Tag Archives: global warming

Climate Change

Dissent about climate change theory highlighted in survey of weathercasters

Leave a comment

In a recent survey by the American Meteorlogical Society, 50% of TV weathercasters disagree that man is responsible for global warming.
In a recent survey by the American Meteorlogical Society, 50% of TV weathercasters disagree that man is responsible for global warming.

The American Meteorological Society released the results of a survey of TV meteorologists gauging their opinions on climate change. With a full 50% of respondents disagreeing that man is responsible for global warming, the survey indicates continuing cracking in the ‘consensus’ of the manmade climate change theory.

The survey results, published in the October 2009 issue of “Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society” (BAMS), show that a significant portion of meteorologists continue to doubt that man is the driving force of climate change. When asked about the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) statement that “Most of the warming since 1950 is very likely human-induced,” a full 50% either disagree or strongly disagree. 25% were neutral and a mere 24% said they agreed or strongly agreed.

Similarly, meteorologists doubt the very global climate models on which the anthropogenic global warming theory is based. These models have been shown to be incapable of predicting historical climate changes and their predictions continue to fall outside of scientific norms. Reflecting this, 52% of the meteorologists disagreed with that statement that “Global climate models are reliable in their projections for a warming of the planet.” A mere 19% said they agreed with the statement.

Respondents also showed an apparent distrust of many current sources of climate related information. The weathercasters said they wanted “to have access to “independent,” “unbiased,” and “reputable” sources of data and information that present “both sides” of the issue.”

There's more to this story on the Denver Weather Examiner's site!What do some of the more famous meteorologists think about manmade climate change?  Get that and more with the rest of this story on the Climate Change Examiner.

Climate Change

World leaders give up on Copenhagen climate treaty

Leave a comment
Faced with the reality that many nations are unwilling to commit to an agreement, world leaders said yesterday that a global climate change treaty will not become reality next month. Heads of state, assembled in Singapore for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC), said the United Nations Climate Conference (COP 15) in Copenhagen, Denmark will instead be used to further the discussion about global warming.

Two years of labor going into the COP 15 conference will be for naught and at best could yield a political agreement but not a legally binding treaty. A large gap between developing nations and richer countries continues to prevent an agreement.

Developing nations including India, Brazil and China have insisted on billions of dollars in international aid and said that any goals should be just that and not requirements. Nations like the United States however have been reluctant to agree to any deal that did not require all nations to legally comply with emissions restrictions.

There's more to this story on the Denver Weather Examiner's site!For all the details including what President Obama had to say about it, please visit the Climate Change Examiner on Examiner.com.

Climate Change, Natural Disasters

Predictions of climate change induced natural disasters falling flat

Leave a comment
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

Pine beetles as global warming warning? Not so much.

3 Comments
Is global warming responsible for the pine beetle spread or is it something else?
Is global warming responsible for the pine beetle spread or is it something else?

Much has been said here in Colorado about the pine beetle outbreak in the beautiful mountains west of Denver.  Anyone who travels in the high country has seen and most likely taken note of the patches of dead, brown pine trees. 

More than one news story has reported that the beetles were a harbinger of things to come as a result of global warming and manmade climate change. 

Interestingly enough, that isn’t necessarily the case.  As reported in the Climate Change Examiner, man may be partially responsible but it isn’t CO2 emissions that are to blame.  Mismanagement of forests and a ‘perfect storm’ of other items can be fingered as well.

From the Climate Change Examiner:

A tiny little bug about the size of a grain of rice has become a focal point in the debate about manmade climate change. Over the last 12 years, the mountain pine beetle has spread quickly through the Mountain West and Canada killing millions of acres of pine trees.

The beetle thrives when conditions are drier and warmer than average and some experts have blamed its spread on manmade climate change and a warming environment. From Canada south to Colorado, images of acres of dead, brown trees amongst their healthy neighbors make for a stark picture of what may be forests in decline.

Global warming activists have been quick to seize on the pine beetle ‘epidemic’ as a sign of things to come and an impending ecological disaster. In truth, drawing the line between manmade climate change and the pine beetle outbreak is a stretch that few experts make. Rather, most see the outbreak as a natural function of forests and in many ways it is Mother Nature correcting man’s previous mistakes.

There's more to this story on the Denver Weather Examiner's site!Get the complete story on Examiner.com and find out why even state foresters aren’t blaming man entirely.

Climate Change

The Climate Change Examiner – The place for climate change news

1 Comment
The Climate Change Examiner is the place for a complete look at climate change, global warming and the environment.
The Climate Change Examiner is the place for a complete look at climate change, global warming and the environment.

We are pleased to announce the launch of the Climate Change Examiner! ThorntonWeather.com’s chief amateur meteorologist has been with Examiner.com since the day they launched in 2008 as the Denver Weather Examiner. Starting immediately Tony will also be Examiner.com’s Climate Change Examiner focusing specifically on one of the hottest topics of today (pun intended).

We have discussed climate change and global warming extensively in these pages and in the Denver Weather Examiner and will continue to do so as residents of Colorado are as concerned about climate change as anyway. However, the Climate Change Examiner will cover the topic much more frequently and with greater depth.

Is man the driving factor in global warming? Or is it something else, like the sun, as other say? What are the political issues in this debate? In a fragile economy, how can we afford to do what some say needs to be done? How will a changing climate impact humans and our life on the planet?

The Climate Change Examiner will look at both sides of the issues. I firmly believe that knowledge is key in order to make an educated opinion about any issue and that includes listening to those you are inclined to believe and those you are not. We must understand all sides of the issue if we are to make the right decisions not only for today and the immediate future but also for our longtime survivability.

So let’s begin that journey down the road of greater understanding and with that knowledge, gain an appreciation for Mother Earth and hopefully make the right decisions for her and for us! Check back tomorrow on the Climate Change Examiner’s pages for the start of a series of articles laying out the basics of climate change.

Click here to view the Climate Change Examiner’s pages.

Also look for the Climate Change Examiner on Twitter and Facebook:

Climate Change

Popular meteorologists express doubts about global warming

1 Comment
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 to bring more wildfires to the Rockies

Leave a comment
Atmospheric scientists claim the potential for a 50% increase in wildfire activity due to global warming. (AP Photo)
Atmospheric scientists claim the potential for a 50% increase in wildfire activity due to global warming. (AP Photo)

Sounding the warning sirens about the potential repercussions of global warming, Harvard scientists announced their belief that the changing climate will result in a 50% increase in the amount of land burned by wildfires by 2050.  Should the predictions come true, the increased smoke from an increase in fires could have the effect of further accelerating warming.

Atmospheric scientists from Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have generated models that show much of the western half of the United States being at much greater risk from wildfires.  The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, is said to be the first to measure the impact of future wildfires on air quality.

SEAS Senior Research Fellow Jennifer Logan said, “Warmer temperatures can dry out underbrush, leading to a more serious conflagration once a fire is started by lightning or human activity.  Because smoke and other particles from fires adversely affect air quality, an increase in wildfires could have large impacts on human health.”

There's more to this story on the Denver Weather Examiner's site!For all the details on this study and what it means to Colorado and the Rocky Mountain Region, check out the full story on Examiner.com.

Climate Change

Study: Nature responsible for global warming, not man

Leave a comment
A new study says he El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) accounts for the vast majority of temperature variability.
A new study says he El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) accounts for the vast majority of temperature variability.

A new peer-reviewed study calls into question the so-called ‘consensus’ on the causes of global warming by saying that “Nature, not man, responsible for recent global warming.”  The new study authored by three Australian scientists and published in the Journal of Geophysical Research says that the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) accounts for the vast majority of temperature variability.

Authored by Chris de Freitas (University of Auckland in New Zealand), John McLean (Melbourne) and Bob Carter (James Cook University), the new study is sure to cause waves among those debating the causes of global warming.  Completely contrary to the mainstream media’s portrayal of climate change, the study says, “little or none of the late 20th century global warming and cooling can be attributed to human activity.”

Lead author de Freitas said in a press release, “The surge in global temperatures since 1977 can be attributed to a 1976 climate shift in the Pacific Ocean that made warming El Niño conditions more likely than they were over the previous 30 years and cooling La Niña conditions less likely.”

Climate Change

EPA suppresses report calling into question global warming science

1 Comment
Dissenters within the EPA have called into question the global warming theory.
Dissenters within the EPA have called into question the global warming theory.

The Environmental Protection Agency, keen to advance President Barack Obama’s climate change initiatives, apparently suppressed a report from leading experts calling into question the science behind the theory of manmade climate change. The 98-page report, submitted to agency leaders just prior to it recommending regulation of carbon dioxide emissions, continues to call into question the ‘consensus’ many have said the scientific community has about the theory.

Alan Carlin, the report’s primary author, was told via email from superiors in the agency to not “have any direct communication” with anyone outside his group at the EPA. The well-published PhD has experience in environment and public policy dating back to 1964 but after submitting the report was told to discontinue working on climate change entirely.

In reviewing the report, it is obvious why the administration would find the report very untimely leading up to its decision on CO2 and its push for climate change legislation. The report authors saw the rush to judgment and urged caution saying their “concerns and reservations are sufficiently important to warrant a serious review of the science by EPA before any attempt to reach conclusions on the subject.”

See the complete story with links to the report and emails on Examiner.com.

Climate Change, Severe Weather

Is global warming responsible for a slow tornado season?

Leave a comment
Is global warming responsible for fewer tornadoes in 2009? Stu Ostro of the Weather Channel thinks so. Image courtesy NSSL.
Is global warming responsible for fewer tornadoes in 2009? Stu Ostro of the Weather Channel thinks so. Image courtesy NSSL.

Stormchasers across Tornado Alley have been frustrated this spring by what seems to be a lack of tornadoes and severe weather.  Indeed, VORTEX2, the largest tornado field study ever, has been running for more than two weeks now and has not seen one twister.  Last week, Weather Channel Senior Meteorologist Stu Ostro speculated that global warming was the cause.

In a segment with on-air meteorologist Stephanie Abrams, Ostro explained that the jet stream lingering over Canada and a continual ridge of high pressure were suppressing severe weather.  Without the collision of low and high pressure (among other factors), tornadoes and supercell thunderstorms have a hard time forming.

Ostro continued his explanation saying that atmospheric pressure in the Northern Hemisphere’s mid-latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees has increased steadily since 1970.  He then overlaid a chart showing this increase with that of a chart that shows global average temperatures having increased over the same period.  As he says in his blog entry, “That parallels remarkably well the trend of globally-averaged temperatures, which has also shown a significant rise since the mid 1970s.”

For the rest of the story story – and a response from Stu Ostro – check out the complete story on the Denver Weather Examiner’s pages. Examiner.com - Get inside Denver weather