Froth Slosh B'Gosh

This Is Not Normal

The equivalent  of a category 2 hurricane is lashing the Midwest, and this storm formed over dry land.  This is not normal.

I Swear....

If I hear one more person say "So much for that 'global warming?'" I will scream.  Here's a pretty good, readable explanation for why its so damn cold in the east (and so damn warm in the west).

...the Arctic is warming much faster than elsewhere. That Arctic/mid-latitude temperature difference, consequently, is getting smaller. And the smaller differential in temperatures is causing the west-to-east winds in the jet to weaken.

Strong jets tend to blow straight west to east; weaker jets tend to wander more in a drunken north/south path, increasing the likelihood of wavy patterns like the one we’ve seen almost non-stop since last winter.

When the jet stream’s waves grow larger, they tend to move eastward more slowly, which means the weather they generate also moves more slowly, creating more persistent weather patterns.

If you want a denser scientific explanation, just google "quasi resonant Rossby waves."

Meanwhile, Down Under....

Hottest temperatures ever.

So why do I mention that? Because I'm sick and tired of people saying "So much for global warming" just because we had two bitter, record breaking cold days.

Now I am fully aware that just as two days of cold weather in the North East doesn't negate climate change, neither does a multi-week heatwave "prove" climate change.

However, this is the second year in a row Australia experienced record breaking heat waves.  But even that doesn't mean much.  Australia is just one part of the world.  So what's happening globally?

This is what's happening.

It Should Be Obvious By Now

That Al Gore is fat. 

Emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases are growing at such a rate that the world will likely exceed a safe limit in average global temperatures by the end of the century and veer into a higher temperature zone that would profoundly damage economic growth and most other aspects of life, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency.

<sarcasm>The idea that its a hoax perpetuated by climate scientists to get rich makes much more sense.</sarcasm>

Thanks Climate Change Deniers!

Basically, we're all screwed.

Global emissions of carbon dioxide were at a record high in 2011 and are  likely to take a similar jump in 2012, scientists reported Sunday -- the latest  indication that efforts to limit such emissions are failing.

Emissions continue to grow so rapidly that an international goal of limiting  the ultimate warming of the planet to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, established three  years ago, is on the verge of becoming unattainable

 

 

Selective Data

Wingnuttia is all aflutter over this report in the Daily Mail, suggesting that global warming stopped.  Firstly, its the Daily Mail.  Secondly, the article itself admits that global warming is happening, but you have read down to the final paragraph to find that admission, thereby contradicting their headline.  Thirdly, the piece badly distorts the data.

The world stopped getting warmer almost 16  years ago, according to new data released last week.

The figures, which have triggered debate  among climate scientists, reveal that from the beginning of 1997 until August  2012, there was no discernible rise in aggregate global temperatures.   

So, why pick 1997?  Interestingly, it looks like the average temperature for 1997 is going to be very similar for the average temperature for 2012, ergo, no warming.  Of course, that all depends on what you choose as your starting and ending points.  For example, using the charts helpfully provided by the Mail, if I use 2000 or 2007 as my start year, then the chart indicates a rise in global temperatures.  Or, if  I want to be contrary, I can choose 2006 as my start year, and argue that global cooling has occured. 

The fact of the matter is that we have over 160 years of reliable temperature readings to draw conclusions from, and pretty good temperature proxies for the time before 1850.  Its also a fact that 14 of the 20 hottest years on record all were recorded since 1997. 

The Daily Mail's article is nothing more than a piece of propaganda masquerading as news.

UPDATE:  Via PZ Myers, a nice little graphic.

Its Not Your Imagination, Its Really Been That Hot

Also too:  First six months warmest ever for Pittsburgh.  And a good review of why one of these things is not like the others.

Chart is from McClatchy.

"Oceans Of Evidence"

Appeals Court upholds EPA, slaps down polluters.

A federal appeals court panel ruled Tuesday that the Environmental Protection Agency had acted properly when it set the nation’s first limits on greenhouse gases.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit concluded that the EPA’s 2009 finding that greenhouse gases endanger human health and the environment was based on “an ocean of evidence,” saying the agency’s move to limit those emissions from cars and trucks was “neither arbitrary nor capricious.”
The ruling was a defeat for groups that question evidence that gases from burning coal and other fossil fuels trap heat in the atmosphere. The coalition of groups that brought the complaints against the EPA said restricting the emissions would be too expensive.

I suspect that this isn't the end of this particular saga.

Also Too, Al Gore Is Fat

It appears that in some quarters, the possibility of snow in April is unprecedented. Therefore, global warming is a hoax. This is what happens when you confuse weather with climate.

The Climate Change Denialists "Climategate"

As George Takei might say.."Ohh myyyyy."

The inner workings of a libertarian thinktank working to discredit the established science on climate change have been exposed by a leak of confidential documents detailing its strategy and fundraising networks.

DeSmogBlog, which broke the story, said it had received the confidential documents from an "insider" at the Heartland Institute, which is based in Chicago. The blog monitors industry efforts to discredit climate science.

The scheme includes spending $100,000 for spreading the message in K-12 schools that "the topic of climate change is controversial and uncertain - two key points that are effective at dissuading teachers from teaching science", the documents said.