According to data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the combined land and sea temperatures for last month were the warmest April temperatures on record. Individually, sea surface temperatures were the warmest for any April and surface temperatures were the third warmest.
Utilizing data from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), the agency reported that the combined temperature of 58.1°F (14.5°C) was 1.37°F (0.76°C) above the 20th century average of 56.7°F (13.7°C).
For the period from January to April, temperatures also were the warmest first quarter on record. NOAA said the combined temperature over the period was 56.0°F (13.3°C). That is 1.24°F (0.69°C) above the 20th century average.
In the United States, NOAA said that April featured above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation. Much of the eastern half of the nation experienced warmer than normal temperatures resulting in measurements 2.3°F above average and going down in the books as the 14th warmest April on record.
Last week 255 scientists released a letter in the scientific journal Science decrying ‘assaults on climate science.’ It seemed like a powerful statement in an effort to stand up for climate scientists under siege after scandals and revelations of errors were discovered. However, the letter itself has caused controversy as the accompanying photo was a fake and it was discovered most of the signatories don’t even work in climate science fields.
In regards to the photo, the Climate Change Examiner writes:
The photo included with the letter portrays a rather disturbing image of a lone polar bear afloat on a piece of ice in open ocean. The image provides graphical reinforcement to the many warnings the public has heard about shrinking Arctic ice.
However, it has been discovered that the image is in fact faked, a creation using Photoshop that does not portray any real situation or event. Used from istockphoto.com, the caption on that website clearly states, “This images [sic] is a Photoshop design. Polarbear, ice floe, ocean and sky are real, they were just not together in the way they are now.”
The trade magazine included no such disclaimer causing a great deal of embarrassment for an expert trade journal, its editors and the signers of the letter.
That certainly does not help climate scientists’ cause at all.
An investigation into the professional backgrounds of the scientists finds that many do not work in climate science and some work in fields not even remotely related to it. In fact, among the first 20 listed, none work in climate science.
Pediatric surgeons, an expert in the Maya and the Olmec civilizations, a chemist that studies bacteria, a ‘computer pioneer’ with Microsoft, an electrical engineer, the chairman of a biotechnology firm, and even an expert studying corn are but a few of the 255 ‘experts’ that signed the letter.
There are many other questionable signatories on the letter that tries to convey the message that the ‘science is sound.’ This is of course leading one to question why their statements should be leant any great deal of credence, particularly since the credentials of climate change skeptics are similarly questioned.
In honor of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, NASA has released a collection of images of our globe as seen from space. Check out the complete set in the slideshow below.
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day, an event designed to bring awareness to environmental and climate concerns. In celebration of the event, NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies has released a ‘best of’ collection of images of the Earth.
Manned and robotic spaceflight has allowed us to see the planet as was never possible. Images of our “blue marble” have become commonplace and it is hard to believe it was only 50 years ago that the first images of Earth taken in space were shown on television.
Satellites, space stations, Space Shuttles, robotic probes and more have beamed back images of the globe from orbit, the moon and even Mars.
Are we approaching the end of times? On the first Earth Day in 1970 scientists, poiliticans and pundits gave mankind little hope for survival. That tactic continues today. (Discovery Channel)
Today we celebrate that most auspicious occasion – Earth Day. It is a day in which we can all ‘be green’, hold hands, sing Kumbaya and be one with Mother Earth.
With the ongoing debate about manmade climate change, it affords us an opportunity to evaluate what “experts” were saying 40 years ago and what they are saying now.
Many parallels between the two times can easily be drawn. Over the top rhetoric and predictions were apparently as common in 1970 as they are today.
The Climate Change Examiner has a great look back at some of the predictions made on the first Earth Day as well as some that are being made in current times. Here is a brief excerpt – be sure to follow the link below to view the whole story.
Forty years ago Earth Day was founded as a way to give greater visibility to environmental concerns across the globe. The event is celebrated annually and while the focus has now shifted to one primarily on manmade climate change, just like in 1970, today we continue to hear dire warnings of man’s impending doom.
From that very first Earth Day, laying out a reasoned case to spur the public into action was not deemed adequate. Instead, the use of predictions of the end of times were used as a scare tactic.
The founder of Earth Day, Senator Gaylord Nelson was not shy about using hyperbole to drive home his belief of the dangers presented. He famously proclaimed that, “Dr. S. Dillon Ripley, secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, believes that in 25 years, somewhere between 75 and 80 percent of all the species of living animals will be extinct.”
It would appear that something miraculous occurred since that first Earth Day and today as the Earth is teeming with life just as it was then.
…
Questionable claims of impending doom continue
In the intervening time we can clearly see that these were nothing more than weak attempts to steer public opinion toward what was the ‘consensus’ at the time by scaring people into action. The names of the scientists and public policy ‘experts’ making the claims have changed in the past forty years but the tactic remains.
Will the seers of today like Gore, Hansen and Lovelock be any more accurate in their predictions than Ehrlich, Nelson or Gunter was in their day?
Check back in 40 years – If humankind is still here.
Arctic sea ice grew to near average levels during the 2009 - 2010 season. (NASA) Watch the amazing animation video below.
A curious thing has happened over the 2009 – 2010 winter season – Arctic sea ice has rebounded to near normal levels. Long pointed to as a sign of the impact of global warming, the extent of sea ice had been shrinking in recent years.
According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), the maximum extent for Arctic sea ice was reached on March 31st. This is the latest date maximum extent has been reached since 1979 when satellites began measuring the Arctic Ice.
The center said that it was thought the sea ice was done growing around the beginning of March. However, late season winter storms over the Bering and Barents Seas allowed it to continue to enlarge. “By the end of March, total extent approached 1979 to 2000 average levels for this time of year,” the NSIDC said.
The NASA video below portrays the 2009 – 2010 sea ice season from start to finish. For all the latest climate and global warming news, be sure to visit the Climate Change Examiner.
A British Parliament committee has largely absolved scientists involved in the Climategate email scandal but also accused them of a 'culture of withholding information.' (Examiner.com)
A formal inquiry by the British Parliament’s Science and Technology Committee into the Climategate email scandal has largely absolved the British scientists involved of the most serious allegations against them. The panel did however also conclude that there were issues that needed to be addressed in order to allay public doubts about the scientists’ work.
Among the issues the committee discussed were the charges of manipulation / suppression of data, UAE’s / CRU’s practices for information dissemination and its compliance with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
In a 63 page report (link above), the British MP’s outline the case against those involved and the conclusions they reached. For most critical issues including the charges of data manipulation that were brought about by emails discussing a ‘trick’ to ‘hide the decline’, the panel concluded Jones and his colleagues had not done anything untoward.
It further concluded that the climate data generated by CRU is in line with other datasets from NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS) and the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). “We therefore conclude that there is independent verification, through the use of other methodologies and other sources of data, of the results and conclusions of the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia,” the report said.
A statement accompanying the report, the panel said that, “The focus on Professor Jones and CRU has been largely misplaced.” It notes that Jones’ limiting of access to the underlying data of his conclusions about manmade climate change were ‘standard practice’ in climate science.
However, all was not perfect in the report at the panel slammed the scientists and university for their lack of action on Freedom of Information Act requests. Get all the details at the Climate Change Examiner.
A British government ad campaign utilizing children nursery rhymes to warn about the dangers of climate change has been rebuked by a government watchdog. (DECC)
Scare tactic newspaper advertisements from Britain’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) have been banned by a government advertising watchdog agency. Two ads in a series which used child nursery rhymes to warn about the purported dangers of manmade climate change were found to have unsubstantiated claims in them.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) reviewed the ads after receiving more than 900 complaints from British citizens – the most complaints it received on any ad last year.
The two offending ads were based on the nursery rhymes of ‘Jack and Jill’ and ‘Rub a Dub Dub’ and warned of the effects of extreme weather, a claim which has long been disproven.
Without a background in climate science, the ASA relied on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) reports to determine the accuracy of the ads. In its conclusion, the ASA said the ads failed to meet code based on a lack of substantiation, truthfulness and their environmental claims.
It was the definitive statement that the severe weather events will happen that caused the ASA to take action as they are presented as if there is no doubt.
File - Rajendra Pachauri,the head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Many climate ministers are growing increasingly concerned about the IPCC and Pachauri's ability to lead the panel. (World Economic Forum, Flickr)
Faced with falling public confidence in climate science, the United Nations announced it would conduct a review of its climate arm, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The panel’s work has come under heavy fire in recent months and its leader, Rajendra Pachauri, now is lacking support from international climate ministers themselves.
At a meeting held by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in Bali, ministers recognized the many errors and are seeking to reassure the world their science is sound. Privately, ministers have expressed embarrassment at the errors and frustration at the handling of the issues by Pachauri.
Nick Nuttall, UNEP spokesman, told reporters that details of the review would be announced next week. The makeup of the group “will be senior scientific figures,” he said. “I can’t name who they are right now. It should do a review of the IPCC, produce a report by, say, August and there is a plenary of the IPCC in South Korea in October. The report will go there for adoption.”
In a private meeting with the governing council, Pachauri did little to reassure them of his ability to lead the panel going forward. He expressed ‘regret’ for the errors but did not apologize, adding to the frustration of the leaders. The IPCC’s leader further only admitted to the Himalayan glacier error calling the dozens of others ‘misunderstandings.’
"Global Warming: Meltdown" is the latest television special from Weather Channel founder John Coleman that discusses the problems with the manmade climate change theory. (KUSI)
There is little doubt that John Coleman, founder of the Weather Channel, has strong feelings about manmade climate change. He has long railed against the theory calling it “the greatest scam in history.” Now a meteorologist for KUSI in San Diego, Coleman has continued his assault with a series of television specials, the latest of which aired last night.
The latest hour long special titled “Global Warming: Meltdown” walks through the arguments on both sides of the issue. From recent revelations of errors within the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) reports to discussions of faulty climate computer models, Coleman lays out the doubts about man’s influence on the climate reassuring viewers that, “Mankind is not destroying our planet.”
A brief recap of his previous special that aired last month, “Global Warming: The Other Side” kicks off the show and jumps into the IPCC errors. Al Gore, a favorite target for climate change skeptics, receives a jab or two and Coleman refers to the former vice president as “the pied piper of global warming.”
The seriousness of the debate however is clearly seen in the video as are some of the many questions that make the foundation of the manmade climate change theory. From climate computer models that have failed to account for recent cooling to extensive problems with surface temperature monitoring stations Coleman covers it all.
I guess you could have it both ways if you don’t have a very well defined theory.
~ John Christy on the claim that recent snow storms support the global warming theory
In an interview with John Christy, director of the Earth System Science Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Christy addresses satellite data that does not support warming. He further discusses the recent severe weather that has seen snow records across the eastern United States. In response to some who have said those events actually support global warming, Christy said, “I guess you could have it both ways if you don’t have a very well defined theory.”
While not appearing directly on the show, although they were offered the opportunity, the other side makes appearances through interviews from other sources.
Dr. Richard Somerville from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography outlines the basics of the foundation of the anthropogenic global warming theory saying, “once again this is solid, settled science. No reputable scientist, no expert in this field would dispute anything I’ve just said.”
Tom Peterson with the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, North Carolina admits the problems with surface stations records. He however contents that corrections have been made in the data to compensate.
Winter snow extent for the Northern Hemisphere has been steadily increasing for the past 10 years. (Steven Goddard / Watt’s Up With That)
This winter has seen record-setting snow across parts of North America as well as Europe and Asia. Climate scientists have been quick to remind the public that the storms were short term events and not indicative of a lack of global warming. However, they have neglected to point out that winter snow extent in the Northern Hemisphere has been steadily increasing for more than 10 years.
Rutgers University’s Global Snow Lab is the definitive source for information on snow coverage of the globe. According to the unit’s latest statistics, 20,141,729 square miles (52,166,840 km2) of the Northern Hemisphere is covered in snow.
That puts the week as having the second highest snow extent in the 44 years that Rutgers has been gathering data. The only week out of the last 2,277 in the record with more occurred in 1978 during the second week of February.
In the wake of the recent blizzards that struck the East Coast, many climate scientists took to television and print media repeating the mantra that ‘weather is not climate.’ They point out that short-term weather phenomena do not disprove manmade climate change and global warming. Many even said in recent weeks that the extreme cold actually supports the global warming theory.
According to data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the combined land and sea temperatures for last month were the warmest April temperatures on record. Individually, sea surface temperatures were the warmest for any April and surface temperatures were the third warmest.
.jpg "In honor of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, NASA has released a collection of images of our globe as seen from space. Check out the complete set in the slideshow below.")
