“Kyoto Protocol: Bad Science = Bad Policy“. Christmas Guest pudding from Ruth Bonnett. Ayn Rand, the novelist and icon of libertarian “thought”, apparently foretold that the Kyoto Protocol would be an attack on Australian farmers. The IPCC is also apparently a tool to “restrict technology” so that we’ll all have to live in caves in the dark and die of starvation.
But what about Nostradamus?
“Heaviest December snow in NYC in 6 decades – 5th largest ever – hundreds of other snow records set around the nation“. Snow! Somewhere! Proves that Global Warming is a lie!
Thanks Anthony.
“Simple Physics – In reality my feather blew up into a tree“. Christmas Guest pudding from Barry Woods. Do you know that climatology theories are only correct under ideal laboratory conditions? After all, the cannonball and the feather only fall at the same rate if there is no wind (hence odd reference to feathers in the post title). This means that in the real world climatology theories can’t possibly be right! Actually, I think “simple physics” says that’s true if they are in a vacuum.
Barry’s hopeful and yet flawed logic lets him grudgingly admit that yes, CO2 can produce a greenhouse effect in glass tube, but continue to stoutly deny that it operates out here in “the real world.”
Too bad climatology principles are actually well-supported by empirical results.
A short bit of news about me. After all I’m doing this to steal attention from the esteemed Anthony Watts, aren’t I? So why not preen myself in front of the mirror for a moment. Well, that’s a common theme of the criticisms I receive…
I’ve been knocked out by a variety of colds for the last few weeks, with just a short interlude that let me enjoy a family Christmas. This has naturally impeded my “obsession” with Sir Anthony. I’m still focusing on catching up, and I have to say it’s very entertaining to look back at all the howling about winter weather on Watts Up With That over the Christmas period. Anthony’s Christmas Guest authors are also proving a reliably enthusiastic collection of myopic loose nuts.
Thanks for the support you readers have given me, and in particular for the tips that are starting to help me tame the fire-hose of misinformation that Anthony likes to tout as “voted Best Science Blog (of 2008)”.
“NASA’s Sunspot Prediction Roller Coaster“. Christmas Guest pudding from Ira Glickstein about NASA’s solar cycle predictions, who concludes with a statement that might have been a helpful opening sentence: “I am not any kind of expert on Sunspots”.
The current solar cycle has proven unusually quiet and probably influenced by anomalies in 2003, making NASA’s predictions, based primarily on observed geomagnetic precursors, erratic. Those stupid scientists, thinking that their careful observations and analysis would be any match for a crank with Excel on his PC!
Glickstein thinks that after the publicity for the Algore film An Inconvenient Truth solar scientists “felt pressured to please their colleagues and superiors by predicting a Sunspot doozy that would presage a doozy of a warm spell.” That is the dumbest conspiracy theory I’ve ever heard of.
Ira Glickstein's amateur assessment of NASA's sunspot prediction. What data is the amusing dramatic blue trend showing? None. What a mess.
“Piers Corbyn goes global cooling“. Unreliable, vague and attention-seeking British weather forecaster Piers Corbyn was welcomed onto Fox News’ Fox and Friends morning show on December 27th, where he took potshots Global Warming “cultists”. Yeah Fox Network!
So what is his secret “Solar Weather Technique”?
“Just Another East Coast Blizzard“. Snow! Somewhere! Proves that Global Warming is a fraud!
Christmas Guest John Goetz warns us that New York’s Blizzard of 1888 took 237 lives. I guess this means we should start burning oil as fast as possible to prevent the Global Cooling that is really threatening us.
“An end of an era – the incandescent light bulb“. Anthony Watts notes that California is phasing out the sale of 100 W incandescent light bulbs. This is, as Anthony need not even mention, an attack on the personal liberties of right-thinking Americans. Anthony’s Californian readers appear to be hoarding the precious items. The maximum available wattage will be now 75 W, which means that this isn’t “the end” at all.
I’m sure that dim bulbs like Anthony will still be readily available though.
“Climate Change and the Corruption of Science: Where did it all go wrong?“. Christmas Guest pudding from Bernie Lewin. Apparently Global Warming is just a way to use apocalyptic scenarios to generate social panic and maintain political power. And the scientists all jumped onboard because they like the attention.
So all the denialist rants about conspiracies, lying scientists, and impending secret world governments is just a rational response?
That’s funny, cause I thought the fundamental basis for Global Warming denialism was right-wing interests exploiting paranoia over perceived threats to autonomy to protect their own power.
“How I learned to stop smoking and love Global Warming“. Christmas Guest pudding from archaeologist Michael A. Lewis, Ph.D. Unlike most denialists, he believes in tree ring data. Good luck defending that in the comments! He also knows that modest Arctic warming a thousand years ago is proof of natural global warming in the same time period. Somehow. Funny, the Yamal tree-ring proxy chart he includes doesn’t particularly show that.
Lewis falls into the trap of seeing the forest and not the trees. He sees nothing worrying over the long timescales he’s used to thinking in, so why worry?
Two problems. First, the current rate of change is completely unprecedented, so his incurious lack of concern is ill-advised. Second, his own work on changing Arctic populations shows that climate change, whether natural or not, can have massively disruptive impacts. The existing Dorset Inuit disappeared and were completely replaced by the Thule Inuit. It must have sucked to be Dorset.
Wott's Up With That? 