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Did Media Or NASA Withhold Climate History Data Changes From The Public?
Newsbusters ^ | 8/9/2007 | Noel Sheppard

Posted on 08/09/2007 2:58:33 PM PDT by Neville72

A change in climate history data at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies recently occurred which dramatically alters the debate over global warming. Yet, this transpired with no official announcement from GISS head James Hansen, and went unreported until Steve McIntyre of Climate Audit discovered it Wednesday.

For some background, one of the key tenets of the global warming myth being advanced by Hansen and soon-to-be-Dr. Al Gore is that nine of the ten warmest years in history have occurred since 1995.

McIntyre has been crunching the numbers used to determine such things as published by GISS, and has identified that the data have recently changed such that four of the top ten warmest years in American history occurred in the 1930s, with the warmest now in 1934 instead of the much-publicized 1998.

As McIntyre wrote Wednesday (emphasis added, h/t NBer dscott):

There has been some turmoil yesterday on the leaderboard of the U.S. (Temperature) Open and there is a new leader.

[...]

Four of the top 10 are now from the 1930s: 1934, 1931, 1938 and 1939, while only 3 of the top 10 are from the last 10 years (1998, 2006, 1999). Several years (2000, 2002, 2003, 2004) fell well down the leaderboard, behind even 1900.

Most importantly, according to the GISS, 1998 is no longer the warmest year in American history. That honor once again belongs to 1934.

As global warming is such a key issue being debated all around this country and on Capitol Hill, wouldn't such a change by the agency responsible for calculating such things be important to disseminate? When this correction was made by Hansen's team at the GISS, shouldn't it have been reported?

In fact, it is quite disgraceful that it wasn't, as it suggests that a government agency is actually participating in a fraud against the American people by withholding information crucial to a major policy issue now facing the nation.

Think this will be Newsweek's next cover-story?

No, I don't either.

Post facto thought: If Hansen's team had made changes to the data which showed that ten of the ten warmest years in American history occurred since 1995, do you think that would have been reported?

Yeah, I do, too.

*****Update: This appears to be necessary given some very silly e-mail messages that I've received. Gore's claim concerning warmest years in history pertains to data for the entire planet. The changes at GISS are only for American data.

However, as e-mail messages from various scientists around the world have pointed out, American climate data collection is the finest on the planet. It is expected that when these changes are made to numbers across the globe, the worldwide rankings might see some changes as well.

Yet, still more to the point is the fact that American data were changed without any announcement.

—Noel Sheppard is an economist, business owner, and Associate Editor of NewsBusters.


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: climatechange; giss; globalwarming; globalwarminghoax; hiddendata; jameshansen; mediabias; warming
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To: WOSG
They have gone after Lomborg viciously

Did you see Lomborg testify after Al Gore at the House Hearing on Global Warming? That guy had some of the best responses and it is no wonder the Democrats walked out on him. It is still up at C-SPAN if you want to watch it.
81 posted on 08/10/2007 5:53:12 AM PDT by P-40 (Al Qaeda was working in Iraq. They were just undocumented.)
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To: 9422WMR
But wait, it is August 9th in Texas and we have YET to have a single day reach 100°F.
That date usually hits last week of June or first week of July. Sometimes. 1980 saw almost two months above 100°F.
This has been the coolest summer with the most rain EVER.

Alabama and Texas flip-flopped this year. It was 103 in Birmingham yesterday and it's been dry as a bone for months!

82 posted on 08/10/2007 6:01:50 AM PDT by 6ppc (It's torch and pitchfork time)
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To: Neville72

Congratulations, thanks, and KEEP DIGGING. Some of us noticed in 2001 that NASA tweaked the ENTIRE US temperature database (see: http://www.john-daly.com/press/press-01c.htm#past-usa). Dozens of small changes were made and EACH and EVERY ONE OF THEM helped to reinforce the “hockey stick”. Breathtaking. Again, thanks and congratulations!


83 posted on 08/10/2007 6:13:57 AM PDT by bobsatwork
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To: lepton
Thanks for the extra background info...

It seems like enough counter info is accumulating that scientists are going to become more and more careful about jumping on the GW/climate change bandwagon. Of ocurse that will probably only encourage more hysterics from the hot and bothered side...

84 posted on 08/10/2007 6:19:33 AM PDT by Molly Pitcher (We are Americans...the sons and daughters of liberty...*.from FReeper the Real fifi*))
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To: WOSG
Possibly Steve McIntyre could comment on whether or when he thinks the Y2K error would have been discovered if these photos had not been taken.

He has said he likely would not have. For that matter, he also credits Rabbets defense of Hansens adjustments as well.

Watts picture-taking project began in May when he took the St. Marys firehouse pictures, and he's been getting people together to perform systematic surveys of the 1200 USHCN sites. He and volunteers have managed to get about 260 surveys so far.

Part of how this discovery came about was with the open release of data under the critical view of adverserial argument...which is what the Climate Science field is very often lacking. Rabbet made some silly arguments in defense of Hansen, but he and his allies also pointed out that the biggest rise in temperature did not coincide with the air-conditioner move...and, this acknowledged, McIntyre dug about and discovered what did - a programming shift to a different dataset.

85 posted on 08/10/2007 6:42:18 AM PDT by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: SunkenCiv

1) Hansen has long been a true believer...even in the abscence of warming.

2) his chosen gas driving the warming is not CO2, it’s methane.


86 posted on 08/10/2007 6:45:33 AM PDT by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: SunkenCiv

1) Hansen has long been a true believer...even in the abscence of warming.

2) his chosen gas driving the warming is not CO2, it’s methane.

3) Note that he considered AGW “settled science” in the 80s.


87 posted on 08/10/2007 6:46:24 AM PDT by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: lepton
Note that he considered AGW “settled science” in the 80s.

I'm trying to remember when I first heard the term “settled science” used. In my opinion, that is a political term...and not a scientific one. Whenever I have asked a scientist a question about something in their field, the answer always starts out with something like 'based on our current understanding....' or something to that effect.

Scientists seem to have open minds; politicians seem to have closed minds. To say that something is “settled science” seems very closed-minded.
88 posted on 08/10/2007 7:08:34 AM PDT by P-40 (Al Qaeda was working in Iraq. They were just undocumented.)
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To: Neville72
As part of NASA, isn’t GISS subject to the FOIA? It seems that Hansen can be compelled to reveal his secret sauce.
89 posted on 08/10/2007 7:23:51 AM PDT by Ragnar54
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To: P-40

Though it can reasonably be taken that way, I didn’t mean to suggest that that was a quote from him. More appropriately, I should have noted that back in the 80s he was making statements as to the certainty of AGW that correspond with the current usage of “settled science”.


90 posted on 08/10/2007 7:24:04 AM PDT by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: lepton

A friend of mine has access to Lexus/Nexus so next time I talk to him I am going to see if he can find just when the term “settled science” came into the popular lexicon. That term may be the one thing we can say with 100% certainty was caused by global warming. :)


91 posted on 08/10/2007 7:28:28 AM PDT by P-40 (Al Qaeda was working in Iraq. They were just undocumented.)
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To: Neville72

Explains Algore refusing to debate these days, doesn’t it?


92 posted on 08/10/2007 7:30:11 AM PDT by Badeye (You know its a kook site when they ban the word 'kook')
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To: Carry_Okie
So NOAA has the same problem with algorithms and data as Hansen? And the CRU at East Anglia?

Global temperature record

Wake me up when the story actually changes. NASA didn't fire Dr. Roy Spencer when it turned out that he couldn't distinguish a + from a - (which had substantially influenced the tale told by the MLS lower tropospheric data set, a data set widely touted by skeptics until it suddenly reversed course and showed significant warming, just like it was supposed to), so a slight and necessary revision to the warmth in the 1930s compared to now is supposed to be a major deal?

But thanks for the note, anyway.

93 posted on 08/10/2007 7:33:02 AM PDT by cogitator
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To: Neville72

So President Bush has reduced Global Warming.


94 posted on 08/10/2007 7:33:27 AM PDT by mimaw
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To: SirKit

Folks messing with Statistics. Who’da thunk it?


95 posted on 08/10/2007 9:03:55 AM PDT by SuziQ
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To: brytlea
From the Discover Magazine story: "... But there are no oil companies funding my work, not at all. It sounds funny, but the Danish Carlsberg Foundation—you know, the one who makes beer—they have been of real support to me. They have a big foundation; in Denmark it’s one of the biggest resources for science. It’s because the founder of Carlsberg wanted to use scientific methods to make the best beer. It’s probably the best beer in the world, because of science."

*snort* Can't you just see the headline in the Old Grey Lady. "Climate skeptics' research fueled by alchoholic beverages!"

96 posted on 08/10/2007 9:12:22 AM PDT by SuziQ
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To: Neville72
A little perspective on the U.S. and global temperature records
97 posted on 08/10/2007 9:23:53 AM PDT by cogitator
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To: Fred Nerks

Since a bag of coal is involved, he’s just smarting over the bags of coal he’s accumulated one lump at a time from Santa. ;’)


98 posted on 08/10/2007 10:50:53 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Thursday, August 9, 2007. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: WOSG
Popular Science changed editors and it appeared to be a change for the better -- then the last issue was cover-to-cover global warming demagoguery. I think that may be one subscription I can do without.
99 posted on 08/10/2007 10:54:49 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Thursday, August 9, 2007. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SuziQ

LOL
susie


100 posted on 08/10/2007 12:48:57 PM PDT by brytlea (amnesty--an act of clemency by an authority by which pardon is granted esp. to a group of individual)
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