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Title: New Zealand – Where did that warming go?
Source:
Jo Nova
URL Source: http://joannenova.com.au/2010/10/new-zealand-niwa/
Published: Oct 11, 2010
Author: Jo Nova
Post Date: 2010-10-11 23:20:05 by WhiteSands
Keywords: global warming
Views: 845
Comments: 23
Then: “We can’t find the keys (actually we’ve lost the car)”. Later: “We weren’t driving it”. Finally: “The car doesn’t exist”. There’s a litany of excuses. The National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) claims New Zealand has been warming at 0.92°C per 100 years. But when some independent minded chaps in New Zealand graphed the raw NZ data, they found that the thermometers show NZ has only warmed by a statistically non-significant 0.06°C. They asked for answers and got nowhere, until they managed to get the light of legal pressure onto NIWA to force it to reply honestly. Reading between the lines, it’s obvious NIWA can’t explain or defend the adjustments. Richard Treadgold was one of that team and wrote it up here. August 2010: The NZ Climate Science Coalition’s put together legal claims. The NZCSC filed judicial review proceedings against NIWA, requesting the Court to: • Declare the 7SS invalid September 14th 2010: NIWA “defended itself” Treadgold colorfully summed up what happened when NIWA put out its defense. How can this be the action of earnest, dedicated scientists — their answer to months of implied accusations of dishonest science? Having suffered, according to their supporters, attempts to smear their top scientists, how can NIWA respond by saying they don’t want to be held responsible? They’re not defending the temperature record or the mistakes in it, they’re virtually saying: “You’re right, the dataset could be shonky, so we’re washing our hands of it.” Which gives us no confidence in the “science” they might have applied to it. What the hell’s going on? …it gets worse. NIWA has formally stated that, in their opinion, they are not required to use the best available information nor to apply the best scientific practices and techniques available at any given time. They don’t think that forms any part of their statutory obligation to pursue “excellence”. And that little bombshell just does my head in. For how can they pursue excellence without using the best techniques? NIWA denies there is any such thing as an “official” NZ Temperature Record, although they’re happy to create an acronym for it (NZTR). Specifically NIWA claims: Point 7: “There is no “official” or formal New Zealand Temperature Record;” (b) [NIWAs] website contains a page titled New Zealand temperature record (“NZTR”), being an informal description for a collection of different streams of climate information… Point 8: “The NZTR is not a record and is not a public record for the purposes of the PRA” It is a controlling public office in respect of the Database; and I wondered out loud in an email to Tony Cox about what it would mean, he replied off the cuff: The Defence, parts 7 and 8 are novel; the SOC is basically asserting either nonfeasance [not doing something which had to be done] or malfeasance [doing something wrong which had to be done]; the Defence is saying that nothing had to be done and wasn’t done. This is extraordinarily stupid. Anyone who has paid, been levied, fined or taxed on the basis of this [non-existent] record because a government, statutory body or private firm which charged the fee did so on the basis of this [non-existent] record could now sue for the recovery of the fee[s] they have paid. Class actions anyone? I’m not sure if there is any legal agency with any power to enforce some action at this point (do enlighten me), but it sure could be a gift — though possibly only if the people of New Zealand (and their friends) decide to run with NIWA’s admissions and pursue this to the end. All the documents, reports, contracts and parliamentary statements that relied on the New Zealand Temperature Record, are surely now begging to be challenged. All the people that mistakenly believed that the NZTR was more than just an unverified, unaudited, internal document, now need to reconsider where they stand. From Quadrant: Crisis in NZ Climatology and NZ Climate Crisis Gets Worse Links to the NZTR 7SS (7 station series) and 11SS (11 station series) 7SS only (one left click for a blowup) Thanks to Bryan Leyland and Richard C h/t to several other people who deserve to be named… (and I’ll do that as soon as I can find those comments). Thanks Richard C for those extra links and Tony Cox for his thoughts.
Think of this as a car crash. NIWA says: “The car’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with it.” The legal documents:
• Direct NIWA to prepare a valid replacement NZTRNZCSC: “It’s faulty.” NIWA: “It’s not ours.”
(f) It is not a controlling public office in respect of the NZTR, 7SS, 11SS or Marine Measurements for the purposes of the PRAThe implications are far reaching (if a bit open ended)
In a nutshell, it appears that what it means is what we make of it.
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#5. To: WhiteSands (#0)
(Edited)
Hainan Island evacs 440 000. Indus River moves 20 Klicks to the West. Don't even ask what's happening in Central America. Australia worst harvest in progress. US cuts grain harvest by 12.7 MMT. Lowest Arctic Ice Extant by Volume ever. 2010 Hottest Year ever as deserts expand, glaciers contract around the world.
#6. To: mcgowanjm (#5)
Locally we set a new record high yesterday and may possibly do the same today. It is bone dry here and has been for weeks now.
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