10,000+ people are descending on Congress to lobby on climate change as part of Powershift 09. And, many of those will participate in what might be the largest climate change disobedience action in history: the Capitol Climate Action to seek to shut down the coal-fired Capitol Power Plant. Meanwhile, the DC area (along with much of the East Coast) is hit with a major snowstorm. The Federal Government is on a two-hour delay and schools around the area are shut down.
For those who don't get that weather isn't climate, a snowy day in March is not some contradiction of science on Global Warming, they are confused when mass efforts to highlight the seriousness of the climate crisis intersect with major weather events that seem (SEEM) to contradict the realities of the dangerous changes that humanity is recklessly driving. Some joke about "The Gore Effect", suggesting that the best predictor of a DC snow storm is Al Gore being scheduled to testify before Congress. (They will, of course, forget when he is there in hotter weather if they can find a snow or ice event ...) Today reinforces that shallow observation.
Without a doubt, expect "journalists" to include shallow (and snide) comments about "snow storm" in any discussions of Powershift and the Capitol Climate Action. Expect Marc Morano and the global warming denier sound machine to spread messages and one-liners making these links.
Will they, however, mention that 
Australia is burning up and drowning at the same time? (Any mention of Australia's Black Saturday when laughing about Washington's White Monday?) Will they have any discussions of flooding in Washington State or how much of the US is in drought (including 97% of Texas) and how Texas farmers are suffering? Sigh ... perhaps not.
Will they emphasize that thousands were willing, even amid such lousy weather, to show up and risk arrest to highlight coal's risks?
Will they have the sense to discuss that this is Global, not your backyard, Warming and that is why some prefer "Climate Change" to be able to better explain how the weather pattern disruption can mean more snow or rain in place A while place B is baking in severe, extended drought conditions?
Will the reporters have the common sense to remind people of a simple fact? More snowfall in your backyard doesn't mean global warming hasn't stopped!
As my kids gleefully play in the snow, ecstatic that school is cancelled, I wonder if any reporter will have the sense to highlight someone saying something like this:
"Yeah, ain't it great!
Sometimes the climate crisis will bring us fun things like a snow day in March in DC, and sometimes it will bring us deathly heat waves across entire continents.The one thing that we know we can count on if we don't get a handle on it: it will definitely bring an unpredictability to our weather that will wreak havoc on our economy, our public health systems, and the way we live our daily lives."
From Climate Denial Crock of the Week arches: "It's Cold. So there's no Climate Change."
No weather phenomena are showing any signs of increased or unusual activity. No weatherman or serious climatologist has made claims to this effect. The weather patterns of the planet have remained within the norm for the entire 20th and these first years of the 21st century. The only possible exception to this may have been a very strong El Nino event in 1998.
From the point of view of weather, we can say with a high degree of certainty that there have been no noteworthy changes in it from the 19th through the 20th and into the 21st century.
None.
It is nothing but a fabrication. There is not one single scientist who is willing (or able) to point the finger at any short-term weather phenomenon and identify it as a symptom or product of global warming.
Not one.
I say what is on my mind in my posts. I would appreciate it if you did not call me a denier, or ascribed beliefs or attitudes to me that are not mentioned in the post you are responding to.
I am sure you are a nice person, but I don't know you and you don't know me. All we have to go on is what we write in this thread.
As I am trying to make clear: I do not believe that a cold winter is a sign of anything with regards to the AGW question.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=aIe9swvOqwIY
Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- A glitch in satellite sensors caused scientists to underestimate the extent of Arctic sea ice by 500,000 square kilometers (193,000 square miles), a California- size area, the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center said.
The error, due to a problem called “sensor drift,” began in early January and caused a slowly growing underestimation of sea ice extent until mid-February. That’s when “puzzled readers” alerted the NSIDC about data showing ice-covered areas as stretches of open ocean, the Boulder, Colorado-based group said on its Web site.
What is fascinating is that it took "puzzled readers" to alert the NSIDC before they even noticed a problem.
The size of CALIFORNIA for goodness sakes.
Helps to explain the stories about all the arctic ice melting doesn't it?
After all, when you can't keep track of something the size of California, it doesn't exactly speak highly of your data quality.
1. Please note that there are different satellites tracking ice and the two centers (Boulder, UIUC) use different satellite measurements. Thus, the Boulder data needed to be corrected, not UIUC.
2. This is what science does and scientists do. They constantly recheck themselves and, when they discover/understand it, they put out that there is a problem / that they made an error.
3. After returning to the data set, what did the data set show: that the long-term trend for less Arctic Ice continues. This satellite error did not change the underlying information.
Lucky US we have Steven Chu for Energy Secretary who is a brilliant scientist. WOW!!! Someone who really knows what they are doing is running a Federal Agency.
Tim Wirth the UN Foundation President was moderator.
Reed, Pelosi, Bill Clinton and Rep. Ed Markey were the politicians attending, there were environmental leaders, there were CEO's of energy corporations and other corporations even Wal Marts representative showed up and last but not least Al Gore, our very own world messenger (truth is truth tellers have never been very popular throughout human history) about the threats to life on earth because of global warming something the Loonytoon neocons think is figment of Al's imagination so it seems that the only way these neocons will be convinced is if their house is underwater or flying off in the wild blue yonder in the middle of a tornado, or is fried to a crisp in a firestorm created by powerful winds and extreme drought, which can also cause famine, or maybe another Katrina will convince these neocons but I doubt it since reality, facts and truth are never allowed to enter loonytoon land.
Done deal.
Now, START OVER.
If we don't address population as an intergral part of this, we will fail. Here in California we have kept per capital energy usage essentially flat for the last ten years but total usage has continued to climb and that includes the migration of many energy consuming companies out of state.