Monthly Archives: April 2010

Climate Craziness of the Week – MSM jumps on alarming headline

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“Climate Craziness of the Week – MSM jumps on alarming headline“. Anthony Watts dismisses a University of Leeds report that the melting of floating ice, mainly because of salinity and temperature differences, can make a small contribution to sea-level rise. And the “MSM” are talking about it! Shocking. The paper is Recent loss of floating ice and the consequent sea level contribution by Shepherd, et al. 2010 in Geophysical Research Letters.

Nothing like mocking new knowledge because it isn’t significant enough. That’s anti-science I guess. The general opinion was that the melting of floating ice would have no impact on sea-level because of Archimedes’ principle, but it turns out that the estimated volume difference is 742 km²per year! A large number to be sure, but spread over the entire ocean very modest.

Anthony mocks this because the calculated annual contribution is an almost unmeasurable 49 micrometers (0.000049 m). But what would his position be if this hadn’t been calculated and included? Undoubtably outrage.

Is Melting Ice Warming The Arctic?

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“Is Melting Ice Warming The Arctic?” Steven Goddard has an insight to offer about today’s earlier WUWT post about Screen and Simmonds’ 2010 Letter to Nature about  the contribution of Sea Ice melting to Arctic warming. Did you know that “ice loss has occurred mainly during the summer“? This is one of those curious posts where, to attack a conclusion, the denialist argument implicitly accepts that climate change is happening. Here Steven has chosen to argue about which months the warming is happening, not whether it is happening at all…

UAH Arctic Temp vs NSIDC Ice. After "climateinsiders.wordpress.com".

Enthusiastic arm-waving follows. Steven’s confused by the fact that Arctic climate warming appears stronger in the winter months. Guess what? Ice won’t melt at either -20°C or -2°C, only at 0°C. What happens when ice melts? It absorbs energy. Perhaps the melting of sea ice is buffering rising Arctic temperatures in the summer months.

What will happen when Steven discovers that apples fall down? Stay away from high school physics textbooks Steven, you might have your world rocked.

Study: Melting sea ice major cause of warming in Arctic

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“Study: Melting sea ice major cause of warming in Arctic“. Anthony Watts tries to distract from a Nature climate paper [update: PDF here.] by muttering about transient temperature recording errors that never actually enter the climate data.

Dr. James Screen of the University of Melbourne reports that Arctic climate change is driven more by declining sea ice than by warmer air circulating up from lower latitudes.

Sea ice 2007 minimum. NASA

Virginia Attorney General goes after Mann and UVA

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“Virginia Attorney General goes after Mann and UVA“. Anthony Watts is pleased that Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a denialist right-wing nutter and Tea Party supporter, is moving on from encouraging discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, attacking the Environmental Protection Agency and fighting against federal health care reform.

Now he wants the University of Virginia to produce documents relating to Dr. Michael Mann’s state funding while he was at UVA between 1999 and 2005. Seems every posturing right-wing politician wants to go on a bullying Climategate-style fishin’ trip these days. I predict he’ll return with nothing more than the bait he set out with.

Let’s just say it: this is an ignorant McCarthy-style witch hunt.

Well, at least they didn’t launch it at Roswell

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“Well, at least they didn’t launch it at Roswell“. Anthony Watts’ snarky reference to a NASA balloon experiment in Australia that failed to launch serves as an enjoyable opportunity for his readers to snipe at gubmint scientists and Al Gore.

Another Arctic Sea Ice Milestone

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“Another Arctic Sea Ice Milestone“. Anthony Watts is trying to milk the Arctic Sea Ice Extent blip (aka “weather”) for as long as possible. Of course this is only possible with the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center’s NORSEX estimate, which uses a slightly broader definition of sea ice. Anthony tells us about a sensational “milestone”:

Today it is encouraging to see the NANSEN is reporting that both Arctic Sea Ice area and extent are above the normal line.

Nansen Arctic Sea Ice Extent, 2010/04/29.

What’s actually happening is that the 2010 sea ice extent has tracked previous “low” years until an early March cold snap in the Bering Sea delayed the onset of retreat. After that delay, it’s right back on the same trajectory.

But keep sayin’ it, Anthony.

2010/04/30 Update: Good sea ice info from Dr. Ron Lindsay at the University of Washington has been pointed out in the comments:

Mar. 2010 sea ice extent prediction for Sept. 2010. After Ron Lindsay.

Disconnected Computer Modeling

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“Disconnected Computer Modeling“. Steven Goddard notices a University Of Washington computer simulation of Arctic sea ice extent by Jinlun Zhang and Ron Lindsay which strikes him “as being particularly disconnected from reality.” Probably because their low prediction for the fall of 2010 doesn’t suit him.

Does Steven explain why the prediction is faulty, or what is wrong with their model? Of course not, he has no clue whatsoever about the how the model is generated.

Arctic Sea Ice Extent 2010 prediction by Zhang and Lindsay.

Zhang’s prediction includes the reasonable statement that “There are many uncertainties with the predictions and the results must be viewed with caution” but it will be interesting to see how this prediction, which includes a month of hindcast, bears out.

EPA’s action Jackson moving forward

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“EPA’s action Jackson moving forward“. There’s nothing Anthony Watts hates more than a government actually doing something. The disparagingly nicknamed EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has testified before Congress that the EPA will be setting efficiency and biofuel standards to further reduce pollution and incidentally decrease American dependency on foreign oil sources.

Damn her and her commie meddling!

Cold from Seattle to Sao Paulo

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“Cold from Seattle to Sao Paulo“. Steven Goddard makes an idiotic and irrelevant observation about the short-term weather forecast for North and South America and commenters talk sagely about how much snow fell in their backyard yesterday. Thus proving that Global Warming is a hoax.

Whatever.

Gore’s new venture – ‘Crowdsourced TV’

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“Gore’s new venture – ‘Crowdsourced TV’“. Al Gore does something! Anthony Watts and his readers are boringly predictable in their knee-jerk response, starting of course with the “inventor of the internet” urban legend. I suppose I could just stop there really.

Anthony belittles Gore’s planned YouTube-like venture, declares everything Gore has done is a failure, and posts a YouTube video that mocks “crowdsourcing”. But isn’t that the only thing that denialist leaders do; coax as many people as possible to join their ignorant chorus?