There is still considerable talk about global warming, or as it is now termed, “climate change.” California is about to destroy a large part of what is left of its economy by initiating a new “Cap and Trade” program that will spike energy costs and drive more employers from the state. New reports are casting more doubt on the reality of “climate change” and now there is more information that warming ended in 1997. The past two years have shown a definite cooling trend.
The world stopped getting warmer almost 16 years ago, according to new data released last week.
The figures, which have triggered debate among climate scientists, reveal that from the beginning of 1997 until August 2012, there was no discernible rise in aggregate global temperatures.
This means that the ‘plateau’ or ‘pause’ in global warming has now lasted for about the same time as the previous period when temperatures rose, 1980 to 1996. Before that, temperatures had been stable or declining for about 40 years.
There is even new debate among climate scientists.
Some climate scientists, such as Professor Phil Jones, director of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, last week dismissed the significance of the plateau, saying that 15 or 16 years is too short a period from which to draw conclusions.
Others disagreed. Professor Judith Curry, who is the head of the climate science department at America’s prestigious Georgia Tech university, told The Mail on Sunday that it was clear that the computer models used to predict future warming were ‘deeply flawed’.
Even Prof Jones admitted that he and his colleagues did not understand the impact of ‘natural variability’ – factors such as long-term ocean temperature cycles and changes in the output of the sun. However, he said he was still convinced that the current decade would end up significantly warmer than the previous two.
California, of course, is not going to wait to see if the trend continues with cooling.
Oct 2 (Reuters Point Carbon) – California Governor Jerry Brown has signed two bills related to the use of revenue raised through the sale of carbon allowances, although details of how the money will be spent won’t be determined until next year.
The bills are the first to address the estimated $660 million and $3 billion in revenue that will be generated during the first year of California’s carbon cap-and-trade scheme, which begins in January.
The first bill creates a new account for the revenue to be deposited into, and directs the Department of Finance and the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to develop an investment plan for the funds.
That plan, expected to be released in the spring of 2013, will be submitted for approval to the legislature as part of the governor’s budget and will be reviewed and updated on an annual basis.
It doesn’t matter that the state is going broke. Left wing pieties still rule California.
The last global warming advocate is going to bite the dust when the WMO climate normal gets reset to a flat/negative trend. Unless we actually get colder before 2020, the best bet for that will be during the 2021-2050 normal. The run up from 1990-1997 will keep global warming hope alive, I’m afraid.
After I posted this, Ann Althouse did the same post. The usual lefty trolls showed up in force. One thing I have trouble understanding is why the “Lost Squadron,” which landed on the Greenland ice cap in WWII, ended up under 268 feet of ice. I thought the planet was warming and Greenland was melting !
The recovery of Glacier Girl is a great story but I still don’t understand how the planet is warming.
TM, I’m hoping the last environmentalist is strangled with the entrails of the last climate scientist. At least of the Penn State variety.
AFAIK it was previously thought that there hasn’t really been evident warming for a decade. Now it is 15 years in an official document and chart from a UK government agency.
But the reporting of this is just chartsmanship — start the graph a few years or decades earlier and the trend line is up. Start it in ’85, it looks pretty steep, start it in ’45 not so much. Start the graph in the year 950, and it explains why the grape harvest in Greenland has been so poor for the past many centuries.
So I agree with both professor Jones and Professor Curry in the article. The new official graph doesn’t really inform us of much about the long-term temperature trend, and the real issue is the validity of the models by which we try to predict the future climate (and whether or not it will be a catastrophe for human life).
The real story is not that the graph is flat in trend for 15 years, the story is that the trend doesn’t agree with the predictions. The lack of agreement could be because the predictions are wrong, or it could be stochastic noise obscuring a longer-term trend.
Climate scientists all hope to make big bucks as TV weathermen. They are chosen for the good looks and not their brains. Few have any interest in science or an ability to think rationally.
The true scientists are geologists and the archaeologists. They have identified – during the last 12,000 years – a regular cycle of warm periods with hi co2 levels and mini-ice ages with lo co2. The cycles are roughly 500 years long (depending on how well the grass grows and if it gets eaten or cut).
The cycle is controlled by grass. Grass eats the co2. When co2 levels drop far enough (under 200), temps drop, snow falls and covers the grass in Canada, Siberia and the great plains. During mini-ice ages co2 rises until temperatures rise enough to melt the snow in siberia and then the grass blooms and eats the co2.
Obviously, if we really want to fight global warming we would stop mowing our lawns, plant grass on our roofs, and pass laws requiring 3 feet tall grass everywhere.
To me the obvious reason for this global warming has been the activity of the sun. For the Left they can never admit they were wrong so I suspect the subject will simply gradually disappear.
BTW another book by my bedside pile-to-read is this:
http://www.amazon.com/Worst-Hard-Time-Survived-American/dp/0618773479/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1350279667&sr=1-1&keywords=the+worst+hard+time
Stories of those who survived the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression
It will probably end if and when the government money ends.
Mike