From Marc Morano's climate roundup to September 20, 2007

NASA's 1971 Warning: 'New Ice Age Coming'

Excerpt: NASA scientist James E. Hansen, who has publicly criticized the Bush administration for dragging its feet on climate change and labeled skeptics of man-made global warming as distracting "court jesters," appears in a 1971 Washington Post article that warns of an impending ice age within 50 years. "U.S. Scientist Sees New Ice Age Coming," blares the headline of the July 9, 1971, article, which cautions readers that the world "could be as little as 50 or 60 years away from a disastrous new ice age, a leading atmospheric scientist predicts." The scientist was S.I. Rasool, a colleague of Mr. Hansen's at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The article goes on to say that Mr. Rasool came to his chilling conclusions by resorting in part to a new computer program developed by Mr. Hansen that studied clouds above Venus. The 1971 article, discovered this week by Washington resident John Lockwood while he was conducting related research at the Library of Congress, says that "in the next 50 years" - or by 2021 - fossil-fuel dust injected by man into the atmosphere "could screen out so much sunlight that the average temperature could drop by six degrees," resulting in a buildup of "new glaciers that could eventually cover huge areas."

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NASA Recalculates hottest year in U.S. Yet Again: 1934 & 1998 Declared Tied Now

Excerpt: On Sept 15, Jerry Brennan observed that the NASA U.S. temperature history had changed and that 1998 was now co-leader atop the U.S. leaderboard. By this time, we'd figured out exactly what Hansen had done: they'd switched from using the SHAP version - which had been what they'd used for the past decade or so - to the FILNET version. The impact at Detroit Lakes was relatively large - which was why we'd noticed it, but in the network as a whole the impact of the change was to increase the trend slightly - enough obviously to make a difference between 1934 and 1998 - even though this supposedly was of no interest to anyone.

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Antarctic Ice Grows to Record Level according to U. Of Illinois Polar Research Group

Excerpt: Wednesday, September 12, 2007 - New historic SH sea ice maximum and NH sea ice minimum - The Southern Hemisphere sea ice area has broken the previous maximum of 16.03 million sq. km and is currently at 16.26 million sq. km. This represents an increase of about 1.4% above the previous SH ice area record high. The observed sea ice record in the Southern Hemisphere (1979-present) is not as long as the Northern Hemisphere. Prior to the satellite era, direct observations of the SH sea ice edge were sporadic.

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Laurie David Admits to "Error" in kid's Global Warming Book

Excerpt: Laurie David, writing in her Huffington Post column, defends her new left-wing kid's book, The Down to Earth Guide to Global Warming. The Hollywood producer turned children's author is attacking a recent study for catching that a graph used as in her book mislabeled CO2 and temperature in an advantageous way..... The error that SPPI caught is not minor. I have read David's book, and she and Cami Gordon do not make much of an effort to prove that mankind's activities are causing global warming, or that the current trend of temperature change is abnormal when compared to prior cycles. Instead, she takes this for granted and offers a passing reference to a graph with CO2 atmospheric concentration and temperature (p. 18) as proof that economic activity threatens to wipe out penguins and polar bears.... Of course, since David has previously stated that the goal of her book is to manipulate children, we shouldn't be surprised that the entire second half is comprised of nothing but tips like this.

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UK truck driver sues to stop Gore's film in schools:

'I am determined to prevent my children from being subjected to political spin in the classroom'

Excerpt: Mr Dimmock's lawyers will therefore argue that distributing this film to schools is either unlawful under section 406 of the 1996 Act or unlawful because it does not offer the balance required by section 407.... What he does not accept is that sending out a 93-minute film made by the former vice-president of the United States is the right way to do it. "Gore has gone on record as saying he believes it is appropriate to over-represent the facts to get his message across," says Mr Day. "One of the very clear inferences from the Gore film is that areas such as Bangladesh will be under water by the end of the century. He is talking about sea levels rising by 20 feet." But this is not backed up by the IPCC, the solicitor says. Their view is that sea levels will rise by 1.3 feet over the next 100 years. A rise of 20ft would require rising temperatures to continue for millennia. "This film is a very powerful piece of work, says Mr Day. "There is a real risk that children are going to gulp on this and just digest it and accept it."

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Meteorologist Craig James Debunks claims on Northwest Passage

The headline in this press release from the European Space Agency reads "Satellites witness lowest Arctic ice coverage in history". In history! That sounds like a long time. However, when you read the article you find "history" only goes back to 28 years, to 1979. That is when satellites began monitoring Arctic Sea ice. The article also says "the Northwest Passage - a long-sought short cut between Europe and Asia that has been historically impassable." I guess these people flunked history class. It has been open several times in history, without ice breakers. The first known successful navigation by ship was in 1905.

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Kyoto projects harm ozone layer: U.N. official

Excerpt: The biggest emissions-cutting projects under the Kyoto Protocol on global warming have directly contributed to an increase in the production of gases that destroy the ozone layer, a senior U.N. official says. In addition, evidence suggests that the same projects, in developing countries, have deliberately raised their emissions of greenhouse gases only to destroy these and therefore claim more carbon credits, said Stanford University's Michael Wara.

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Waste at Starbucks: Coating on coffee cups puts lid on recycling

Excerpt: Starbucks goes through roughly 2.3 billion paper cups a year and touts its national award for using cups made of 10 percent recycled material. The sleeves on the cups even plead, "Help us help the planet." But don't be confused. Starbucks promotes recycling on its cups, but the cups themselves aren't recyclable here or in most other cities nationwide. "Well, they tricked me," said Nicole Mejias, 22, a self-described Starbucks freak. "I immediately associate recycling with Starbucks because of their cups. That's so hypocritical. I would have never guessed" that the cups weren't easily recyclable. The reason: The plastic coating that keeps the cup from leaking also prevents it from being recycled with other paper products. That could be overcome, but it would cost more. Anything can be recycled, but "The system is not designed to take the individual Starbucks cups," said Steve Sargent, director of recycling for Rumpke Recycling, Columbus' largest recycler.

Waste Management, North America's largest recycler, won't take the cups, either. But many employees have been telling customers otherwise. They say their Seattle-based employer never made the situation clear.

"I totally thought the cups were recyclable. I think almost everyone did," said Melanie O'Brien, an Otterbein College student studying environmental initiatives who has worked at Starbucks.

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Gore charges $25,000 per person for meet-and-greet in Australia

Excerpt: Mr Gore made his comments after reporters were asked to leave the lunch venue. Despite the cost, lunch in the 700-seat room at the Sydney Convention Centre was a sell-out, as is tomorrow's event in Melbourne. VIP packages, which included a spot close to Mr Gore and a meet-and-greet with him, cost $25,000..... "It's [the Arctic] melting 10 times faster than previously recorded. Experts are now saying that if we don't act with urgency, the entire ice cap could be completely gone in less than 23 years."

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Climate change as an excuse to 'tax the [bleep] out of us'

Excerpt: Christopher Alleva On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal featured a discussion with Michael O'Leary, CEO of low fare Irish airline, Ryanair. Portrayed as kind of a swashbuckler, O'Leary offered up an interesting array of comments on the airline industry and the regulatory environment, but he saved up his most scathing attacks for the new climate change taxes with which Britain is hitting the airlines. His profanity-laced tirade regarding these taxes is right on the money, literally! Mention airlines and carbon dioxide in the same sentence, and he begins peppering his language with four-letter words.

Earlier this year, before becoming Britain's prime minister, Gordon Brown raised taxes on air travel to and from the U.K. The then-Treasury chief's stated purpose was fighting climate change. Mr. O'Leary, whose airline serves more than a dozen British airports, demurs: "He just raised taxes on airlines. It has [bleep]-all to do with climate change! We've written several letters . . . to the Treasury, asking what the money's going to be spent on. We still haven't gotten a reply." They can't reply because that money went straight to the general fund to pay for pensions and the national health system!

O'Leary wasn't done yet, laying bare, the whole global warming business for the fraud that it is. "...the problem with all this environmental claptrap . . . it's a convenient excuse for politicians to just start taxing people. Some of these guilt-laden, middle-class liberals think it's somehow good: 'Oh, that's my contribution to the environment.' It's not. You're just being robbed--it's just highway [bleeping] robbery." He observes that passenger airlines are responsible for only 2% of carbon dioxide emissions world-wide: "It's less than marine transport, and yet I don't see anyone [saying], you know, 'Let's tax the [bleep] out of the ferries.' "

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Greenhouse gas mandates burden poor

Excerpt: the Edison Power Research Institute issued a report that provided an economic analysis of California's climate initiatives - a prototype of the one by which Florida is now modeled. The EPRI says cumulative costs to the California economy, just to meet its 2020 targets, could range from a hefty $104 billion to $367 billion and lead to a future of severe electricity shortages in the state. Put another way, the policy would cost every California household a staggering $31,900, or about two-thirds of one year's median income for all residents.

This would even be worse for blacks and Hispanics, where the costs would be about 90 percent of one year's household income. The EPRI further states that poorer households in California would bear a much larger burden relative to their income than would wealthier households. While all consumers would face persistently higher energy and energy-induced prices, the impact of these cost-of-living increases is far heavier on families earning $30,000 than on families earning more than $1 million a year. For the record, only 7 percent of California's population is African-American, as compared with nearly 16 percent in Florida - and most Florida residents who are older than 65 live on fixed incomes. These are, sadly, the people who are often most susceptible to the economic harm these climate change policies would most assuredly spawn.

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Letter from Morano to NBC's Anne Thompson on Greenland's 'Skewed Reporting'

Excerpt: Dear Anne: The NBC Nightly News segment tonight was a classic case of skewed reporting. Why did you not mention that Greenland temps were highest in 1941 or that the 30's and 40's were the warmest decades according to multiple peer reviewed studies? Why did you not mention that the rate of warming was twice as fast in the early part of 20th century (long before man-made CO2 could have been responsible?) Why do you only interview one activist scientist who is an advisor to Gore? There are many ice and sea level experts you could have contacted (many listed in below Senate report) Why did you do a Greenland ice story by relying on the last 15 years of temperature data? Please read below and plan on a follow up segment that actually educates the viewers, not one that cherry picks the last 15 years and shows scary maps of flooding. The segment shown tonight on NBC News is just the standard boiler plate alarmist nonsense. You will probably win many journalism awards with this, (such is the sad state of much of environmental reporting today) but the viewers are being woefully misinformed.

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Colorado Springs Gazette Cites EPW Reports

Excerpt: The only disasters caused by global warming exist in contrived computer models so unreliable they can't replicate yesterday's weather, let alone the next century's temperatures. Almost daily, new evidence is offered to refute the claims of global warming alarmists.

"An abundance of new peer-reviewed studies, analysis and data error discoveries in the last several months has prompted scientists to declare that fear of catastrophic man-made global warming `bites the dust,' and the scientific underpinnings for alarm may be `falling apart,' " according to U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla.

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New Pacific Research Institute Report Reviews the History of Environmental Alarmism and Its Policy Impact

Excerpt: "A major challenge in developing appropriate responses to legitimate problems is that alarmism catches people's attention and draws them in," said Dr. Kaleita. "Alarmism is given more weight than it deserves, as policy makers attempt to appease their constituency and the media." Examples of poor and self-contradictory policy choices in California include: Taxpayer money spent on a lawsuit against nearly the entire automobile industry in North America to seek damages that have not yet occurred. The Low Carbon Fuel Standard recently promulgated by the governor of California to promote the use of ethanol in the state's fuel supply. Ethanol reduces fuel efficiency, which means drivers will need to burn more fuel to go the same distance. San Francisco's ban on the use of plastic bags in city businesses. In reality, the manufacture of paper bags releases more greenhouse gases than the manufacture of plastic bags.

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The Lockwood paper was designed to rebut Durkin's "Great Global Warming Swindle" film. It is a rather confused paper -- acknowledging yet failing to account fully for the damping effect of the oceans, for instance -- but it is nonetheless valuable to climate atheists. The concession from a Greenie source that fluctuations in the output of the sun have driven climate change for all but the last 20 years (See the first sentence of the paper) really is invaluable. And the basic fact presented in the paper -- that solar output has in general been on the downturn in recent years -- is also amusing to see. Surely even a crazed Greenie mind must see that the sun's influence has not stopped and that reduced solar output will soon start COOLING the earth! Unprecedented July 2007 cold weather throughout the Southern hemisphere might even be the first sign that the cooling is happening. And the fact that warming plateaued in 1998 is also a good sign that we are moving into a cooling phase. As is so often the case, the Greenies have got the danger exactly backwards. See my post of 7.14.07 and a very detailed critique here for more on the Lockwood paper

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