http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/globalwarming/ en-us Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:31:08 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416173/posts 877 new snowfall records set or tied in the USA in the last week. And that’s not all, for the week ending Dec 13th, there were 815 new snowfall records set. December 2009 is shaping up to be quite the snowmaker. Watts Up With That http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416173/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:31:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414848/posts I found this on one of the blogs I read ( The Energy Collective). Richard Alley is a noted glaciologist, at Penn State, peripherally associated with Michael Mann. Feel free to ignore this if that bugs you. In the lecture, he explains how CO2 is linked to climate throughout paleohistory -- feel free to ignore that if it bugs you, too. The science is true if it bugs you or not. He pokes fun of climate change skeptics -- another reason to ignore this. I.e., it will take people with a real interest in the subject, who don't care about... American Geophysical Union http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414848/posts#comment Fri, 25 Dec 2009 06:21:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416022/posts How about if we sue you for breathing? Fresh from the fiasco in Copenhagen and with a failure in the U.S. Senate looming this coming year, the climate-change lobby is already shifting to Plan B, or is it already Plan D? Meet the carbon tort. Across the country, trial lawyers and green pressure groups—if that's not redundant—are teaming up to sue electric utilities for carbon emissions under "nuisance" laws The Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416022/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 02:34:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416019/posts Today is my last day as a staff reporter for The New York Times. After spending more than a quarter of a century writing about science and the environment, more than half of that time here, I am switching gears for the second half of my professional life. I’ll be continuing to blog, write and work with video. And I’ll certainly keep contributing to this remarkable newspaper as it works to sustain a reliable view of the fast-changing planet while straddling the uncertain interface between the front page and home page. But my prime focus now will be education and... NY Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416019/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 02:31:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415986/posts The "ought" decade was one promise after another turned into trauma for California. It began with a popular Democratic governor, judging from the voter majority that put him in office. But his popularity plummeted in tandem with the state's nosediving finances. The decade ends with a Republican governor who, at first, was every bit as popular, judging from the wide voter margin that elected him. His popularity and the state's finances likewise hit bottom. The chief distinction between Democrat Gray Davis and Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger may be that the former was recalled from office, and the latter will be permitted... OC Register http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415986/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:51:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2415982/posts One of Europe's solutions to the perceived global warming threat is trying to regulate carbon emissions through Carbon Credits The way it works is the government sets a or cap on the total amount of a pollutant that can be emitted. Companies or other groups are issued emission permits and are required to hold an equivalent number of credits. Companies that need to increase their emission allowance must buy credits from those who pollute less. In effect, the buyer is paying a charge for polluting, while the seller is being rewarded for having reduced emissions by more than was needed.... Times of London/The Lid http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2415982/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:34:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415790/posts A Rhinebeck (NY)High School sophomore is urging the school district to require alternative views be presented by teachers on controversial topics like climate change. Michelle Dewkett said the global warming documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” was being shown in science and English classes without equal weight being given to other positions on the topic. “As of now, the teaching of controversial topics is out of control,” Dewkett told members of the Board of Education on Tuesday. She also said the district is not following its own policy of providing students with a wide range of materials. Dewkett cited a class on... DailyFreeman (Hudson Valley, NY) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415790/posts#comment Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:30:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401650/posts Carbon dioxide indirectly causes up to 50 percent more global warming than originally thought, a finding that raises questions over targets for stabilising carbon emissions over the long term, a study said on Sunday. In a paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience, British scientists said a tool commonly used in climate modelling may have badly underlooked the sensitivity of key natural processes to the warming caused by CO2. As a result, calculations for man-made global warming on the basis of carbon emissions may be underpitched by between 30 and 50 percent, they said. The study was coincidentally published on... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401650/posts#comment Sun, 6 Dec 2009 20:58:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415775/posts The investigation into the so-called Warmergate emails - the leaked data from the University of East Anglia’s climate change department - took a new twist last night when The Mail on Sunday tracked the stolen messages to a suspect computer which provides internet access to China. The address used to post the emails is also on an international ‘black list’ which highlights suspicious behaviour on the internet. Daily Mail http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415775/posts#comment Sun, 27 Dec 2009 16:57:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415718/posts Dems to W.H.: Drop cap-and-trade By: Lisa Lerer December 27, 2009 07:10 AM EST Bruised by the health care debate and worried about what 2010 will bring, moderate Senate Democrats are urging the White House to give up now on any effort to pass a cap-and-trade bill next year. “I am communicating that in every way I know how,” says Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), one of at least half a dozen Democrats who've told the White House or their own leaders that it's time to jettison the centerpiece of their party's plan to curb global warming. The creation of an... Politico http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415718/posts#comment Sun, 27 Dec 2009 14:25:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415693/posts February 24, 2009, NASA's 280 million dollar Orbiting Carbon Observatory fell into the Antarctic after it failed to make orbit. Now, I'm not a Truther who believes 9/11 was an inside job produced by George Bush, nor am I certain BO is a U.S. citizen, but where there's smoke, there's fire from a burning birth certificate somewhere . . . NASA's carbon checking satellite was launched with the intention of definitively mapping the amount and effects of that evil atom, carbon, on the earth, which has alone been responsible for loading western universities with a non diversity of well funded... JoeClarke.Net http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415693/posts#comment Sun, 27 Dec 2009 13:08:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415631/posts WATERLOO, Ont. (Monday, Dec. 21, 2009) - Cosmic rays and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), both already implicated in depleting the Earth's ozone layer, are also responsible for changes in the global climate, a University of Waterloo scientist reports in a new peer-reviewed paper. In his paper, Qing-Bin Lu, a professor of physics and astronomy, shows how CFCs - compounds once widely used as refrigerants - and cosmic rays - energy particles originating in outer space - are mostly to blame for climate change, rather than carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. His paper, derived from observations of satellite, ground-based and balloon measurements as well... University of Waterloo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415631/posts#comment Sun, 27 Dec 2009 06:11:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415620/posts California’s battle against greenhouse gases is likely to come to the Bay Area soon — with rules designed to reduce the carbon footprint of new housing and commercial development. That is a concept you might expect to be welcome in a region known for its environmental advocacy and hostility to growth. But some environmentalists and city planners fear that the new set of guidelines being considered by the region’s air quality regulators could have an unintended consequence, making it more difficult and more expensive for developers to construct buildings within already urbanized areas. That would run counter to the notion... NY Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415620/posts#comment Sun, 27 Dec 2009 05:29:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2415378/posts Hi all, I have been trying to do a little research on the whole Climate Change thing, Climate-gate, et al. But I keep hearing there are 700 scientists, or 30,000 scientists (!) who dissent. Where is the best place for me to find such information? (Yes, I know of the list on Wikipedia, but it seems incomplete, at best). http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2415378/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 18:07:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415494/posts In their unfortunately titled book Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living, New Zealanders Robert and Brenda Vale — self-described specialists in sustainable living at Victoria University in Wellington — charge that the carbon paw-print of a pet dog is double that of an SUV driving 6,200 miles a year, while a pet cat has an eco claw-print slightly less than driving a Volkswagen Golf for a year. Confirming these results, John Barrett of the Stockholm Environment Institute in York, Britain, said, “Owning a dog really is quite an extravagance.” Pets’ detrimental impact on the environment... Pajamas Media http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415494/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 22:54:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2415303/posts NASA finally mentions the Maunder Minimum in its discussion of the current prolonged solar minimum, but it STILL does not mention that the Maunder Minimum coincided with the onset of the Little Ice Age, or that the Dalton Minimum in the early 1800’s was also cold, as was the unnamed fin-de-the-1800’s minimum. Thar she blows, the Maunder Minimum of sunspot activity: As it has done for two years now, NASA is predicting that solar cycle 24 will ramp up tomorrow. Should that broken-clock prediction hits its hour, then NASA is also predicting that solar cycle 24 will have the modest... Flopping Aces http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2415303/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 15:12:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415273/posts As President Obama arrives in Copenhagen hoping to seal an elusive deal on climate change, his approval rating on dealing with global warming has crumbled at home and there is broad opposition to spending taxpayer money to encourage developing nations to curtail their energy use, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. .... At the same time, there's growing negativity toward the president's handling of the broader global warming issue. Around the 100-day mark of Obama's presidency, 61 percent approved of the way he was dealing with the issue. Approval slumped to 54 percent in June and to 45... washingtonpost.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415273/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 13:36:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415311/posts UN Under-Secretary-General Ameerah Haq said on Saturday as a global citizen she was disappointed at the outcome of the Copenhagen climate conference that ended without binding deals for helping out the victims of climatic calamities. Ameerah, the first woman from Bangladesh to reach this highest-ranking position in the world body, told reporters in Dhaka that more could have been done and achieved in terms of reaching a legally binding agreement at the global summit on climate change in the Danish capital Copenhagen. “We’re all disappointed… we could have seen and done more for our future generation,” she said, adding that... The Daily Star http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415311/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 15:34:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415285/posts Al Gore strides on stage and cracks his trademark joke about how he used to be the next president of the United States. The fact we all know what we are doing to our planet is largely due to one man. He failed to become US president, but now Al Gore is the world’s unlikeliest eco-warror. Peter Gorrie reports. After more homespun tales delivered in his Virginia drawl, a giant screen glows with depictions of Earth from space, melting glaciers, dessicated farmland, flooded cities and all manner of graphs and charts, accompanied by Gore’s darkly impassioned narration. This is the... The National http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415285/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 14:27:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415280/posts Arctic char is now on the bears' menu at the Polar Bear Habitat and Heritage Village in Cochrane. The recent change was prompted by a university study of the polar bears' adaptability to various diets. Arctic char is part of the bears' natural diet in the wild. Markus Dyke, who lived in Nunavut for 11 years and taught science at the Arctic College in Iqaluit, has been conducting the study for a PhD he's working on through the Department of Biology at Queen's University in Kingston. Dyke said the idea for the study was triggered by environmentalists who suggest global... THE DAILY PRESS http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415280/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 14:15:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415276/posts Conservative bloggers are calling for a boycott of the company. Executives say the series, in which Santa is warned the North Pole could melt before Christmas, was intended to inspire children.St. Louis - First, Chicken Little warned children that the sky was falling. And now Build-a-Bear Workshop has warned children that the North Pole could disappear before Christmas. The Missouri-based company has found itself in hot water, defending an animated series on its website featuring polar bears, penguins and Mrs. Claus, as Santa is warned that global warming is "a serious situation." Conservative bloggers reposted the videos online and called... Los Angeles Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415276/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 13:46:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415266/posts Aside from ideologues, hydrocarbon haters, Gaia worshipers, profiteers and power-grabbing politicians, most of the sentient world now realizes that the hysteria over global warming disasters is based on dubious to fraudulent temperature data, analyses, models, reports and peer reviews. Climate Research Unit emails, HARRY_READ_ME.txt computer memos, and blatant tampering with Australian, Russian, UK and US temperature data make the scandal impossible to ignore or explain away. They certainly helped Copenhagen descend into an expensive, carbon-emitting gabfest, and cause China and India to reject any deal that would force them to curtail their energy generation, economic growth and poverty reduction programs.... Townhall http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415266/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 13:20:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415258/posts WASHINGTON | By brokering a climate deal last week in Copenhagen, President Barack Obama has committed himself to a more daunting task: passing comprehensive climate legislation in the Senate next year. Although many senators — especially key Republicans — have shown little appetite for backing another ambitious bill after the polarizing health care debate, it is clear that enacting legislation to cap the U.S. carbon dioxide output and allow polluters to trade emission permits is essential to delivering on the pledges that Obama made to other world leaders. Kansas City Star http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415258/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 12:57:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415256/posts "Climategate" has been discovered by the News Sentinel - about two weeks after other news organizations. But it responded with poo-poo articles, reporting the "consensus" via quotes from well known proponents of man-caused global warming. Some years ago, maybe 30, I heard a lecture during which was shown a plot of carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere versus the average earth's temperature. There was obviously a strong correlation. But teachers of courses about statistics always caution care in cause-effect conclusions from interesting correlations. More than 60 years ago, my statistics professor told the class that the most perfect natural correlation... Knoxville News Sentinel http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415256/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 12:51:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415250/posts Environmental advocates and lawyers in Washington were wildly enthusiastic over the recent announcement by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson that carbon dioxide is dangerous to the health and welfare of Americans. The timing came just before the global warming conference in Copenhagen. Green groups were heartened because they believe they finally have manufacturers right where they've always wanted them: vulnerable to piecemeal regulation by an activist EPA without deliberation by Congress. Lawyers were rubbing their hands together in anticipation of all the litigation that will come their way as companies fight for their lives to be free of burdensome... Dallas Morning News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415250/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 12:37:21 GMT