More crooked "science"

Faked photo used in a leading science journal



You can read here the wail from Warmist scientists about their being attacked in the same way that they long attacked "deniers".

Note that it is accompanied by a photo apparently designed to convey the urgency of their cause. The photo is of a lone polar bear on an iceberg credited to ISTOCKPHOTO.COM.

The photo is a fake with the following note in the photo caption at Istockphoto: "This image is a photoshop design. Polar bear, ice-floe, ocean and sky are real, they were just not together in the way they are now."

What does the use of a faked photo say about the scientific credibility of the journal in question? I think it says it all. These guys are inveterate frauds. They just don't know HOW to be honest.

They are just evangelists for the latest apocalyptic faith -- a faith that is as poorly-founded as all its predecessors. Perhaps we should in future refer to their publication as The Science Watchtower, though that perhaps defames Jehovah's Witnesses.





A Greenie wet dream

With 2010 action by Congress now uncertain on climate and energy issues, Synapse Energy Economics of Cambridge, MA., will release a new report on May 11, 2010 detailing how the United States could make the transition to a clean electricity future.

The report, prepared for the nonprofit and nonpartisan Civil Society Institute (CSI), outlines a transition to a healthier, safer power industry and provides details on what this transition might look like in the various regions of the U.S.

The Synapse report for CSI develops a scenario for 2010- 2050 in which the country:

* Cuts electricity use by 15 percent from today’s requirements through increased energy efficiency, or over 40 percent from a “business as usual” (BAU) scenario.

* Retires the existing fleet of coal-fired power plants and builds no new coal-fired generation, rather than burning more coal. Tens of billions of dollars could be saved in avoided pollution control costs at the coal-fired plants retired between 2010 and 2020.

* Reduces electric sector emissions of carbon dioxide by 82 percent relative to projected 2010 levels, and virtually eliminates emissions of sulfur dioxide and mercury.

* Boosts renewable energy -- including wind, solar, geothermal and biomass -- throughout the nation, eventually providing for half of the nation’s electricity requirements.

* Achieves all of the above with long-term savings relative to a BAU energy future .

The above is a news release received from agrodin@civilsocietyinstitute.org





Reid Aide Skeptical On Climate Bipartisanship

The chances of a climate and energy bill passing in 2010 -- or even in the next few years -- are diminishing given the lack of strong bipartisan support, a top adviser to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday.

"It's unclear whether there will be bipartisan support," Chris Miller, the Nevada Democrat's senior policy adviser on energy and climate, said at a conference sponsored by the Blue Green Alliance. "The only chance we have to get it done this year is to make sure it's bipartisan."

Miller went on to say that Democrats have "seen little to any real interest in public engagement by very many Republicans." He named only two senators on the other side of the aisle who have been active in the process: Susan Collins, R-Maine, who has introduced a bill with Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who has withdrawn from climate negotiations with John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, I/D-Conn., because of an impasse with Reid over immigration.

Reid indicated last week that Graham's involvement was not essential. "There are 40 other Republicans -- why Lindsey Graham?" he said. But Miller's comments today suggest that bipartisan support from somewhere, if not from Graham himself, is essential -- and elusive.

"We are hopeful given the short time frame that we'll get some support, because if we don't, the chances we're going to be able to legislate on this this year and in the next few years is going to decline significantly," Miller said. "We need all hands on deck to try to convince members of the other side that they should work with us."

He expressed hope that the bill crafted by Kerry, Graham and Lieberman would still be introduced, but he didn't comment on whether or when that could happen. Kerry said earlier today at the conference that he hoped to introduce the bill "very, very soon," but Miller indicated that Reid may not bring a bill to the floor if he is not confident it could pass. Given the current state of Senate politics, it almost always takes a filibuster-proof 60 votes to pass a bill, he said, and "bringing a bill to the floor and failing could be worse than no bill at all."

SOURCE






British electric car drivers fear being stranded with flat battery

The era of carefree motoring may soon be over, according to a study which reveals that drivers of the new generation of electric cars are plagued by nagging fears of being left stranded by a flat battery.

They narrow their horizons and rarely venture far from home, abandoning the old notion of the freedom of the open road.

A six-month trial involving 264 drivers found that almost all experienced “range anxiety” and travelled only short distances.

They were over cautious when planning journeys and allowed themselves a generous safety margin to avoid the need to recharge en route. They tended to avoid using their cars if the battery indicator showed that the charge level was less than 50 per cent.

Even though electric cars such as the Mitsubishi i-MiEV are theoretically capable of travelling 100 miles between charges the drivers appeared not to trust the official figures. The maximum journey undertaken was only a quarter of the official range.

The suitcase-sized batteries take at least six hours to recharge and Britain has only about 300 public charging points, most of which are in London.

The Government-funded trial, involving drivers working for local authorities, private companies and universities in the North East of England, found that the maximum journey length undertaken was only a quarter of the car’s official range.

Cenex, the Centre of Excellence for low carbon vehicle technologies which conducted the trial, concluded: “Range anxiety effects were significant throughout the trial with 93 per cent of journeys commencing with over 50 per cent battery state of charge.

“The under-utilisation of range is undesirable in terms of efficient deployment and acceptance of electric vehicles and highlights a need for more sophisticated on-board range prediction aids.”

The trial also found that drivers altered their driving style, slowing down and avoiding unnecessary acceleration or braking when the charge indicator dropped below 50 per cent.

Neil Butcher, who is leading a Government-sponsored trial of 25 electric cars in the West Midlands, said that drivers tended to think much more carefully about their journeys before setting out.

However, he said that only one family so far had drained the battery and been forced to make an unscheduled stop.

“They were driving at high speed down the motorway on the first day they had the car and they ran out of charge about four miles from home. They stopped at a pub which let them plug in while they sat there for a couple of hours until there was enough to make it home.”

Mr Butcher said that range anxiety increased in cold weather because the battery capacity fell by up to a third. Using the heater also caused the range shown on the dashboard instrument to drop by up to 20 miles.

“It encourages you to wear a coat and gloves in the car,” said Mr Butcher.

He said that drivers would be confident about making long trips once a network of fast-charge points was deployed. These give an 80 per cent charge in as little as 20 minutes. However, these points cost up to £25,000 each to install and using them reduces the life of the battery.

David Jackson, electric vehicle project manager for Nissan UK, said that drivers of the Nissan Leaf, a small family electric car due to go on sale in March next year, would be able to use a mobile phone to monitor the battery level as it was recharging. They would also be able to send the car a message to warm itself up using mains electricity so that they could start at a comfortable temperature without shortening the car’s range.

From January drivers will be able to obtain Government grants of up to £5,000 towards the purchase of an electric car.

The Department for Transport has also given London, Milton Keynes and the North East a total of £8 million for the installation of 11,000 charging points by the end of 2013. The points will mainly be installed in car parks and at leisure centres, railway stations and supermarkets.

However, only 2,000 points will be installed next year and only 79 of those will be fast-charge points.

SOURCE






Was Nashville's flood caused by global warming?

Apparently, head of the National Center for Atmospheric Research Kevin Trenberth thinks so. However, according to the US Climate Extremes Index for precipitation, there has been no trend in US precipitation over the past 100 years:



Above graph from the US Climate Extremes Index shows the sum of the percentage of the United States with a much greater than normal number of days with precipitation plus the percentage with a much greater than normal number of days without precipitation. Five year mean is shown in green.

Climate scientists frequently like to have it both ways, claiming that anthropogenic global warming causes both increased precipitation and increased droughts.

Did anthropogenic global warming also cause the highest recorded flood in Nashville in 1926 & 1927 according to the US Army Corps of Engineers? And severe Nashville flooding in 1937, 1975, and 1977?

SOURCE







Most Australians (2 out of 3) not convinced that climate change is man-made

A huge collapse in faith -- brought on by the crookedness of the "scientists" at the centre of the scare

Two out of three Australians are not convinced climate change is man-made, and even those who do believe it is aren't prepared to pay much to fix it, a new poll shows.

A Galaxy Poll, commissioned by the conservative Institute of Public Affairs, found 35 per cent of respondents blamed humans for global warming. Fully 26 per cent believed it was just part of a natural cycle, while 38 per cent remained uncertain.

Thirty-five per cent said they would not be prepared to pay anything to generate cleaner energy and fight global warming.

Of those who believed climate change to be man-made, 27 per cent said they would be prepared to pay only $100 or less a year in increased tax and utility costs.

The poll shows young people are most convinced that global warming is man-made, and older people are the least worried. Just 27 per cent of those aged over 50 believe climate change to be man-made.

Institute executive director John Roskam said this was the polling Prime Minister Kevin Rudd did not want Australians to see. "This reveals why Kevin Rudd has run away from what he had previously described as the greatest moral challenge of our times," he said in a statement.

SOURCE

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