Check Out Al Gore's New Home

Well, well, the climate change business pays off big for some.... wish I could afford an estate like this. It's their eighth I hear. Al Gore's new home.

The AGW Smoking Gun

This article in American Thinker, The AGW Smoking Gun, shows scientific evidence that global warming science is not "settled". In fact, when you take time to wade through the data, it appears that the theory of global warming has actual, hard data which implies it to be false.

I don't know about you, but it is getting harder and harder for me to believe any scientist or researcher anymore; no matter what their area of "expertise".

Great Climate Change Retreat

Thought I'd share this link as it ties in with yesterdays post.

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express UK News :: The great climate change retreat

The World May Not Be Warming After All - Who Could Have Guessed?

While we have shivered in the cold shoveling snow, some scientists have tried to explain the cold snowy weather as being evidence of global warming. Maybe not.

An article in today's UK Times Online shows the evidence for global warming is starting to fall apart.

“The temperature records cannot be relied on as indicators of global change,” said John Christy, professor of atmospheric science at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, a former lead author on the IPCC.

The doubts of Christy and a number of other researchers focus on the thousands of weather stations around the world, which have been used to collect temperature data over the past 150 years.

These stations, they believe, have been seriously compromised by factors such as urbanisation, changes in land use and, in many cases, being moved from site to site.

Christy has published research papers looking at these effects in three different regions: east Africa, and the American states of California and Alabama.

“The story is the same for each one,” he said. “The popular data sets show a lot of warming but the apparent temperature rise was actually caused by local factors affecting the weather stations, such as land development.”

Apparently, the weather data collection centers were places near buildings, in urban areas, and other positions that would give abnormally high temperature readings. Can it make that much of a difference? Sure it can. I have a real world example.

The thermometer on my back deck is out in the open, exposed to the elements and on the north side of my home. The thermometer on the front porch is in a sheltered alcove on the south side of my home. On any day, regardless of weather conditions, sunlight, etc., these two instruments will have a variation of nearly 5 degrees. The variation will remain no matter which of the two thermometers is in either location.

I'm no scientist, but I have enough common sense to realize that if the data is flawed the conclusions drawn from it are also flawed.

I also found another study, Surface Temperature Records: Policy Driven Deception,  published January 29, 2010, that goes into great depth on the faulty evidence gathering methods and data altering. In one photo, a data gathering station is shown, on a parking lot,  in Tucson, AZ! This photo is on page 30 of the report.

The study states on page 36:

"US STATE HEAT RECORDS SUGGEST RECENT DECADES ARE NOT THE WARMEST

The 1930s were, by far, the hottest period for the timeframe. In absolute terms the 1930s had a much higher frequency of maximum temperature extremes than the 1990s or 2000s or the combination of the last two decades."

I would suggest you check out this study. It will be a nice break from shoveling snow.

Global Warming or Washington Cooling?

I couldn't pass up sharing this with you guys, considering the snow occurring in Washington this morning:

12 More Inches of Global Warming

This past weekend my little cottage was blessed with 12 more inches of global warming; as I write, it is being honored with a wintery mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain and the threat looms for another snowstorm in a few days.

I've been told that weather is not the same as climate and that I should not be discounting global warming because of recent weather events. The first time I got this reprimand was when I commented about the huge snowstorm of December 18^th and the arctic cold that linger here for the rest of December. When this snow fell, there were still piles of the December snow to be found around the edges of local parking lots.

Don't get me wrong, we get snow In Western North Carolina every year. Usually 1 to 3 inches at a time that melts within a day or two. This, folks, is not normal!

My understanding of the greenhouse effect is that the earth warms everywhere. Greenhouse gasses warm the planet to the point where it is tropical or subtropical all over. In the middle of this winter, I'm starting to think that wouldn't be such a bad thing.

If the Earth warmed up; people would be displaced; some islands would disappear, etc, etc. You've heard all those dire warnings. Such changes would take place over a long, extended period of time, not overnight. People (and other creatures) would have time to relocate. Of course, with ice melting at the poles, sea levels would rise. My advice, if global warming is indeed happening: don't buy beach front property.

Recent disclosures of faulty information, raw data disappearing, official reports being based on student papers and magazine articles just make this old gal more convinced that global warming is a hoax. It is a manufactured fear. Its goal is to gain control over our lives and pocket books while making a select few richer than scratch.

Mother Earth has been around a lot longer than we have. Like all living organisms, she changes and evolves. Over her life-time she has warmed up and cooled down many times; and will continue to do so. She needs no prompting from Al Gore or faulty science to do so and we are powerless to stop her when she decides to make a change. We humans have to adapt and go with the flow. We've done that for the entirety of our existence on this planet and if we are smart, we will continue to do so.

Party Hardy at Copenhagen

At least that's what it sounds like our HUGE contingent of senators and their cohorts did. CBS reports:

CBS) Few would argue with the U.S. having a presence at the Copenhagen Climate Summit. But wait until you hear what we found about how many in Congress got all-expense paid trips to Denmark on your dime.

CBS investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports that cameras spotted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the summit. She called the shots on who got to go. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and embattled Chairman of the Tax Committee Charles Rangel were also there.

They were joined by 17 colleagues: Democrats: Waxman, Miller, Markey, Gordon, Levin, Blumenauer, DeGette, Inslee, Ryan, Butterfield, Cleaver, Giffords, and Republicans: Barton, Upton, Moore Capito, Sullivan, Blackburn and Sensenbrenner.

That's not the half of it. But finding out more was a bit like trying to get the keys to Ft. Knox. Many referred us to Speaker Pelosi who wouldn't agree to an interview. Her office said it "will comply with disclosure requirements" but wouldn't give us cost estimates or even tell us where they all stayed.

Senator Inhofe (R-OK) is one of the few who provided us any detail. He attended the summit on his own for just a few hours, to give an "opposing view."

"They're going because it's the biggest party of the year," Sen. Inhofe said. "The worst thing that happened there is they ran out of caviar."

Our investigation found that the congressional delegation was so large, it needed three military jets: two 737's and a Gulfstream Five -- up to 64 passengers -- traveling in luxurious comfort.

Add senators and staff, most of whom flew commercial, and we counted at least 101 Congress-related attendees. All for a summit that failed to deliver a global climate deal.

As a perk, some took spouses, since they could snag an open seat on a military jet or share a room at no extra cost to taxpayers. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) was there with her husband. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) was also there with her husband. Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) took his wife, as did Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI). Congressman Barton -- a climate change skeptic -- even brought along his daughter.

Until required filings are made in the coming weeks, we can only figure bits and pieces of the cost to you.

 Three military jets at $9,900 per hour - $168,000 just in flight time.

 Dozens flew commercial at up to $2,000 each.

 321 hotel nights booked - the bulk at Copenhagen's five-star Marriott.

 Meals add tens of thousands more.

Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense, wasn't against a U.S. presence. But he said, "Every penny counts. Congress should be shaking the couch cushions looking for change, rather than spending cash for everybody to go to Copenhagen."

Nobody we asked would defend the super-sized Congressional presence on camera. One Democrat said it showed the world the U.S. is serious about climate change.

And all those attendees who went to the summit rather than hooking up by teleconference? They produced enough climate-stunting carbon dioxide to fill 10,000 Olympic swimming pools.

Which means even if Congress didn't get a global agreement - they left an indelible footprint all the same.

I'm still pondering on this. All these VIP's, along with the President . . . looks like an excuse to party at our expense to me. But then, that's not unusual, is it?

Calling Al Gore. . .

I hate to bore you guys with this, but has anyone heard from Al Gore during the recent abnormally cold weather. Cold weather which, by the way, seems to be happening on a (gasp) global scale?

Hey, Al, did you know that:

This report has an interesting tidbit.

Freeze warnings covered nearly all of Florida with temperatures expected to drop into the 20s overnight. Freezing iguanas were seen falling out of trees in Florida; experts say the cold-blooded reptiles become immobilized when the temperature falls into the 40s and they lose their grip on the tree. (Emphasis mine.)

In the UK, The Sun reports:

Commuters on the roads and rails were suffering travel chaos today as the country woke to more than a foot of snow — during the iciest winter for A CENTURY.

Here are a couple more links, just in case Al wants to read further:

New, Colder Weekend Freeze Looms for the Gulf Coast

Coming Major European Storm, Italy Targeted

And just for fun:

The "frozen Gore" ice sculpture is back in Alaska.

That's it folks, I have to go gather some firewood.