Obama Wars
See other Obama Wars Articles
Title: 'Warming' meltdown - Climate 'consensus' cracks up
Source:
NY Post
URL Source: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinio ... eltdown_iD1hypJAstOrvovafbIbGK
Published: Feb 16, 2010
Author: Rich Lowry
Post Date: 2010-02-16 11:36:16 by Badeye
Keywords: None
Views: 1299
Comments: 14
'Warming' meltdown Comments: 18 Climate 'consensus' cracks up Last Updated: 10:49 AM, February 16, 2010 Posted: 12:58 AM, February 16, 2010 Climate alarmists conjured a world where nothing was certain but death, taxes and catastrophic global warming. They used this presumed scientific certainty as a bludgeon against the skeptics they deemed "deniers" -- a word meant to have the noxious whiff of Holocaust denial. Climate alarmists conjured a world where nothing was certain but death, taxes and catastrophic global warming. They used this presumed scientific certainty as a bludgeon against the skeptics they deemed "deniers" -- a word meant to have the noxious whiff of Holocaust denial. All in the cause of hustling the world into a grand carbon-rationing scheme. Any questions about the evidence for the cataclysmic projections, any concerns about the costs and benefits were trumped by that fearsome scientific "consensus," which had "settled" the important questions. Jones: Key climatologist softening claims. A funny thing happened to this "consensus" on the way to its inevitable triumph, though: Its propagators have been forced to admit fallibility. For the cause of genuine science, this is a small step forward; for the cause of climate alarmism, it's a giant leap backward. The rush to "save the planet" can't accommodate any doubt, or it loses the panicked momentum necessary for a retooling of modern economic life. Phil Jones is the director of the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, a key "consensus" institution that has recently been caught up in an e-mail scandal revealing a mind-set of global-warming advocacy rather than dispassionate inquiry. Asked by the BBC what it means when scientists say "the debate on climate change is over," the keeper of the flame sounded chastened. "I don't believe the vast majority of climate scientists think this," Jones said. "This is not my view. There is still much that needs to be undertaken to reduce uncertainties, not just for the future, but for the . . . past as well." Jones discussed the highly contentious "medieval warming period." If global temperatures were warmer than today back in 800-1300 AD -- about 1,000 years before Henry Ford's assembly lines began spitting out cars -- it suggests that natural factors have a large hand in climate change, a concession that climate alarmists are loath to make. Jones said we don't know if the warming in this period was global in extent since paleoclimatic records are sketchy. If it was, and if temperatures were higher than now, "then obviously the late 20th century warmth would not be unprecedented." Jones also noted that there's been no statistically significant warming since 1995, although the cooling since 2002 hasn't been statistically significant, either. All of this is like a cardinal of the Catholic Church saying the evidence for apostolic succession is still open to debate. The other main organ of the climate "consensus" is the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It won the Nobel Peace Prize for its 2007 report -- which turns out to have been so riddled with errors it could have been researched on Wikipedia. It said Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035, warned that global warming could reduce crop yields in Africa by 50 percent by 2020, and linked warming to the increased economic cost of natural disasters -- all nonsense. These aren't random errors. As former head of the IPCC, the British scientist Robert Watson notes, "The mistakes all appear to have gone in the direction of making it seem like climate change is more serious by overstating the impact." Too many creators and guardians of the "consensus" desperately wanted to believe in it. As self-proclaimed defenders of science, they should have brushed up on their Enlightenment. "Doubt is not a pleasant mental state," said Voltaire, "but certainty is a ridiculous one." The latest revelations don't disprove the warming of the 20th century or mean that carbon emissions played no role. But by highlighting the uncertainty of the paleoclimatic data and the models on which alarmism has been built, they constitute a shattering blow to the case for radical, immediate action. In The Boston Globe, MIT climate scientist Kerry Emanuel marshals a new argument for fighting warming: "We do not have the luxury of waiting for scientific certainty, which will never come." Really? That's not what we were told even a few months ago -- before climate alarmism acknowledged doubt.
All in the cause of hustling the world into a grand carbon-rationing scheme. Any questions about the evidence for the cataclysmic projections, any concerns about the costs and benefits were trumped by that fearsome scientific "consensus," which had "settled" the important questions.
A funny thing happened to this "consensus" on the way to its inevitable triumph, though: Its propagators have been forced to admit fallibility.
For the cause of genuine science, this is a small step forward; for the cause of climate alarmism, it's a giant leap backward. The rush to "save the planet" can't accommodate any doubt, or it loses the panicked momentum necessary for a retooling of modern economic life.
Phil Jones is the director of the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, a key "consensus" institution that has recently been caught up in an e-mail scandal revealing a mind-set of global-warming advocacy rather than dispassionate inquiry.
Asked by the BBC what it means when scientists say "the debate on climate change is over," the keeper of the flame sounded chastened. "I don't believe the vast majority of climate scientists think this," Jones said. "This is not my view. There is still much that needs to be undertaken to reduce uncertainties, not just for the future, but for the . . . past as well."
Jones discussed the highly contentious "medieval warming period." If global temperatures were warmer than today back in 800-1300 AD -- about 1,000 years before Henry Ford's assembly lines began spitting out cars -- it suggests that natural factors have a large hand in climate change, a concession that climate alarmists are loath to make.
Jones said we don't know if the warming in this period was global in extent since paleoclimatic records are sketchy. If it was, and if temperatures were higher than now, "then obviously the late 20th century warmth would not be unprecedented."
Jones also noted that there's been no statistically significant warming since 1995, although the cooling since 2002 hasn't been statistically significant, either.
All of this is like a cardinal of the Catholic Church saying the evidence for apostolic succession is still open to debate.
The other main organ of the climate "consensus" is the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It won the Nobel Peace Prize for its 2007 report -- which turns out to have been so riddled with errors it could have been researched on Wikipedia.
It said Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035, warned that global warming could reduce crop yields in Africa by 50 percent by 2020, and linked warming to the increased economic cost of natural disasters -- all nonsense.
These aren't random errors. As former head of the IPCC, the British scientist Robert Watson notes, "The mistakes all appear to have gone in the direction of making it seem like climate change is more serious by overstating the impact."
Too many creators and guardians of the "consensus" desperately wanted to believe in it. As self-proclaimed defenders of science, they should have brushed up on their Enlightenment. "Doubt is not a pleasant mental state," said Voltaire, "but certainty is a ridiculous one."
The latest revelations don't disprove the warming of the 20th century or mean that carbon emissions played no role. But by highlighting the uncertainty of the paleoclimatic data and the models on which alarmism has been built, they constitute a shattering blow to the case for radical, immediate action.
In The Boston Globe, MIT climate scientist Kerry Emanuel marshals a new argument for fighting warming: "We do not have the luxury of waiting for scientific certainty, which will never come." Really? That's not what we were told even a few months ago -- before climate alarmism acknowledged doubt.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 7.
#1. To: Badeye (#0)
Instead of the spin, you can read the entire Jones interview here:
Global Temperature hasn't risen measureably since 1998. Spin that.
.12C isn't measurable?
The data and its source is questionable. But hey, believe in the Easter Bunny if you want. Meanwhile, the rest of us look outside.
GLOBAL WARMING?? ROTFLMAO! Just an idea of what I'm looking at right now, outside my window! The only difference?? It's still SNOWING!! &;-)
We set a new all time record for snow here this month. Most of it in the past ten days. I feel sorry for the well meaning, but lazy folks who bought into the scam of Global Warming. I really do. I when the next enviromental kook fear mongering theory appears, those folks stop and think about how the first dozen earth days were based on GLOBAL COOLING was going to kill us all...the last ten are GLOBAL WARMING is going to kill us all...and then do their own research. I don't feel sorry for the leftwingnuts that used this bullshit to promote all kinds of insane government actions and controls on 'we the people'. Theya re all thats wrong with the political world these days. But the bottom line is the Global Warming hysteria is now over. The American People don't buy it, don't want the insane legislation offered in response to this hoax, and the simple fact is nobody has ever won elective office at the national level running on a 'green' platform exclusively.
I feel sorry for the well meaning, but lazy folks who bought into the scam of Global Warming. I really do. I when the next enviromental kook fear mongering theory appears, those folks stop and think about how the first dozen earth days were based on GLOBAL COOLING was going to kill us all...the last ten are GLOBAL WARMING is going to kill us all...and then do their own research. I don't feel sorry for the leftwingnuts that used this bullshit to promote all kinds of insane government actions and controls on 'we the people'. Theya re all thats wrong with the political world these days. But the bottom line is the Global Warming hysteria is now over. The American People don't buy it, don't want the insane legislation offered in response to this hoax, and the simple fact is nobody has ever won elective office at the national level running on a 'green' platform exclusively. I suppose global warming is like most other scams BE, there's money in research, millions, but someone wasn't watching the researchers, and taking notes on their progress....so most just took these shysters at their word, never demading proof of their outlandish reports. BTW! It's not over yet, I just checked, we have about two-three more days this week of snow, then it's starts all over again next week...no end in sight just yet, maybe a day or so at at time of clear/cloudy skies.
#8. To: Murron (#7)
Climate change isn't about what happens year to year but over time...
While thats no doubt true about the scammers wanting research money, what about the mainstream media that PROMOTES this discredited BULLSHIT today, and will continue to do so? NBC's 'green' nonsense for example? And promoting legislative efforts based on this SCAM that would have cost this nation trillions of dollars, millions of jobs? that said...yes, I'm seeing the same weather reports you are. Usually I've been able to get the bike out for a quick spin by this time of year.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#2. To: go65 (#1)
#3. To: Badeye (#2)
Global Temperature hasn't risen measureably since 1998.
#4. To: go65 (#3)
#5. To: Badeye, Fred Mertz (#4)
"Meanwhile, the rest of us look outside."
#6. To: Murron (#5)
#7. To: Badeye (#6)
We set a new all time record for snow here this month. Most of it in the past ten days.
Replies to Comment # 7.
#9. To: Murron (#7)
End Trace Mode for Comment # 7.
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]