals - By James M. Taylor - Greenhouse gas restrictions proposed by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) will impose expensive cost-of-living increases on Florida residents while achieving few if any benefits, Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio (R-West Miami) explained in a July 25 editorial in the Miami Herald. In expressing his concerns about expensive global warming mandates, Rubio joins grassroots citizens' groups in the state and Republican legislators who are becoming increasingly unhappy with Crist's departure from the policies of popular former Gov. Jeb Bush (R). (09/17/07)

Health Fears About Global Warming Are Unfounded - By S. Fred Singer and Dennis T. Avery - Health care providers are buying into alarmist global warming theory and are concerned about the potential negative health effects of warmer temperatures, reported the August 12 Washington Post.
According to the Post, "Spurred by what they see as an increasing number of illnesses, injuries, and deaths related to global warming, a growing number of public health professionals are campaigning for a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. They think of it as a form of preventive medicine: Stop carbon dioxide emissions and global warming, they say, and the risk of severe heat waves and tropical storms will diminish."
In Unstoppable Global Warming Every 1,500 Years, climate experts S. Fred Singer and Dennis Avery report just the opposite--that the Earth's moderate warming has been and will continue to be a net benefit to human health.
The following article, based on a chapter of Unstoppable Global Warming, provides the scientific evidence regarding warming temperatures and human health.
There are certainly deaths and illnesses due to heat waves. These typically include heat stroke, heart attacks, and asthma attacks. Deaths and hospitalizations from heat waves make headlines whenever the temperature hits very high levels. Yet we see the same sort of headlines during cold waves. The elderly die in inadequately heated homes. People get skull fractures from falls on the ice. Men die of heart attacks while shoveling snow. People get colds, flu, pneumonia, and other respiratory diseases. Infectious diseases proliferate. Hospital admissions rise. Global warming alarmists present the fairly simplistic theory that higher temperatures will drive more extreme weather events, and these events will raise human death rates. But overall, cold weather is more effective at killing people than heat waves. Global warming would raise maximum summer temperatures modestly while it would raise winter minimum temperatures significantly. Both factors should help reduce human death rates...more (09/17/07)

New Aerosol Study Refutes Global Warming Theory - By James M. Taylor - Particles of soot and other light-absorbing aerosols have a warming rather than cooling effect on temperatures, researchers have learned. It is a surprising revelation that promises to lower even further estimates of the effect of greenhouse gases on global temperatures. Computers running global warming climate models have been told to assume aerosols in the atmosphere inhibit the warming properties of greenhouse gases. Based on this assumption, the models predict accelerated warming in the future when such aerosol pollutants are likely to be less prevalent in the atmosphere. "Scientists are convinced these plumes contain so many cooling sulfate particles that they may be masking half of the effect of global warming," noted the July 20 Wall Street Journal. (09/17/07)

President Klaus criticized for planned U.N. speech on climate change - By Jan Richter - President Vaclav Klaus has been criticised by a number of Czech politicians for a speech he is going to deliver at a conference on climate change held by the Secretary General of the U.N. in New York. While some say Mr Klaus should not express his personal opinions on the matter but rather the official position of the Czech Republic, others fear that his speech might harm Czech prospects of securing a non-permanent seat in the U.N.'s Security Council. Czech President Vaclav Klaus - critical of environmentalists' view on global warming - is going to be busy during his trip to New York later this month. A day before the start of the 62nd General Assembly of the United Nations, Vaclav Klaus will speak at a conference on climate change convened by the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Environment Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Martin Bursik, of the Green Party, told Czech TV on Sunday that Mr Klaus' speech could harm the Czech Republic's prospects of gaining a non-permanent seat in the U.N. Security Council because many countries around the world are already experiencing effects of what the Czech president says is only a natural process. "According to the talks our diplomats have been having with ambassadors to the U.N., some countries are in immediate danger posed by global warming. Many countries rely on fishing; some fish depend on coral reefs and half of them have disappeared due to the rise in ocean temperature. There are also countries that are experiencing a rise of sea level that has gone up by 17 cm over the last hundred years." (09/17/07)

United Kingdom plans global warming tax - London --British minister of finances Alistair Darling announced possible introduction of "buying tax" of 2.000 pounds for cars that pollute the most. The same sum, on the other hand, would be donated to citizens who decide to buy automobiles that consume less fuel. Experts assess that this proposal of the finance minister is unlikely to pass. The ruling Labour Party of prime minister Brown and the opposition conservative party pay great attention to problems and combat against global warming. (09/17/07)

Conference on Integrity in Science Focuses on IPCC - A claimed "first world conference on research integrity" opens in Lisbon, Portugal, today. The conference media release explains: "The controversies surrounding the recent assessment report of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) demonstrates how research integrity is a critical issue not only for the science community, but for politicians and the society as a whole as well. In August 2007 the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had to withdraw previous published historical climate data. The incident came after a British mathematician discovered that the sources used by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) have disregarded the positions of weather stations, plus intentionally using outdated data on China from 1991 and ignoring revised data on the country from 1997... (09/16/07)

Holy mammoth shit!
Mammoth dung, prehistoric goo may speed warming - By Dmitry Solovyov - Reuters -- DUVANNY YAR, Russia (Reuters) - Sergei Zimov bends down, picks up a handful of treacly mud and holds it up to his nose. It smells like a cow pat, but he knows better. "It smells like mammoth dung," he says. This is more than just another symptom of global warming. For millennia, layers of animal waste and other organic matter left behind by the creatures that used to roam the Arctic tundra have been sealed inside the frozen permafrost. Now climate change is thawing the permafrost and lifting this prehistoric ooze from suspended animation. But Zimov, a scientist who for almost 30 years has studied climate change in Russia's Arctic, believes that as this organic matter becomes exposed to the air it will accelerate global warming faster than even some of the most pessimistic forecasts. "This will lead to a type of global warming which will be impossible to stop," he said. (09/16/07)

Global Warming: The Solution - By Arthur Levine - Johnny Oops was pacing up and down on the raised bandstand floor at a new sports arena in the Meadowlands, New Jersey waiting for the crowd to settle down so that he could start his speech, or should we call it a con? My friends, converts, and members of my flock, we are facing a man made crisis of unequaled proportions. If this keeps up we will be farming rice paddies and cranberry bogs in the swamplands of New Jersey, which will shortly cover more than half the current landmass of the state. New York will be growing oranges instead of apples and sporting palm trees on the less than one quarter of the land mass not covered by the raging ocean, which will completely inundate New York City in a Sodom and Gomorrah style wrath of God type event. (09/16/07)

A disgraceful double dose of the warmists' favorite scare tactic. If you really want to know the truth about insect-carring diseases, you might want to read what the real experts have to say about it.

Global Warming's Polar Opposition - Marc Sheppard - Need more proof that the Big Green Scare Machine is spoon-feeding you cherry-picked non-science to further their AGW alarmist agenda? Try this.
While news of Arctic ice shrinking to its lowest level on record is being screamed everywhere, like here and here and here, the emergence of colder weather and ice levels at their highest in almost 30 years on the other side of the globe has been all but ignored.
In coming months, you're sure to hear a lot about how global warming has created that which has eluded explorers from John Cabot in 1497 to Henry Hudson in 1609 forever - the fabled Arctic Ocean shipping lane known as the Northwest Passage.
And, while it's true that satellite photos have found an ice-free corridor along Canada, Alaska and Greenland and Northern Hemisphere ice at its lowest level since such images were taken in 1978, it's also true that Antarctic ice levels (Southern Hemisphere) are at record highs for that same period.
That's right, according to the University of Illinois Polar Research Group website The Cryosphere Today:
"The Southern Hemisphere sea ice area has broken the previous maximum of 16.03 million sq. km and is currently at 16.26 million sq. km. This represents an increase of about 1.4% above the previous SH ice area record high"
To be sure, this historic bipolarity of the Southern Hemisphere sea ice maximum corresponding with a Northern Hemisphere sea ice minimum is puzzling. The fact that climate illusionists will only reveal the heads side of the coin certainly is not. (09/16/07)

You see? It really has become a religion.
1,000 students to attend Church's global warming confab - Some 1,000 students and parish leaders are expected to attend a two-day Church-sponsored conference on global warming in Manila in September. The Archdiocese of Manila's ecology desk organized the event to stress the need to address issues on global warming and climate change. "It is time we get to the real issues about global warming and climate change before it's too late," ecology desk director Fr. Benito Tuazon said in a statement posted on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines website, www.cbcpnews.com. (09/16/07)

Waiting for the EPA - A Vermont ruling on emissions standards puts the spotlight back on an overdue decision in Washington. - EVER SINCE California passed its stringent tailpipe emissions standards in 2002, automakers have sought to nullify them, and they've hit nothing but roadblocks. In April, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Now, a federal judge in Vermont has decided in favor of that state's emissions standards, which are modeled on California's. But none of this will mean a thing unless the EPA grants California a waiver -- something the agency seems in no particular rush to do. Because California's air pollution laws predate those of the federal government, the Clean Air Act permits the state to devise its own laws -- and allows other states to adopt its regulations, as long as they are not arbitrary and are at least as stringent as national regulations. The California rules require a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gases from the tailpipes of cars and light trucks by 2016, starting with the 2009 model year. Vermont, as well as 10 other states, including Maryland, have approved those standards. U.S. District Judge William Sessions III ruled that Vermont's tailpipe emissions law could not be blocked. He rejected the argument that California (and, therefore, Vermont) was supplanting federal authority by detailing that state's history as a "proving ground for innovation in emissions control." And Judge Sessions didn't buy automakers' argument that they couldn't meet the new standards, noting that every time policymakers pushed the industry to develop new technologies, such as the catalytic converter in the 1970s, "the industry responded with technological advancements designed to meet the challenges." A similar lawsuit is pending in California. (09/16/07)

One Answer to Global Warming: A New Tax (Or the liberal amswer to everything) - By N. GREGORY MANKIW - IN the debate over global climate change, there is a yawning gap that needs to be bridged. The gap is not between environmentalists and industrialists, or between Democrats and Republicans. It is between policy wonks and political consultants. Among policy wonks like me, there is a broad consensus. The scientists tell us that world temperatures are rising because humans are emitting carbon into the atmosphere. Basic economics tells us that when you tax something, you normally get less of it. So if we want to reduce global emissions of carbon, we need a global carbon tax. Q.E.D. (09/16/07)

Read Singer's global warming paper - Editor: Purveyors of doom and gloom who are sure that human activities will cause catastrophic global warming should read Dr. S. Fred Singer's paper "Global Warming: Man-Made or Natural?" as printed in Imprimus which is available at 800-437-2268. Some notable excerpts from Dr. Singer's paper follow:
* "Human activities are not influencing global climate in a perceptible way."
* "I would argue that -- should it occur -- a modest warming would be on the whole beneficial. After all, the geological record shows a persistent 1,500-year cycle of warming and cooling extending back at least one million years."
* "... the widely touted "consensus" of 2,500 scientists on the United Nations IPCC is an illusion. Most of the panelists have no scientific qualifications."
* "... tens of thousands of interested persons benefit directly from the global warming scare."
* "Environmental organizations, such as Green Peace, the Sierra Club, and the Environmental Defense Fund, have raked in billions of dollars."
* Much more can be gained by reading Dr. Singer's entire paper. These assertions deserve careful attention by citizens and balanced coverage by the media. ~ Dick Prosence, Meeker (09/15/07)

NYT Mag: Global Warming Is All Jane Fonda's Fault - By Noel Sheppard - Here's something you don't see every day: a liberal publication blaming actress Jane Fonda for anything bad. Yet, although not written by New York Times staffers, the idea that its Sunday magazine would even consider publishing an article blaming Fonda's 1979 movie "The China Syndrome" for global warming is quite shocking. (09/15/07)

Global Warming Obsessed Media Unfazed by Soaring Wheat Prices - By Noel Sheppard - As NewsBusters reported Wednesday, wheat prices soared last week to their highest levels in history. As many consumer products are made from this grain, and media love to carp and whine about inflation, one would have expected great focus to be given to this issue. However, as some of the upward pressure on wheat prices is directly attributable to biofuels, a global warming obsessed media seemed concerned to address this inflationary issue for fear that it would bring negative attention on soon-to-be-to-Dr. Al Gore's beloved ethanol. (09/15/07)

Somebody get that man a steak!
11th day for global warming fasting - BY KITTA MacPHERSON, Star-Ledger Staff - A teaspoon of salt. Six vitamins. Ten glasses of water. That's been Ted Glick's daily regimen since Sept. 4. The Bloomfield activist hasn't weighed himself since he stopped eating, but the muscular, 6-foot-1 career rabble-rouser says he has lost 15 pounds, judging from changes in his face, upper body and gut since he started the fast as a call for action on global warming. Eleven days ago, about 1,100 people across the country started a fast, timed to coincide with the first full day that Congress opened for its fall session. Glick organized the national protest for the U.S. Climate Emergency Council, an environmental advocacy group, to protest what they view as the lack of action by the American government to address the perils of climate change. Now there are seven. Besides Glick, there's Diane Wilson of Seadrift, Texas; Jan Lundberg of San Francisco; Diane Thomas of Berkeley, Calif.; Chris Freimuth of Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; Esperanza Martell of New York, N.Y., and Toni Zeidan of Lewisburg, Pa. Some have become nauseated at points but all are well. Glick, 57, who weighed 210 pounds when he started, says he feels OK and very focused. "It's a way to walk the talk, it's showing that a person who is willing to do this is for real," said Glick, reached yesterday by telephone at the offices of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, located in a three-story house in Tacoma Park, Md. "It's important to be real on this stuff." Glick said he is still able to do light office work, write e-mails and take phone calls. When he tells people what he is doing, he said, people either "get it" or think he's crazy. Uh, put me in the latter. (09/15/07)

The truth on global warming - Phil Drietz, Delhi, West Central Tribune - The author of the Aug. 30 Public Forum letter, "Public service pledge is key," cited a three-point pledge that was presented to the presidential candidates for endorsement. I strongly agree with the second point: "Protect scientists who report inconvenient truths and remove from office those who manipulate public agency science for political ends." There are truthful scientists who have exposed global warming as junk science, but they seem to get nowhere when dealing with the politically correct media establishment. There is no evidence that man-made carbon dioxide is causing global warming. Now compare the United States Department of Energy figures on man-created carbon dioxide (11,880 parts per billion) and natural carbon dioxide (68,520 ppb). These figures are additions to the pre-industrial baseline of 288,000 ppb. Total concentration then is 368,400 ppb which means man-made carbon dioxide comprises about 3.2 percent of the total. But wait! We forgot water vapor, which comprises 95 percent of all greenhouse gases and that puts all carbon dioxide at 3.6 percent of the total. (Other miscellaneous gases make up the remainder.) Those put man-generated carbon dioxide at less than .12 percent of all greenhouse gases. Spend all the money you want, and you won't change anything. (09/15/07)

Global warming is natural process - The Willamette Valley has plenty of evidence of global warming. It has been going on for thousands of years. Ice-age Missoula floods brought in our rich soils and left ice-rafted granite boulders around Salem. I have been plotting them for years for the Ice Age Floods Institute. Someone please tell me there were planes, trains and automobiles then! Let's do our part to save our environment for the right reasons, not CO2 from man. The No. 1 greenhouse gas is simply water. Let's not make this a political issue because it's not. The Earth has been warming for thousands of years and will continue, in spite of man. The Earth will do what it will do: change. -- Jeffrey Murray, Salem (09/15/07)

Global Warming Hype - The competition for the most absurd and outrageous continues!

Northwest Passage Opens Due to Global Warming - Fabled Shipping Route Sought After By Explorers Opens, as Sea Ice Reaches Record Low -- [...] As has been previously reported, the extent of sea ice in the Arctic is at a record minimum - and it reached its lowest annual point a full month before the typical annual low. The European Space Agency reported that this week, the sea ice reached the lowest extent it has ever measured with satellites. With that milestone, came the opening of the Northwest Passage, the European Space Agency reported Friday. Not only has a fully navigable route opened across Canada (marked in orange), but a second passage, across Siberia (marked in blue), is only partially blocked. Maybe someone should tell "Wrong Way" Flanagan. (09/15/07)

More absurdity as "Dubya" goes Green
Man is to blame for global warming, US admits - By Alex Spillius - President Bush has invited world leaders to Washington later this month to discuss climate change. George Bush's top scientific advisor has delivered the strongest statement yet from within the US administration that greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity are to blame for climate change. Professor John Marburger said it was more than 90 per cent likely that mankind was causing global warming and that the earth may become "unlivable" without reductions in CO2 output. Unlivable? The entire Earth? I am becoming more convinced that insanity is contagious! (09/15/07)

This will brighten your day!
Beware global warming - and please try the salad bar - By Jim Schembri - Our planet is getting hotter and hotter. But Al Gore has a plan, as revealed to Jim Schembri. NEXT Friday environmental activist and former US vice-president Al Gore addresses the ultra-exclusive Global Business Forum in Melbourne. Here is an edited transcript of his speech:
Good afternoon everybody. My name is Al Gore. (wait for standing ovation to die down) You may remember me. I used to be the man who was very nearly going to be the next president of the United States but was denied the chance because of some guy named Chad. (pause for laughter)I actually won the race in the 2000 election, you know. It's true. More Americans voted for me than for George Bush - but while I won the popular vote, George Bush won the electoral vote - another way of saying "I got screwed". Now that's what I call A Very Inconvenient Truth! (allow for applause)It's good to see so many high-powered and well-dressed business people here today, all of whom have shown their concern for the future of our planet by paying through the nose to listen to me. (09/15/07)

To most of you "informed" people who frequent this and other sites like it, this is nothing new. But to the smug liberal socialist elite who spend their time drinking the mainstream media's Kool-Aid, this is a must read.
Is it too late to stop the ethanol con job? - By Eric Reguly - ROME - Not so long ago, you could feel complacent - smug even - about your little greenish exertions. You traded your SUV for a smaller set of wheels. You bought compact florescent bulbs and dragged the old push mower out of storage. You approved of ethanol and other biofuels and vowed to buy them whenever possible. Okay, there wasn't a lot of sacrifice involved. But you could feel a tad superior to your fossil-fuel-slurping neighbours. You might feel a little less smug today. You might even feel guilty. Why? Because biofuels aren't living up to their hype. By now, it's obvious they won't cure the planet of its oil addiction or take the edge off global warming - two of the alleged advantages touted by the biofuel industry. Biofuels may even be harming the planet. The oil industry was never keen on biofuels, but you never believed the oil industry. Now no less a sober authority than the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development says biofuels - notably ethanol, a fuel worshipped by governments, farmers and refiners in Canada, the United States and parts of Europe - might be a con job on a massive scale. (09/14/07)

Think you've heard everything? Think again. University College London "climate expert" Dr Bill McGuire (Britain's own version of our beloved wacko James Hansen), says global warming is going to cause earthquakes, volcano eruptions and even tsunamis! Un-friggin-believable.
Global warming to trigger volcanic eruptions, scientists warn - British scientists are warning of another possible side effect of climate change: a surge of dangerous volcanic eruptions.
Researchers say the melting of polar ice sheets from global warming and the resulting stress placed on the earth's crust from rising sea levels will increase eruptions in the years to come.
University College London climate expert Dr Bill McGuire says there could also be an increase in undersea earthquakes and tsunamis.
"There is already evidence for earthquakes in Alaska being triggered by unloading by ice," he said.
"Also evidence of this volcano Pavlof in Alaska erupting in the winter when sea levels rise slightly due to weather conditions, just 30 centimetres."
"So, if we see one to two metres of sea level rise this century, accompanied by mass wasting of the glaciers in the polar region, so we can expect a response by the cr ust within the next few decades." (09/14/07)

Global warming overkill - JAY AMBROSE - First thing we do, let's kill all the cows, because the globe is warming, catastrophe is headed our way, and the worldwide cattle industry is largely responsible, a far worse peril to climate stability than SUVs and, for that matter, all the cars, trucks, planes and other modes of transportation in glorious combination. Data about the world's 1.5 billion cattle and other livestock generating 18 percent of the greenhouse gases released in the atmosphere comes from a 400-page U.N. report that just might make Al Gore squirm when he speaks in Denver in October. An animal rights group -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals -- plans to protest his eating of meat in contradiction to the crusade he's been waging. How's that for poetic justice! [...] So, no, let's don't kill the cows, and let's don't get carried away with Gore-style global warming hype. We ought to keep studying the question and, for a variety of reasons, explore alternatives to oil, rely more on nuclear energy, find ways to clean up emissions from burning coal and more -- but let's avoid endangering extremes on behalf of conjectures that are far from settled science. (09/14/07)

Global Warming and ... Cow Farts - By Ken Taylor - Yes, you read the title right. A study released this week in London claims that the release of methane gas, (cow farts), from grazing cows is a contributing factor to Global Warming ! Now of course cows have been grazing and farting for centuries but now they contribute to Global Warming. The study also is calling for the reduction of the consumption of red meat which will reduce the need for cows, (you know the old Capitalist supply and demand thing), which in turn will reduce methane gas,(cow farts), released into the atmosphere. The study also states that men because of a greater consumption of red meat contribute more to Global Warming than women because of their release of methane gas. Yeah, you guessed it....man farts. So gentleman remember the next time you enjoy that hamburger or steak you are a contributor to the, "Global Warming Crisis." Personally I plan on sitting down to a big T-Bone, enjoying every juicy bite, thanking God for the cow who contributed to Global Warming while grazing and getting fat producing my T-Bone. If after finishing my delicious meal I too happen to contribute to Global Warming...please...ah...excuse me! Ken Taylor http://theliberalslies.blogspot.com (09/14/07)

Another "Moonbeam Alert" from the land of fruits and nuts...
Editorial: Jerry Brown plays helpful role in global warming fight - Alternate Headline: Jerry Brown, with the help of our Jolly Green Giant Governator, uses extortion to promote his environmental agenda - California's fight against global warming will require actions from an array of state and local policy-makers - not just the air regulators in Sacramento. One state agency that has done its part recently is the Attorney General's Office. Attorney General Jerry Brown has scored success in this broad effort by using a 37-year-old environmental law to challenge - and reshape - long-term development plans in San Bernardino County and expansion plans at a ConocoPhillips oil refinery in Contra Costa County. It was innovative to use the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, to fight climate change at the local level by making large-scale projects plan now for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. But the attorney general's actions can also be viewed as rogue, unless they are well-coordinated with other state and local agencies. California should not end up with a patchwork of conflicting policies that might endanger the economy and the environment. (09/14/07)

Global warming "is good and is not our fault" - By Sophie Borland - Global warming is an entirely natural phenomenon and its effects can even be beneficial, according to two leading researchers. Recent climate change is not caused by man-made pollution, but is instead part of a 1,500-year cycle of warming and cooling that has happened for the last million years, say the authors of a controversial study. Dennis Avery, an environmental economist, and Professor Fred Singer, a physicist, have looked at the work of more than 500 scientists and concluded that it is very doubtful that man-made global warming exists. (09/14/07)
Related...
Global warming a 1500-year natural cycle unrelated to human activity - From our ANI Correspondent - London, Sept 14: Global warming is a natural event whose effects are not bad at all, according to a new study by two eminent climatologists. Researchers Dennis Avery and Fred Singer said climate change is more likely to be part of a cycle of warming and cooling that has happened regularly every 1500 years for the last million years. "And the doom and gloom merchants, who point to the threat to the polar bear from the melting North Pole, are wrong," the Daily Mail quoted the authors as saying. (09/14/07)
And...
Global warming? It's natural, say experts - Global warming is a natural event and the effects are not all bad, two respected researchers claimed yesterday. Authors Dennis Avery and Fred Singer looked at the work of more than 500 scientists and argue that these experts are doubtful the phenomenon is caused by man-made greenhouse gases. (09/14/07)

Another kook suggests population control to combat global warming.
Letters: Controlling growth can control global warming - Much has been written about global warming and the adverse contribution of humankind's carbon-generating pollutants. However, relatively little attention has been given to the largest factor creating those greenhouse gas emissions, which is the sheer immensity of the world's population. If we humans don't effectively address how to manage our own staggering growth, no policy on pollutants will ever be sufficient to solve global warming. For instance, a study from the London School of Economics concludes that a 40 percent cut in per capita carbon emissions in the developed world by 2050 could be completely cancelled out by population growth in the same time period. This would essentially mean that all current efforts at reducing global warming will be futile. Let's put our collective heads together creatively and think and act constructively. We can be successful twice over. We can successfully enhance our global health and we can reduce human population growth but only if done simultaneously. Let's support legislation that provides adequate funding for comprehensive sex education and family planning. Then and only then can each and every person make an educated decision about having children. More legislation is always the answer with these morons. (09/14/07)

Should People Stop Having Children to Halt Global Warming? - By Noel Sheppard - It certainly shouldn't come as a great surprise that there are people who think human beings are the worst species on the planet, and that Earth would be a much better place without us. However, though Slate's Daniel Engber did add some skepticism to his "Global Swarming: Is it time for Americans to start cutting our baby emissions?" article, his conclusion made it quite clear his answer to this question was "Yes"... (09/13/07)

Judge Backs Measures to Curb Auto Emissions - MONTPELIER, Vt Vermont and several other states scored a victory on Wednesday in their battle to get automakers to comply with rules aimed at reducing global warming. A federal judge ruled that states can regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, rejecting automakers' claims that federal law pre-empts state rules and that technology can't be developed to meet them. "There is no question that the GHG (greenhouse gas) regulations present great challenges to automakers," Judge William Sessions III, sitting in the U.S. District Court in Burlington, wrote at the conclusion of his 240-page decision. He added, "History suggests that the ingenuity of the industry, once put in gear, responds admirably to most technological challenges. In light of the public statements of industry representatives, (the) history of compliance with previous technological challenges, and the state of the record, the court remains unconvinced automakers cannot meet the challenges of Vermont and California's GHG regulations." (09/13/07)

More rubbish from the kook fringe
Global Swarming - Is it time for Americans to start cutting our baby emissions? - By Daniel Engber - Oh, if we all just disappeared. According to The World Without Us, Alan Weisman's strangely comforting vision of human annihilation, the Earth would be a lot better off. In his doomsday scenario, freshwater floods would course through the New York subway system, ailanthus roots would heave up sidewalks, and a parade of coyotes, bears, and deer would eventually trot across the George Washington Bridge and repopulate Manhattan. Nature lovers can take solace in the idea that the planet will thrive once we've finally destroyed ourselves with global warming. But Weisman takes the fantasy one step further: Let's not wait for climate change, he says. Let's start depopulating right now. (09/13/07)

Will Media Report Error in Laurie David's Global Warming Children's Book? - By Noel Sheppard - When climate change activists Sheryl Crow and Laurie David went on their "Stop Global Warming College Tour" last spring, media sycophants followed their every move reporting their exploits on almost a daily basis. With that in mind, if a serious, scientific error were discovered in the global warming children's book co-authored by David, shouldn't that be newsworthy as well? (09/13/07)

Global Warming: Al Gore's Greatest Hoax Yet - The Right Side - By Rick Coddington, special to Mountain Mail - SOCORRO, New Mexico (STPNS) -- Did you notice that Al Gore is bringing his dog-and-pony show to New Mexico? Yep, Santa Ana Star Casino is taking its impersonator series to the next level. They have had Elvis impersonators, Michael Jackson impersonators and Bette Midler impersonators and now they are bringing us (in my opinion) the greatest impersonator of them all - Al Gore. His impersonations include the creator of the internet, the elected President of the United States and now, a scientist ... get a job, dude! If you buy into any of the global warming hoax, this is your opportunity to press the flesh with the Gore for a paltry $200 a ticket. If you are going to go to the casino with a couple of C-notes in your hand, you might consider squandering it on the $100 slot machine instead. It will be quicker, much less painful and you have a lot better chance of getting something for your money. I imagine some folks are wondering why I am so critical of the Gore person. Simply, this is another in a long and destructive line of pseudo-environmental agendas that all end up costing us a fortune and creating lots of collateral damage. (09/13/07)

From The JunkMan...
Japan Sweats for Global Warming - By Steven Milloy - Japanese office workers are being forced to sweat in the name of global warming. But before Americans consume too much "Green" Kool-Aid and suffer a similar fate, they may want to consider this week's global warming developments. The Wall Street Journal reported in a front-page story (Sep. 11) that Japanese offices are keeping summertime office temperatures at a "steamy 82 degrees Fahrenheit" to help Japan use less energy and reduce its carbon dioxide emissions. Offices are now so uncomfortable that the traditional suit-and-tie dress code has been abandoned even though "82 degrees can only be comfortable if you're thin, naked and stay still," according to a Japanese physiology professor. There is growing pressure not to complain about sweltering office environments as the proud but dutiful Japanese public is being conditioned to perceive air conditioning as "shameful," according to the report. (09/13/07)

Hillary Wants to 'Change Our Country' - By Steven Warshawsky - ...Hillary claims she is going to make our country "energy independent," i.e., not reliant on "foreign sources of oil." This sounds like a worthy goal, but it is not remotely plausible. That is, unless we severely restrict our consumption of energy, roughly one-third of which comes from foreign sources (mainly oil used for gasoline). The consequences of such a "belt-tightening" strategy would be to drastically reduce both the size and vitality of our economy, leading to massive unemployment and a lower standard of living. Furthermore, Hillary's manifest belief that it is problematic for us to buy oil from Canada and Mexico, two of our three largest "foreign" suppliers, makes no sense. Indeed, the only way for the United States to buy less oil from Saudi Arabia and Venezuela -- the true problem -- is to buy more oil from Canada, Mexico, and other friendly countries. This would have the further beneficial effect of strengthening these countries' economies and enhancing our trade relations. Yes, we should drill more oil here at home, but the enormous size and sophistication of our economy will require us to import oil long into the future. Nevertheless, importing more "good" oil is not an option for Hillary, because she also agrees with Al Gore and the environmental left that "global climate change is one of the most pressing moral issues of our time." Accordingly, Hillary pledges to "lead the charge to stop global warming" and "reduce carbon emissions and other pollution that contribute to global warming." How do you reduce carbon emissions? By not burning fossil fuels, i.e., by using less energy. This is the logic behind the Kyoto Protocol, which the Clinton Administration signed but the Senate wisely rejected. Should President Hillary succeed in getting something like the Kyoto Protocol enacted into law, the result, once again, will be severe harm to the nation's economy, and to the American way of life... (09/13/07)

Czech president new face of US media campaign - By Ruth Frankova - Czech president Vaclav Klaus has become the face of a media campaign questioning the impact of global warming. The campaign is run by the free-market think-tank Heartland Institute. It features pictures of Vaclav Klaus and former US vice-president Al Gore under the headline "Global Warming Is No Crisis". It also draws attention to Mr Klaus' speech that is to take place in two week's time at the UN conference on global warming. I spoke to Tom Swiss of the Heartland Institute and started by asking about the campaign's aim. (09/13/07)

More deceitful indoctrination of our children!
SPPI Exposes Fundamental Scientific Error in Laurie David's "Global Warming" Book for Children - WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A fundamental scientific error lurks in a book calculated to terrify schoolchildren about "global warming", Robert Ferguson, SPPI president, announced today: "The Down-To-Earth Guide to Global Warming", by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon, is intentionally designed to propagandize unsuspecting school children who do not have enough knowledge to know what is being done to them.
A new SPPI paper briefly examines a cardinal error, found on page 18 of the David book, where she mousetraps children: "The more the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the higher the temperature climbed. The less carbon dioxide, the more the temperature fell. You can see this relationship for yourself by looking at the graph. What makes this graph so amazing is that by connecting rising CO2 to rising temperature scientists have discovered the link between greenhouse-gas pollution (sic) and global warming." The SPPI paper states, in part:
What really makes the David-Gordon graph "amazing" is that it's egregiously counterfactual. Worse, in order to contrive a visual representation for their claim that CO2 controls temperature change, the authors present unsuspecting children with an altered temperature and CO2 graph that reverses the relationship found in the scientific literature.
The manipulation is critical because David's central premise posits that CO2 drives temperature, yet the peer-reviewed literature is unanimous that CO2 changes have historically followed temperature changes.
Case in point, on page 103 of their book, David cites the work of Siegenthaler et al. (2005). However, Siegenthaler et al. clearly state the opposite, that CO2 lags "with respect to the Antarctic temperature over glacial terminations V to VII are 800, 1600, and 2800 years, respectively, which are consistent with earlier observations during the last four glacial cycles."
"Parents and teachers should be concerned enough to demand that the publisher, Scholastic Books, recall, pulp and correct the error before mores copies reach innocent children," said Ferguson. (09/13/07)

Looney Mooney is first, again. Well, it didn't take long for warmist Chris Mooney to (again) link the next hurricane to global warming. More of the same rubbish from "The Storm Pundit".
Hurricane Humberto, Global Warming and Rainfall Risks - First, I suppose, the good news: The third official hurricane of the Atlantic season did not follow in the footsteps of its two predecessors and reach Category 5 intensity. Does that read a bit dissapointing or is it just me? While Hurricane Humberto did strengthen quite rapidly (see radar loop) after forming yesterday and managed to become a strong Category 1 storm before striking near the Texas/Louisiana border, it ran out of ocean much too quickly to become a major hurricane. Ran out of ocean? Sound disappointed again? This implies that that Humberto would have reached Category 5 if it had more water in front of it before it reached land. By that logic every storm (and there are many) that form east of the Caribbean Islands would be Category 5 by the time they reach the U.S mainland. [...]
A little noticed aspect of how global warming ought to change hurricanes is relevant here, incidentally: Because a warmer atmosphere retains more water vapor, hurricanes and tropical storms are expected to rain more in the future, and indeed, are probably raining more already on average. It's just another way in which climate change could be potentially increasing the damage caused by these storms. Please! (09/13/07)

Humanity's impact on climate debated - By JOHN WALLER, Staff Writer - MANCHESTER - The Earth's temperature has been steadily increasing since 1977. No man argued that. The points of contention at Tuesday night's debate: Are humans to blame for the rise and will it have "horrendous" effects? McKibben vs. McClaughry (09/13/07)

An anti-warming jihad? - IT MUST be getting warmer in those caves in the mountains along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. In his recent message to the American people, Osama bin Laden took time out from excoriating the infidels to decry capitalism, high taxes and global warming. That's right: The planet's bloodiest terrorist wants to save the planet from carbon emissions. (09/13/07)

Google hits the road to tackle global warming - Not content with trying to single-handedly manage the world's information or buying wireless spectrum to become a telecoms player, Google is now to invest US$10m to identify transport solutions that will help stop global warming. (09/13/07)

But Does the Storm Have a Name? - By Jay Lillie www.jaylillie.com - There've been two sub tropical disturbances in the Atlantic this year that were made into "named storms" by some person or committee in the official United States Weather Bureau. Both of these systems were less dangerous and notable than most of the good howling Nor'easters in the Atlantic that come along every year from late fall to late spring to erode beaches and cause general havoc. So what's going on here? The same people who christen these storms with names are the ones who make the predictions of Hurricane Activity every year, and they predicted for 2007 and 2006 a record number of Atlantic Hurricanes. Maybe they're trying to enhance their embarrassingly poor record. More mischievously, most current marine insurance policies carry an exclusion clause for damage incurred by boat owners during a "named storm". Whether a storm is named or not becomes the critical fact in assessing marine coverage for damage. Is it possible that the insurance industry has managed to get its foot inside the tent? If you're writing a piece on Global Warming it helps if you can list a lot of named storms...the more the better. No one knows what a Nor'easter is, so talking about them or other sub tropical disturbances doesn't get people excited. (09/12/07)

Record High Antarctic Ice Levels Ignored by Media - By Noel Sheppard - NewsBusters reported Sunday that the media's fascination with record low ice in the Arctic ignored history while relying on satellite data that's only been around since 1979. At the same time, the press have totally boycotted news from the Southern Hemisphere where ice and snow levels are currently at their highest since data have been collected. Pretty convenient wouldn't you agree? Meteorologist Joe D'Aleo wrote at IceCap Tuesday (emphasis added throughout, h/t Marc Morano):
While the news focus has been on the lowest ice extent since satellite monitoring began in 1979 for the Arctic, the Southern Hemisphere (Antarctica) has quietly set a new record for most ice extent since 1979. Yet, that's not all the media are hiding from you about this region:
While the Antarctic Peninsula area has warmed in recent years and ice near it diminished during the Southern Hemisphere summer, the interior of Antarctica has been colder and ice elsewhere has been more extensive and longer lasting, which explains the increase in total extent. This dichotomy was shown in this World Climate Report blog posted recently with a similar tale told in this paper by Ohio State Researcher David Bromwich, who agreed "It's hard to see a global warming signal from the mainland of Antarctica right now". Indeed, according the NASA GISS data, the South Pole winter (June/July/August) has cooled about 1 degree F since 1957 and the coldest year was 2004. (09/12/07)

You really can't make this stuff up. Or can you?
Global Warming Heats Up Cat Breeding - NBC 10 Medical Reporter Cherie Bank has reported that there has been an overpopulation of kittens at local area animal shelters and now an animal group might have determined what is contributing to the kitten overflow. The group called Pets Across America said they believe that global warming has extended the cat-breeding season beyond spring, which is the usual time for the kitten boom. But the global warming trend means cats are in heat more, according to the animal experts. I guess that's good for Tom, bad for pussy. (09/12/07)

Eating Less Meat May Slow Climate Change - By MARIA CHENG - LONDON (AP) -- Eating less meat could help slow global warming by reducing the number of livestock and thereby decreasing the amount of methane flatulence from the animals, scientists said on Thursday. In a special energy and health series of the medical journal The Lancet, experts said people should eat fewer steaks and hamburgers. Reducing global red meat consumption by 10 percent, they said, would cut the gases emitted by cows, sheep and goats that contribute to global warming. "We are at a significant tipping point," said Geri Brewster, a nutritionist at Northern Westchester Hospital in New York, who was not connected to the study. "If people knew that they were threatening the environment by eating more meat, they might think twice before ordering a burger," Brewster said. You're right. Make mine a double burger...with cheese! (09/12/07)

Global Warming Consensus that Isn't - By Paul E. Marek - The cornerstone of the Anthropogenic Global Warming fable is that there is consensus within the scientific community. The "green" political class has forced the myth of "consensus" upon the world along with a constant diet of horror-to-be stories which serve only to drive reason from the debate. We are today facing a "green" political dogma so extreme, that it seeks to quell debate and even scientific research ... unless of course they serve to underpin the myth of Anthropogenic Global Warming. So it is that critically important facts remain hidden from the general population ... hidden because of a socialist-green utopian mindset within the press, academia, and political elite; a mindset hell bent on shoving its dogma upon the world regardless of the facts. So, while the underpinnings of AGW are eroded daily by a thousand cuts, the green political class becomes ever more strident. One cut occured today, when it was revealed that over 500 scientists have published evidence that runs contrary to Anthropogenic Global Warming theory. In the least, this fact knocks the stuffing out of the straw man of "consensus" ... but will the general public even have the opportunity to hear about or read about this fact? I doubt it: (09/12/07)

Challenge to Scientific Consensus on Global Warming: Analysis Finds Hundreds of Scientists Have Published Evidence Countering Man-Made Global Warming Fears - Author : Hudson Institute - WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new analysis of peer-reviewed literature reveals that more than 500 scientists have published evidence refuting at least one element of current man-made global warming scares. More than 300 of the scientists found evidence that 1) a natural moderate 1,500-year climate cycle has produced more than a dozen global warmings similar to ours since the last Ice Age and/or that 2) our Modern Warming is linked strongly to variations in the sun's irradiance. "This data and the list of scientists make a mockery of recent claims that a scientific consensus blames humans as the primary cause of global temperature increases since 1850," said Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Dennis Avery. Other researchers found evidence that 3) sea levels are failing to rise importantly; 4) that our storms and droughts are becoming fewer and milder with this warming as they did during previous global warmings; 5) that human deaths will be reduced with warming because cold kills twice as many people as heat; and 6) that corals, trees, birds, mammals, and butterflies are adapting well to the routine reality of changing climate. Despite being published in such journals such as Science, Nature and Geophysical Review Letters, these scientists have gotten little media attention. "Not all of these researchers would describe themselves as global warming skeptics," said Avery, "but the evidence in their studies is there for all to see."
The names were compiled by Avery and climate physicist S. Fred Singer, the co-authors of the new book Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years, mainly from the peer-reviewed studies cited in their book. The researchers' specialties include tree rings, sea levels, stalagmites, lichens, pollen, plankton, insects, public health, Chinese history and astrophysics.
"We have had a Greenhouse Theory with no evidence to support it-except a moderate warming turned into a scare by computer models whose results have never been verified with real-world events," said co-author Singer. "On the other hand, we have compelling evidence of a real-world climate cycle averaging 1470 years (plus or minus 500) running through the last million years of history. The climate cycle has above all been moderate, and the trees, bears, birds, and humans have quietly adapted." "Two thousand years of published human histories say that the warm periods were good for people," says Avery. "It was the harsh, unstable Dark Ages and Little Ice Age that brought bigger storms, untimely frost, widespread famine and plagues of disease." "There may have been a consensus of guesses among climate model-builders," says Singer. "However, the models only reflect the warming, not its cause." He noted that about 70 percent of the earth's post-1850 warming came before 1940, and thus was probably not caused by human-emitted greenhouse gases. The net post-1940 warming totals only a tiny 0.2 degrees C. The historic evidence of the natural cycle includes the 5000-year record of Nile floods, 1st-century Roman wine production in Britain, and thousands of museum paintings that portrayed sunnier skies during the Medieval Warming and more cloudiness during the Little Ice Age. The physical evidence comes from oxygen isotopes, beryllium ions, tiny sea and pollen fossils, and ancient tree rings. The evidence recovered from ice cores, sea and lake sediments, cave stalagmites and glaciers has been analyzed by electron microscopes, satellites, and computers. Temperatures during the Medieval Warming Period on California's Whitewing Mountain must have been 3.2 degrees warmer than today, says Constance Millar of the U.S. Forest Service, based on her study of seven species of relict trees that grew above today's tree line. Singer emphasized, "Humans have known since the invention of the telescope that the earth's climate variations were linked to the sunspot cycle, but we had not understood how. Recent experiments have demonstrated that more or fewer cosmic rays hitting the earth create more or fewer of the low, cooling clouds that deflect solar heat back into space-amplifying small variations in the intensity of the sun.
Avery and Singer noted that there are hundreds of additional peer-reviewed studies that have found cycle evidence, and that they will publish additional researchers' names and studies. They also noted that their book was funded by Wallace O. Sellers, a Hudson board member, without any corporate contributions. (09/12/07)

Wouldn't it be nice? - Debra J. Saunders - FOR YEARS, supporters of global warming alarmism have repeated an odd refrain: Even if we're wrong, we're right. Sen. Timothy E. Wirth, D-Colo., said it in 1988, as the National Journal reported. "What we've got to do in energy conservation is (to) try to ride the global warming issue. Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, to have approached global warming as if it is real means energy conservation, so we will be doing the right thing anyway in terms of economic policy and environmental policy." I regularly receive e-mails with similar arguments. Or as one reader put it, "If global warming is not real, and we spend money trying to fight it, what harm will come of our mistake? Cleaner air? If global warming is real, and we do nothing, what harm will come of our laxity? On which side should we err?" Savor, if you will, the lack of science in that argument. The global warming contingent loves to don the Mantle of Science as the reason to curb greenhouse gas emissions. But its backup argument is: It's OK if we're wrong, because we mean well. (09/12/07)

Global warming, ocean cooling - By Rudy Haugeneder - Despite fears of global warming, the north Pacific has suddenly turned a lot colder. But don't expect it to be a cold winter here. The ocean cooling in this part of the world isn't the result of an El Nino, said ocean scientist Howard Freeland, who is baffled by what's happening. He and fellow scientists don't know what has caused a huge chunk of the Gulf of Alaska to drop three degrees Celsius colder than average for this time of year - a huge change of six degrees Celsius just two years after a lengthy period of warmer than usual waters. "This is quite striking," he said. "We rarely see water so much colder than normal."
It might just be a natural transitory event, said Freeland, who warned the sudden cooling should not be used by global warming skeptics to reject scientific evidence that clearly shows the planet is heating up. Really? You can bet your ass that if it had warmed six degrees Celsius, all we would hear is "GLOBAL WARMING!"
"There's no scientific doubt about global warming," he said. Of course not. A couple of months ago Freeland reported a significant pool of cold water in the central Gulf of Alaska. "This is now much larger and decidedly colder than normal," he said.
"Two months ago this was just a general cooling of the whole northeast Pacific," he said, adding it began with a small identifiable centre that has now turned into "a well organized" cold pool dominating the whole northeast Pacific. "One obvious reason for developing this sort of cold-water conditions would be development of the La Nina that has been forecast by computer models for the last few months," he said. "It is confusing for us trying to figure out how the ocean must evolve," he said, "but the fact is ... I see very little evidence of a development La Nina event." Computer models used by various scientific agencies around the world now show there is only a 50:50 chance of a La Nina event later in the year, said Freeland. The term La Nina refers to the extensive cooling of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean which usually results in cool and rainy winters here.
"So why is that cold pool there? Quite simply, I don't know," he said. "There seems to be nothing structural in the ocean that would have allowed me to predict that this would happen." Imagine that. So to recap. the cause of the cold water is not El Nino, it's not La Nina, and it only MIGHT be "natural". So why does the title of article even mention global warming? (09/12/07)

Deniers are declaring "war on the polar bear"
Global warming's toll - It's come to this in the ongoing measurements of the vast environmental damage caused by global warming. To deny the problem, or to otherwise resist efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, is more than defying the mounting evidence of statistics on the changing temperature of the earth.
Instead it's to declare the moral equivalent of war on the polar bear. This is pure alarmist nonsense and I've already dealt with it here. (09/12/07)

Absurd
Global warming impact like "nuclear war": report - By Jeremy Lovell - LONDON (Reuters) - Climate change could have global security implications on a par with nuclear war unless urgent action is taken, a report said on Wednesday. [...] State failures would increase the gap between rich and poor and heighten racial and ethnic tensions which in turn would produce fertile breeding grounds for more conflict. A perfect illustration of the socialist agenda. (09/12/07)

"Joker" is about global warming - By Aparajita Ghosh - Shirish Kunder's next directorial venture will be about global warming. At the first glance, global warming as the subject of a film may seem off-putting to those who seek entertainment from cinema. Gee, ya think? But Shirish Kunder says his Joker will not be a docu-drama. "Joker" will be a superhero flick with heavy doses of action and comedy. It will deal with a serious issue in a very entertaining way, Kunder assures us. (09/12/07)

The bullshit article of the day comes from a collection of loons over at environmentalgraffiti.com. Let's see if there is anything here that remotely resembles the truth. Your humble webmaster will analyze point by ridiculous point.
5 Deadliest Effects of Global Warming - Green house gases stay can stay in the atmosphere for an amount of years ranging from decades to hundreds and thousands of years. No matter what we do, global warming is going to have some effect on Earth. Here are the 5 deadliest effects of global warming.

5. Spread of disease
As northern countries warm, disease carrying insects migrate north, bringing plague and disease with them.

4. Warmer waters and more hurricanes
As the temperature of oceans rises, so will the probability of more frequent and stronger hurricanes. We saw in this in 2004 and 2005.
Wrong! Even the IPCC does not agree with this ridiculous assertion. Though many scientists believe that warmer waters will produce stronger more intense hurricanes, most agree that there is no evidence to indicate that the frequency of hurricane events will increase. More misinformation.

3. Increased probability and intensity of droughts and heat waves
Although some areas of Earth will become wetter due to global warming, other areas will suffer serious droughts and heat waves. Africa will receive the worst of it, with more severe droughts also expected in Europe. Water is already a dangerously rare commodity in Africa, and according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, global warming will exacerbate the conditions and could lead to conflicts and war.
The global warmists have found the ultimate scapegoat. They now dubiously blame all extreme weather events on anthropogenic global warming. It's a perfect scenario because they can't lose. Too hot, global warming. Too cold, global warming. Too wet, global warming. Too dry, global warming. More disease, global warming. They'll even blame more war on global warming. On the brighter side, if there is a drought in Africa we won't have to worry about those pesky malaria-carrying mosquitos!

2. Economic consequences
Most of the effects of anthropogenic global warming won't be good. And these effects spell one thing for the countries of the world: economic consequences. Hurricanes cause do billions of dollars in damage, diseases cost money to treat and control and conflicts exacerbate all of these. Well this is partially true. There will be economic consequences all right. But not from any future natural disasters allegedly caused by global warming. What will be costly is idiotic ways we go about tackling a nonexistent problem. This will include draconian environmental regulations, carbon taxes, and ultimately the villianization of anything industrial.

First, it will raise sea levels. There are 5,773,000 cubic miles of water in ice caps, glaciers, and permanent snow. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, if all glaciers melted today the seas would rise about 230 feet. Luckily, that's not going to happen all in one go! But sea levels will rise. Yes sea levels are rising. They have been for over 300 years, since the end of the little ice age. Al Gore's movie in which he claims a twenty foot sea level rise is fiction. In fact, the IPCC in their Fourth Assessment Report issued earlier this year, revised it's estimate down to 17 centimeters by the end of this century. Big deal.

Second, melting ice caps will throw the global ecosystem out of balance. The ice caps are fresh water, and when they melt they will desalinate the ocean, or in plain English - make it less salty. The desalinization of the gulf current will "screw up" ocean currents, which regulate temperatures. The stream shutdown or irregularity would cool the area around north-east America and Western Europe. Luckily, that will slow some of the other effects of global warming in that area! More alarmist rubbish. The fact is that salinity in the worlds oceans vary from location to location and more importantly by depth. More saline water is deeper for the obvious reasons. Stating the obvious, that ice runoff is fresh water, doesn't mean that when it melts it will have a catastrophic effect on salinity in the worlds oceans. Even if all the ice melts, the oceans are so vast that there just wouldn't be any significant change in salinity.

Third, temperature rises and changing landscapes in the artic circle will endanger several species of animals. Only the most adaptable will survive. Really? Which animals? Polar bears? Here is a fact. Polar bears survived the Holocene Maximum (9000BC - 5000BC). That means that polar bears survived a 4000 year period in which temperatures were WARMER than they are today, or are predicted to be at any time in the near future. How's that for "adaptable"?

Fourth, global warming could snowball with the ice caps gone. Ice caps are white, and reflect sunlight, much of which is relected back into space, further cooling Earth. If the ice caps melt, the only reflector is the ocean. Darker colors absorb sunlight, further warming the Earth. This is actually true. However, while the arctic ice cap is shrinking, many scientists believe the Antarctic ice sheet is growing. But the ice caps have been changing for millions of years and there is no evidence that proves conclusively that man is causing these changes. (09/11/07)

Big media shows bias on climate issue - By Dick Little - I know this is getting old. I keep writing about scientists who challenge the global warming theory. I do that because the mainstream media's assertion that you and I are responsible is definitely debatable. Reporters ignore legitimate scientists who say the way we live and our machines are not the cause.
The mainstream press is caught up in, "global warming hysteria," just like Hollywood and government officials. There are literally hundreds of legitimate scientists who say, "We don't know," or that it's a "myth." I believe you are entitled to both sides, so I write about scientists who challenge the theory to balance what the mainstream media fails to print. (09/11/07)

Nuclear power touted as antidote for global warming, but industry is holding back - Nuclear proponents say atomic power is the answer to global warming, but environmentalists say it will not cut carbon emissions significantly and the questions of nuclear waste, proliferation and security have not been resolved. Electricity generation accounts for about 20% of global carbon emissions. Under the WNA's most optimistic outlook, nuclear power would account for only 18% of electricity demand, for a gain of a 4% reduction in carbon emissions. And that, environmentalists say, is simply not worth the risk a new nuclear age would entail. - Reuters. 4%? Well considering we're all falling all over ourselves to reduce a gas that makes up 0.04% of our entire atmosphere, it would seem that any reduction would be justified. It seems more significant that changing a few light bulbs. This really illustrates how ridiculous the entire CO2 argument is. (09/11/07)

Refreshing
'Feel Good' vs. 'Do Good' on Climate - By JOHN TIERNEY - After looking at one too many projections of global-warming disasters - computer graphics of coasts swamped by rising seas, mounting death tolls from heat waves - I was ready for a reality check. Instead of imagining a warmer planet, I traveled to a place that has already felt the heat, accompanied by Bjorn Lomborg, the Danish political scientist and scourge of environmentalist orthodoxy. (09/11/07)

Bin Laden Weighs in on Global Warming and a Flat Tax - By Katherine Kersten - Osama bin Laden was certain to make another crude sales pitch to America around September 11th. He got double mileage from last week's video appearance, which was timed to preempt Gen. David Petraeus' report to Congress on the Iraq war. [...] Bin Laden's political savvy is most evident, however, in the new interest he displays in a range of issues that are preoccupying Americans. For example, he threw in a pitch to the global warming crowd:
"In fact, the life of all of mankind is in danger because of the global warming resulting to a large degree from the emissions of the factories of the major corporations, yet despite that, the representative of these corporations in the White House insists on not observing the Kyoto accord..." Sounds like a Minnisota Democrat doesn't he?
But bin Laden didn't settle for merely supporting the international cause de jour. The video makes clear that he's feeling our pain on bread and butter domestic issues as well. He laments America's current mortgage crisis, globalization and our "insane taxes." (09/11/07)

Group sues, says power plant study did not consider global warming - An environmental group sued the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources on Monday over what it called a deficient environmental study for a proposed new steel plant in northern Minnesota. The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) claims that the 400-page study needs to include information about global warming gases that will be produced to power the planned Minnesota Steel plant in Nashwauk. (09/10/07)

A Cool Look at Global Warming: Your Turn to Take On Bjorn Lomborg - By John Tierney - I'm going to take a wild guess that a few readers differ with Bjorn Lomborg's message in my Findings column. Here's your chance to disagree. But first let me present a little more of his argument, and tell you why I like his new book, "Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming." Dr. Lomborg believes in global warming but isn't a zealot - he doesn't refer to scientists who question the climate models as "denialists," as if there were some revealed dogma about future climate. He wants to take steps to reduce the impact of global warming by imposing a carbon tax, increasing spending on energy research and directly mitigating the impacts of rising seas and temperatures. (09/10/07)

Fire (Relationship to Global Warming) -- Summary - In the Gospel According to Gore, i.e., his book An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore writes that "wildfires are becoming much more common as hotter temperatures dry out the soil and the leaves," and to support this claim he presents a bar graph which, as he describes it, "shows the steady increase in major wildfires in North and South America over the last five decades," noting that "the same pattern is found on every other continent as well." How correct are these claims? (09/10/07)

Chilling truth about 'global warming' hypocrisy - Over the weekend, I saw a photo of Al Gore de-boarding a private jet. Gore was no doubt on his way to an emergency meeting on what can be done about the carbon emissions of everybody except Al Gore, Leo DiCaprio, Bette "Chainsaw" Midler and all others who have earned the right to be environmentally hypocritical. Leading the pack in ecopocrisy are some of Gore's biggest supporters, the television and film industry. Hollywood is the second largest polluter in the state of California. This industry is, oddly enough, from where the most environmental finger-pointing originates, and they are being pressured to either reduce their emissions and/or buy carbon offsets. Recently it was announced that the program "24" will aim to be a "carbon neutral" production. In reality, the most obvious solution to creating a carbon-neutral production is simple: Shut down production. This option is off the table, so what to do? Being "carbon neutral" is now the designer jeans of wealthy, liberal self-proclaimed environmentalists who don't want to stop their energy gluttony but also don't want to appear to be harmful to the environment. This is where "carbon credits" come into play... (09/10/07)

Global warming see-saw - To hear the Chicken Littles of the environmental movement tell it, global warming has us just a couple of ingredients - a widespread pestilence and maybe a few thousand locusts - from a biblically sized, end-of-times meltdown of planet Earth. (09/10/07)

Nuclear power or global warming? - What a dilemma: the very technology that is so despised by much of the environmental lobby is increasingly being touted as the planet's great green hope, the Nelson Mail said in an editorial on Monday. If the climate change alarmists are right - and accelerating glacial melts and other evidence are mounting to support them - then the world's future would seem to depend on moving urgently to "clean" power generation technologies. Top of the list, according to some world leaders at the Apec summit in Sydney, is nuclear power... (09/10/07)

More global warming hype - By Christopher Alleva - Popular Science published a special issue in August. The lead article is a puff piece on climatologists Konrad Steffen who made a career on the ice pack of Greenland. "Koni", as he is known to climate colleagues and friends has spent 32 years in the high Arctic, the last 15 on Greenland... (09/09/07)

What Media Won't Tell You About U.N. Climate Panel - By Noel Sheppard - For several years as the manmade global warming myth has taken center stage, the media have led people to believe that reports published by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were written by thousands of scientists around the world all sharing a consensus view regarding this controversial issue. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. On Thursday, climate data analyst John McLean wrote a fabulous analysis of the most recent IPCC Assessment Report released in April, and in so doing, obliterated many of the press assertions that have become prominent fixtures in climate change lore. Published by the Science and Public Policy Institute, this paper should be must reading for all media members and global warming alarmists. It began with a rather harsh review of the important Summary for Policy Makers... (09/09/07)

Kurtz Omits Gore's Live Earth Connection to BBC Canceling Global Warming Special - By Noel Sheppard - On the one hand, I was very pleased to see CNN's Howard Kurtz mention on Sunday's "Reliable Sources" the recent decision by the BBC to cancel "Planet Earth," a proposed daylong special to focus attention on anthropogenic global warming. On the other hand, I was surprised when Kurtz chose not to include one of the key reasons this project was scrapped, namely, the failure of Al Gore's Live Earth concerts... (09/09/07)

Another load of crap. First, the following story is as much a hit piece on hunters as it is global warming. However, let's not forget that the contributions by pro-hunting organizations and the fees paid by hunters are largely responsible for much of the conservation and preservation of natural habitats in the United States.
Second, this "report" is based largely on geek models that predict sea ice melt. This assumes that:
a.) The models are correct (we all know how accurate climate models have been thus far).
b.) Even if the predictions are correct, the polar bear population is tied exclusively to sea ice and that they would be unable to adapt or migrate to more hospitable conditions.
Third, polar bears survived the Holocene Maximum (9000BC - 5000BC). That means that polar bears survived a 4000 year period in which temperatures were WARMER than they are today, or are predicted to be at any time in the near future.
Fourth, we know that since the 1960's polar bear numbers have risen by almost fivefold! More information can be found here, here, here.
The appalling fate of the polar bear, symbol of the Arctic - It has been declared at risk by conservation groups. Yet rich Westerners are paying thousands of dollars for the privilege of shooting an animal whose very existence is already threatened by environmental disaster. Geoffrey Lean reports from Ilulissat, Greenland, on a fight for survival. Polar bears - the very symbol of the Arctic's looming environmental disaster - are crashing towards extinction as a result of global warming, the US government has found. The admission, the result of a massive investigation by the Bush administration, could force the President finally to take action against climate change. (09/09/07)

Reports of Record Arctic Ice Melt Disgracefully Ignore History - By Noel Sheppard - In the past couple of days, the media have reported "grim" melting of ice in the Arctic while disgracefully ignoring the history of the region prior to 1979 and explorations of the area as far back as 1903. (09/09/07)

Journalism, Science and the Truth - By Alan Caruba - Being skeptical used to be a badge of honor for journalists, but if one reads any newspaper these days, most reporters casually refer to "global warming" without any hint that it is anything other than a done deal. Too many reporters have completely bought into the notion that humans and their use of fossil fuels are destroying the atmosphere and "causing" global warming. Of course, what makes this easier is the constant stream of environmental propaganda that attributes everything to "global warming." The list is vast and generally idiotic. Humans must now take responsibility for both droughts and severe storms. Winter blizzards are said to be the result of "global warming." Hurricanes which have been around for eons before the "global warming" theory are now to be attributed to it. We are expected to believe that the ice at the poles is melting at a dramatic pace and that oceans, any minute now, will begin to rise and swamp all the cities that ring the oceans of the world. (09/09/07)

The Sorry State of Science Reporting - By Alan Caruba - The public is only now beginning to understand that virtually all of the computer models used by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and other sources for predictions about global warming have been seriously in error, often by deliberate design and intention. Some of the models ignored the mini-Ice Age of 1300 to 1800. Others declared 1998 as the hottest year of the last century when it was actually 1934, during a time famed for its droughts and dustbowls. Joining in this massive hoax have been the broad contingent of mainstream media that has breathlessly reported that virtually every natural climate event has been the result of global warming and that we are all doomed. (09/08/07)

'Hidden hurricanes' upsetting global warming theories? - By DAN MURTAUGH, Staff Reporter - Recent research may shed new light on whether the increase in hurricane activity on the Gulf Coast is part of a cycle that could end in a couple of decades, or a long-term climate trend that could last for centuries. Two studies published this summer contend that the number of hurricanes counted in the early 20th century is lower than the number that actually formed. The reason: Weather-recording technology has improved to the point that scientists can see tropical storms now that they never would have known about 100 years ago. The findings are important because in recent years, several researchers have factored in historical data to show that hurricane seasons have become more active. They have theorized that the more active seasons are linked to global warming. But those theories could come into question if there were more hurricanes in the past than previously believed. (09/08/07)

NASA's James Hansen Finally Releases Climate Data Computer Codes - By Noel Sheppard - Much as when the organization he leads quietly made changes to the United States historical climate record at the prodding of Climate Audit's Stephen McIntyre, James Hansen of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies finally released critical computer codes scientists have wanted for years, but did so with absolutely no official press release. As a result, not one media outlet covered this occurrence that years from now could be seen as a huge turning point in the climate change debate. Despite the secrecy, there was great celebration amongst anthropogenic global warming skeptics that have wanted these closely held codes to be able to identify how NASA and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration make adjustments to raw climate data collected by weather stations... (09/08/07)

Judge Dismisses Claims CO2 Emissions Caused Hurricane Katrina - By Noel Sheppard - While media carped and whined about the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina devastating New Orleans, a judge in Gulfport, Mississippi, ruled on a lawsuit filed against oil, coal, and electric utility companies that could have significant implications on future litigation involving greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. Unfortunately, from what I can tell, not one press outlet found the judge's decision at all newsworthy. Not one! To set this up, NewsBusters reported on August 15 a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of a number of Mississippians claiming that the greenhouse gas emissions of a very long list of companies doing business in the Gulf exacerbated the strength of Hurricane Katrina thereby making them responsible for the citizens' financial losses... (09/08/07)

The Spoof!
"Carpooling"! on CARB list of Global Warming Solutions for California - Carpooling is a hit with the Governator. PRBS Newswire - Sacramento --In what could have been a very anti-climatic Global Warming report, the California Air Resources Board has posted the Draft Staff Report entitled 'Expanded List of Early Action Measures to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions in California Recommended for Board Consideration' in support of the objectives of the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006... (09/08/07)

In order to fully appreciate the following story, I suggest that you first set the mood by clicking here. Then read on...
Drawing the line on global warming - By Chris Cascarano - Global warming is happening. The scientists say it, the mayor says it, and even the president is talking the talk. Now, one Brooklyn artist is walking the walk. For almost a year, Eve Mosher has been a one-woman campaign for awareness, drawing a chalk line on Brooklyn streets to show where the rising waterline will be in 100 years if human beings keep warming the air. Using the same device used to mark baseball fields - except filled with an eco-friendly pigment - Mosher lays her line over and around curbs and anything else in her path. By the way, this was already suggested in California but even the left coast thought it was over the top. (09/08/07)

Global Warming Insanity? - By Paul Driessen - "The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority," Marcus Aurelius opined, "but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." An even worse fate would be to end up in minority status and an asylum. Recent developments suggest that this might become the destiny of climate change alarmists. Now that NASA has corrected its US temperature records, the hottest year on record is no longer 1998, but 1934. Five of the ten hottest years since 1880 were between 1920 and 1940 - and the 15 hottest years since 1880 are spread across seven decades. This suggests natural variation, not a warming trend. Plant and insect remains found at the base of Greenland's ice sheet indicate that, just 400,000 years ago, the island was blanketed in forests and basking in temperatures perhaps 27 degrees F warmer than today. (09/08/07)

Global Warming: Hot Air And Intellectual Bankruptcy - Without a doubt the green activist Mark Lynas has to be contender for the Global Village Idiot of the 21st Century Award. This morning, he told the Independent, "It's intellectual bankruptcy. The entire scientific community is telling the world that it's the biggest threat to human civilisation. What more evidence do you need?" No Mark, what however is intellectual bankruptcy is to claim that something is intellectually bankrupt by saying that because lots of people believe something it must by definition be true. To dismiss something as devoid of intellectual rigour on the basis of an ad populum argument is the real act of intellectual bankruptcy here. Incidentally, before anyone starts screaming "climate change denier" this is not about whether or not man-made climate change is either right or wrong. It's about the way in which those that consider it to be true persist in portraying the nonsense that "scientific knowledge" is about "consensus", and that whatever the consensus is, is a scientific fact. Those people do a disservice to the past 400 years of scientific learning and discovery by peddling hokum arguments to the masses. Man-made climate change may in fact be right, however telling people it's right because lots of people believe it is right is bollocks. (09/07/07)

Scientists lack objectivity in global warming debate - By TOM BRENNAN - An environmentalist leader quickly criticized Sen. Ted Stevens after he said in Shishmaref that the worst of global warming may be over. Stevens was inspecting erosion problems in the village on the Northwest coast and said that the Earth is at the end of a long warming period - one of 700 to 900 years - that may be just about over. He said hopefully the Earth is coming to the end of that cycle and will begin to cool gradually. Shishmaref is a coastal community that has had problems with erosion for many decades, primarily because of the unstable soils on which it is built. It's one of many such places that were once occupied in summer only - before moving to winter hunting camps - but became permanent settlements when missionaries arrived and built schools. The erosion effect has been worsened by damaging fall storms hitting before the protective layer of sea ice has formed. In past years the sea ice froze over earlier and seasonal erosion was less of a problem. Many experts feel the receding sea ice could be caused by warmer ocean currents moving into the Arctic rather than rising air temperatures, a phenomenon much like the El Niño effect... (09/07/07)

Global warming: Too hot to handle for the BBC - Green groups protest after corporation calls off day of programming dedicated to climate change - By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor - The transformation of climate change from a scientific to a political issue became clear last night when the BBC dropped plans for a day-long TV special on global warming. The scrapping of Planet Relief, an awareness-raising broadcast similar in concept to programmes such as the poverty-focused Comic Relief and Live8, and planned for early next year, marked a watershed moment: it showed that opining about climate change is now as significant in Britain as scientific fact. Environmentalists and politicians fiercely criticised the BBC for abandoning the programme, for which Ricky Gervais and Jonathan Ross had been provisionally lined up as presenters. The corporation said that it had decided it was not the BBC's job to lead opinion on the global warming issue. However, critics complained that the effect of the decision was to imply that there was no scientific consensus on the reality of climate change and its human causes, and accused the corporation of being swayed by increasingly vocal climate-change sceptics. Chris Huhne, Liberal Democrat spokesman on the environment, said: "The consensus about global warming in the science community is now overwhelming, so accusing the BBC of campaigning on such an undisputed threat is like suggesting it should be even-handed between criminals and their victims." Now that's what I call hyperbole! (09/07/07)

Voices: Space and global warming - We live on a planet, that is on the outer arm of a spiral galaxy, which is turning all the time. It takes the earth 250,000 years to make this journey, and modern man has been keeping records for how long? We do not know enough to declare, beyond a reasonable doubt, that global warming is "man-made." (09/07/07)

When it comes to global warming, he's got something to say - By Kirsti Marohn - Al Pekarek doesn't like being called a denier. Rather, the associate geology professor at St. Cloud State University says he's seeking scientific truth amid the "media circus" he believes the global warming issue has become in recent years. For the past 12 years, Pekarek has read everything he can find about climate change. His conclusion - that the Earth has been getting warmer, but humans aren't causing it - puts him at odds with mainstream public opinion and much of the scientific community. None of that seems to faze Pekarek, who keeps a sign in his office that reads, "Geologists own climate history." Just because there appears to be a consensus among scientists that humans are causing climate change by producing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide doesn't make it true, Pekarek said. Four hundred years ago, there was a consensus that the Earth was flat, he said. (09/07/07)

Cooking Up Global Warming - By Christopher C. Horner - A very embarrassing chapter in the history of our nation's scientific establishment has been unfolding thanks to a creative new website www.SurfaceStations.org set up and run by Dr. Anthony Watts. This site is providing unwelcome scrutiny to the United States' surface temperature measurement network, supposedly the most reliable in the world. The reputation has been built over the years in part because of our government's purported insistence on uniformity of technology as well as siting (putting the gauges where they will gather the most accurate data) and maintenance standards. (09/07/07)

Goldilocks and the Greenhouse - A short (thankfully) ridiculous alarmist scare-video I found over at LiveScience. Includes a look at the inhospitable environment on Venus. Inappropriately subtitled "The Science of Global Warming" (09/07/07)

Global warming is deceitful myth - Politicians are again showing us just how corrupt and disingenuous they are. U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer of California recently claimed to have seen the Greenland glacier calving icebergs. Duh. That's been happening for centuries. One huge iceberg sank the unsinkable Titanic 95 years ago. She also claimed glacier melting could raise ocean levels 23 feet - absurd. Scientists admit global temperatures have only risen 1 degree in 100 years. Normal summer weather seems hotter because we've become acclimated to air conditioning, and they're obscuring that fact. Temperatures reach 100 degrees below zero in the Antarctic. Cold that cracks steel doesn't melt ice. In 1946 several P-28 Lightning fighters were forced to land in Greenland. In 1986 an expedition recovered one buried under more than 250 feet of ice: a buildup, not a meltdown. Canada's frozen lakes support thousands of fully loaded semi-trucks driving over them. Pseudo scientists deviously use distorted facts to justify highly paid jobs. They always use "may," "might," "could" and "possibly" in their absurd claims of oceans rising, icecaps melting, droughts and floods. One scientist claimed trees in the Sierra Nevada have moved upslope to escape the heat - how stupid. Droughts and floods have occurred naturally throughout time. Soft-peddling unproven global warming, they're now using climate change for their scam. Presidential candidates who actually believe mere humans can change the Earth's climate are ignorant dreamers and unfit for the presidency. We better wake up to reality. The global warming scam is about seizing absolute control over our lives. The insidious Kyoto Climate Change Protocol, UN's Agenda 21, will destroy our Constitution and enslave America under UN control and the force of international law forever. ~ Dennis Ehrenberg (09/07/07)

Indoctrinating Children With Global Warming TV Shows, Movies and Books - By Warner Todd Huston - Here are chilling words for any parent to hear: "Hollywood recruits kids to fight climate change." It isn't every day that someone admits that they are basically out to indoctrinate children with an ideological position, but Helen Andrews of Politico.com reports to us just such an admission from the globaloney forces in Hollywood. Not only do they intend to brainwash our children (and already are, for that matter) with their anti-capitalist, anti-growth ideas using fuzzy animals and cartoonish figures, but they are presenting it as a "moral" issue and, just as badly, trying to convince our children that humans aren't any more special than the animals -- because, you see, kids are "an animal," too. Naturally, these globaloney pushers imagine there isn't a thing wrong with their actions despite that they are trying to inculcate political positions on unsuspecting children, undercutting their parent's ideologies, and undermining the American way of life. (09/07/07)

Just what the greens need; a new tool
New tool to fight global warming: Endangered Species Act? - A recent deal to protect the habitat of endangered coral may offer US environmentalists new leverage. Environmentalists may have gained a powerful new legal weapon to fight global warming: the Endangered Species Act. That's the fallout some expect from a settlement last week between environmentalists and the National Marine Fisheries Service. The government agency agreed to protect the "critical habitat" of elkhorn and staghorn coral, the first species to be recognized as threatened by global warming. By protecting habitat, not just species, the federal government could be in a position to fight any threats to that habitat, including possibly, global warming, some environmentalists say. While no one expects the US to stop, say, a coal-fired power plant in the Midwest to save Florida coral, the settlement does expand the leverage of the 1973 law that protects species from extinction. (09/07/07)

Sequel to Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" Announced: "The Path to Survival" - By Lynn Davidson - You knew it was coming. It was only a matter of time. Al Gore is working on a sequel to his 2006 eco-ganda film "An Inconvenient Truth," which will be called "The Path to Survival" and released on April 22, 2008, otherwise known as Earth Day. Global warming "deniers' may begin thinking of it as "An Inconvenient Truth 2: Non-Electric Boogaloo." But based on a September 5 AP article, it's not what you expect. It isn't even a film. It won't even be a hardback. Publisher Rodale Books said it will be released as a paperback original that is "(p)art-scientific manual, part expose, part visionary call for a new planet-wide political movement" and will offer "a visionary blueprint for the changes we should make as a world community." (09/07/07)

And this from Envirohack-California...
Los Angeles heat deaths to triple if global warming not - An environmental group Thursday warned that heat-related deaths in Los Angeles would triple as a result of predicted rising temperatures over the coming decades. In a report, Environment California said as many as 110 people could die each summer as the Earth warms in the next 50 years. The current annual average is 35 deaths. A recent heatwave in the city claimed 18 lives. "Make no mistake -- heat kills," said Jeremy Mills, a field associate with Environment California. "We need Congress to enact federal policy that cuts our global warming pollution to the levels that will prevent the worst effects of global warming." (09/07/07)

More "BS from the greenies over at Grist. What are they smoking over there?
Global warming: An inconvenient pain in the ass - After delaying action against climate change, Big Coal is now scheming to cash in - by Brian Beutler - For readers out there who understand the climate crisis well (I assume basically all of you), a lot of this will be recap, but today's hearing underscored how desperate the situation really is and how urgently it needs to be addressed. That urgency is a source, at least to me, of tremendous frustration. To a great extent, we've reached this point precisely because energy industries and their political patrons spent years blocking action, rejecting science, and rhetorically casting "alarmists" as cartoonish hippie-fascists. So successful were their efforts that we now face a crisis of such magnitude that the very same actors are using the urgency they created to bully lawmakers into providing them significant handouts in order to fix the problem. As my previous post points out (or was meant to point out), the bullying is proving effective. This post is a reminder that it's only effective because things look pretty dire. (09/07/07)

Peer review? What peer review? - Failures of scrutiny in the UN's Fourth Assessment Report - Written by John McLean - INTRODUCTION: The IPCC would have us believe that its reports are diligently reviewed by many hundreds of scientists and that these reviewers endorse the contents of the report. An analysis of the reviewers' comments for the scientific assessment report by Working Group I show a very different and very worrying story. The comments for Working Group I are the only set of reviewers' comments to be made available to the public, and only then thanks to use of US Freedom of Information laws rather than a willingness on the part of the IPCC to allow people to examine the material. Surely all people should be able to examine the involvement and thinking of their governments and the reviewers from their own countries because it is the people who will most certainly bear the economic and political costs of any resultant actions. Perhaps the IPCC is simply worried that exposing the reviewers' comments and the responses to those comments to close scrutiny will reveal the delusions of thoroughness and widespread consensus. Continued. Or you may download the entire report in PDF format. (09/06/07)

Researcher Demands Apology for Professional Discourtesy from Essayist Who Claimed Climate "Consensus," Reports SPPI - WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Naomi Oreskes, a historian at the University of California, San Diego, faces questions after an academic researcher formally complained to Chancellor Marye Anne Fox that Oreskes had not read a draft paper by him before thrice publicly accusing him of "misrepresentation"
(http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/schulteresponse.html), reports SPPI. In 2004 Oreskes, in a Science essay, said none of 928 abstracts of science papers on "global climate change" published between 1993 and 2003 denied the "consensus" that most recent warming was manmade. Al Gore used this finding as the basis for his statement in An Inconvenient Truth that no scientist disagreed with the consensus that "global warming" might prove catastrophic. A widely-publicized statement this week, apparently by Oreskes, said three times that Klaus-Martin Schulte, a surgeon and researcher at King's College Hospital, London, had misrepresented her. He complains she had not read his paper, which had not criticized her research, and demands an apology for professional discourtesy... (09/06/07)

From one of the mentally challenged over at Progressive U. I'll try to be slow and concise (for the progressive mental pygmies) and answer these moronic questions. I sure hope this post wasn't written by a thirteen year-old kid.
Global Warming: Why not? - By omega - Global warming: some people believe it to be true, others believe it to just be a theory and nothing more. But what if society treated it as an actual, real situation? Would there be any downside or downsides to trying to conserve energy? [On a voluntary basis, no.] Maybe it's just me, but why are people against it to begin with? Why should we have to live with all these gases constantly being pumped into the air we breathe? Sure, people have the right to disagree with it; there are scientists who believe it to be factual and also have the science to back up that claim. On the other side, there are scientists who don't believe the idea to be true, and have information to back up that claim. Why, though, does that have to mean people can still overuse non-renewable sources? [Who defines overuse?] Just because you don't believe in global warming doesn't mean you have the right to buy a huge gas-guzzling car, among other things. [Because here in the United States of America, we have the "right" to drive SUV's if we want to. That's why there's one parked in my driveway right now, as well as Al Gore's and John Edwards' driveways.] If you don't believe in it, then don't believe in it, but try to take some steps to reduce how much energy you use and all of that. I notice that much of our government doesn't consider global warming as a huge issue, many deny it, but why not? [Because not everyone in this world is as gullible as you.] Why can't we stop using certain resources right now? [Because our SUVs won't run on water yet.] Why do people still pump oil? [Because we can] Even if someone thinks that emissions don't harm our environment, oil is an earth-made resource that's running out, and will one day be gone. [And at that point, when necessity dictates it, not you, technology will provide solutions (as it always has).] Why can't we build electrically powered cars more than we do currently? [Because not enough people want them bad enough to create a demand yet. And currently in the United States, the production of electricity still requires the burning of FOSSIL FUELS because the greens have successfully stopped the construction of any more nuclear power plants which ironically, produce ZERO "greenhouse gasses".] Not for the sake of the environment, per se, but because one day there won't be any type of fuel--then what? Will we be stuck with cars that don't run on anything BUT gas? [Of course not. We already have vehicles that run on natural gas, propane, electricity, hydrogen, and yes--food. That's right, while millions of people in the third world are starving, we are going to burn food. Yes, food. That's ethanol from corn and sugar for you suffering from progressive hypocrisy syndrome.] Why do people think that by denying global warming, they have the right to continue on wasting energy? [Why do people who believe in anthropogenic (that's man-made for you progressives) global warming think they have the "right" to tell other people how to live their lives?] Why can't people say, "okay, I don't believe in global warming, but I'll do my part"? [Some do, some don't. But it's their choice. Personally, I CHOSE to replace all the light bulbs in our house (over 30 of them) with energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. But not because you think I should.] Ironically enough, the people who refuse to believe in global warming are people who want an excuse to continue using waaaay too much energy; [Really? Who decides what is "waaaay too much energy"? You? The government? The UN? Al Gore?] the people who send out carbon emissions like they're not going to feel the effects of it in the future. Maybe they won't be around for it. [None of us will be 'cause it just ain't gonna happen!] But even if nothing happens, and this is just a normal cycle of the earth (scientists who disagree with the theory say that the earth has gone through this type of cycle before humans were even here), why can't people, no matter their opinions, take steps to try and make a change? Why do people need to see proof that the world is getting worse in order to try to better it? [This is the typical convoluted green logic. It's ass backwards. Why should we give up more liberties by passing foolish legislation and raising taxes so governments can tighten their control on every aspect of our daily lives? If you go to the Doctor and he checks your heartbeat, and says he thinks you have cancer and you need chemotherapy, do you take his word based on listening to your heartbeat, or do you require "proof" before you begin injecting poison into your veins? How can we have the audacity to ask third world countries to continue to live without electricity because a bunch of kooks believe in the CO2 bogeyman? The fact is that industrialization is GOOD. Industrialization in the 20th century has saved more lives than anything in human history. People live decades longer and better lives than they did a century ago. Thanks to progress, industrialization, and the burning of fossil fuels.]
[And then there is this gem] "ProgressiveU.org is a nonpartisan social welfare organization that encourages an open discussion of current events, progressive values, and public policy priorities." Nonpartisan progressive values? Translation: left wing blog. Is there something wrong with the "L" word? I remember a time when liberals used to be proud to be called liberals. (09/06/07)

Candidate Thompson Praised for Global Warming Views - (CNSNews.com) - Free market advocates in search of a champion who will take a firm stand against draconian global warming laws, might have one in former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.), who announced his run for the presidency Wednesday on NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno." This vote of confidence comes from a Senate colleague, James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who believes the weight of scientific evidence has shifted decisively against the notion of human-induced global warming in recent years. Unfortunately, many Republican and Democratic leaders, as well as leading presidential contenders continue to push for legislation that would "shut down America" in the name of "misguided alarmism," Inhofe told Cybercast News Service. Full Story (09/06/07)

This unbelievable article is so full of misinformation and lies that it is difficult to find any truth in it at all. Old data, ridiculous assertions and alarmist rubbish compose the entire content of this nonsensical propaganda. This is a perfect example of how nimrods in the media continue to spin the public into a frenzy with utter bullshit. At least the title (though irrelevant to the content of the article itself) accurately reflects the socialist agenda of the global warming alarmist kooks.
Global Warming : Why must the poor suffer for the fault of the rich? - Dr. Md Shahjahan Ali - Global warming refers to a rise in the average land temperature around the earth. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes, "most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid 20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic green house gas concentration" which leads to warming of the surface and lower atmosphere by increasing the green house effect. IPCC predicts that global temperatures are likely to increase by 1.1 to 6.4ºC (2.0 to 11.5ºF) between 1990-2100. In recent past, global observations have provided clear evidence of climatic changes resulting from anthropogenic activities. According to a report from World Watch Institute (1992), the earth's surface was the warmest in 1990. [What? 1992? This is laughable! Maybe Dr. Ali should catch up on his reading.] Six of the seven warmest years on record have occurred since 1980. [Again, just plain not true! An outright lie. In fact, three of the five hottest years on record occurred before 1940 ] Global warming may have brought severe consequences for Bangladesh with the rise in sea level by up to one meter by the turn of the next century and, as is being predicted, between 10-17 percent of our total land mass will be submerged. More than ten million people will be worst sufferer. Forest agriculture, infrastructures, coastal aquaculture and flora and fauna would be severely damaged. The rest of this pathetic article is no better. You can read it for yourself. (09/06/07)

More Global Warming Baloney - Last night I watched about 15 minutes of Nova on PBS. It seems that there is a scientific consensus that Anthropogenic Global Warming is real. And that it's going to be really, really bad. I just have this to say about that: Arrrrgggghhhh!!!! We're all going to die!!!! It seems that we've been lulled into complacency by Solar Dimming. (No s***. I couldn't make this up.) The True Impact of AGW has actually been disguised, you see, because the sun has been getting dimmer. And if it undims itself, look out, Nellie! To make matters worse, all our efforts to clean the atmosphere of particulate matter have removed a significant factor of negative forcing (am I getting the jargon right, pliny?) In other words, by clarifying the atmosphere, we've actually accelerated Global Warming. Ooops... (09/06/07)

Global warming is an illusion - To The Editor: The following are excerpts from a lecture by S. Fred Singer, professor emeritus of environmental sciences, University of Virginia: "Human activities aren't influencing the global climate in a perceptible way. Climate will continue to change, as it always has in the past, warming and cooling on different time scales and for different reasons, regardless of human action. I would also argue that -- should it occur -- a modest warming would be on the whole beneficial. "This isn't to say that we don't face a serious problem. But the problem is political. Because of the mistaken idea that governments can and must do something about climate, pressures are building that have the potential of distorting energy policies in a way that will severely damage national economies, decrease standards of living, and increase poverty. This misdirection of resources will adversely affect human health and welfare in industrialized nations, and even more developing nations. "The widely touted 'consensus' of 2,500 scientists on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is an illusion: Most of the panelists have no scientific qualifications and many of the others object to some part of the IPCC's report." Complete August lecture transcript is at www.hillsdale.edu. Jerome "Jack" Lorenz, Mills River (09/06/07)

Global Warming Lie of the Day - By James Lewis - We're used to reporters making up scare stories about global warming, but when scientists start to make up "drop dead" headlines, things must really be getting desperate in the climate game. But yesterday, we were told that you'll get a heart attack from global warming. Fortunately, we can look up the original research on the National Library of Science website, and waddayaknow? People die of heart attacks whenever it's really hot. Or when it is really cold!... (09/06/07)

Verandas And Global Warming - After recent presidential debates, author Michael Barone noted that the Republicans want to fight terrorism and the Democrats want to fight global warming. If only the terrorists caused global warming, there could be great unity in the nation. However, the epic struggle against global warming is only carried by some liberals so far - and the line they draw is their personal convenience. Many rich liberals are causing concern and anger among environmentalists and fellow liberals because of their opposition to an offshore windfarm on Nantucket Sound. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., is among the prominent opponents, as is his nephew, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who has been one of the loudest voices on the environmental left. Although 84 percent of the people in Massachusetts favor it, according to columnist Froma Harrop, the wind farm "has been frustrated at every turn by a handful of yachtsmen, Kennedy included, who don't want to see windmills from their verandas. Many millions have been spent spreading disinformation and smearing the wind farm's supporters." Liberals smearing opponents? That just can't be. Ms. Harrop must be mistaken. This fight has been chronicled in the book "Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics and the Battle for Our Energy Future on Nantucket Sound," by Wendy Williams and Robert Whitcomb. Mr. Whitcomb is an editor at The Providence Journal. The wind farm war even had a Virginia connection. Apparently, Sen. John Warner attached a rider to an Iraq War funding bill in 2004 that forbade the Army Corps of Engineers from spending money on offshore wind projects. But a resultant outcry forced the senator to withdraw the rider. So why was a Virginia senator concerned about a Massachusetts project? The book's authors note that Sen. Warner has some very rich relatives who live on Nantucket Sound. Still, it's interesting to know that liberals like Edward Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, Jr., will carry the fight against global warming to any length - as long as it doesn't disturb the view from their verandas. (09/06/07)

Doom and gloom enviro-propaganda video...pure bullshit. Tough to sit through but recommenced. This is relevant coming on the heels of Steve Outing's article calling for journalists to abandon objectivity in favor of advocacy in regards to global warming. It now seems that advocates of the CO2 bogeyman in the sky have declared war on all opposition and rational thought of any kind.
How Does the Media Cover Global Warming? - The Society of Environmental Journalists is holding its seventeenth annual conference at Stanford University this week. We take a look at how the issue of global warming is being covered in the media with two leading environmental journalists, Tim Wheeler of the Baltimore Sun and Jim Motavalli of E, The Environmental Magazine. Audio and video available. (09/06/07)

Poor Greenies. I guess they just can't brainwash everyone.
Bush, Howard and Global Warming: Full of Hot Air? - Nuclear Energy, Global Warming, Economic Development And Other Words From The APEC Summit - President Bush and Australian Prime Minister John Howard had a lot to agree about at this week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Sydney, where the 21 member economies, including China and Russia, met for discussions. They want nuclear power to be a fundamental part of the strategy for a low-emission economy that doesn't exacerbate global warming. "If you truly care about greenhouse gases, then you'll support nuclear power," Bush was quoted as saying in the West Australian. [Good! That statement is 100% true.] And they want only non-binding pollution targets to curtail emissions of greenhouse gases, the fuel for the climate fire. [Again, good! The US and Australia are sovereign nations and should not be "bullied" into acting contrary to the best interest of their own people.] Howard tried to make the APEC meeting a forum for advancing that goal, which Bush first articulated this summer. Bush plans to host a meeting designed to further that framework, at the same time the United Nations is working on a post-Kyoto Protocol set of binding targets. The United States and Australia were the largest and richest [and obviously smartest] countries to reject Kyoto. [...] And Australia's commitment to economic partnership above all suggests it's along for the ride. The U.S.-Australian commitment to not committing to greenhouse gas reduction - contrary to Europe and the rest of the industrialized world - suggests there's a long way to go before we find consensus on a sustainable path forward that doesn't wreck the climate in the name of economic growth. Greenpeace wrote the whole it off as hot air. [Wow. In this case I would have to agree with Greenpeace. In fact, the fundamental concepts and goals of the Kyoto Protocol itself is nothing but hot air.] All the talk about taking action to combat global warming, the group said, amounted to "a political stunt" to mask the desire to do nothing at all. Despite W's recent "apparent" about-face on climate change publicity, does anyone really think that he is dumb enough to buy into the entire catastrophic anthropogenic global warming garbage? In lieu of the 2 hour conversation I had with one of my best friends whom I consider to be a very accomplished, successful and extremely intelligent person, the answer is a surprising yes. The bottom line is that the Kyoto Protocol, even if all the nations met their targets would do absolutely nothing to reduce global warming in any significant way. Many nations are either not meeting their targets, (in other words breaking their commitment) or pulling out completely. Interestingly enough in this report titled "Who's meeting their Kyoto targets? May 2006", Canadian climate alarmist David Suzuki states:
"Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Environment Minister Rona Ambrose claim that none or few countries that signed on to the Kyoto Protocol will meet their emission reduction targets. However, these claims are largely false. Most developed countries are on track to meeting their Kyoto targets. Some countries have already surpassed their Kyoto targets. A few countries, like Canada, have much work to do between now and 2012 to meet their target".
To bolster his claim, Suzuki continues by listing only 41 of the 169 countries that ratified Kyoto. Of the 41 countries he lists, (list includes Australia Canada and US) more than half, 24 of them were not on target to meet their Kyoto Goals and only 17 were. China, now having surpassed the US as the worlds largest producer of "greenhouse gases" is not listed. They were also one of those "smart countries" that never signed on. (09/06/07)

Global warming not our most pressing issue - By Christina Dinella, Teen Council - "Shocking." "Eye opening." "A life-changing experience." These are a few responses to Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth. But has the film really caused people to change their lifestyles? The film is also being called "terrifying and disturbing." Are we equally disturbed by catastrophic deaths due to AIDS and genocide in Africa? Are we similarly alarmed by the 52 homicides that occurred in our own city just last year? Doesn't it make sense to put more effort into addressing current issues than speculating about the dangers of the future? We can respect our environment while attending to the immediate issues that threaten people today. Media sources often refer to the "scientific consensus of global warming," But what exactly does this mean? While observational evidence has, in fact, confirmed the earth's warming trend, scientists are far from unanimous in proclaiming a message of certain doom. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the earth experienced an increase in average global temperature between .3 and .6 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 100 years. The panel predicts that the earth will warm between 1.5 and 6 degrees in the coming century. This 400 percent variability rate clearly shows that this is an approximate and uncertain science. Even if we assume a worst-case scenario, 6 degrees seems like a far cry from worldwide disaster. After all, 6 degrees is the difference in temperature between New York and Chicago, and that doesn't exactly seem like a crisis... (09/06/07)

Hilarious, and still unbelievably ironic! This is a must-read follow-up to this story from yesterday.
Wrong Way Flanagan Trapped in Arctic Ice Takes Time Out to Attack Humble NewsBusters Correspondent - By P.J. Gladnick - I guess Adrian "Wrong Way" Flanagan is less than pleased with the blog posted here yesterday by your humble NewsBusters correspondent. Whilst trapped by arctic ice, Wrong Way has taken time out from his travails to attack Yours Truly on his Alpha Global Expedition Blog entry tenderly titled, Spot the Moron... (09/05/07)

Hollywood recruits kids to fight climate change - By: Helena Andrews - Hit the sticks, Smokey. Snook - along with Mumble, Nanu and Cody - is the new furry friend globally warming the hearts and minds of kids across the country. As Mother Earth stuffs the ballot box in the contest for pop culture prom queen with successful films like "Happy Feet," "Arctic Tale" and "Surf's Up," experts say environmental issues are following the burn pattern of the forest fire, making this generation's children more nature-friendly and raising their environmental awareness. "Children have always been very sensitive to the plight of animals - way back to 'Bambi,'" explained Dave Walsh, president of the National Institute on Media and the Family, a research and advocacy organization based in Minneapolis that studies the impact of media on children's behavior. (09/05/07)

Al Gore readying new environmental book - NEW YORK (AP) -- For those frightened by the tale of global warming in Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, and wondering what can be done, the former vice president has an answer: a sequel. (09/05/07)

Global Warming Update - From the Wall Street Journal yesterday: "Israel-Bashing," and climate hysteria in the European parliament. Now, get this. The only thing that matters here is the last paragraph of this story by Daniel Schwammenthal. "There was Clare Short, a member of the British Parliament and Secretary for International Development under Prime Minister Tony Blair until she resigned in 2003 over the Iraq war. Claiming that Israel is actually 'much worse than the original apartheid state' and accusing it of 'killing (Palestinian) political leaders,' Ms. Short charged the Jewish state with the ultimate crime: Israel 'undermines the international community's reaction to global warming.' According to Ms. Short, the Middle East conflict distracts the world from the real problem: man-made climate change. If extreme weather will lead to the 'end of the human race,' as Ms. Short warned it could, add this to the list of the crimes of Israel." Israel, by wiping out the Palestinians, is distracting people from the real problem facing the earth, global warming... (09/05/07)

Flacks for alarmists - By Bob Carter - THE question of press bias about global warming is in the news again. Writing in the Japan Times, Christopher Lingle asks "What's up with the journalists in the mainstream media?", adding that "reporting on issues relating to global warming has become strikingly one-sided".
Things have in fact come to such a pass that Newsweek recently equated global warming sceptics (itself a derogatory term for climate rationalist scientists who give priority to factual evidence over speculative computer models) with Holocaust deniers (yes, again), and accused them of being in the pay of Big Oil or Big Coal (yes, again). The unoriginality and ad hominem nature of such silly accusations, which are fuelled by trashy websites like Exxon's Secrets, DeSmogBlog and SourceWatch, have become tiresome. [...]The BBC's "line" is self-evident to any independent and trained scientist who watches its coverage. It is to reproduce, without a trace of critical analysis, the alarmist utterances of a bevy of self-interested, self-perpetuating scientists and science agencies, environmental pressure groups and "significant" politicians (Tony Blair, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Bob Brown), while at the same time ignoring or paying the most passing of lip service to any independent scientists or "insignificant" politicians (President Vaclav Klaus, Czech Republic; Senator James Inhofe, US Senate; Dennis Jensen, Australian Parliament) who try to inject some critical analysis into the debate. (09/06/07)

Another bullshit headline
Wet summer weather result of global warming - By Jeff Turner, News Reporter [Really?News Reporter?] - Texas' wet summer stood in stark contrast to the triple-digit temperatures of the summer of 2006. Scientists are now saying both summers of unusual weather are products of global warming. [Really? Scientists? Or Environmental Groups like the progressive political arm of the Sierra Club, the USPIRG?] A report released during the summer by an Austin-based non-profit ecological protection group, Environment Texas, [Environment Texas? Reason enough to stop reading right there. Who is Environment Texas?] said the warmer-than-normal temperatures of 2006, and this year's wetter-than-normal weather, indicates global warming. The report found in 2006, Austin experienced 147 days where the temperature hit 90 degrees or more, 38 days more than the historical average. 2006 was the second warmest year on record for the lower 48 states. This year, the southwestern U.S. is experiencing more precipitation and less severe storms than the summer of 2006. [less severe?] The National Hurricane Center listed five hurricanes and four tropical storms in the Atlantic last year, while 2007 has experienced two hurricanes and three tropical storms. Does this data indicate continued global warming? [No!] Pieter Tans, chief scientist of Climate Monitoring at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, does not think this is necessarily the case. "One of the expectations is more extreme events," Tans said. "But I don't think that extreme events by themselves are the best indicator of global warming." Tans said the climatic differences between 2006 and 2007 are not concrete proof global warming is destabilizing weather patterns, but he does consider the warming a major concern. So what's with the headline Mr. "News Reporter"? (09/05/07)

Chill Out is back! - By Kristin Kranendonk - Are you tackling global warming on campus? Then you need to Chill Out! National Wildlife Federation's Chill Out: Campus Solutions to Global Warming competition is back and its bigger than ever! Win prizes and get noticed with the nation's only annual global warming solutions contest. Global warming is a solvable problem. How do we know? Because we've seen what colleges and universities are doing to solve it. Actually, it's the collegiate mush-heads at college campuses that perpetuate the nonexistent "problem" by continuing to indoctrinate students with their socialist propaganda, preaching the existence of the CO2 Boogey Man. (09/06/07)

The Return of Toilet Man - By John Stossel - "Don't bother debating with John Stossel and the libertarians. They are worst than Republicans." That's a comment from climateprogress.org, Joe Romm's blog about global warming. It was a reaction to C-SPAN's coverage of an Independent Women's Forum (IWF) discussion on energy policy that I moderated last week. Romm was the star of the event. I didn't recognize him until he reminded me I'd interviewed him a decade ago. Then I remembered he was "toilet man." That's what I called him privately when he was the energy department bureaucrat under President Clinton who defended the government's demand that all of us buy "low-flow" showerheads and "water-saving" toilets. I did a "Give Me a Break" segment on that for "20/20" mocking the endless rule-making process, which somehow concluded that exactly 1.6 gallons is all every toilet needs. I interviewed people who were so unhappy with their new toilets that they were combing junkyards for old ones, or going to Canada to buy them, because 1.6 gallons doesn't always get the job done. Homeowners and apartment managers kept telling me, "The toilets don't work!" (09/05/07)

Global warming faces popular backlash - By Thomas Lifson - Further evidence that global warming enthusiasts have jumped the shark comes with the box office disaster experienced by Leonardo DiCaprio's film 11th Hour. Roger Friedman of Foxnews.com reports (hat tip: Drudge):
"The 11th Hour," has been a total bust at the box office. After 18 days in release, the film has grossed only $417,913 from ticket sales. The 90-minute snore-fest is playing on 111 screens this week, but that number is likely to be reduced this Friday. The film will be sent to DVD heaven after that.
By comparison, Al Gore and Davis Guggenheim's similar but far more engaging "An Inconvenient Truth" had already made $3.5 million by its 18th day of release.
I hesitated to say before "11th Hour" actually opened how mind-numbingly dull it was for fear that I would ruin it for those interested in the subject of global warming. But at Cannes, when the film by Nadia Conners and Leila Conners Petersen was shown to journalists, nearly the entire room fell asleep. [boldface in original]
It is very kind of Mr. Friedman to admit that he withheld his true estimation of the film out of sympathy for the goal of raising alarm over global warming. He joins Steve Outing writing in the trade magazine Editor & Publisher in acknowledging abandoning normal journalistic standards in order to act as propagandists for this scare campaign. (09/05/07)

You have got to be kidding...
Half-price Big Mac to fight global warming proves big hit in Japan - TOKYO (AFP) - A Japanese government website crashed Wednesday as people raced to take up an offer of a half-price McDonald's hamburger in exchange for pledging to fight global warming. The Japanese unit of the US burger giant Tuesday offered a Big Mac for 150 yen (1.3 dollars), about half the normal price, to anyone demonstrating a commitment to preventing climate change. People were asked to check up to 39 boxes on a form they could download from the environment ministry's website, each listing a way of reducing carbon dioxide emissions blamed for global warming. (09/05/07)

More absurdity
Global warming could mean more heart problems, doctors warn - The Associated Press - VIENNA, Austria: Global warming may be forcing polar bears southward and melting glaciers, but it could also have an impact on your heart. Doctors warn that the warmer weather expected with climate change might also produce more heart problems. "If it really is a few degrees warmer in the next 50 years, we could definitely have more cardiovascular disease," said Dr. Karin Schenck-Gustafsson, of the department of cardiology at Sweden's Karolinska Institute. (09/05/07)

More on the Shasta Glacier originally posted on Monday here
Glaciers Media Will Never Report - By Noel Sheppard - As the media focus continued attention on supposedly receding glaciers in Greenland, they conveniently ignore those right here in America that are actually expanding. Adding insult to injury, as prominent California congresswomen House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-California) travel abroad to laughingly see evidence of global warming, they could drive north of their residences in the San Francisco Bay Area - with an entourage of gushing media sycophants of course - to see evidence that goes counter to their alarmist theories. In fact, as reported by Sacramento's CBS affiliate Sunday, glaciers on California's Mount Shasta have grown by 30 percent in the past 50 years (video available here): (09/05/07)

Out of class action on global warming and Iraq - By Anna Patty, Education Editor - SEVERAL hundred students skipped school yesterday to attend a protest rally against George Bush, global warming and the Iraq war. Defying an Education Department directive not to attend the rally, at Belmore Park opposite Central Station, speakers defended their democratic right to free speech against "intimidation" from the department, police and both sides of government. Ben Knutsen from St Marys High School addressed the rally saying he "walked out of school because I hate George Bush and John Howard", their policies on the Iraq war and their failure to sign the Kyoto protocol. Rainee Lyleson, a year 9 student at Mosman High School, said climate change was the major concern for her generation and money spent on the Australian military could be better spent on education. Her mother, Lisa Peers, who in her younger days protested against the Vietnam War, said she was inspired by her 15-year-old daughter's passion for a cause. "I think it's a good idea to attend the protest because it is really important for people to care about the world they live in," Ms Peers said. A spokeswoman for the Minister for Education, John Della Bosca, said students had been expected to attend school yesterday because it was the safest place to be. Five girls in red bikini tops and a bumbled television stunt interrupted the otherwise peaceful rally. The girls, carrying placards, were there to advertise a men's magazine while the ABC-TV Chaser team's Chris Taylor was forced to undress after impersonating a police officer. The NSW Assistant Police Commissioner, Denis Clifford, praised the protesters for their peaceful behaviour. He said six young people were spoken to and their school principals notified. I wonder if there were any peace signs or tie-died shirts. (09/05/07)

Global-warming believers fear an honest debate - By Debra J. Saunders, San Francisco Chronicle - Newsweek's global-warming cover story purports to reveal the "well-coordinated, well-funded campaign by contrarian scientists, free-market think tanks and industry" that for the past two decades "has created a paralyzing fog of doubt around climate change." It's the same story run repeatedly in mainstream media: The overwhelming majority of scientists believe the debate on global warming is over - but if there are any dissenting scientists left, they've been bought. Here's the rub: If dissent is so rare, why do global-warming conformists feel the strong need to argue that minority views should be dismissed as nutty or venal? Why not posit that there is such a thing as honest disagreement on the science? As for the overwhelming majority of scientists believing that man is behind global warming, former NASA scientist Roy Spencer, now at the University of Alabama, told me: "It's like an urban legend. There has never been any kind of vote on this issue." He referred me to a 2003 survey in which two German environmental scientists asked more than 530 climate scientists from 27 countries if they thought humans caused climate change: Fifty-six percent answered yes, 30 percent said no. (09/05/07)

Author Debunks Numerous Popular Myths About Global Warming - This is a rush transcript from "Hannity & Colmes," September 4, 2007. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: Our next guest's new book debunks numerous popular myths about global warming, such as sea levels rising, decreasing polar bear populations and the recent increase of hurricanes, all of which Al Gore sells as gospel in his movie, "Inconvenient Truth." Joining us now is Bjorn Lomborg. He is the author of the brand new book, "Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming." And by the way, it's also the man that Al Gore refused to debate. We've heard you on the program. Why wouldn't he debate you? (09/05/07)

Excellent
Sailing into deep waters - By Andrew Bolt - MICHAELA Stubbs beamed euphorically for the television cameras, like a girl who won't be made to clean up the bedroom she's had such fun messing. What a hoot! What joy for any of our underparented activists. You see, behind this excited Friends of the Earth campaigner, police were still cutting free one of four of her fellow protesters who'd chained themselves to conveyer belts at the giant Loy Yang power station, forcing shut downs which cut the state's power by 10 per cent. The plant's operators were losing hundreds of thousands of dollars, but what did Stubbs care when this stunt won her this brilliant chance to preach on TV about global warming? Someone else would pay, right? Nor did she seem in the least bit bothered that some security guys at the plant might now lose their jobs. As Lenin said, you can't make a revolution without breaking eggs! What's some bloke's job compared with giving Michaela Stubbs this chance to get her face -- evangelical eyes shiny with self-love -- on your television screen for 30 sermonising seconds? (09/05/07)

Crossword Puzzle - Tuesday - By Steve McIntyre - The question today is: how does Hansen calculate quarterly and annual averages when there are missing values? It's not obvious. The issue arose in the previous puzzle in trying to calculate Hansen's adjustment prior to combining scribal versions. Essentially what happens as reported in the prior post is that when there is a missing value, Hansen estimates the missing value (without doing the obvious thing and uses the available reading from a different version.) His estimates typically differ a lot from the actual value. He then says - aha, there is a bias between these versions and adjusts everything down. As noted, Praha Dec 1986 is missing from one version and is 1.4 deg C in another version. Hansen then estimates the missing value at -3.6 deg C, a value of no less than 5 deg C lower than the actual value. There are 48 months in common, so he then concludes that the average bias is -0.1 deg C and adjusts all early Praha values down by 0.1 deg C. It sounds pretty absurd when written down. The methodology is not reported in the publications that NASA spokesman Gavin Schmidt has said to contain a comprehensive description of calculations. Today's puzzle: how did Hansen estimate Dec 1986 temperatures at Praha at -5 deg C (and other similar estimates)? (09/04/07)

ROFLMFAO! As regular readers of this site may know, I am an avid sailboat racer so I had a little more interest in this story than the average person. But you don't have to be a yachtsman to appreciate the irony here...
British Yachtsman Who Counted On Global Warming to Cross Arctic Now Trapped by Ice - By P.J. Gladnick - In one of the most hilarious cases of being tripped up by dubious scientific hype, British yachtsman Adrian Flanagan attempted to be the first to sail across the arctic north of Russia. He based his hope on the fact that he believed in the Global Warming propaganda that the arctic is rapidly losing its ice thus making his trip possible. One little problem. Cold cruel reality has crushed the Global Warming hype and now Flanagan's boat is trapped by ice in the arctic. To add to the irony, Flanagan who seems to be destined to go down in history as Wrong Way Flanagan, is now pleading with Russian authorities to provide him with the services of a nuclear powered icebreaker to get him out of his embarrassing situation. As recently as August 18, Wrong Way Flanagan's hopes were still high that he could sail across the arctic north of Russia. Moscow News announced his trip in an article ironically titled, Global Warming is Here. (09/04/07)

Still LMAO!
Ice blocks British solo sailor - A BRITISH yachtsman attempting the first solo Arctic sea passage across northern Russia was examining his options after heavier than expected ice blocked his route, his manager said. Adrian Flanagan is discussing with Russian authorities the possibility of using a nuclear-powered icebreaker to lift his boat out of the water and carry it round the most icebound stretch of Russia's Northern Sea Route. "Basically it just means we're putting plan B into operation so if the worst comes to the worst and there isn't a break in the weather, we've got a plan," Louise Flanagan, his manager and ex-wife said from Britain. The 46-year-old entered the eastern end of the treacherous sea route that stretches from Asia to Europe across northern Russia in late July. He had hoped that his 11m reinforced yacht would be able to get all the way to Europe due to lighter ice conditions observed in recent years, thought to be a result of global warming. But after making his way through the Chukchi, East Siberian and Laptev Seas, Flanagan has been forced to a halt by heavy ice at the most difficult point in the route, the Vilkitsky Strait. The voyage, part of a circumnavigation of the globe that he is undertaking, comes amid a dash by world powers to claim economic rights in the Arctic. Flanagan is now anchored by an island just east of the Vilkitsky Strait, still hoping for the ice to clear but working on the backup plan, his manager said. She described the yachtsman's mood as "pretty fed-up". (09/04/07)

Just Chill - As global warming messages are gaining momentum, one author tells us to cool it. - By Susan Cosier - Bjorn Lomborg says he wants to help humanity and the environment. He believes there are ways to prevent needless deaths from extreme temperature, malaria, and floods - problems often associated with a warming planet. And while he admits that global warming is real, he argues that many people are exaggerating its consequences and blowing the issue out of proportion. (09/04/07)

Let 'em feel heat of their fallacy: Global warming zealots, just chill - Skeptics of the Al Gore School of "We're All Gonna Die" Climate Panic often refer to global warming as a religion. Close, but not quite. It's more like a cult - a suicide cult. It's tempting (pardon the pun) to compare global warming alarmists to religious zealots because, like the devout, the beliefs of global panic kooks are impervious to reason. When NASA's erroneous temperature readings were recently corrected, revealing no measurable change in temperature since 1998, global alarmists were, well, alarmed. (Aren't they always?) And, like the religious, climate-change cultists can make any set of facts fit within their belief system. Iain Murray at the Competitive Enterprise Institute quotes a report from LiveScience in June 2005 that "Since the late 1960s, much of the North Atlantic Ocean has become less salty, in part due to global warming." (09/04/07)

Global Warming Blasphemy - By John Campbell [congressman] - Global warming has become a religion for many back here in Washington. To this crowd, there are no greater or more urgent problems anywhere. They worship at the alter of carbon generation and reduction. To them, the great crime of Al Gore Jr. was that at 100 mph, the electric engine on his Prius was not operating and he was laying down the carbon footprint of at least a 6-cylinder engine. What I am about to say will be blasphemy to the religion of global warming. I do not think we should spend money solely to address this issue. Now, before you excommunicate me from the ranks of human beings, allow me to explain... (09/04/07)

Pope Urges Catholics to Go Green - The leader of the world's largest church is urging Catholics to become environmentalists. During an open-air mass in Loreto, Italy on Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI told 500,000 worshippers that it was "up to them to save the planet from development that had often ignored 'nature's delicate equilibrium,'" according to an Associated Press report. "Before it's too late, we need to make courageous choices that will recreate a strong alliance between man and Earth," Benedict said in his homily. "We need a decisive 'yes' to care for creation and a strong commitment to reverse those trends that risk making the situation of decay irreversible." USA Today reported earlier this year that The Vatican planned to become the first "carbon neutral" sovereign state by planting trees to absorb its carbon dioxide emissions. In May, Catholic Online reported that the Vatican believes that "Global warming threatens world's security, existence." But the Catholic Church also opposes limits on carbon dioxide that might impede the economic growth of poor countries. And it is against artificial means of birth control, which could limit greenhouse gas emissions by limiting the Earth's human population. (09/04/07)

Global warming tie to hurricanes Dean and Felix unclear - By Michael Christie - MIAMI (Reuters) - Despite growing consensus that global warming may spawn stronger tropical cyclones, weather experts believe it is too soon to blame climate change for the unprecedented punch of back-to-back monster hurricanes. [...] "My guess is that the high intensities of Dean and Felix had more to do with when and where they formed and tracked than with global warming per se," said Kerry Emanuel, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor of meteorology who has published ground-breaking research on the subject. "But it is true that the theoretical (wind) speed limit in the tropical Atlantic is about 10 percent higher now than it was 15 years ago, and that may indeed be a contributing factor." Weather experts said the similar paths taken by Dean and Felix was the result of a persistent high pressure weather system, usually located further northeast around Bermuda but now positioned over Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. No matter how many times the idiots over at Grist repeat it...it still ain't so! (09/04/07)

AIM Report: Flip-Flop: From Global Cooling to Warming - By Roger Aronoff* - ...The extremists committed to the man-made global warming theory-that humans are causing the world to get hotter and that we have to drastically raise taxes and/or ration energy in response-are on the run. How else does one explain the sensational Newsweek cover story with the provocative headline, "Global Warming is a Hoax,*" over a photo of a boiling sun? Newsweek, a Washington Post property, claims to be telling us "The Truth About Denial," and to make sure everyone gets the point, it uses some form of the word "denial" 20 times, including "denial machine" 14 times. The article, which is the worst kind of advocacy journalism, is a shoddy attempt to suggest that those opposed to the theory are like holocaust deniers. (09/04/07)

Are Europeans Really 'Greener' Than Americans? Reuters Report Suggests No - By Pam Meister - Americans are often exhorted to be more like Europeans in the environmental department. We're told to buy less! Leave the SUV at home and ride your bike more often, or take public transport! Fix old appliances rather than replace them! And of course, environmentalists constantly whine that the U.S. government has yet to ratify the Kyoto protocol like our more enlightened continental friends. Yet it seems that perhaps the Europeans aren't quite as concerned about being green as our media and other global warming cheerleaders purport them to be. Reuters reported yesterday that at IFA, a huge consumer electronics fair being held in Berlin through September 5th, consumers were more interested in how big and bright television screens were than how green the electronics companies are striving to be. Among the exhibitors displaying "green credentials" at IFA are Philips, Sharp, and Fujitsu-Siemens, with the latter citing a Greenpeace study that said environmental concerns were third on the list of important attributes for buyers. But it looks like attendees at IFA didn't get the memo... (09/04/07)

ABC Recycles Story Blaming Global Warming for Recent Hurricane Intensity - By Brad Wilmouth - History seemed to repeat itself on Monday's World News with Charles Gibson, as substitute anchor Dan Harris introduced a story, filed by ABC correspondent John Berman, which highlighted the view of "some scientists" that global warming is responsible for an increase in the number of category 4 and 5 hurricanes in recent decades. Not only did the same Harris/Berman team file a similar story over two years ago on the July 9, 2005 show, then known as World News Tonight, but Monday's report also recycled soundbites of two scientists from the earlier story. Berman, from Monday September 3: "Across the globe, the number of category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled over the past 30 years. Some scientists say the cause is global warming." Notably, two years ago on the July 15, 2005 World News Tonight, ABC's Jeffrey Kofman filed a story dismissing the influence of global warming, contradicting Berman's July 9 story from the previous week. (09/04/07)

Dams Cause Global Warming - By Noel Sheppard - Now here's a story the climate change obsessed media can really sink their teeth into: a Berkeley, California, based environmental group claims that dams all around the world are adding to global warming. If you're keeping score, this means we can't use heating oil or coal to produce energy to heat and/or light our homes. They killed nuclear power. Now they want to ban all hydro-electric facilities. Just how far back into the Stone Age must we go to save the planet? (09/04/07)

Get ready to bend over America...
3 court cases for climate change - Even without a nationwide greenhouse gas law, environmental groups are going after polluters for causing global warming. - By Steve Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer - NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Forget all the talk lately about whether Congress will regulate carbon dioxide - a gas generated from burning fossil fuels and one of the main culprits behind global warming. Several individuals and environmental groups are using laws already on the books in an attempt to force polluters to change their ways. "There are laws in place now that can address this," reads the home page of Climatelaw.org, a web site devoted to tracking global warming cases worldwide. "It is illegal under international law for one State to cause harm to another State. "It is illegal under domestic law in many countries for polluters to cause nuisances to the public and to market defective products, and damages must be paid," the site says... (09/04/07)

New Forecast for Climate Debate - Consensus on Emission Cuts Takes Shape, but Debate Turns to Who Will Pay - By JEFFREY BALL - A consensus that the world should pursue vastly bigger cuts in fossil-fuel emissions is likely to emerge from a flurry of global-warming diplomacy in coming weeks. Negotiators touted that view at a climate conference last week in Austria, and they are likely to echo it at other gatherings this autumn. But that merely tees up the real debate: Who will pay for the cuts? (09/04/07)

It's Cool in Here - Lomborgian guidance - By Jonathan H. Adler - Bjorn Lomborg is back, and his critics will not be happy. In 2001, the Danish statistician published The Skeptical Environmentalist, an optimistic assessment of global environmental trends that provoked intense controversy and debate. His data-driven challenge to the "Litany" of environmental pessimism incited vitriolic attacks from environmentalist doomsayers. Malthusian environmental activists sought to discount his message, accusing Lomborg of "scientific dishonesty" and, in one case, throwing a pie in his face. Such tactics failed to accomplish anything but increase Lomborg's notoriety and boost book sales. (09/04/07)

WHAT? GLACIERS GETTING BIGGER? How can that be?
Mount Shasta Glaciers Defy Global Warming, Grow - By John Iander - MOUNT SHASTA The debate over global warming has taken a pretty odd twist in Northern California. Up on Mount Shasta, the glaciers are not behaving like you'd expect. Big mountains often produce their own weather patterns. Mount Shasta, at 14,162 feet seems to have a mind of its own these days. Shasta has seven glaciers. The biggest is the one on the middle, Whitney Glacier. What has surprised scientists about the glacier is that if the theories about global warming are true, the glacier ought to be shrinking, but it's not. "Unlike most areas around the world, these glaciers are advancing, they are growing. Thirty percent in the last fifty years," says scientist Erik White. (09/03/07)

Polar bears 'thriving as the Arctic warms up' - By Fred Langan in Toronto and Tom Leonard - Pictures of a polar bear floating precariously on a tiny iceberg have become the defining image of global warming but may be misleading, according to a new study. A survey of the animals' numbers in Canada's eastern Arctic has revealed that they are thriving, not declining, because of mankind's interference in the environment. In the Davis Strait area, a 140,000-square kilometre region, the polar bear population has grown from 850 in the mid-1980s to 2,100 today. "There aren't just a few more bears. There are a hell of a lot more bears," said Mitch Taylor, a polar bear biologist who has spent 20 years studying the animals. His findings back the claims of Inuit hunters who have long claimed that they were seeing more bears. "Scientific knowledge has demonstrated that Inuit knowledge was right," said Mr Taylor. (09/03/07)

Brits Believe Government Using Global Warming Hysteria to Raise Taxes - By Noel Sheppard - If a survey found that the overwhelming majority of Americans believe lawmakers are using global warming hysteria to raise taxes, would the climate change obsessed media report it? Highly doubtful, wouldn't you agree? Well, Britain's Daily Mail published an article Monday that seems quite unlikely any major U.S. press outlet would dare cover for fear of contradicting the media meme of the debate being over concerning this controversial issue: (09/03/07)

Looney Mooney's rubbish over at Ariana's place begins with this ridiculous headline:
Here We Go Again: Global Warming and Hurricane Felix - By Chris Mooney - Yet the words "global warming" appear only once in his article, besides the title:
Now repeat after me, kids: No single hurricane says anything definitive about global warming.
And there's this:
Indeed, every Atlantic hurricane so far this year has been a Category 5. This is accurate of course but a bit trivial if not misleading. To get to the letter "F" you have to have a total of six storms. Well there have been six named storms and only two of them have reached hurricane status, Dean and Felix. And those both reached category 5. But following Katrina, the signature event of the 2005 season, we heard the same alarms for the 2006 season that never materialized, and the 2007 season. The 2006 forecast was revised downward several times and turned out to be uneventful. So far, 2007 is following suit.
From Wikipedia:
On December 8, 2006, Klotzbach's team issued its first extended-range forecast for the 2007 season, predicting above-average activity (14 named storms, 7 hurricanes, 3 of Category 3 or higher). The team predicted a high potential for at least one major hurricane to directly impact the United States: the forecast indicated a 64% chance of at least one major hurricane striking the U.S. mainland, which included a 40% chance of at least one major hurricane strike on the East Coast of the United States including the Florida peninsula, and a 40% chance of at least one major hurricane strike on the Gulf Coast of the United States from the Florida Panhandle westward. The potential for major hurricane activity in the Caribbean was forecast to be above average, and the team predicted El Niño to dissipate by the active portion of the season.
On April 3 a new forecast was issued, calling for a very active hurricane season of 17 named storms, 9 hurricanes and 5 intense hurricanes. In my opinion, this was revised upward as a result of the alarmism surrounding the February release of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report for Policy Makers. The increase in the forecast was attributed to the rapid dissipation of El Niño conditions. The team also forecast a neutral or weak-to-moderate La Niña for the hurricane season, and noted that sea-surface temperatures were much higher than long-term averages. The potential for at least one major hurricane impacting the U.S. was increased to 74%, with the U.S. East Coast potential increased to 50% and from the Florida Panhandle westward to Brownsville, Texas increased to 49%. However, Klotzbach noted that while they were calling for an active season, it was not forecast to be "as active as the 2004 and 2005 seasons".
On May 22, 2007, NOAA released their pre-season forecast for the 2007 season. They predicted 13 to 17 named storms, with 7 to 10 becoming hurricanes, and 3 to 5 becoming major hurricanes.
On June 19, 2007, The United Kingdom Met Office released predictions for the remainder of the season based on a new prediction model. The Met Office predicted 10 named storms, not including Andrea and Barry, with a 70% chance of 7-13 named storms. The forecast did not include specific predictions for the number of hurricanes or major hurricanes.
On August 3, 2007, Klotzbach's team lowered their season estimate to 15 named storms, with 8 becoming hurricanes and 4 becoming major hurricanes. They noted that conditions had become slightly less favorable for storms than they were earlier in the year. Sea surface temperature anomalies were cooler, and there were several incidences of Saharan Air Layer outbreaks. ENSO conditions were also noted to have been slightly cooler.
What does all this mean? It means no one has a fucking clue when it comes to predicting hurricanes and climate change. It's just weather. (09/03/07)

Global warming will bring more 'Felixes' - Really? By Thijs Westerbeek - Hurricane Felix has grown into a category 5 storm. Wind speeds of up to 270 kilometres per hour have put it firmly in this highest category. After tropical storm Dean it's already the second storm this hurricane season to reach this magnitude, which leads to the question of whether global warming has anything to do with it. Climate researcher Dr Geert Jan Oldenborg of the Dutch KNMI meteorological institute isn't quite ready to go that far, but says nonetheless that global warming will result in yet more violent hurricanes. Huh? Earlier this summer the NOA, the American meteorological institute, warned of an exceptionally bad hurricane season, but thus far the number of tropical storms hasn't been extreme. The season, which lasts roughly from the beginning of August till the end of September, has now had six storms, and that's nothing out of the extraordinary. What is surprising, however, is the sheer force of the storms, as Dr Oldenborg explains: "The fact that it is already the second hurricane to reach category five is very exceptional. In the last four years, we had category-five hurricanes every year, while in the 50 years before that there were only a handful of them..." Ugh, 50 years ago we didn't have the technology that we have today to accurately measure hurricanes of that strength...Dr. (09/03/07)

Freedom of speech and honesty as victims of global warming - By Christopher Lingle, New Delhi - What's up with journalists in the mainstream media? In most cases, they tend to be unconditional supporters of free expression and strive to report on controversial views. However, reporting on issues relating to global warming has become strikingly one-sided. With no need to persuade using rational argument, a new conventional wisdom is being formulated that is beyond challenge by"sensible" people. Creating group-think and mass behavior should be anathema to honest journalists. Otherwise, reporters become opinion makers rather than neutral observers. Following this line, there are signs of a growing intolerance in the debate about global climate change. Climate-change denial has become a taboo that invites a sense of moral repugnance for the deniers. (09/03/07)

Yawn
Bangkok promotes cloth bags to counter global warming - BANGKOK, Sept 3 (TNA) - The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will launch a campaign to promote the use of cloth bags instead of plastic, to reduce waste and require no additional energy to get rid of the used plastic bag, according to Bangkok governor Apirak Kosayodhin. The governor said the campaign would be launched September 9 to encourage the public to bring cloth bags to the market. Some 30,000 cloth bags would be distributed to the public at the National Stadium Station of the Bangkok Mass Transit System or BTS Skytrain and other six stations which were connected to department stores, he said. Granted, this idea has some merit for the obvious reasons. But not because of the CO2 Boogy-man in the sky! (09/03/07)

Enough with the global warming warnings! - It comes around every year with the warm season. Warnings of doom and gloom if we don't change our ways. Yes, global warming has taken us by storm, and with it comes a constant barrage from the scientists, news, and ordinary folks called "greens," who think this world will cease to exist. Well, I'm sick of it. Me too. (09/03/07)

LOL
Protesters chained to equipment at power station - Climate change protesters have broken into the Loy Yang power station in Gippsland and chained themselves to equipment. Protesters broke into the power station about 5:00AM this morning. Two men have chained themselves to an overburden conveyor belt and another man and a woman are locked onto a coal conveyor belt. About five protesters have been removed by police. Michaela Stubbs from Real Action On Climate Change says today's protest is to coincide with the APEC forum in Sydney. "People are taking immediate action on climate change and we're demanding that our political representatives do the same," she said. Police search and rescue crews have arrived to try to remove the protesters. Loy Yang power management says the protest has reduced power generation by 600 megawatts. (09/03/07)

Turkey not threatened by global warming, says Minister Eroglu - The new minister of environment and forestry, Veysel Eroglu, says that Turkey has the resources to withstand the effects of climate change. While speaking to the press in the central Anatolian province of Afyon, Eroglu said Turkey had "10 times" the amount of the water it currently consumes. Minister Eroglu said that as a result of governmental measures, "Turkey will not suffer any water shortages," and that there will not be a single part of the nation without water by the year 2010. (09/03/07)

Consensus on climate change elusive for Pacific Rim leaders - AP SYDNEY: Pacific Rim leaders attending an annual summit will call for urgent progress in stalled global trade talks, according to a draft statement, but their officials struggled Monday to find consensus on climate change. Prime Minister John Howard of Australia is urging leaders at this year's meeting of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to forge a new international framework on global warming that rejects binding targets for greenhouse gas emissions. Howard's proposal, however, has touched off disagreement, with developing countries lining up against the Australian plan. (09/03/07)

Britons 'pay £10.2bn too much in green tax' - Britons are paying more than £10 billion extra a year in green taxes than is required to cover the cost of Britain's "carbon footprint", research claims. Using previous research into climate change, the report for the TaxPayers' Alliance estimated that covering the social cost of Britain's carbon emissions would have cost £11.7 billion in 2005. But receipts from "green" taxes such as fuel duty, road tax and the climate change levy in the same year totalled £21.9 billion, according to the study. This means that Britons paid £10.2 billion too much in green taxes that year - or £400 for each household in Britain. The Taxpayers' Alliance also published the result of a YouGov poll today which found that 63% of people agreed with the statement "Politicians are not serious about the environment and are using the issue as an excuse to raise more revenue from green taxes". (09/03/07)

The dumbest article of the day--I'll save you the trouble. Earth is melting, man-made CO2 is the cause and it's Bush's fault. Obama, Clinton, Dodd, Richardson, not much better, but Dennis kooky Kucinich is the man. Author also thinks Grist and Sourcewatch are credible sources. It's worth a laugh or two so here it is.
How to Address America's Altering of Earth's Climate - By Kevin Gosztola - Indisputably, the next president must get a handle on America's ignorance of global climate change before it further hinders the fight against global climate change. Bush in his years in office has made various weak appeals to fight global climate change but in these appeals, he has gone to great lengths to limit his admittance that this dangerous phenomenon is in fact being driven by humans. He has been even more reluctant to admit that America is a prime purveyor of all that has caused our climate to change. Notice the title says "America's Altering...", not "Man's alrering". Oh the United States of America is sooooo evil! (09/02/07)

Global warming uncertain - By David Loer - In response to some of the statements made in the opinion article by Dexter Perkins in the Wednesday, Aug. 22, issue of The Forum regarding my statements about the global warming science: First, this is not the apology suggested by Perkins. My opinion apparently offended him, but I do not apologize for it. I do not apologize for attempting to protect our customers from unwise actions that would unnecessarily increase our cost of electricity. My comments, made to our member/owners at our March 30 annual meeting, included a statement that science has not fully resolved the issue of climate-change causation. Perkins and others would like us to believe that carbon dioxide from burning coal is a major contributor to catastrophic global warming and apparently are offended when we question that premise. However, there are many credible scientists who believe that man's emissions of CO2 will not cause catastrophic global warming in the world. A Heartland Institute survey of more than 500 climate scientists in 27 countries reported nearly one-half of the scientists surveyed do not believe human activity is responsible for climate changes. (09/02/07)

Australia to launch new funding for climate change - Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Sunday unveiled a funding plan valued 70.7 million Australian dollars (60.9 million U.S. dollars) for three measures to help cut green house gas emissions through international efforts. But what if the title was "Exxon-Mobil to launch new funding for climate change"? The greenies would shit their cloth diapers! They're always quick to villainize "skeptics" because they "take money" from "corporations." But it's a drop in the bucket compared to the billions in grants collected by warmists! (09/02/07)

The Year the Global Warming Hoax Died - By Alan Caruba - When did the global warming hoax die? Historians are likely to pinpoint 2007. It will take another decade to insure it cannot be revived, but the avalanche of scientific studies and the cumulative impact of scientists who have publicly joined those who debunked the lies on which it has been based will be noted as the tipping point. (09/02/07)

Excellent!
The Greater Inconvenient Truth - By Frank Tate - Scare mongering can be quite a lucrative business. Remember Y2K? We were led to believe that an imminent catastrophe was facing mankind, with computers crashing all over the world come the dawning of the 21st century. However, as it turned out it just wasn't true! In the process, I suspect that those responsible for the scare made a killing. The same went for the African Killer Bee issue. These vicious predators have apparently been unleashed in the west and will go on to sting every thing in sight to death! Yes the bees did get to the west, but like the Y2K issue, this turned out to be unnecessary hype and untrue, and you can bet that it must have been lucrative too for the perpetuators of this "scientific" theory. The sad thing was that the media, in both instances, unquestioningly hyped up the issues and much human energy and resources went towards worrying about something that could have been put towards much better and more productive use. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Doesn't the current furor surrounding global warming remind you of the hysteria generated by Y2K and the African Killer Bee? The media has jumped on the bandwagon again and the world has mindlessly lapped up the scare mongering dished out by idle scientists who should know better. (09/01/07)

Oh the absurdity! I love it when enviros get all worked up!
Al Gore, James Hansen, and Civil Disobedience - By Gordon Clark - In his recent global warming op-ed in the New York Times ("The Big Melt," August 16, 2007) , Nicholas Kristof reported on a conversation with Al Gore in which the former Vice-President said: "I can't understand why there aren't rings of young people blocking bulldozers, and preventing them from constructing coal-fired power plants." His comment was a reaction to the ever- quickening pace of polar ice meltoff, with all its catastrophic implications, and the huge role played by coal-fired power plants in advancing our demise through global warming. Gore's comment was also strikingly similar to a recent quote from Dr. James Hansen, the top climate scientist at NASA: "It seems to me that young people, especially, should be doing whatever is necessary to block construction of dirty (no CCS) coal-fired power plants." (09/01/07)

Satire
Recent US Govt Study: Technology to solve Global Warming by 2032 - Technology has saved the day many times in America. Betamax set the video entertainment world free. Satellite reconnaissance kept New Orleans protected from a Hurricane. And now, a recent government study shows that technology will Save the World from Global Warming. A small group of government mathematicians have been working on estimating the likelihood of technology coming to the rescue again for Global Warming. (09/01/07)

Interesting
The aerosol man - By Lawrence Solomon, Financial Post - Stephen Schwartz knows as much about the effects of aerosols on climate change as anyone in the world, and he's worried. He believes climate change is so massive an economic issue that we face costs "in the trillions if not quadrillions of dollars." He thinks a Herculean effort and great sacrifice is required to get the world down to zero net increase in carbon dioxide concentrations, an effort he compares to that which the Allies undertook in their all-out war against Nazi Germany and Japan. [...] Few scientists speak with more conviction, or lay out the potential consequences of inaction more starkly. Yet Stephen Schwartz, senior scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory, chief scientist of the Atmospheric Science Program of the United Stated Department of Energy, and author of the study some credit with spurring acid rain legislation in the 1990s, is also Al Gore's worst nightmare. He knows the science on global warming is not settled, as Gore claims. (09/01/07)

Your View -- Global warming consensus more politics than science - Fred Slocum has an opinion on global warming based on his readings. I also have an opinion on the subject based on my readings. Of the approximate 2,000 scientists who contributed articles for the IPCC summary report Slocum references, only about 100 are climate scientists. The IPCC summary report was written by a different group of scientists, a handful of government scientists with a political agenda. We do not know how many of the 100 contributing climate scientists agree with the summary report because no poll was taken. A new survey to be published by the journal "Energy and Environment" includes some interesting statistics. Of the total 528 scientific papers written about global warming from 2004 through February 2007 only 7 percent of those scientists gave an explicit endorsement of any so-called "consensus" cause, and only one of those makes any reference to climate change leading to catastrophic results. The so-called "consensus" cause was rejected outright by 6 percent of those scientists, while 48 percent of the scientists refused to accept or reject the hypothesis. This is hardly the "overwhelming" supporting evidence Slocum suggests. It is not even a consensus of evidence that would support Slocum's position, which I suggest might be more political than scientific. S. Fred Singer, professor emeritus, Environmental Science University of Virginia; atmospheric physicist, George Mason University, and founder and president of the Science and Environmental Policy Project has an informative article at http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis.asp. (09/01/07)

Thanks for your service Senator Warner, now good-bye...
Warming up to a greenhouse gas bill - Letter from Washington: Senators agree something must be done, but how and by when are divisive issues. - DENA BUNIS, Washington Bureau Chief, The Orange County Register - Takes a mug, a column label, a tagline and a sans tag that goes directly above the byline It's amazing how much the support of one Republican can change the dynamics of a debate in this town. That's exactly what Sen. Barbara Boxer hopes will be the case when it comes to global warming. The California Democrat, chairwoman of the environment and public works committee, has made it her chief goal this year to get a climate change bill to the Senate floor. She has said from the beginning that she would need a high profile Republican senator to sign on to whatever bill comes out of committee. She got that just before the recess when Virginia Republican Sen. John Warner teamed up with independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut on a bill that would require caps on the amount of carbon emissions. Just one more reason while I won't shed any tears about John Warner leaving the Senate. (09/01/07)

How to make a messed up industry worse...
Boeing tries out being green - The first 787 might be painted blue, but Boeing?s trying to get us all to see it as green. With the increasing international emphasis on global warming and reducing greenhouse gases, Boeing has shifted its marketing message about the 787. Where it used to emphasize how much money airlines would save flying the more efficient jet, the company now is talking about its environmentally friendly attributes: lower pollution and less noise. That?s important at a time when even Prince Charles has cut back on his flying to reduce his carbon footprint. (09/01/07)

NEWS MEDIA CONTINUES TO FAIL TO INFORM THE PUBLIC ACCURATELY ON GLOBAL WARMING - An interesting commentary on the bias of parts of the news media in Britain and New Zealand has been provided by a founder member of the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition, Professor Bob Carter, of James Cook University, Townsville, Australia, who is a graduate of Otago and Cambridge Universities, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, and an internationally respected researcher and commentator on climate issues. These comments follow previous evidence delivered by Professor Carter to the U.S. Senate Committee of Environment & Public Works in 2006, which included explicit criticisms of leading New Zealand journalists. (09/01/07)

CLIMATE CHANGE: The New Utopia, Keeping the World As It Is - Analysis by Julio Godoy - VIENNA, Sep 1 (IPS) - Utopias have always inspired humankind -- from the defence of enlightenment against religious fanaticism during the Middle Ages, to reconstruction after last century's wars, to the end of colonialism. Those were imperious, even grandiloquent utopias, corresponding to the excesses of the times. A new utopia is a conservative, apparently modest one -- a titanic, nonetheless: keep the world as it is, environmentally speaking. This utopia's deceptively modest demands have been made clear again in Vienna this week at the new UN conference on global warming to prepare for the next global round of talks due in Bali, Indonesia, in December. This utopia's goals sounds uninspiring bureaucratic: reduce greenhouse gases emissions by 50 percent by the middle of this century relative to 1990 levels in order to limit average temperature rises to less than two degrees Celsius by 2050. Otherwise, many scientists say, the environmental, social, and economic consequences of global warming would transform earth into an inhabitable place. (09/01/07)