Tag Archives: Al Gore

Climate Change

Aspen symposium hosts global warming cheerleader Al Gore

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Despite having been proven wrong in the past, at a symposium in Aspen this weekend Al Gore once again tried to tie recent severe weather to global warming.

Former Vice President Al Gore spoke at the “Forests at Risk: Climate Change and the Future of the American West” symposium in Aspen this weekend issuing a dire warning about global warming. Gore told the crowd, “It’s unprecedented and we really have to face up to it.”

The Nobel Laureate and author of the book and movie “An Inconvenient Truth” warned that the pine beetle infestation striking Colorado forests was caused by manmade climate change.  “If you love the forest and you care about what’s happening to them, the No. 1 connection that’s happening to them is warmer temperatures,” Gore told the compliant crowd.

The Denver Weather Examiner reports:

Utilizing a slideshow to demonstrate his point, Gore said, “The linkage these scientists have referred to over and over again with global warming is something some people resist but it’s a fact.”

Using the common refrain that significant weather events are related to man’s actions affecting the climate, Gore pointed to recent flooding in Brazil and Australia and last year’s flooding in his home state of Tennessee as evidence of this.

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Gore’s attempts to draw parallels between weather and climate change have gotten him into trouble in the past.  He was forced to pull images from his popular presentation two years ago that showed an increase in natural disasters when it was found it could not be proven.  NASA’s top climate scientist Dr. James Hansen has rebuked Gore saying he needed to be more “careful” in his claims.

The claims that Gore made at the symposium have been refuted in the past but he remains undeterred.  Get more details on what the former VP said as well as counter arguments on the Denver Weather Examiner.

Climate Change

Animated video depicts hypothetical global warming debate

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A YouTube video puts a humorous - but thought provoking - spin on the debate about manmade climate change. (YouTube / Battlefield315)
A YouTube video puts a humorous - but thought provoking - spin on the debate about manmade climate change. (YouTube / Battlefield315)

From the high-minded forums in the scientific community to the halls of Congress to main street America, manmade climate change is a hot topic (pun intended).  Some scientists would have us believe the debate is over, Congress uses the theory to impress new taxes on citizens, and Americans are left wondering what to believe. 

This week NOAA announced that 2010 tied as the warmest year on record and many immediately seized on it as proof of manmade climate change.  Despite many arguments to the contrary, it becomes difficult to have a rational discussion about the merits of these claims as both sides can become quite set in their beliefs. 

A new video, while humorous, portrays a hypothetical debate between a global warming alarmist and a denier and offers up some serious questions and doubts about the theory.  From former Vice President Al Gore’s role as global warming cheerleader to the revelation about the behavior of “climate scientists” seen in the wake of the Climategate scandal the video presents them all. 

Despite erroneous information continually being discovered in alarmists’ claims, many, like the alarmist in the movie, choose to turn a blind eye.  While humorous, the video does highlight many of the valid questions that are asked by those who have their doubts about manmade climate change. 

Skeptics of the anthropogenic global warming theory need to remember that while man may not be responsible for the overall warming seen in recent decades, as custodians of this planet we do shoulder some burden.  Rational actions to keep the planet clean, move us toward energy independence and ensure we aren’t causing damage need to be considered.

For more about climate change, head on over to the Climate Change Examiner.

Climate Change

Al Gore decries press censorship of oil spill, blocks press from own events

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Al Gore laments a lack of press coverage of the Gulf oil spill disaster but bans the press from his own events. (Dan Spisak)
Al Gore laments a lack of press coverage of the Gulf oil spill disaster but bans the press from his own events. (Dan Spisak)

In a new blog posting on his website, former Vice President Al Gore said access by the press covering the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a ‘de facto form of censorship.’ Many however have been quick to seize on the fact that Gore himself bans press coverage of his own events.

The Nobel Laureate was writing a response to a report that a Times-Picayune photographer was not allowed to take photos of the expanding oil slick. Gore said, “This behavior is completely unacceptable. Access by reporters should be as unfettered as possible. This de facto form of censorship needs to stop.”

Bloggers and online news outlets were quick to seize on the apparent hypocrisy in Gore’s statement. The highly influential Drudge Report pointed to Gore’s posting followed by stories from 2008 and 2009 when the press was banned from covering the former vice president’s speeches.

There is more to this story including the errors that have been discovered in Gore’s books and movies and his recent personal life problems.  Get all the details from the Climate Change Examiner.

Climate Change

Al Gore reappears – Says errors in climate science are irrelevant

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In the wake of the Climategate email scandal, the failure at the climate summit and with revelations of errors in IPCC documents, Al Gore has been conspicuously absent - until now.
In the wake of the Climategate email scandal, the failure at the climate summit and with revelations of errors in IPCC documents, Al Gore has been conspicuously absent - until now.

Former Vice President Al Gore had been conspicuously absent from the public eye recently. Following on the failure of the Copenhagen climate summit and new revelations of errors in key climate science reports, the Nobel Laureate was nowhere to be found. On Sunday he returned with an op-ed in the New York Times discussing the ‘attacks’ on the manmade climate change theory.

As is the norm for his work, Gore as always takes the opportunity to use over-the-top language to push for action against what he describes as an “unimaginable calamity” that will be visited on the earth. He used the liberal ‘Old Gray Lady’ to discuss his thoughts on the errors in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) work, the Climategate email scandal and took jabs at news organizations like FOX News.

In recent weeks numerous errors in the IPCC’s seminal AR4 report have been discovered. Statements of disappearing Himalayan glaciers, rain forests threatened by global warming, loss of mountain ice and more have been shown to be grossly exaggerated at best or patently false at worst. Further, dozens of citations in the work come from political and activist sources, not scientific research. All of this in what is supposed to be the ‘gold standard’ of research from which leaders are supposed to draw conclusions.

Gore only concedes two of the many errors – the one concerning Himalayan glaciers and another comical one about the Netherlands finding itself flooded. He says science will “never be completely free of mistakes” and says that “the overwhelming consensus on global warming remains unchanged.”

Few would argue that science is perfect in any area of study. However, many would simply expect that if drastic measures are to be taken to combat the purported threat of manmade climate change, the science should be sound before jumping in.

There's more to this story on Examiner.com!See what else the former vice president had to say including comments that allude to FOX News on the Climate Change Examiner.

Climate Change

Gore Effect strikes again – Forces NOAA to change announcement of new climate agency

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Snowmageddon forced government officials to announce their proposed new climate agency via teleconference instead of at a press conference. Was it the Gore Effect at work?
'Snowmageddon' forced government officials to announce their proposed new climate agency via teleconference instead of at a press conference. Was it the Gore Effect at work?

With a great deal of hype yesterday, the United States Department of Commerce announced its vision for a new government climate agency spearhead by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Planned as a media event at the National Press Club yesterday, officials were forced to instead make the announcement via teleconferencing due to the major winter storm that struck the nation’s capital and shut down the federal government.

It was ironic that the announcement of the NOAA Climate Service had to be changed due to the extreme winter weather. In recent years the term ‘Gore Effect’ was coined to explain the unseasonable weather that oftentimes accompanies appearances by former vice president and Nobel Laureate Al Gore or when a global warming event is held.

Cold and snow have followed Al Gore and these events across the globe with amazing frequency since 2004. Hearings and press conferences about climate change in the nation’s capital have been besieged by winter storms and global warming events across the earth have been struck by severe cold in recent years. Just this past December, the United Nations Climate Change Conference felt the Gore Effect when severe cold and snow arrived in Copenhagen as international delegates worked on a global warming agreement.

Climate officials are quick to point out that what used to be termed ‘global warming’ is now called ‘climate change’ and has little to do with short term weather. The shift in vernacular has been made in recent years to allow climate scientists to better explain virtually any weather or climate condition that falls outside the norm.

Climate Change ExaminerFor all the latest climate change news, please visit the Climate Change Examiner.

Climate Change

‘Frozen Gore’ returns to Fairbanks, Alaska bigger than ever

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The new version of the Frozen Gore statue spews smoke generated from a truck. (FrozenGore.com)
The new version of the 'Frozen Gore' statue spews smoke generated from a truck. (FrozenGore.com)

He weighs two tons, is six feet tall and spews smoke from his mouth. No, not former vice president and Nobel Laureate Al Gore but rather a huge likeness of him carved out of ice. The infamous ‘Frozen Gore’ ice sculpture has returned to Fairbanks, Alaska and it is better than ever.

Last year, local businessmen Craig Compeau and Rudy Gavora received national media attention for the ice sculpture of the former vice president they had commissioned. The frozen likeness was created to draw attention to what Compeau called Gore’s hypocrisy in the debate about manmade climate change. Thousands of people went to see the sculpture and the website www.frozengore.com recorded more than 1.7 million visitors.

This week Compeau and Gavora unveiled a new Frozen Gore statue that is bigger and has a feature that allows it to belch smoke from its mouth (see video below). At the unveiling visitors laughed as the smoke emanated from the sculpture all while a soundtrack of Al Gore’s speeches played in the background.

Sculpted by Steve Dean, the sculpture is intended to draw attention to the men’s belief that other factors drive the climate besides man. Compeau told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, “We do want to invite debate. We don’t agree with his theories — we’re suspicious of the financial motivation behind them.”

The pair did invite Al Gore to come view the statue and have a debate last year. Gore declined citing a ‘scheduling conflict’ although according to Compeau no date had even been suggested.

Examiner.com - Get inside Denver weatherFor the rest of this story and to see the video of the new Frozen Gore in action, please visit the Climate Change Examiner.

Climate Change, Natural Disasters

Predictions of climate change induced natural disasters falling flat

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Former vice president Al Gore famously used an image of Hurricane Katrina to illustrate his argument that natural disasters will increase in intensity and frequency. Empirical data howeverhas shown that is not the case. (An Inconvenient Truth)
Former vice president Al Gore famously used an image of Hurricane Katrina to illustrate his argument that natural disasters will increase in intensity and frequency. Empirical data howeverhas shown that is not the case. (An Inconvenient Truth)

Manmade climate change is said to present humankind with some of its greatest challenges in the planet’s history, not the least of which is an alarming increase in frequency and intensity of natural disasters. Massive flooding, super-powered hurricanes, endless tornado seasons and more have all been said to be the direst of consequences of global warming.

In his movie “An Inconvenient Truth”, Al Gore famously proclaimed that, “Temperature changes are taking place all over the world and that is causing stronger storms.” Standing with Hurricane Katrina as a backdrop, the former vice president issued a cautionary tale of disaster in the making, all due to our irresponsible handling of the atmosphere. As recently as February Mr. Gore was giving a presentation showing flooding, drought and wildfires saying, “This is creating weather-related disasters that are completely unprecedented.”

President Barack Obama, in a town hall meeting in April echoed the Nobel laureate’s comments saying, “You’re now looking at huge, cataclysmic hurricanes, complete changes in weather patterns.” He followed that in September when in a speech before the United Nations he claimed, “More powerful storms and floods threaten every continent.”

But what if you predicted global natural disaster catastrophes and they didn’t happen? Does that invalidate your entire message? This is the conundrum faced by climate change alarmists as many of their predictions begin to fall flat.

There's more to this story on the Denver Weather Examiner's site!Learn more about the evidence and find out why even some alarmists say these claims of ‘doom and gloom’ are hurting their case on Examiner.com.

Climate Change

Popular meteorologists express doubts about global warming

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Global warming or global cooling? There doesn't seem to be a consensus anymore.
Global warming or global cooling? There doesn't seem to be a consensus anymore.

While the United States debates whether or not to push climate change legislation this year, the debate on the climate and man’s effect on it continues in the public forum. In recent days two high profile meteorologists have come forth and added their voices to the growing movement of those who reject the ‘consensus’ of the manmade climate change theory.

Many who advocate the manmade climate change theory like Al Gore and James Hansen have said that the ‘science is settled’ and there is no debate to be made on the issue. Despite this, more and more evidence is being released calling into question the very basis of the arguments climate change alarmists make.

The Capital Weather Gang section of the Washington Post is a must read for many weather enthusiasts. Today, meteorologist and Capital Weather Gang writer Matt Rogers outlined his case for questioning the ‘consensus’ of manmade global warming in a ‘top 10’ list.

AccuWeather.com is one of the most popular weather websites on the Internet and a major provider of weather related news and information to media of all types. Joe Bastardi is an Expert Senior Forecaster at AccuWeather and is considered one of the premier meteorologists in the country. Bastardi recently said that those that advocate the manmade climate change theory have a “house of cards that goes up in smoke.”

There's more to this story on the Denver Weather Examiner's site!For all the details on what these two esteemed meteorologists had to say, read the full storm on Examiner.com.

Climate Change

Climate change hearing on Capitol Hill highlights politics and hypocrisy

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Former Vice President Al Gore, right, and former Virginia Sen. John Warner testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, April 24, 2009, before the House Energy and Environment subcommittee. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Former Vice President Al Gore, right, and former Virginia Sen. John Warner testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, April 24, 2009, before the House Energy and Environment subcommittee.

As legislators in Washington D.C. debated a climate change bill that would levy new taxes on businesses and potentially cost consumers, political theatre was in full view Friday at the House of Representatives.  The House Energy and Commerce Committee held hearings all last week on the legislation, culminating with the appearance of former Vice President Al Gore and former Speaker of the House and potential 2012 presidential candidate Newt Gingrich.

Democrats who support the measure and the ‘cap and trade tax’ it would bring, brought forth the self-appointed head of the global warming movement Al Gore.  Mr. Gore of course was full of his usual dire predictions of the Earth’s pending doom from carbon dioxide accumulation in the atmosphere unless immediate action is taken.  He likened those who doubted the theory to those who don’t believe man landed on the moon saying, “There are people who still believe that the moon landing was staged on a movie lot in Arizona.”

Perhaps Mr. Gore wasn’t aware but even some of those that have been to the moon and walked on its surface don’t believe all the hype about global warming.  It was just recently that a real moonwalker announced his doubts about the theory as well.  Dr. Harrison Schmitt, an Apollo 17 astronaut, moonwalker, and PhD holding geologist said, “Contrary to categorical statements by many politicians and unfortunately some scientists, including some colleagues of mine, the science of climate change and its causes is not settled – at least not to this geologist.”

There is much more to this story – including battles between the committee and Newt Gingrich when he appeared.  Learn more about how politics have taken over the debate on manmade climate change in the full story on Examiner.com.

For all the details, read the rest of this story on our Denver Weather Examiner page. Examiner.com - Get inside Denver weather
Climate Change

NOAA says October hottest on record – Oops – Maybe not

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In this GISS image, incorrect data shows much of Russia under a heat wave in October.
In this GISS image, incorrect data shows much of Russia under a heat wave in October.

Scientists at NOAA and NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) announced last week that October global temperatures were the hottest on record.  Naturally this caused quite a bit of hubbub and had the global warming alarmists in quite an uproar.  As we wrote about previously, the year has been cooler than normal in North America but this new data showed that Asia experienced record high temperatures last month.  Word of the “hottest October on record” quickly spread of course. 

In a bit of an embarrassment for NOAA and GISS, their claims were short lived when two blogger meteorologists went through the data and found a number of anomalies.  They discovered at least 10 Russian stations that oddly enough reported the exact same temperatures as September.  Well, since October is almost always cooler than September in the northern hemisphere they did some checking and found that GISS had used the incorrect data and it influenced the calculations significantly. 

Al Gore's infamous "hockey stick" graph that was used in An Inconvenient Truth was quickly debunked, as were many other "facts" used in the movie.
Al Gore's infamous "hockey stick" graph that was used in An Inconvenient Truth was quickly debunked as were a number of other "facts" used in the movie.

This isn’t the first time “anomalies” with data used to measure the earth’s temperature have been discovered and have caused incorrect calculations.  In other curious happenings, measuring stations have “disappeared” from data only to reappear later, stations have been found to be sitting next to heaters and gas wells and more.  Then of course there was Al Gore’s infamous “hockey stick” graph which was debunked soon after he began showing it.  Perhaps in the most grievous error just last year, NOAA had to revise their published figures for U.S. surface temperatures, to show that the hottest decade of the 20th century was not the 1990s, as they had claimed, but the 1930s.

When GISS and NOAA recalculated October’s temperatures it dropped the month to the 2nd warmest on record and that is significant.  However, these types of problems serve only to fuel doubt in the minds of climate change skeptics and highlight the need for more careful analysis and a level-headed approach to studying the subject – from both sides of the discussion. 

For more information:  NOAA – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration