From alarmist Tom Friedman, an op-ed with a strange lack of emphasis on The Problem Very Recently Known as the One That Might Kill All Our Grandchildren

Op-Ed Columnist - Alleged Win, Alleged Win, Alleged Win, Alleged Win, Alleged Win ... - NYTimes.com

The same is true in geopolitics. A gas tax reduces gasoline demand and keeps dollars in America, dries up funding for terrorists and reduces the clout of Iran and Russia at a time when Obama will be looking for greater leverage against petro-dictatorships. It reduces our current account deficit, which strengthens the dollar. It reduces U.S. carbon emissions driving climate change, which means more global respect for America. And it increases the incentives for U.S. innovation on clean cars and clean-tech.

Blizzard traps thousands in India « Watts Up With That?

More nasty weather in the northern hemisphere. It seems to be “piling up”...

Gray: The ice man cometh — and never leaveth

Day 5: I’m officially out of socks and underwear. As I build my one-millionth fire, using the Sunday newspaper, I notice in the advertisements from JC Penney that all the guys in the ads look really happy. That’s because they are wearing clean underwear. I go to feed the fish and realize they are frozen; literally frozen in the water. I’ve been feeding dead fish for nearly a week. When this is over, I’ll definitely need therapy.

Is this guy trying to argue that carbon trading makes sense even if carbon dioxide isn't a pollutant?

While that future sounds grim, it is at least partially avoidable, if the White House, Congress and other world governments rise to the occasion. There are key assumptions in the report that are not inevitable or unchangeable. For example, it predicts that new energy technologies to replace fossil fuels "probably will not be commercially viable and widespread by 2025."

Well, maybe not, especially if governments do not make the right kind of investments in research, or stubbornly resist the call to put a fair price on carbon emissions, which would quickly make other energy technologies more cost competitive.

But given the pace of change over the past 16 years, is it really so far-fetched to imagine dramatic changes and improvements in energy 16 years from now?

There is no time to waste chattering about whether a snowstorm or two says anything about global warming. The United States, and other countries around the world, must move away from fossil fuels, or risk a future where they are all fighting over a diminishing resource needed to power their economies.

More from alleged eco-hero Leonardo DiCaprio: Just this one article places him in South Africa, Cannes, Tokyo, Paris and Rome

‘Since I was a kid I’ve been passionate about different species being pushed into extinction and that propelled me to request a meeting with Al Gore in the White House. He said to me, “There’s this thing called global warming and it’s going to come to fruition in a horrific way in our future so if you’re going to get behind any issue, this is the one to get behind.”’

Since then, DiCaprio has become the most vocal and committed of Hollywood eco-activists. In 2000, he gave an impassioned speech challenging the incoming President Bush to pay attention to the issue.

And last year he premiered his full-length documentary feature on the state of the planet, 11th Hour, at the Cannes Film Festival. It had a mixed reception and DiCaprio was criticised for the perceived opulence of his jet-set lifestyle.

‘Just to clarify,’ he says. ‘I flew commercial.’

Despite his environmental campaigning, DiCaprio insists he is not the Hollywood poster child for all things green.

‘This is not about me,’ he says. ‘And it’s not about one group of people telling any other group of people how to live. I don’t think it’s fair to tell people to install solar panels, buy (low-watt) light bulbs or drive a hybrid – that’s not a reality for most people.

'It is about something much, much bigger. It’s about getting the governments of the world to implement environmental policy.

'We are the most powerful country in the world and we haven’t made a tiptoe towards renewable technologies. We should be the ones paving the way, the ones other countries look up to. It makes me extremely sad.

Could Ohio become 'Silicon Valley of alternative energy'?

If Ohio were to stop burning coal tomorrow, the state would shut down.

Eighty-six percent of Ohio's electric energy comes from coal combustion — a key factor in menacing climate change. That's about to change.
...
The utility's alternative energy request is meant to meet a mandate passed this year by the Ohio General Assembly that the state generate 25 percent of its power from advanced or alternative sources by 2025. The mandate, coming years after other states set such standards, could one day make Ohio a top state for renewable energy generation.
...
In some respects, the race for wind power conjures up the days of wildcatters searching for untapped oil deposits. Company reps armed with wind maps are combing high ground, signing up farmers for the right to site wind turbines on their land.
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Gov. Ted Strickland has targeted advanced energy as a key to revive Ohio. Studies say the state is positioned to play a heavy role in the manufacturing chain to produce renewable power generating equipment. That could mean jobs and money for the Dayton region's high and low tech industries. U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, recently proclaimed in Dayton that Ohio could become the "Silicon Valley of alternative energy."

During eco-hero Obama's most recent fossil-fueled visit to Oahu, is the power to his rented $9 million beachfront estate provided by burning things like coal, old tires, and used motor oil?

Massive mounds of coal, shredded tires and a towering smokestack greet you as you enter the grounds of AES Hawaii's coal-fired power plant in Campbell Industrial Park.

But one thing that doesn't greet you is black smoke.

Belying preconceived notions about coal, AES operates a relatively clean-burning plant using alternate fuel sources, such as old tires and used motor oil, to help power the plant. The plant also burns carbon from Board of Water Supply filters.

If your remote sensing techniques sometimes fail to distinguish between snow, ice, and water, how can you reliably calculate the volume of Arctic ice?

Pen Hadow to measure allegedly retreating Arctic ice - Times Online

Scientists have a great deal of data on ice thickness, mostly gathered through remote sensing by satellites, aircraft and submarines. This has enabled them to construct models aimed at forecasting the fate of the icecap. However, they produce a range of predictions, partly because the climate is variable but also because remote sensing techniques sometimes fail to distinguish between snow, ice and water. Hadow’s survey is designed to correct these errors.

His data will be used to test the accuracy of a model used by the American navy’s postgraduate school in California, which has calculated that the Arctic could be ice-free in the summer as early as 2013.

Hadow will set out in February from the Canadian side of the Arctic. The short days mean much of the trip will be undertaken in darkness in temperatures as low as -50C, while the break-up of the icecap means the team will have to put on immersion suits and swim. Hadow said: “Hitherto our skills and experience have been largely socially redundant, but now we have the chance to deploy them for the benefit of everyone.”

Arctic ice volume allegedly lowest "ever" as globe allegedly warms

GENEVA (Reuters) - Ice volume around the Arctic region hit the lowest level ever recorded this year as climate extremes brought death and devastation to many parts of the world, the U.N. weather agency WMO said on Tuesday.

And if we can't reliably figure the Arctic ice volume today, how can we compare today's volume to that of 1999, 1899, 1099, etc?

Letters to the editor: Readers write on salt and sending in the clowns - Oregon

Every major "civilized" city uses salt on its snowy and/or icy roads. Tally up the school days and work lost; the cost of buying chains (if you could find them); the rental SUVs; the broken arms and ankles; the reduction in retail sales; the buses and light rail systems broken down; the cancelled Christmas trips, etc., all because our politically correct city officials are afraid that sprinkling salt on ice will ruin the rivers.

Our city has been crippled for almost two weeks. This is insanity, to say the least. Our rivers run into the Pacific Ocean, which already has salt in it. We cannot allow our lives to be interrupted like this again. Enough is enough.

Spread the salt next time -- and spare us.

KIT HOGAN
Southwest Portland
----
Isn't it slick?

Don't you love ruts?

Bouncing near-airborne on ice chunks, getting stuck in mid-lane.

Send in the plows.

But where are the plows?

There ought to be plows.

Well, maybe ... next year.

DANIEL WRIGHT
Southeast Portland

Anonymous: Allegedly clever CO2-hysterics trespass at the homes of alleged climate criminals

In response to this recalcitrant behavior Santa and his reindeer delivered a stocking filled with coal to Barnett’s posh suburban home, placed a large banner in his yard reading, “Stop Cliffside. Bank of America, stop funding coal!”, and coated his luxury SUV with red paint to help him start reducing his emissions immediately.

Blackout fear as UK power plants face axe - Times Online

Coal power station closures could see Britain forced to start turning out the lights from 2013
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A TENTH of the UK’s power plants could be forced to close by the spring of 2013 – two-and-a-half years ahead of schedule, new research shows.

The revelation will stoke fresh concern that the government has not done enough to head off a looming energy generation gap that could lead to blackouts across the country.

Under an EU directive, companies operating old coal and oil-fired plants were given the option to spend hundreds of millions of pounds to upgrade them to comply with tougher pollution standards.

Those that “opted out” of the programme - nine plants representing about 15% of UK power supply - were given [a completely arbitrary?] 20,000 hours to operate, starting from January last year through to the end of 2015. Based on research from the energy-consultancy group Utilyx, several of these plants have been running at historically high rates that would put them out of commission much sooner than originally thought.

10/24/08: Alleged global warming cools hopes for Dutch skating race - USATODAY.com

Known locally as the Elfstedentocht, it has only been held 15 times since the first official event in 1909.

"In 2005, we calculated once in 10 years, and mainly due to warm winters that came afterwards we had to change our estimate to once every 18 years so there is ... a steep decline," one of the report's authors, Arthur Petersen, said in a telephone interview. "That's purely caused by climate change."

12/27/08 - Dutch news: Sub-zero temperatures inspire skating fever

The contest to hold the country's first outdoor ice-skating competition on naturally formed ice has been won by Haaksbergen in Twente near the German border. The race is taking place on Sunday. With the forecast of a longish period of sub-zero temperatures, many Dutch skating clubs are clearing up their race courses.

Cashing in on skating fever, factories are operating long hours to meet the demand of shops stocking up on skates. The last time the winter was cold enough to allow much skating in the open air away from rinks was 11 years ago. A whole generation of Dutch have grown up without the experience of skating in the big outdoors.

Global Shamming: News Flash: Stars and Politicians are Science Illiterates

Of course, this news piece (and others like it) never mention the words "global warming," because the news media is scientifically illiterate on that subject.

Another postcard from an allegedly overheated world

The weather’s not the only thing cold at the B.C. Wildlife Park this month.

Attendance is down approximately 60 per cent from last year during the local zoo’s December Wildlights festival.

And blame rests squarely on Jack Frost’s shoulders, said park business and development manager John Stark.

“Our attendance is substantially down because of the intense cold,” Stark said, noting 3,000 fewer visitors have attended this year’s event to date, compared to last year.

“There’s no doubt about it — it’s bitterly cold.”

Sub-zero temperatures have also caused some more physical problems around the park since the festival kicked off on Dec. 12 — the same day as the recent cold snap in the Thompson Valley.

Outdoor bathrooms have frozen, generators that power the lights are difficult to start and the train tour has had to be cancelled twice because operators couldn’t get the engine going.

Holyoke tenament fire

Twenty people, many of them children, are without a place to live now. They had lived at 620 Southeast Street in Holyoke before the early afternoon fire forced them out of their apartments and into the street.

Unfortunately this is the height of the winter fire season, when buildings go up in flames for any number of cold weather related reasons.

Booker: 2008 was the year man-made global warming was disproved - Telegraph

The first, on May 21, headed "Climate change threat to Alpine ski resorts" , reported that the entire Alpine "winter sports industry" could soon "grind to a halt for lack of snow". The second, on December 19, headed "The Alps have best snow conditions in a generation" , reported that this winter's Alpine snowfalls "look set to beat all records by New Year's Day".

Easily one of the most important stories of 2008 has been all the evidence suggesting that this may be looked back on as the year when there was a turning point in the great worldwide panic over man-made global warming. Just when politicians in Europe and America have been adopting the most costly and damaging measures politicians have ever proposed, to combat this supposed menace, the tide has turned in three significant respects...

Yurume.org Blogs » Man-made Global Warming is Tulip Bulb Mania

In 1636, tulips were listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange which further accommodated the tulip speculators who had become the primary market for tulip bulbs. The price of a tulip bulb at the height of this mania was $76,000. In the next six weeks tulip bulbs would drop in value to less than one dollar.

Today, man-made global warming is similar to the tulip bulb mania in Holland in 1636. It is an issue that has been hyped into a huge business. The absurd consensus in Holland in 1636 was that tulips were so unique that they would continue to increase in value forever. The current global warming crowd wants us to believe that global warming is controllable and man-made. There is no conclusive evidence that global warming is man-made and all contrary evidence is dismissed and ridiculed. We are told that we must act now to save the planet or our world will be lost to a multitude of catastrophic events in the future.

The inconvenient truth of all this is that, like the Holland tulip bulb in 1636, man-made global warming hype has entered the world of the absurd. We may think the price of $76,000 for a tulip bulb in Holland was silly. However, how silly is it when compared to the global warming hype of today? Indeed in the future people will look back with humor on a decade when tens of billions of dollars were spent in an attempt to convince society that the warming of Earth was due to man and not a function of the Sun.

Global warming: The new eugenics

The eugenics movement and the global warming movement are similar in many respects. Both ideas were introduced by scientists, advanced by politicians, popularized by the media, embraced as a moral necessity, resulted in severe consequences and eventually rejected as harmful hogwash.

Eugenics, thankfully, has run its course. Global warming, however, is approaching its zenith, just before imposing severe consequences, and is, perhaps, still a generation away from being rejected as the hogwash it is.

Global Warming and the Ice Age

The lead based toy scare and greenhouse effects I believe are cut from the same cloth. They are easy to sell and enact regulations upon, however they are weak on solving anything tangible. The billions of dollars spent on these initiatives would be better spent on things like figuring out what we can do to adapt to the upcoming ice age, or figuring out what toys improve a young child’s ability to be creative.

One thing to remember. Scientists, like presidents, politicians, doctors or lawyers, like to think in the short term. Spending on global warming initiatives by the Obama administration will certainly offer vast amounts of opportunities and grant monies to those same scientists who talk about greenhouse gasses.

Books: Teen readers are eating up slew of post-apocalyptic tales - Salt Lake Tribune

There's nothing like a hurtling asteroid to put teen angst in perspective. After all, what's a dateless prom compared with the smoking ruins of civilization? Weighed against epidemics, mass starvation and thought control, those dreaded SATs lose their sting, and "safety school" starts to sound like a good thing.

That's one way to explain the surging popularity of post-apocalyptic fiction for the 12-and-up Young Adult market --- one of the most robust areas of publishing. The starker explanation is that this popular genre mirrors a world beset by some of the most frightening problems in recent memory, from climate change to terrorism and the shredding of privacy and free will.

No Consensus (The Climate Underground) « The Air Vent

There is a little known fact about real scientists in the world. I have been repeatedly contacted by scientists in a wide variety of fields including meteorology and environmental sciences, whom have obtained my email from various methods including passing it between each other. From this I’ve been offered free access to papers through universities, ideas for other posts, offers of co-publication and a variety of other issues. Many of them don’t want their names mentioned and I will keep them confidential until hell freezes or they say otherwise. Most of the confidentiality revolves around the fear of consequences from taking an unpopular stance against AGW.

It has been pretty amazing the number of brilliant people who question the results of the IPCC. Despite all this the media still proclaims consensus. I remember my surprise at receiving one of my first emails on this, a polite PHD from a very famous university in England offered the use of papers and resources t0 further my blog. Another offered help in publishing some of my findings. Several just offered support stating they didn’t want to publicly declare their views. After a short time I’ve made contact with a fairly wide group of like minded people who exist in almost an underground, communicating behind the scenes each avoiding the public eye for their own reasons.

I’ve got news for Al, there is no consensus. What’s more, I’ve got $3.00 that says the backlash will be much bigger than he expects cause these guys aren’t callin’ him!

Ten Early Warning Sign’s of Globalis Warminitis « The Air Vent

Globalis Warmanitis is a serious disease affecting hundreds of millions. The symptoms start slowly, even one or two of the early warning signs is enough...

Iowa: Dubuque snowfall running ahead of last year's record-breaking pace

The last week of 2008 should give tri-state-area residents a respite from a seemingly relentless series of winter storms.

The break could be brief, however, ending once we change calendars.

"We're stuck in a rut in a way," said Harry J. Hillaker, the Iowa state climatologist. "Taking a look at the two-week outlook, it is favoring below-normal temperatures and above-normal precipitation. It is putting us back in the pattern we had in the beginning of December."

That means more snow.

Dubuque already has received 28.5 inches of snow this season -- about 9 inches ahead of the record-breaking pace of 2007-08.

Iowa: Council suggests spending billions of dollars in a ridiculous attempt to make the world's climate infinitesimally colder

The final report presents 56 policy options, and analyzes the net cost impact of 37 of them. The costs were estimated at about $4.8 billion between 2009 and 2020, or a weighted average cost of $8.80 per metric ton of carbon dioxide emissions reduced.

Will Obama pursue space-based solar power? - Short Sharp Science - New Scientist

Could power beamed to Earth from space solve our energy problems? Advocates of space-based solar power may find a receptive ear in the Obama administration.

Idiot Leonardo DiCaprio weighs in

He narrated, “I had my own crash course, education-wise. I got to meet Al Gore in the White House while he was vice president. He talked to me about global warming and actually sat me down for an hour and said, ‘This is the biggest issue that’s going to face humanity … I started to educate myself in that … Science was still fudgy at the time because you still had some people saying, does global warming exist? Now we know that over 93 percent of the scientific community believes that it is happening. The other seven percent may argue that it’s not a reality but you have to question their intentions—who finances them?”

Possible climate effects of variations in Earth's orbit

I have been desparately seeking ratification of a theory I have that explains the Little Ice Age and the current climate shift (if there really is one). I will make the assumption that you are aware of the relationship between the effects on the absorption of the sun's energy by the eliptical shape of the Eart's orbit plus the 23.5 degree angle of the axis of rotation...

Emailed comment from W. F. Lenihan on the Seattle situation

Gov Gregoire had no choice. The roads throughout the state are a mess. More snow has fallen in the Seattle area recently than any other time except the winter of 1942-43. I am a Seattle native and 78. I had a paper route in 1942 and had to slog through snow 2 to 3 feet deep dragging a sled. This snow pack remained for four or five weeks.

The real stupidity by far is that of Mayor Nickels, who prohibited the use of salt on roads because it might harm fish in Puget Sound (salt water). See: here. You will FDLOL.

The spin from the mayor is that rubber edges on plow blades that pack the snow on the roads rather than remove it is used in NY and Chicago, both of which have flat terrain while Seattle's is more hilly than SF. Nickels and the entire city council should be recalled for stupidity.

Another point that is not clear from your post is that Gregoire's pride is enacting the Western Climate Initiative (Little Kyoto cap and trade system) involving 7 states and 4 Canadian Provences. Already a hundred or so employees are busy inventorying emission levels and determining the CO2 emission quotas for all emitters notwithstanding the fact that WA has one of the smallest carbon footprints in the nation.

A $6.5 billion deficit is anticipated for the current budget cycle, that is large enough to bankrupt the state. The idiot Dems that control the Legislature and run the State and major cities are determined to ruin the economy while solving non-existent problems.

Heliogenic Climate Change: ABC thinks GIGO climate model output is REALLY scary

Here you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Using Hansen's computer model USGS and CCSP think we're all gonna die. WWF and NRDC agree (send money and we can stop it), and the VP of WWF's climate change program was the head of the CCSP coordination office. My oh my...

Decades from now, will Yi look back at this ceremony as a career highlight?

Korea's first astronaut Yi So-yeon will act as public relations ambassador for a global warming and climate change campaign.

The Ministry of Environment on Sunday said Yi was appointed because she has been vocal in calling for preventing global warming by reducing greenhouse gases in daily life.

She will appear in online video clips to promote climate change policies and give lectures on climate change to university students.

Yi is joined by cartoon characters Pororo the little penguin and Poby the polar bear. The appointment ceremony is held today at COEX in Seoul's Samseong-dong.

Important admissions from an alarmist

But the cycle of storm and drought is as old as the Earth itself. Redding had seen winters of roofbeam-snapping snows and of shorts-and-T-shirt warmth long before anyone had even heard of the greenhouse effect. If the weather were predictable, we wouldn't have to spend so much energy trying to forecast it.

The scientific foundation of global warming is sound, most climatologists say, and its long-term implications are alarming.

Some odd stuff from the executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Achim Steiner

Q: What impact will falling oil prices have on this plan to invest in a greener economy?

A: Well if you believe that climate change and global warming is a hoax then you should celebrate that oil is only US$60 per barrel.

If you even believe half of what we know is going to happen in the next 60-80 years, your first reaction should be: what a tremendous opportunity this is.

We were able to operate in our economy when oil was $100 per barrel, now its $60, let's use this $30-$40 dollars we have gained and invest it in a more diversified, cleaner-fuel economy instead of going back to putting our foot on the pedal and driving our cars faster.

The original assumption was that at $60 or $70 a barrel, solar and wind energy technology become perfectly competitive.

Now what did we see the big energy companies do?

They sold off their solar and wind energy businesses and as the Arctic was melting, began dreaming of drilling for oil there. This is not rational.

Q: Why is not rational?

A: Because it is a short term interest that accrues to a few people who are mortgaging the future of the next generation.

Can you explain to me, to my son and my grandsons why an oil company should today make billions in net profit which is two-thirds more than what we would need to spend as a global community on shifting away from global warming?

It's not as if oil companies are drilling in a more beautiful or intelligent or cleaner way. It's the same oil, from the same oil wells, in the same market.

And these companies can, in a sense, privatise a profit that we as a community, if we could use some of that, could finance the transition to a cleaner energy economy.

Bizarre climate alarmism from a company that injects carbon dioxide into our drinks and annually sells hundreds of millons of dollars worth of bottled water

Mortgage Information » Blog Archive » Whole Foods Needs a Holistic Approach on Climate Change

The financial crisis will right itself at some point,” said Coca-Cola VP Jeff Seabright, in a press conference last week. “But the climate crisis that we’re facing is not going to wait. We need to continue to take action. Leading companies understand that and we’ll stay the course.”

Sector: Soft Drinks & Non-Alcoholic Beverages

The Top 10 Bottled Water Brands in the US by wholesale sales in 2003
Aquafina (PepsiCo) ($936m) Crystal Geyser (CGWC) ($335m)
Dasani (Coca-Cola) ($834m) Ozarka (Nestle Waters) ($236m)
Poland Spring (Nestle Waters) ($649m) ZephyrHills (Nestle Waters) ($215m)
Arrowhead (Nestle Waters) ($546m) Ice Mountain (Nestle Waters) ($208m )
Deer Park (Nestle Waters) ($356m) Evian (Coca-Cola / Danone) ($145m)

Amazon.com: "Bill Nye Paper Recycling Factory" now on sale for $22.97

This thing is going back to the store as soon as I can get it there. Next time my daughter wants to make paper, We're going to stick some old news paper in the blender, mix it with water, spread it out on some paper towels and cut it to size when it's dry. It would work a lot better and it's free.

More on Bill Nye, The CO2-phobic Guy

Would they hire a climate realist? - IPCC job opening: Director, IPCC Working Group II Technical Support Unit

UCAR Employment Opportunities

Willingness to travel (including international destinations).

In this related document (PDF), it says the IPCC's Fifth Assessment report will be published in 2014.

Idiots armed with computer models: Without AGW, we'd be in an ice age right now

Prof. Vavrus presented data from computer simulations done with Prof. Ruddiman. "As computers improve, we can make more sophisticated models that incorporate more and more of the feedback effects together."

The warming effect from ancient man has prevented an ice age from occurring right now, they say. "If humans hadn't intervened, it would be two degrees Celsius colder" on the planet over all, Prof. Ruddiman says. "There should be permanent ice sheets covering much of Canada and Eurasia."

He adds that it doesn't mean global warming is beneficial: "When my initial paper was published, the climate-change skeptics jumped all over it and said, 'See, greenhouse gases are our friend,' " he says. "But then they realized that if they accepted my hypothesis, it means the climate system is as sensitive as mainstream scientists say it is."

Idiots armed with computer models: Carbon dioxide hurts ethanol production

"The world depends on U.S corn production for a variety of uses," Diffenbaugh said. "Ethanol production and a growing world population are increasing demand for corn. Expansion of the pests' ranges could have substantial impacts through decreased yields and increased costs for seed and pest management."
...
The team used a high-resolution climate model, believed to have the greatest detail currently available for the United States, to project daily temperatures for specific regions.
...
The simulations were carried out using computational facilities in Purdue's Rosen Center for Advanced Computing, which is supported and administered by Information Technology at Purdue.

The National Science Foundation and National Aeronautics and Space Administration partially funded this research.

Nevada fossil-fuel fighter Harry Reid takes fossil-fueled fundraising trips to the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico

Sen. Reid traveled to the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico late last month to meet with campaign contributors.

June '08: Harry Reid on fossil fuels

"The one thing we fail to talk about is those costs that you don't see on the bottom line. That is coal makes us sick, oil makes us sick; it's global warming. It's ruining our country, it’s ruining our world. We’ve got to stop using fossil fuel.”

Alleged representatives of alleged CO2 refugees seek to cash in on Gore's scam

Millions of people are predicted to become climate refugees as global warming increases. A new international pact will be needed to protect their rights to live.
Global warming caused by human-induced greenhouse gas emissions has been linked to a host of environmental disasters. They include sea-level rise, flooding, spells of droughts and cold and other extreme weather conditions such as frequent hurricanes and cyclones. As natural catastrophes push inhabitants to flee to safer places, environmental refugees threaten to become an international security issue.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that there will be 150 million environmental refugees by 2050. The Institute for Environment and Human Security, affiliated with United Nations University, estimated the number of environmental refugees at 20 million in 2005 and predicted the number could be 50 million by 2010.

Anti-global warming theorist allegedly has faulty info

His claim that “global temperatures peaked in 1998 and have declined since about 2003” is found on Web sites run by organizations whose mantra is that of unfettered trade and deregulation, such as Fox News and the Heartland Institute, or on right-wing blogs.

The theory can be traced to a single paper written by Vincent Gray, a retired New Zealand coal chemist, whose main hobby is calling for the abolition of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Gray touts himself as an “expert reviewer for the IPCC.” He asked to review their reports; he was not invited to be a member of the panel and has no training or experience in climatology.

Power outage at Obama's compound in Hawaii

Oahu was without power overnight, possibly from a lightning strike, and Hawaiian Electric Co. officials said to expect it to last until morning.

The outages, which began hitting various parts of the island at about 6:30 p.m., also affected the Kailua neighborhood where President-elect Barack Obama is staying.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann said at about 10:10 p.m. that Honolulu police had talked to Obama. “He said he is fine and he and his family are going to bed,” the mayor said on KSSK.
...
Lingle also said that Heco workers were bringing a generator to Obama’s Kailua compound.

Cold nips San Bernardino County growers - San Bernardino County Sun

It got down to 26 degrees at a grove in San Timoteo Canyon, between Redlands and Moreno Valley.
...
In January of 2007, San Bernardino County declared an emergency when several days of sub-freezing temperatures caused millions of dollars in damage to citrus crops.

Environmental charity blames greenhouse gases for Britain's recent cold, wet weather

Matthew Oates, a nature conservation adviser for the trust, said: "After two very poor years in a row we desperately need a good summer in 2009 - otherwise it's going to look increasingly grim for a wealth of wildlife in the UK.

"Climate change is not some future prediction of what might happen. It's happening now and having a serious impact on our countryside every year."

...The bees were badly hit by snow and frost in April.

Heavy rain during mid-May meant hard times for early-summer insects, which in turn meant many blue tit and great tit nests failed. In June, coastal birds such as choughs, kittiwakes and razorbills bred late and reared few young. In July, puffin numbers on the Farne Islands were down 35% in five years.

There was some joy for fans of the picnic as - if they could stand the cold and wet - they were not badly troubled by wasps.

Australian Climate Madness: No matter how cool, the alarmists will always find an angle . . .

2008 is shaping up to be the coolest year since 2001, and yet the media can always dig up an alarmist who can spin it into bad news, to keep the AGW bandwagon of doom rolling (and of course, the cash flooding in). The alarmist in question is Prof Barry Brook, whose amusing title is "Sir Hubert Wilkins Chair of Climate Change" at Adelaide University, which the Adelaide Advertiser (probably the worst newspaper in Australia) reports without question, under the doom-laden headline:

   "Year of extremes sparks climate woes"...

Burning Coal at Home Is Making a Comeback - The New York Times

With the cost of heating oil and natural gas prone to spikes, some are deciding coal is worth the trouble.

Investor's Business Daily -- Ethanol Bailout? Time To Shuck Corn

Energy Policy: The heavily subsidized ethanol industry is the latest to seek a federal bailout. If there is any industry that deserves to go bankrupt, it's this one. Time has come to stop putting food in our gas tanks.

Investor's Business Daily -- Reality For Radicals

The president-elect is also having to rethink his anti-industry energy policies. With crude under $40 a barrel, he won't pursue a windfall-profit tax on oil companies, which he'd hoped would fund new green initiatives and other domestic programs.

And a planned assault on the coal industry is also on the back burner. It would likely mean higher utility bills and more pain for depressed regions that depend on coal mining.

The cooling climate is also giving Obama fits. With snow falling from New Orleans to Las Vegas and Malibu, Calif., efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions now seem forced.

Washington state: $25 million available to spend on a scam, but not enough money to keep the state parks open

Washington State To Close 13 State Parks In 2009 : The Adventurist

Washington state will be forced to close 13 state parks under a new budget proposal set forth by Governor Chris Gregoire.

Politics | Budget deficit forces trim in climate plans | Seattle Times Newspaper

The governor's proposed budget includes about $25 million for climate change, including money to add solar panels to three state prisons, increase the energy efficiency of public buildings and fund anaerobic digesters to reduce waste.

Letters to the editor: Snow, ice puts focus on global warming

In order for schools to reopen, businesses to do business, power to be supplied to the elderly and butter to be purchased sans-anarchy, I will do my part by firing up the tractor, the diesel pickup, the mini-van, the company car, the generator and the chainsaw and allow them to idle away the hours.

I wish Al Gore would stop by and help out with our "inconvenient truth." I could use some help shoveling global warming off the roof.

JENNIFER L. STAFFORD
Oregon City [Via Gore Lied]

Composting with worms allegedly fights global warming - Santa Cruz Sentinel

Composting with worms can help to limit global warming and climate change as well as improve soil.

Composting with worms allegedly causes global warming - Telegraph

The red worms used in composting are extremely efficient at breaking down decomposing material such as kitchen scraps and other organic material but they emit nitrous oxide in the process of digestion in the gut.

Mr Frederickson told Materials Recycling Week said: "Everybody loves worms because they think they can do no harm but they contribute to global warming." [Via Skeptics Global Warming]

Projections: Global Warming "May" Boost Contact With Pollutants - washingtonpost.com

FRIDAY, Dec. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Global climate change may lead to a rise in health problems due to increased exposure to harmful air pollutants, suggest researchers who reviewed studies projecting the impact of climate change on air quality.

The review authors also concluded that reducing greenhouse gas emissions could help reduce the harmful effects of climate change.

Real life: Local Cooling "Does" Boost Contact With Pollutants - Tehran

Schools and nurseries in Tehran could be closed as air pollution overshadows the Iranian capital, reaching potentially dangerous levels.

Tehran environmental authorities will advise children, the elderly, and people suffering from heart and lung diseases to stay indoors if air pollution rises to dangerous levels.
...
More than three million cars are driven in Tehran on a daily basis. Cold weather traps smoke near the ground, making carbon monoxide levels typically the highest during cold weather.

Local News | More snow in E. Wash.

SEATTLE — A rare white Christmas in Western Washington gave way to warmer temperatures, disappearing snow and more roof problems as the remnants of the past week's winter storm melted away Friday.

A frozen body was found in a mobile home near Ashford and part of a seniors complex in Tumwater was evacuated because of a sagging roof.

In Eastern Washington, more snow was forecast to pile on top of the record amount already on the ground.

A new system moving into the state will bring up to 3 feet of fresh snow to the Cascade and Olympic mountains, said the National Weather Service, which posted a winter storm warning for the mountain ranges, and warned of avalanches in backcountry areas.

Cold Weather Taking a Toll on Wildlife

PULLMAN, Wash.—Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine teaching hospital has seen an increased number of animals brought in due to problems with below-freezing temperatures. Among the hardest hit appear to be Eastern barn owls, which are found commonly in Eastern Washington.

I'm Tired of Global Warming Bracelet - stop global warming

...what Global Warming is really about is that we are damaging our Planet in so many different ways and, if we don’t stop the “bleeding,” we will destroy it for future generations.

There are toxic chemicals in our atmosphere that are wreaking havoc with our weather systems, not to mention our bodies, as we breath this stuff in day in, day out.

'Dear Mr. Obama,' Why are our Kids Brainwashed? | NewsBusters.org

The tykes are all about the alternative energy these days. They are full of exhortations to The One that he should force upon us all a reliance on wind power and solar cells. Obviously these youngsters have not been taught that no alternative energy source has thus far been found that is cheaper than oil and the fossil fuels. These kids are under the illusion that just instituting a government program is all it takes to overcome the science of the matter and make them cost effective and feasible. Yes, all we need is a word from our new religious icon in Washington DC cum Obamalot.

Idaho energy czar aims to harness cow pie power

BOISE, Idaho — Idaho is hoping to capitalize on more than just the milk emerging from its cows.

The state's mountains of manure are fueling dreams of pipelines linking waste treatment facilities at dairies large and small to central refineries that produce natural gas pure enough for homes or cars.

State energy czar Paul Kjellander, who heads up Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter's Office of Energy Resources, is pushing a package of income tax credits, property tax waivers and other incentives in the 2009 Legislature starting Jan. 12 to transform Idaho's southern heartland into a methane Mecca.

The hope is that processed manure could be sold as plant bedding and dairies could also fire turbines, shooting electricity into the power grid. And they could sell carbon credits in schemes to slash greenhouse gas emissions.

How about this idea: At a time of financial distress, as an idiotic "solution" to a non-existent problem, let's use public money to put up large unsightly bird-killing towers smack in the middle of what is simultaneously the most beautiful area in Minnesota AND the most important bird migration path in Minnesota

Migrating birds and bats could pose another challenge, said Gerald Niemi, a UMD biology professor at the Natural Resources Research Institute. Migrating birds often follow the shoreline of Lake Superior because they generally avoid crossing large bodies of water, and a line of wind turbines could pose a new barrier.

Niemi said a wind farm located on a flyway in Altamont Pass, Calif., kills more than 1,000 birds of prey every year, according to a report from the California Energy Commission.
...
“The North Shore is treasured as a very beautiful area, and lot of people probably don’t want to look at these things.”

NC Media Watch: Fearless Fred Singer's Forecast - Frustration

S. Fred Singer is an atmospheric physicist with a passion for debunking the global warming myths of our time, and has some thoughts on what's ahead for Obama's Green Team in 2009...

Because he doesn't believe that CO2 will kill us all?: "John Tierney IS the country’s worst science writer, not Gregg Easterbrook"

As long as Tierney has a “science” column at the NYT, it cannot be considered a great newspaper.

Wind Watch: Storm damages wind turbine

...The wind turbines had been shut down due to high wind earlier in the day.

Danni Sabota, from the company’s communication department in Houston said the turbines at Norway and West Cape were shut down around 11 a.m. Monday and were not manually turned back on until Tuesday afternoon.

Santa's allegedly an alarmist

Question: What is your opinion on global warming?

Santa: Santa supports all environmentally friendly initiatives, especially those that keep his home from melting.

DNR officials in three states grappling with why herd estimates were too high

Lou Cornicelli, big-game director for Minnesota's Department of Natural Resources, said he's hearing from many unhappy hunters.

"One guy accused me of going on a deer jihad," Cornicelli said.

His counterparts, Keith Warnke of the Wisconsin DNR and Rod Klute of the Michigan DNR, hear similar accusations. All three concede deer herds weren't as large as they believed in early fall. They won't, however, speculate about the shortfalls until analyzing all harvest data from their states' gun, archery and muzzleloading hunts.

Even so, one likely factor was lower fawn and yearling survival because of harsh conditions last winter. If fewer deer from those groups show up in harvest data, it probably means more yearlings died last winter than expected and more fawns died soon after being born in May and June.

Sand on roads worse than salt, scientists say | Seattle Times Newspaper

Sand — one of Seattle's main weapons against icy streets — is more likely to harm aquatic life than the salt the city refuses to use out of concern for its environmental effects, say scientists who have studied the issue and officials from other cities.
...
Professor Wilfrid Nixon, a winter-highway-maintenance expert at the University of Iowa College of Engineering, said salt is the best ice-buster around and that using it should be weighed against the environmental costs of other measures.

Plows burn more fuel when they have to plow more, and accidents caused by icy roads have environmental consequences, too, he said.

"Every crash in the winter is an environmental disaster," Nixon said. "You have spills of engine oil, gas, coolant. ... It may not be hundreds of miles of road, but the effect is intensely local."

2008: the year of living dangerously? | spiked

With the world economy in crisis, 2008 will no doubt be remembered as the year when the economic excrement hit the fan, provoking plenty of well-placed fears about what the immediate future will bring. But while the screens of financial markets have been turning red, the overblown scares of 2008 have mostly been tinged with green...

Montana: NorthWestern Energy seeing more heating demand

Northwestern Energy representatives say that Montana's recent cold weather has been setting records for power use across the region, with the demand setting an all-time high.

When the Arctic cold front blew into Montana the weekend of December 15th, it drove the temperature into the sub-zero range for the first time in a couple of years and also drove up demand for power as people huddled to stay warm.

"Well I can tell you that company wide we hit the highest peak we've ever had" said the utility's Vicki Judd. "It ran about 1,800 megawatts on December 15th, and the previous high was a little over 1,700. And in terms of our gas load on December 14th, we had the highest reportable gas useage as well. In the range of 287,000 mcf of gas, pass through our system. Pretty interesting."

Solar Meets Polar as Winter Curbs Clean Energy - NYTimes.com

Old Man Winter, it turns out, is no friend of renewable energy.

This time of year, wind turbine blades ice up, biodiesel congeals in tanks and solar panels produce less power because there is not as much sun. And perhaps most irritating to the people who own them, the panels become covered with snow, rendering them useless even in bright winter sunshine.

So in regions where homeowners have long rolled their eyes at shoveling driveways, add another cold-weather chore: cleaning off the solar panels.
...
Mr. Stankevitz keeps his panels tilted 40 degrees or higher, but they still become covered with snow — and experts say that if even one cell in a panel is covered, the panel will not produce power. [Via Skeptics Global Warming]

Could Schwarzenegger's Next Move Be to Capitol Hill? - US News and World Report

Still, the governor seemed to learn his lesson from the experience, and since winning re-election, he has largely reinvented himself as a wholly original blend of global warming advocate, social liberal, and fiscal conservative—a political template, many experts say, that other Republicans would do well to follow.

Suburban Woman's Death Partly Due to Cold Exposure

Harper is believed to be the 11th person to die of cold exposure in Cook County since November 11.

Is CO2 not even the dominant HUMAN climate forcing?

Yet Another EGU Meeting That Demonstrates The Diversity Of Climate Forcings: “Biospheric Feedbacks In The Climate System In The Past, Present, And Future”

While the policy community and media continue to erroneously hammer that the addition of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere is the dominate human climate forcing, the several meeting at the EGU this Spring (see and see, also) illustrate that the climate, in reality is much more complex and difficult to predict than has been communicated by the IPCC and CCSP reports to the politicians and public.

Can someone explain to me again why we're supposed to believe that global warming is accelerating?

National Snow Analyses - NOHRSC - The ultimate source for snow information

December 25, 2006
Area Covered By Snow: 28.3%

National Snow Analyses - NOHRSC - The ultimate source for snow information

December 25, 2007
Area Covered By Snow: 40.9%

National Snow Analyses - NOHRSC - The ultimate source for snow information

December 25, 2008
Area Covered By Snow: 53.0%

If you see more icebergs closer to the equator, does this prove that the Earth is getting WARMER, and that the cause is human CO2 emissions?

Magazine : Global warming and Icebergs: pouring cold water on some preconceived ideas - Vendée Globe

Around Antarctica, there are said to be an increasing number of icebergs. People say they are moving further and further north and global warming is widely considered to be the cause.

New Zealand: Winter storms create $300m insurance bill

Raging winter storms that plagued the country, causing more than 200 slips in Auckland, cost insurance companies $300 million in claims this year - $50 million more than 2007.

Snowmobile enthusiasts delight in northern Michigan's wintry playground

HOUGHTON LAKE - The heavy snowfalls disrupting holiday travel across the Midwest have, in northern Lower Michigan, sculpted a travelers' paradise.

If you own a snowmobile.

Sled-heads from West Branch north to Mackinaw City vow that no December in memory has dumped more snow this early upon the state's thousands of groomed trail miles.

"We normally get 150 inches of snow for the year, and we're looking at 100 inches just for December," said Mike Ray, an avid snowmobiler and resort owner near Gaylord.

"It's the snowiest I've ever seen it up here. It's a godsend in this economy."

Global Warming from dummies « Urban Green Girl

I am almost ashamed to mention it but I finally just got around to watching An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore. I partly didn’t rent it in the past because I was skeptical of this politician who suddenly became an environmentalist, looking for a new way to get elected. Boy was I wrong!

This film inspired me so much that I jumped out of my warm bed, turned on my computer and started writing this post to encourage everyone to see this film. It is what I call Global Warming for dummies. He made it terribly easy to understand the science behind carbon dioxide, greenhouse gas emissions, why we should care about glaciers melting and and the effects it is having on us with the increase in floods, droughts and tornadoes.

We all have heard about global warming but it is still an issue highly debated amongst scientists, politicians and media. Although this film was criticised and it’s “facts” were questioned, no one can deny the effects our existence is having on climate change.

Postcard from an allegedly overheated world

YouTube - World's Tallest Snowman Made In Maine (122 feet)

With the temperature in single digits, several hundred people including busloads of schoolchildren turned out for Friday's dedication of the 122-foot-tall mountain of snow...Olympia," named for Maine's senior senator, Olympia Snowe, stands nearly 10 feet taller than "Angus, King of the Mountain," who was dedicated by the town in 1999. That snowman, named for then-Gov. Angus King, was created by the same folks responsible for Olympia. It took more than a month, dozens of volunteers and tons of snow to create Olympia. Jim Sysko, a civil engineer, oversaw design and construction. To get an idea of scale, Olympia is about 30 feet shorter than the Statue of Liberty (without the base). Her arms consist of 27-foot-tall evergreens. Her "carrot" nose, painted by schoolchildren, is 8 feet long. Her eyes are made from giant wreaths. She was built with a series of concentric circles. The crane dumped the snow into frames, and volunteers climbed in for long hours shoveling and packing the snow. People especially liked the lashes created from old skis donated from the Sunday River ski resort. Angus was certified as the world's tallest snowman by the Guinness Book of Records. It remains to be seen if Olympia will get the nod as tallest snowman, or snowwoman. There's currently no separate category for snowwoman, so residents are petitioning for one. There was plenty of snow for the project. Parts of Maine have had more than 100 inches of snow this season, unlike 1999 when Angus was built. Volunteers started with manmade snow and then used snow piled on the runway of the municipal airport to finish the job. "People love it. With all this snow, we did something good with it," said Darlene Ginsberg, who directed traffic with one hand while holding a cup of hot coffee in the other. After the ceremony, local resident Julia Reuter stepped to the microphone and led the crowd in an impromptu singalong to the classic song, "Winter Wonderland." In fact, more winter weather was on tap for Friday night. Alex Kaufman from Sunday River credited Olympia for bringing the snowiest winter in 12 years. Then he took a jab at Angus. "Angus didn't bring squat for snow," he quipped. "In this case, it took a woman to get it done."

For the first time in years, western part of Lake Superior freezes over

If the big lake seems to have an unusually placid appearance off Duluth’s shores these days, it’s because you’re looking at ice.

The western tip of Lake Superior has frozen over in December for the first time in recent memory, and that could mean a long season of ice angling that hasn’t been seen in years.

New Hampshire: Ice storm surges to 2008's top story

Though it came late, the ice storm of 2008 wreaked havoc on the Hampton area and surged to the head of the list of the year's top stories.

At its peak, downed trees, limbs and power lines caused by the heavy ice left nearly 400,000 residents statewide in the dark, some for more than one week.

The Dec. 11 storm was labeled "unprecedented" by local and state officials. The situation was so severe that N.H. Gov. John Lynch declared a state of emergency.

"I have seen nothing like this," said Unitil's Stephanye Schuyler during an interview immediately following the storm. "Poles are broken like match sticks."
...
Making it worse were two snowstorms that followed, dumping nearly two feet on the Seacoast and reminding our local populace that New England winters can be quite harsh, and not limited to a calendar schedule of seasons.

Winter didn't officially start until Dec. 21, ten days after the ice storm struck.

Cold snap lets southern Indiana ski slope open up -- chicagotribune.com

PAOLI, Ind. - The recent cold snap has allowed a southern Indiana ski slope to open up earlier than in many recent years.

The Global Warming Myth: Your Weekly Round-Up for December 26th, 2008 | Skeptics Global Warming

In the absence of my usual weekly round-up contributor, The Daily Bayonet, I will once again attempt to take the reins and guide all of you through the week-that-was in global warming mythology.

Electric cars coming "soon" to a road near you - San Jose Mercury News

...AC Propulsion will continue with another project, making its eBox. That car is a converted Scion xB with the engine and gas tank removed and batteries and electric motors installed.

The conversion costs $55,000, which might explain why only 12 have been made so far. (Buyers also have to buy a gasoline Scion xB, which costs $14,000 to $15,000.)

Storm stalls Portland trash haulers

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Trash is piling up around Pioneer Courthouse Square, businesses and residences across Portland metro area because the past week's record snowfall prevented garbage haulers from making pickups.

Portland's solid waste and recycling program manager, Bruce Walker, says the city has 23 garbage haulers and virtually none has picked up trash this week.

Letter: Man-made global warming?

In 1794, British explorer, Captain George Vancouver, while charting the coast of what is now Alaska, discovered a huge wall of ice, a glacier, blocking the mouth of a bay in a place he called "Icy Strait."

Eighty-five years later in 1879, American naturalist John Muir came to Alaska looking for the huge wall of ice described by Vancouver. Arriving at "Icy Strait", Muir found only open water. Determined to find the huge wall of ice, Muir traveled 50 miles into the bay, now known as Glacier Bay, before he found Vancouver's wall of ice. The glacier had melted back a total of 50 miles during the previous 85 years.

I wonder how the "man-made climate change" believers would explain the global warming necessary to melt the glacier? Might the melting of the glacier be the result of a naturally occurring climate fluctuation or would they blame the melting on the Eskimos for having too many smoky fires?

In global warming debate, politics trumps science | IndyStar.com

Let this be a lesson for all those out there who believe things simply because someone told them to. Saying it doesn't make it so and so-called scientists leaving out major factors in computing global climate change because they don't like the answers is not scientific but political.

Dave McReynolds

But if "It's not about global warming", why are we constantly told that it IS about global warming?

So my concern: If nothing dire happens in the next few decades, if the compute models - the predictions - don't come true, if the planet returns to periods of major cooling (the causes of which are, again, unknown) then the naysayers will say they told us so.

Marc Morano | Email I sent to Washington Post reporter Juliet Eilperin re: Faster Climate Change Feared

How about two sentences from a scientist mocking speculative predictions of 2100 based on speculative computer models? It is not that hard to achieve a 98 to 2 percent balance ratio. Bit 100 percent one-sided silliness should violate your own internal ethics! Would you report on stock market predictions in the year 2100 without including a skeptical voice?

Perhaps two years ago you could have gotten away with such one-sided reporting, but there are so many scientists to critique these kinds of "studies" that you have no excuse to do these types of articles anymore.

Alleged Sierra Warming: Later snow, earlier melt

How much more snow will fall is anyone's guess. A winter storm just hit Thursday, dumping several feet of snow, to the relief of snow-starved resorts. But in the late arrival of this year's snow season – and increasingly early spring snowmelt from the mountains – scientists and state officials are finding more than the signature of a natural drought. They believe they detect the fingerprint of climate change.
...
Not only are warmer temperatures thawing that mountain snow sooner, they are changing the nature of the precipitation as it falls – turning more Sierra snowflakes to sleet, slush and rain. Now 10 percent smaller than a century ago, the Sierra snowpack is expected to retreat dramatically in coming decades, posing major challenges for water managers and the climate-dependent ski industry.
...
This fall, temperatures were so toasty around Lake Tahoe that many resorts missed planned Thanksgiving weekend openings...

12/18/08 - Another Sierra Storm To Bring Heavy Snow, Winds

A record low of 11 below zero was reported on Wednesday at South Lake Tahoe that broke the old mark of 10 below set on Dec. 17, 1984.

2005: Sierra snow sets 90-year record

RENO, Nev. - Areas of the Sierra Nevada, famous for paralyzing amounts of snowfall, have been hit with a dumping like they haven't seen in generations, with steep drifts stranding an Amtrak train, knocking out the Reno airport and shutting down major highways across the mountains.

The string of moisture-laden storms has dropped up to 19 feet of snow at elevations above 7,000 feet since Dec. 28 and 61/2 feet at lower elevations in the Reno area. Meteorologists said it was the most snow the Reno-Lake Tahoe area has seen since 1916.

"I've lived here for almost 40 years and I've never seen anything like it," Peter Walenta, 69, said Sunday from his home in Stateline, on the southern end of Lake Tahoe. "This baby just seems to be stretching on forever. Right now I'm looking out the window and it's dumping."

2008: Prime snow forecast for Sierra, Southern California - Los Angeles Times

Mother Nature must be a snowboarding, jib-riding, powder-loving babe because she is cooking up prime snow conditions this weekend for ski resorts throughout Southern California and all the way to Tahoe and Reno.

January already ranks fourth in the last 40 years or so for producing the heaviest snowfall in the Eastern Sierra. And the good news is that the white fluff continues to fall. Most resorts in Southern California and the Eastern Sierra have switched off the snow-making machines to take advantage of the near-record snowfall conditions.

“It’s been a great year,” said Chuck Allen, events director for Mountain High Resort in Wrightwood. “We have plenty of snow to last us clear into April.”

FOCUS ON/Dec. 26: A new religion in the schools? | Star-Telegram.com

Administrators are energetically scrubbing school facilities and children’s brains free of Christian religious messages (including, in some districts, disallowing students to distribute candy canes). At the same time, they are working hard to substitute the myth of man-made "global warming" with a fervor that resembles religious proselytizing.

The NYTimes’ PC Christmas — Imagine There’s No Religion But Global Warming’s True

Imagine there’s no religion, it’s easy for The New York Times to do — even in a Christmas Day editorial that somehow forgets that Christmas is about Christ’s birth. In fact, the NYT decided that this Christmas was its opportunity to wallow in worse-than-ever sentiments and to bemoan that this year’s Christmas isn’t as good as it used to be. Oh, they tried to dress it up a bit by saying it is great to have a Christmas that gets us back to basics and also by slipping in some global warming clap trap, but it is still a lament that we all have it so darn bad these days.

The Christmas Day editorial starts off surmising that “you may be wondering about the carbon equation of a Christmas tree,” though it is a bit amusing to see them make such a silly assumption. I’d rather bet that even most environuts weren’t thinking about their Christmas carbon footprint when they awoke that morning! But, not the NYT. They are all worried that those old Christmas lights are going to cause the end of the planet as we know it!

Philippines - Dengue, typhoid cases allegedly up due to alleged global warming

MANILA, Philippines - The number of dengue fever, typhoid fever, and cholera cases in the country in 2008 rose due to the effects of global warming, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said Friday.

In an interview over radio dzBB, Duque said the effects of global warming were becoming evident in the type of diseases that spread across the country over the past year.

"Mukhang yun ang lumalabas ayon sa aming mga datos, at bunsod na rin ito ng global warming (That's what our data indicate, and this is brought about by global warming)," Duque said when asked whether there was a rise in the number of cases of such diseases.

But if 2008 is the coldest year of this century, and if dengue and typhoid are caused by "global" warming, why didn't cases of dengue and typhoid DROP this year?

The Reference Frame: Czech EU presidency: January 2009 program

You shouldn't expect much from the EU presidency because it is mostly an administrative job. However, as a climate skeptic who is located in Europe, you should be able to resist attempts of your environment to marginalize you during H1 of 2009. Don't forget that the continent is officially led by some of the world's most prominent climate skeptics, to the dismay of all the liars and fraudsters in the world's politically correct media.

Jennifer Marohasy » Global Warming Since 1958

1958 – 2005: Total warming of +0.5 C (But how much of that is anthropogenic?)
1958 - 1976: Cooling
1976 – 1977: Sudden jump of +0.5 C (Cannot be due to GHG.)
1977 – 1997: No detectable trend
1998 - 1999: El Nino spike
2000 – 2001: No detectable trend
2001 – 2003: Sudden jump of +0.3 C (Cannot be due to GHG.)
2003 – present: No trend, maybe even slight cooling

In conclusion: The IPCC’s ‘most’ is not sustained by observations; the human contribution is very likely only 10% or even less.

By Fred Singer, who lives in Arlington, Virginia, and holds a B.E.E. in Electrical engineering from Ohio State University and an A.M. and PhD in Physics from Princeton University

More foolishness/fraud from Juliet Eilperin at the Washington Post

If Eilperin wasn't a fool or wasn't deliberately trying to mislead us, she'd put the alleged 48 cubic miles in context of the enormous size of those ice sheets.

If they really were shrinking at 48 cubic miles per year, it would take over 1,600 years for them to lose one percent of the Greenland + Antarctic estimated sum of about 7.8 million cubic miles.
---
Faster Climate Change Feared - washingtonpost.com

In one of the report's most worrisome findings, the agency estimates that in light of recent ice sheet melting, global sea level rise could be as much as four feet by 2100. The IPCC had projected a sea level rise of no more than 1.5 feet by that time, but satellite data over the past two years show the world's major ice sheets are melting much more rapidly than previously thought. The Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are now losing an average of 48 cubic miles of ice a year, equivalent to twice the amount of ice that exists in the Alps.

2001 estimate - CBS News

Antarctica contains about 7.2 million cubic miles of ice, about 84 percent of all the glacial ice on Earth, according to the USGS.

Volume of Antarctica's Ice Cap, 1974 estimate

...Antarctica's approximately 6,000,000 cubic miles of ice...

East Antarctic Ice Sheet Gains Mass and Slows Sea Level Rise, Study Finds

From 1992 to 2003, Curt Davis, MU professor of electrical and computer engineering, and his team of researchers observed 7.1 million kilometers of the ice sheet, using satellites to measure changes in elevation. They discovered that the ice sheet's interior was gaining mass by about 45 billion tons per year, which was enough to slow sea level rise by .12 millimeters per year. The interior of the ice sheet is the only large terrestrial ice body that is likely gaining mass rather than losing it, Davis said.

Eco-Economy Indicators, 2005: Ice is Allegedly Melting Everywhere

A conservative estimate of annual ice loss from Greenland is 50 cubic kilometers (12 cubic miles) per year, enough water to raise the global sea level by 0.13 millimeters a year.

1974 estimate, Volume of Greenland's ice cap

The Greenland ice cap with its volume of 630,000 cubic miles...

Estimate as of "Today"

The Greenland Ice Sheet holds 2.95 × 106 cubic kilometers (706,000 cubic miles) of ice

Iowa's Brasher: Braley says Congress eager for carbon emission controls | DesMoinesRegister.com

Washington, D.C. — Congress cannot wait for the economy to recover to enact reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, according to an Iowa congressman positioned to play a significant role in addressing the issue.

"We have ignored this problem for far too long," said Rep. Bruce Braley, a Democrat who was recently awarded a seat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "It's time to start working."
...
However, two growing sectors of Iowa's economy, ethanol and wind energy, would benefit from increasing the cost of gasoline and coal-generated electricity.
...
Braley isn't ready to take a position on key details of how the legislation should work — including whether Congress should reduce emissions through a cap-and-trade program or through a tax on carbon emissions.

"I'm still very much undecided about which is going to be the best motivation to get people and businesses to do the right thing," he said.

Treacherous Iowa roads claim 5

At least five people have been killed on Iowa highways since Monday, when heavy holiday travel ran headlong into almost daily doses of snow and ice.

CTV British Columbia- Two baboons die of exposure at New Brunswick zoo

Staff at a New Brunswick zoo are investigating the tragic deaths of two African baboons. They were accidentally left out in the cold overnight on Monday as temperatures in Moncton dipped to -20 C.

CTV British Columbia- Fresh snow revives travel nightmares in B.C.

Police said the weather was a factor in several vehicle accidents over the last two days, including one on the Coquihalla highway that left one dead and six injured.

Surrey RCMP officials were also reporting thieves taking advantage of the heavy snow by offering to help stranded motorists and then stealing their cars.

The winter weather is also stopping blood donors from rolling up their sleeves, said Canadian Blood Services.

Attendance at blood-donor clinics is down across the country.

Staff are having a hard time transporting blood products over the snow and ice, the agency said. Platelets, used to treat cancer patients, are in particularly short supply.

Washington Times - Groups spend millions in 'clean coal' ad war

Interest groups spending tens of millions of television ad dollars in a fight over carbon emissions and the existence of "clean coal."

Coal industry magnates, who would lose big if new pollution standards are signed into law, spent between $35 million and $45 million on advertising this year - most of it on television ads aired during the 2008 campaigns - pitching "clean coal" as a new environmentally friendly fuel.

March '08: Gore bets $300 million on climate pitch - Climate Change- msnbc.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Nobel prize winner and former Vice President Al Gore launched a three-year, $300 million advocacy campaign calling for the United States to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

Warning Signs: Sunshine is Free Energy, Right?

But solar and wind energy is virtually free, right? You don’t have to pay anything for sunshine and wind, right? Wrong! If it was free or even affordable, there would be no need for huge government subsidies—your tax money—and mandates on utilities to include solar and wind energy. Without them neither solar nor wind power industries could exist.

Snowfall immobilizes rural communities in eastern, central Turkey

Cold weather and heavy snowfall brought daily life to a standstill in rural parts of Turkey, forcing closures of rural roads and inter-city routes in the country’s eastern and central regions.

Heliogenic Climate Change: New Zealand Climate Science Coalition calls for sacking of environment commissioner

"A demand for Dr Jan Wright, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, to be removed from office is to be conveyed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Dr Lockwood Smith, by the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition.

The Coalition’s chairman, Rear Admiral Jack Welch, said: “Dr Wright’s apparent ignorance of the nature and processes of science, her blatant bias in the on-going scientific debate about climate science, and her attempts to muzzle free speech and scientific debate mean that she has forfeited any right to a position that demands integrity, professionalism and neutrality”." "Demand for removal of Env't Commissioner"

Global warming as a valuable parenting tool -- chicagotribune.com

Global warming. Melting snowcaps. Rising tides. Gloom and doom. There's never been a better time to be an American dad.

Now, when your kids turn up the thermostat just because they can see their breath, you can calmly say, "We're keeping the thermostat down to do our part to help the planet." Instead of what American fathers have screamed since the invention of the thermostat: "When you pay the bills, you can turn the heat all the way up to 200, you little ingrate."

NC Media Watch: CARB in conflict with the truth again

First it was CARB AB-32 Scoping Plan economic analysis that failed peer review, and now we find out that there are some major issues with the studies that support the new diesel regulations.

Company weathers economy with snow rake « Where’s my Global Warming Dude? By Global Freeze

SPOKANE — A downturn in the economy is having a major impact on manufacturing in the Inland Northwest. But, this month’s record snow has helped one Spokane business stay in operation for a few extra weeks.Tipke’s Manufacturing was planning to shut down between Christmas and January 5th. But, an employee named Bill Gibford had an idea that will keep them working through the New Year. This week, Tipke’s started making snow rakes to help people clear the several feet of snow off their roofs. The 15-foot rakes sell for $50 a piece and shortly after kxly4 featured the business on Thursday’s Good Morning Northwest, dozens of people were lined up hoping to get one.

Alleged Global Warming Allegedly Means Fleas Around Longer | Red Hot Reviews

Because the warmer seasons are lasting longer, many places in the Northern Hemisphere are having problems with fleas. It used to be that many cities and states were too cold for fleas or, a least, they disappered in the wintertime. But due to Global Warming, flea season is now year round in many new places.

Missoulian: Cold weather isn't enough to kill Montana's pine beetles

While the current infestation will certainly change forests across Montana, DeNitto said it’s not something that hasn’t happened before.
“We’ve seen similar levels of infestation in the 1970s and ’80s and also back in the ’20s and ’30s,” he said. “It’s not something that’s unprecedented.”

Remember last month, when Illinois Gov. Blagojevich was still an allegedly gallant alleged eco-hero?

"Blagojevich's Climate Change Summit" | Progress Illinois

With grim economic news piling up, it's not surprising that Gov. Rod Blagojevich chose to skip town for the West Coast. But Blago's trip to Southern California isn't just an escape -- it might actually be constructive.

Frustrated with the Bush administration's disregard for the dangers of climate change, Blagojevich and four other governors -- Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), Charlie Crist (R-FL), Jim Doyle (D-WI) and Kathleen Sebelius (R-KS) -- are hosting the Governor's Global Climate Summit, a two-day conference in Beverly Hills where participants hope to find common ground with developing nations on global warming policy. Officials from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and the European Union are expected to attend.

YouTube - SNL: Rod Blagojevich

How Al Gore Saved Christmas « Climate Audit

Nobody knew what do. Except for one little girl. (Hey, it's a story.) She wrote to a famous ju-ju man in the South asking him to come north and cast a magic spell and make the snow return.

The ju-ju man heard the plea of the little girl. He quickly decided that the situation was far worse than even the little girl thought. This needed his most powerful magic and, so in 2007, he visited Toronto not just once, not just twice but three times.

The magic worked! Soon Toronto was covered up in winter snow. The ju-ju man could only save part of the 2007 winter, but by 2008, his magic was in full force. Yesterday's snow made 2008 snowfall the highest since 1883, with a few days still on the clock.

Heliogenic Climate Change: SciAm gets religious

1. What caused the drought that (the article says) caused the slaughter in Darfur: AGW.
2. What caused the hurricanes that hit the Gulf coast: AGW.
3. What caused the chikungunya (dengue fever variant) epidemic in Italy: AGW.
4. What caused wine quality to improve in northern Europe (SciAm thinks this is a problem): AGW.
5. What caused bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef: AGW.
6. What caused subsidence of some of the island nations: AGW.
7. What caused illegal aliens to come to the United States: AGW.
8. What caused sea ice changes in the arctic: AGW.
9. What caused the (alleged) decline (it's not) of skiing in the Alps: AGW.
10. What caused enviro crusaders to expel the hill farmers from their land in Uganda, prompting armed resistance: AGW.

Every one of the above propositions is easily disproved. "Scientific" American should return to science and abandon religion. What an embarrassment.

Put climate change propaganda in the curriculum - The Boston Globe

Here in Massachusetts, the Youth Climate Action Network (a group in which I participate), made up of schools and groups from all over the state, is organizing a public hearing on climate-change education. The network is made up of students, educators, community organizers, and others. Members are working together to define the specific lessons and skills that could become part of the state-mandated curriculum.
...
Among all proposed educational reforms, climate-change education is a time-sensitive issue that needs to be acted upon immediately.

Queen Arsem-O'Malley, a Boston Latin senior, was a Ward Fellow with the Globe editorial page this summer.

On a desert island with Leonardo DiCaprio: Forecast Earth

This is one of those "lesser of two evil" stories. It would seem that the best way to leave a pristine tropical island in its virginal state is simply not to build anything on it. So why would hard core environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio be planning an eco-resort off the coast of Belize on the 104-acre Blackadore Caye island, which he bought for $1.75 million in 2005?

Dallas Environmental Policy Examiner: Only 47% of Americans allegedly willing to pay for green goods and services

47% of Americans now report they are willing to pay more in order to get a cleaner environment.