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Neil Wagner

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Earth Warming by the Day... and the Month... and the Year...

Posted: 05/16/2012 8:30 pm

2012-05-15-WOE12_20WarmerAndWarmer.gif


A trend is defined as "a prevailing tendency or inclination." See if the following strikes you as a trend: The warmest January-April period on record was part of the warmest 12-month period on record, which was preceded by the warmest calendar year on record, which immediately followed the warmest decade on record.

I see a trend -- it's getting freaking' HOT! In case you didn't pick up on the subtle pattern described above, here's a 26-second video from NASA that shows how the planet warmed between 1880 and 2011. The map in the video changes from a refreshing blue (lower than average temperatures) to a an uncomfortable orange (higher than average). You can even see the warming accelerate in the late 20th century as man's greenhouse gas emissions increased.

Yet while the trend towards a warming planet marches on, the trend in people's belief that our climate is changing may be no trend at all. The public at large seems to say, "Climate change is a problem, except that it's not because the planet's not warming -- but now I think it is... but people don't cause it, except that they actually do."

Think I'm exaggerating folks' fickleness? Here are the results of some recent studies:

  • People are more likely to believe in global warming if they're sitting near a dead (rather than live) tree. The more dead trees, the more they believe

  • People have greater concern about climate change -- and are more likely to donate to a cause that combats the problem -- if they're asked their beliefs on a hot day

  • Subtly mentioning the words "heat," or "boil," or "Equator" to a listener makes them more likely to believe in global warming

Just think: if we killed off a few trees and said "boil" constantly, maybe everyone would get on the program.

If people can be influenced by a hot day, why can't they be influenced by a time-lapse video showing 131 years of progressively hotter days? If we could make that happen, THEN we'd have a trend worth following!

(P.S. Boil, boil, boil)

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A trend is defined as "a prevailing tendency or inclination." See if the following strikes you as a trend: The ...
A trend is defined as "a prevailing tendency or inclination." See if the following strikes you as a trend: The ...
 
 
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Publicola
Reality has a scientific bias
02:41 PM on 05/30/2012
U.S. National Academy of Sciences (2010)
------------------------------------------------------------------------

There is a strong, credible body of evidence, based on multiple lines of research, documenting that climate is changing and that these changes are in large part caused by human activities. While much remains to be learned, the core phenomenon­, scientific questions, and hypotheses have been examined thoroughly and have stood firm in the face of serious scientific debate and careful evaluation of alternative explanation­s…

From a philosophical perspective, science never proves anything… because science is fundamentally based on observations. Any scientific theory is thus, in principle, subject to being refined or overturned by new observations.

In practical terms, however, scientific uncertainties are not all the same. Some scientific conclusions or theories have been so thoroughly examined and tested, and supported by so many independent observations and results, that their likelihood of subsequently being found to be wrong is vanishingly small. Such conclusions and theories are then regarded as settled facts. This is the case for the conclusions that the Earth system is warming and that much of this warming is very likely due to human activities.

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12782
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08:31 AM on 05/25/2012
Downthread, jimboy71 challenged me to disprove anything on Gavin's and/or Tamino's sites.

I did so conclusively, in multiple postings.

jimboy71's mendacious and defamatory claims have been, therefore, debunked.
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gallon
Those who fail to remember history are, um
07:41 AM on 05/26/2012
Interesting logic. Simply declare yourself right. Simply declare that the opposition is therefore debunked. That is bald faced.
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Publicola
Reality has a scientific bias
02:33 PM on 05/30/2012
Orkneygal: "jimboy71 challenged me to disprove anything on Gavin's and/or Tamino's sites. I did so conclusively, in multiple postings."

Auditioning for a comedian role?
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Publicola
Reality has a scientific bias
04:43 PM on 05/23/2012
Heartland Institute Global Warming "Expert" Hides The Incline

Dear Orkneygal,

Isn't Heartland Institute "Expert" Dr. Bob Carter committing facto global warming fraud by misrepresenting increasing global temperature trend lines as flat?* 

Isn't that like a climate science scam, a global warming hoax?

If you disagree please provide a scientifically-valid explanation for Bob Carter's gross misrepresentation of scientific data.

Bob Carter is a leader of and/or major contributo­r to several of the most prominent organizati­ons that are "skeptical­­" of man-made global warming, including:

* The Heartland Institute
* The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF)
* The Science & Public Policy Institute (SPPI)
* The Science & Environmen­tal Policy Project (SEPP)
* The Nongovernm­ental Internatio­nal Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC)
* The Internatio­nal Climate Science Coalition (ICSC)

Also:

You Orkneygal have indicated that you live in New Zealand - what relationship do you have with Bob Carter's global warming "skeptic" organization the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition (NZCSC)?

Please finally answer these questions instead of continuing to run away from them - think you.

------------------
* http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2011/07/bob_carters_trend_lines.php
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09:49 PM on 05/22/2012
Down thread jimboy71 requested information about the quality of Gavin's work from me. I replied there and add the following information, as requested by jimboy71 and for the information of all HUFFPO readers.

Steve McIntyre eviscerates Gavin about Yamal data claims.

http://climateaudit.org/2012/05/16/schmidts-conspiracy-theory/
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gallon
Those who fail to remember history are, um
05:27 AM on 05/23/2012
The Orkney campaign of continuous scientist bashing moves right along.

Curiously, Heartland also continuously bashes climate scientists by name. And so does Wattsupwiththat. Their fossil fuel funded reason for existence is to raise climate change doubt and to bash prominent scientists. Peripheral to prominent denier outfits such as Heartland and Watts, is the denier blog climateaudit.

In her post here, Orkney features McIntyre of climateaudit. This is supposed to impress HuffPost readers. McIntyre has connections with petroleum interests and he has been a headliner at Heartland conferences. McIntyre made his name in the fossil fuel community with his campaign to discredit the hockey stick of Michael Mann.

The hockey stick is simply the curve showing that temperatures are accelerating. This curve is also showing up in numerous other studies besides the study of Mann. Recently a major study funded by the Koch brothers disappointed it's funding source by also confirming the hockey stick curve. This was the BEST study.

AGW is real. The hockey stick is real, warming is accelerating. Mann remains a fine scientist. Gavin Schmitt is a highly accomplished climate scientist at NASA. That and the fact that he helps run realclimate.org.

Which science site threw you out again Orkney? Was it realclimate.org or skepticalscience.com? And wasn't it for incessant science bashing? Orkney and pals are still full of it.
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06:33 AM on 05/23/2012
Yet another fact free posting. McIntyre, et al have debunked the hockey stick long ago.
That's what the Yamal data is all about. When the courageous whistleblower released the first set of Climategate emails, Phil Jone's first reaction was that it was all about Yamal.
The whole Yamal data episode exposes the Hockey Stick Team for what they really are.
That is why Gavin's most recent claims are just more of the same from the Team.
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Publicola
Reality has a scientific bias
04:41 PM on 05/23/2012
Addressing part of Orkneygal's Gish Gallop*:

Orkneygal: "McIntyre, et al have debunked the hockey stick long ago."

The "hockey stick" is alive and well, relentless science denier propaganda to the contrary notwithstanding.

Mann's findings have been verified by several independen­t scientific groups:

NRC (2006). Surface temperatur­e reconstruc­tions for the last 2,000 years. Washington­, DC; National Academies Press.

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309102251

D'arrigo, R; Wilson R; Jacoby G (2006). "On the long-term context for late twentieth century warming". Journal of Geophysica­l Research

Osborn, TJ;  Briffa, KR. (2006). "The Spatial Extent of 20th-Centu­ry Warmth in the Context of the Past 1200 Years". Science

Appell, David (October 28, 2009). "Novel Analysis Confirms Climate "Hockey Stick" Graph". Scientific American

Tingley, MP;  Huybers, P (2010). "A Bayesian Algorithm for Reconstruc­ting Climate Anomalies in Space and Time. Part I: Developmen­t and Applicatio­ns to Paleoclima­te Reconstruc­tion Problems". Journal of Climate

Tingley, MP; Huybers, P (2010). "A Bayesian Algorithm for Reconstruc­ting Climate Anomalies in Space and Time. Part II: Comparison with the Regularize­d Expectatio­n–Maximiza­tion Algorithm"­. Journal of Climate

Even "skeptic" Roger Pielke, Jr. says the National Research Council publicatio­n constitute­d a "near-comp­lete vindicatio­n for the work of Mann et al."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hockey_stick_controversy

---------------------------
* Gish Gallop: "A debating technique that involves drowning the opponent in such a torrent of half-truths, lies, and straw-man arguments that the opponent cannot possibly answer every falsehood that has been raised."
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Gish_Gallop
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11:44 PM on 05/23/2012
Gavin and The Team are the masters of the Gish Gallop. The Yamal data saga is a classic example. There is quite a bit of fibbing only the way, also.
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08:58 AM on 05/25/2012
On one had we have black is white, fiction is truth, trees are thermometers, FOIA denials is the best scientific practice and using Tiljander proxies upside down does not matter and then lying about it is OK.

Which the Rommulans think is the natural order of things and perfectly support by the world of IPCC climate "science" shenanigans.

On the other hand, we have the magnificent Dr Bob Carter, a recognized expert in his field-

A link to some recent comments!

http://tinyurl.com/7alptdd

Dr Bob Carter-One of Gaia's most hard working Truth Seekers!
03:42 PM on 05/21/2012
The alarmists are in DENIAL !

The long term warming is only 1/2 degree per century and the short tem [since 2001] shows only cooling.

No mater what data you use the rate of warming has gone to nothing or it actually is cooling.

Who fact checks these stories ?
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gallon
Those who fail to remember history are, um
06:07 PM on 05/21/2012
False. It has already warmed almost a degree in the past century. The past decade was the hottest on record. It continues to warm.

Texas is burning up. Saturn aka netdr continues to astroturf, thousands of times now.

And now netdr introduces a new line. It is the science side who are the deniers, according to saturn science.
ubrew12
that crazy uncle from Amarcord
01:28 AM on 05/22/2012
saturn1: "long term warming is only 1/2 degree per century" Since 1965, closer to 1.6 C per century, or triple your claim. But don't take my word for it, this article includes graphs from GISS data of global temperature, and you can easily work out that rate on your own.
http://blog.chron.com/climateabyss/2012/04/about-the-lack-of-warming/

Use any other database of global temperature, like HadCRU or BEST, and you'll reach the same conclusion. The reason for starting at 1965 is because before then global warming hadn't really kicked in and there was a period after WWII when aerosol pollutants also obscured the AGW signal.

As for 'only cooling' since 2001, the same referenced article explains why we must account for the ENSO (El Nino/La Nina) effect when making such claims. Once this is accounted for, saturn1's claim is seen as the bull-pucky we always suspected it was.
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Publicola
Reality has a scientific bias
01:42 PM on 05/21/2012
Prominent Global Warming "Skeptic" Hides the Incline

Dear Orkneygal,

Isn't Heartland Institute "Expert" Dr. Robert M "Bob" Carter committing facto global warming fraud by misrepresenting increasing global temperature trend lines as flat?* 

Isn't that like a climate science scam, a global warming hoax?

If you disagree please provide a scientifically-valid explanation for Bob Carter's gross misrepresentation of scientific data.

Bob Carter is a leader of and/or major contributo­r to several of the most prominent organizati­ons that are "skeptical­­" of man-made global warming, including:

* The Heartland Institute
* The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF)
* The Science & Public Policy Institute (SPPI)
* The Science & Environmen­tal Policy Project (SEPP)
* The Nongovernm­ental Internatio­nal Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC)
* The Internatio­nal Climate Science Coalition (ICSC)

Also:

You Orkneygal have indicated that you live in New Zealand - what relationship do you have with Bob Carter's global warming "skeptic" organization the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition (NZCSC)?

Please finally answer these questions instead of continuing to run away from them - think you.

------------------
* http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2011/07/bob_carters_trend_lines.php
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StephenBP
What's he building in there?
01:07 PM on 05/21/2012
?This is my second attempt to post this thought.

The recent paper in Science by Durack et al. provides more proof of global warming and of the validity of our understanding of it. The Science paper reinforces the report in the latest IPCC report stating that human engineered global warming is causing an enhancement of the hydrological cycle, based on observed ocean salinity changes. In other words, dry places are tending to get dryer, and other places are tending to flood more.
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StephenBP
What's he building in there?
12:56 PM on 05/21/2012
The new paper by by Durack et al. in Science provides more evidence of global warming. Interestingly, this finding reinforces the conclusion from the last IPCC report which concluded there is an enhancement of the hydrological cycle, based on observed ocean salinity changes.
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07:24 AM on 05/21/2012
The latest about death threats to Australian Climate Scientists

http://tinyurl.com/dyc3ucf
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gallon
Those who fail to remember history are, um
07:34 AM on 05/21/2012
The latest drive-by spamming by Orkney.
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Publicola
Reality has a scientific bias
01:41 PM on 05/21/2012
MIT Climate Scientist  Receives Frenzy of Hate Mail

Prominent MIT researcher -- and conservative -- Kerry Emanuel receives “frenzy of hate” after a video featuring an interview with him was published...

Emails contained “veiled threats against my wife,” and other “tangible threats,” Emanuel... director of MIT’s Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate program, said... “They were vile, these emails. They were the kind of emails nobody would like to receive.”

“What was a little bit new about it was dragging family members into it and feeling that my family might be under threat, so naturally I didn’t feel very good about that at all,” Emanuel said...

The video... documented a climate change conference run by a group of Republican voters upset by their party’s anti-science rhetoric...

In one clip, Emanuel says, “It makes me feel to some extent disgusted with politics and to some extent ashamed to be an American.”...

ClimateDepot [blog] posted Emanuel’s email address.

Emanuel notes that in the full video, he went on to explain that the Republican candidates “have either been misled, in which case it’s not great to be part of the political system where candidates for the president of the United States could be so misled on such an important issue, or they were dishonest, which [is] equally bad in my view: How could we live in a country where candidates are being dishonest about an issue of such importance?”

http://tinyurl.com/74larxf
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StephenBP
What's he building in there?
07:12 AM on 05/21/2012
So far 1010 high temperature records have been broken in the US in the month of May and the month isn't even complete yet. Of those broken records, 370 of them broke recent records, that is, records that had been set since the year 2000.

The hot areas are getting hotter, just as predicted.

It is starting to look to me like the next few years will be the ones when climate change becomes a topic of interest to just about everyone on the planet. As the natural el Nino cycle kicks in this year and adds to the forcing from fossil fuel combustion, the weather will really get people's attention, unfortunately because of the great harm it will do. But there is an up side to all this. At that point in the near future, we will finally be able to leverage Senator Inhoffe and Lord Monckton and the other Denialist Clown Mobilers off of our screens for good. Amen.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
JAF54
My micro-Bio did not meet the guildlines!
12:07 AM on 05/21/2012
I am a believer,gentlemen.....the problem has become so political that I don't think it will be seriously addressed until too much damage has been done...where to start when the "believers" are ultra liberal elites...."tree huggers"...etc....kinda the old "unions are evil" propaganda all over again...
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gallon
Those who fail to remember history are, um
03:03 AM on 05/21/2012
Meanwhile, it gets warmer outside.
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StephenBP
What's he building in there?
09:06 PM on 05/20/2012
The Antarctic is now losing ice mass rapidly. In fact it is losing it at an accelerating rate now of more than 240 billion tons per year. Agricultural planting zones are moving towards the poles which means, they are moving towards less fertile land in the northern hemisphere and non-existent land in the south. A recent paper in Science by Durak et.al. shows that our warming climate is going to cause intensification of weather extremes. More drought in dry areas, more flooding in other areas.

I am fed up with right wing religious, political, and corporate authoritarians who are constantly trying to attack science. They are trying to drag us back to some dark age because they are intellectual cowards.

And as a result they are in the process of bringing down a well deserved climatological pox on all their own houses, all because of their cowardly, parasitic and greedy behavior. I wish that the rest of the human race didn't have to suffer for it.
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Publicola
Reality has a scientific bias
07:45 PM on 05/20/2012
Orkneygal: "...Comical Gavin's... site..."

Orkneygal is disrespectfully referring to Dr. Gavin Schmidt and his site RealClimate. Unlike non-scientist Jonova winning an Internet blog popularity contest, for his contributions at RealClimate Schmidt has been honored with an award that was judged and given by an actual, prestigious scientific organization - the American Geophysical Union.

---------------
Inaugural Climate Communications Prize Winner Announced

New Award from the American Geophysical Union Recognizes Excellence in Climate Communications
 
18 October 2011

WASHINGTON, DC — In recognition of his exceptional work as a climate communicator, the American Geophysical Union (AGU) has selected Gavin Schmidt as the recipient of its inaugural Climate Communications Prize.

Schmidt is a climate scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and co-founder of the RealClimate.org, a blog that covers areas of science related to climate-from present-day measurements to paleoclimate proxies, from natural climate variation to anthropogenic change. Schmidt has also worked with photographers on a popular science book, on museum exhibits, and on online courses and has often appeared on TV and radio and in print.

The award, which was established by AGU earlier this year, recognizes excellence in climate communication as well as the promotion of scientific literacy, clarity of messaging, and efforts to foster respect and understanding for science-based values related to climate change.

http://www.agu.org/news/press/pr_archives/2011/2011-34.shtml
ubrew12
that crazy uncle from Amarcord
10:06 PM on 05/20/2012
Thats cool. Good for AGU and congrats to Prof Schmidt.
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07:13 AM on 05/21/2012
From Gavins Borehole

853

John Whitman says:
3 May 2012 at 2:24 PM
“One could even ask whether the effort that we have put into RealClimate has been in vain.”

RC did have a major impact. It spun off a great many really high caliber skeptics and that had a significant impact on the current trend toward a more balanced discourse in climate science.

John

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2004/12/the-bore-hole/comment-page-18/#comments
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gallon
Those who fail to remember history are, um
07:44 AM on 05/21/2012
Orkney cherry picks one single comment from a superb site.

The borehole:
"A place for comments that would otherwise disrupt sensible conversations."

A sort of a sweeping up of the miscellaneous that didn't make the cut for their superb regular presentations. Be it known that Realclimate.org features comments from all sides of an issue. A cherry picker will be able to go there and find whatever they need to support their agenda. Just like Orkney has done here.

Realclimate presents real climate science, by real climate scientists.

http://www.realclimate.org
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Publicola
Reality has a scientific bias
01:26 PM on 05/21/2012
Some obscure poster:

" It spun off a great many really high caliber skeptics"

Apparently, Orknegal thinks that the likes of bloggers like non-scientist "Jonova" -- winner of what Orkneygal characterizes as a "prestigious" Internet popularity contest run by a conservative media organization -- are "high caliber skeptics".

Thanks again for the laugh, Orkney.
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05:09 PM on 05/20/2012
Down thread, the Rommulans are in a frenzy of denial over Jo Nova and her Award Winning Blog. For those interested in this year's result of this prestigous Championship, 2012 Winners include-

Jo Nova
TallBloke'S Talkshop
Climate Audit
Watts Up With That (X 2)

Joe Rommulan's, Comical Gavin's and Tamino's sites did not even make the Finals.

http://2012.bloggi.es/
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alteredstory
Hold on to the center
07:34 PM on 05/20/2012
Pretty sure most people who care about climate change, don't care about that award. Only saying that 'cause this is the first I've heard of it in, apparently, the twelve years of its existence.

Granted, I've been busy doing work, and not stacking award polls...
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ILoveFiction
That's unbelievable!
08:11 PM on 05/20/2012
Does she have to give back the beer award?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
jimboy71
Hen Diapheron Heautoi
02:12 AM on 05/21/2012
Oh well played!
ubrew12
that crazy uncle from Amarcord
04:59 PM on 05/20/2012
Someone from Saturn has been posting that the rate of temperature rise is 1/2 C per century. But, you can measure for yourself in the graphs given in this article by the Texas State Climatologist that since 1965 (which is around the time that global warming really started to kick in), the rate of warming has been closer to 1.6 C per century: three times the rate on Saturn.
http://blog.chron.com/climateabyss/2012/04/about-the-lack-of-warming/
This rate never broke after 1998, once the ENSO effect is accounted for, as done in this article.