Category Archives: CO2

Is Carbon Your Enemy?

Posted on March 9, 2013 | Leave a comment

I am on a Pointman kick right now, but I can assure you that keeping up with what Pointman has to say is worth your time and his posting ”Sleeping with the Enemy”  is both informative and funny.  He notes that environmentalist believe “carbon” is their enemy even though they really have little understanding who or what that enemy really is.  Pointman gets things going by saying this:
“So, let’s put that other hat on and learn about their elemental enemy. The thing is, I’ve found the alarmists actually don’t do science but like all good scenario explorations, we’ll lose that little detail as part of simplifying the exercise. Let’s get down and boogie up real close to her sexy satanic majesty, Ms. Kickass Carbon. She has a certain ballsy attitude I kinda like.”
By the way, he pays tribute to the Aussies in his audience by naming one of the elements “Vegemitium”.
 Read this enjoyable posting by clicking here.
cbdakota

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Posted in AGW, Al Gore, Climate Alarmism, CO2, CO2 positive feedback, Energy Development, Environment, fossil fuels, Global Temperatures, IPCC, Renewable Energy

Collapsing Consensus–Next Targets Are The Professional Societies

Posted on February 25, 2013 | 1 comment

In my previous posting I wondered when the “consensus” scientists would begin to openly call into question the theory that CO2 is the primary forcing agent driving global warming. The longer the “pause” in global warming continues, (the IPCC head, Dr. Pachuri said the pause is now at 17 years), the harder it must be to steadfastly hold to the CO2 theory. Skeptics largely agree that CO2 is a forcing agent but have maintained that natural forces were probably the dominate force. In my opinion, the Sun is most likely the major forcing agent even though the exact mechanism has yet to be proven.

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Posted in AGW, Climate Alarmism, Climate Models, CO2, CO2 positive feedback, Global Temperatures, Government Regulations, Government Revenues, Solar Activity, sun and climate

Where Are The “Consensus” Scientists Hiding?

Posted on February 24, 2013 | Leave a comment

Dr Rajendra Pachauri admits that there has been no global warming for 17 years.  Dr Pachauri is, if you don’t know, the leader of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a branch of the UN.  The IPCC has issued reports on climate change which conclude—- burning of fossil fuels releases CO2 causing a “dramatic” increase in global temperatures.  The IPCC documents have had widespread influence. For example, the US EPA successfully used these reports as the technical justification to declare CO2 a hazardous pollutant that needed to be regulated. The IPCC’s belief is that natural forces are inconsequential.
For the last 17 years, CO2 emissions resulting from fossil fuel burning have increased.  The measurement of atmospheric CO2 has climbed steadily over these 17 years and yet the global temperature has not risen.  Proving that the natural forces indeed are consequential.

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Posted in Al Gore, cap and trade, CO2, Domestic Energy, Environment, EPA, fossil fuels, Global Temperatures, Government Regulations, Government Revenues, IPCC, Renewable Energy, Solar Cycle 24, Solar Cycle 25

Dr Evans: “Climate Change in 12 Minutes-The Skeptic’s Case”

Posted on February 22, 2013 | 2 comments

Dr David Evans has made a youtube video titled “Climate Change in 12 Minutes-The Skeptic’s Case”.  The focus of this video is the “positive feedback” claimed by the greens which they claim amplifies the effect of CO2.   This positive feedback is used in all the green’s computer models.  These computer outputs are incompatible with the actual data. Air and ocean temperatures as well has the tropical hotspots do not agree with computer output. In fact, a negative feedback appears to exist that reduces, rather than amplify, the effect of CO2.
See Evan’s video by clicking here.
cbdakota

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Posted in AGW, Climate Models, CO2, CO2 positive feedback, Global Temperatures, IPCC, Ocean heat content

Extreme Weather A Non-Starter When Facts Are Examined

Posted on February 20, 2013 | 1 comment

If you are alarmed by the forecasts of dreadful things that are going to happen because of global warming, there is good news. The good news is that since the beginning of the alarmist’s 25+ year campaign to frighten you, nearly all their forecasts have failed to come true. The media would do their readers and themselves a real service if they actually reviewed and published the global warming alarmist’s forecasts versus actual outcomes for temperature, hurricanes, sea level, etc..  But they don’t, so you get a new batch of dire forecasts from the same people who have yet to demonstrate they can make a forecast that ultimately matches reality.

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Posted in AGW, Climate Alarmism, Climate Models, CO2, Global Temperatures, Hurricanes, Storms/hurricanes, Tornados

Greenland’s Icesheet Melts In 12,000 Years

Posted on February 8, 2013 | 2 comments

The lead from a posting by Chris Mooney is “Humans Have Already Set in Motion 69 Feet of Sea Level Rise”.  See Mother Jones, 30 January 2013.  Mooney uses information provided by Ohio State University glaciologist Jason Box that claims that Greenland’s glaciers are melting at an alarming rate. The chart from that posting is shown below: (click on charts to improve clarity)
 greenland-glaciers
Chart from Mother Jones
You can read the figures telling that during the period 2000 through 2012 the rate of melt was 131.5 km²/year. Box says this is due to the increase of both CO2 and CH4 accumulation in the atmosphere.  Looking at the slope of the chart, one’s initial reaction is WOW, this must be serious.
However, Willis Eschenbach responses to the Mooney posting with “Chris Mooney’s Chartsmanship in the Service of Alarmism” on the WUWT website.  Eschenbach first determines the amount of Greenland ice:
“As usual, there are various estimates. The Physics Hypertextbook is great for this kind of thing because it gives a variety of estimates from various authors. They range from a low end of 1.7 million square kilometres to a high of 2.2 million square km. I’ll take an average of 1.9 million square km.”  
Then Eschenbach says:
“By the year 2100, if it continues losing ice at the rate Jason Box claims above, -131.5 km2 per year, the total ice area of Greenland will have gone from 1.90 million square km all the way down to … well, to two decimals of accuracy, by the year 2100 the ice will be down to 1.90 million square kilometres …”  
He adds that:
Assuming all that were true, at the current rate of -131.5 km2 of ice loss per year, Greenland will be ice-free fairly soon, in only … well … 1,900,000 km2 ice area / 131.5 km2 per year annual loss ≈ 14,500 years from now … “  
Eschenbach’s chart, below, shows how that would look on a real chart that is not trying give people the wrong impression:
effect-of-massive-ice-loss-on-greenland1
Chart from WUWT
I looked at it from a slightly different direction using the figures from Wikipedia.  Wiki says that the total volume of ice on Greenland is 683,751 miles³. Further they say that the melt rate in 2006 was 57  miles³/year and that the improved and reprocessed data between 2003 and 2008 was about 47  miles³/year.   Using the 57  miles³/year to be conservative would result in an ice free Greenland in 683,751 ÷ 57 = 11,996 years. Not the same as Eschenbach’s number but of no practical difference.  Do I think I know when Greenland’s ice sheet will melt if ever?  No, but neither do the “experts” that try to fool you into believing it will be in the near future.
Wiki also adds that if all of the Greenland ice were to melt it would raise the sea level 23.6 feet.   The 69 feet of Mooney’s posting requires both the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets to completely melt.
So what do we make of this? If Mooney went so far as to calculate the amount of sea level rise due to total melting of the Antarctic he must have realized how long this would take at the current melt rates.  As an alarmist, he probably wants you to believe that the melt rate will escalate exponentially but I would guess he doesn’t have data to support that. So it is just more alarmist stuff that we have become (unfortunately) used to seeing.
I reviewed the Mother Jones article. I also looked at the comments.  At one point, a commenter reports Eschenbach’s posting.  Then the comments turned to bashing Eschenbach,  one calling him garbage.  Not once did anyone offer to refute Eschenbach numbers.  Eschenbach’s may not have a conferred degree in science or engineering but his mental abilities are noteworthy.  If you were going to the moon, and had only the choices of Eschenbach, or those leading alarmist lights Al Gore and/or Bill McKibben to do the math that would chart your way,  who would you pick?
cbdakota

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Posted in AGW, Climate Alarmism, CO2, Environment, Global Temperatures, Greenland, Ice Melt

China’s Coal Consumption Nearly Equals The Rest Of The World

Posted on January 30, 2013 | Leave a comment

Chinese usage of coal is about equal to the usage by the rest of the world.  Two blogs, one for the present and one for the future make it clear that North America, Europe and Australia could stop using fossil fuels and it would not make much difference in the grand scheme of things.
The Daily Beast posted “China’s Coal Usage is Blowing the Kyoto Protocol to Shreds”.   Remember the Kyoto protocol?   The chart below shows that China current coal consumption nearly equals the consumption of the rest of the world.
chinacoalconsumption1359572543820.cached
Tallbloke’s Talkshop shows a chart of  projected world coal-fired capacity based upon data from the World Resources Institute.  China and India will be installing  77% of the projected 1,401,334 MW of  new coal-fired capacity.  Click here to see the graphic of projected world electrical production from coal.
cbdakota

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Posted in AGW, China, CO2, Coal, Electricity from Coal, Environment, fossil fuels, Kyoto

Scientists Baffled By The Stop In Global Warming

Posted on January 26, 2013 | 1 comment

P.Gosselin of No Tricks Zone provides climate news from Germany in English. He has done this and incorporates his excellent insights, when he reviews Der Spiegel’s, (a major German newpaper) article titled “Klimawandel: Forscher rätseln über Stillstand bei Erderwärmung” (Trans…Climate change: scientists baffled by the stop in global warming).
Gosselin says that:
 “The big question now circulating through the stunned European media, governments and activist organisations is how could the warming stop have happened? Moreover, how do we now explain it to the public?”
My equally as stunned reaction is why aren’t the American media, etc also stunned? I guess perhaps it is because the US is the mother load of grant money.

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Posted in AGW, CO2, Drought, glaciers, Global Temperatures, Hurricanes, IPCC, Media Bias, Sea Ice, Sea Level, Storms/hurricanes

The Warmers Are Punishing The Poor

Posted on January 15, 2013 | Leave a comment

A recent posting on WUWT by Willis Eschenbach titled “We Have Met The 1%, and He Is Us” illustrates that the  people that get hurt the most by energy rationing are the poor.   Eschenbach’s experiences as a sailor got him to many parts of the globe where living is a daily struggle and the high cost of energy, if it is even available, doom those people to suffering and short lifespans. I recommend that you read his posting which can be accessed by clicking here.
I recently ran across a story that helps illustrate how the zeal of the warmers is punishing the poor. The West Bengal government wants to provide electricity to 1076 Sundarbans villages. The government believes there will be a 10 to 20 fold increase in electricity demand between 2010 and 2020. However the environmental groups oppose this action because the grid will supply coal based electricity.

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Posted in AGW, Alternative Energy, Climate Models, CO2, fossil fuels, Global Temperatures, Renewable Energy, solar cells

Does Al Gore Think Glenn Beck Is More To Be Feared Than An Oil Nation?

Posted on January 9, 2013 | 2 comments

Al Gore’s syndicate is selling the Current TV Network to Al Jazeera, the Qatar-owned news network, for something like $500 million. Glenn Beck had earlier tried to buy Current TV but he was turned down with the stated reason being that Current TV wanted to sell to someone that shared their views and Beck didn’t.  However it seems that Qatar does have the same views.  This is difficult to get your mind around.   Gore has made a fortune bashing anyone associated with crude oil and the products from crude like gasoline (petrol) thus fossil fuel-financed Al Jazeera would seem an unlikely candidate.  One can only conclude that if Gore has to decide between money and principal, money wins.  Gore is reported to get $100 million from this sale.
A little background.  Current TV was founded in 2005.  Current TV has been a ratings disaster.  It had access to some 40 million households via contracts with companies like Time-Warner Cable but its programing was so dismal that it has been said that total daily views were in the 50,000 range.  Time-Waner Cable cancelled their association with Current TV following the announcement of the sale to Al Jazeera.
We know how Gore feels about fossil fuels, but how does Al Jazeera match up with Gore’s liberal views that would not let him sell to conservative Glenn Beck.  USA Today reports that some people are skeptical about this being a good thing. The following are excepts from their report which can be read in its entirety by clicking here.
Media watchers in the Middle East say the Arabic news network Al Jazeera is well known for promoting radical Islamist causes overseas, but it remains to be seen how it will present the news on its newly purchased U.S. cable channel.
Itamar Marcus, director of Palestinian Media Watch, an Israeli research institute that studies Palestinian society and the Arab world through their media and educational materials, said there is “a big difference” between Al Jazeera’s Arabic programming and its international English-language broadcasts.
“The Arab broadcasts very often promote a very radical Islamist approach,” said Marcus.
“What’s brilliant,” Marcus said, is the way the company “binds this in with all the latest technology and even occasionally interviews with differing opinions, including Israeli leaders.” This creates a “perception” of balanced reporting, Marcus said, “but in fact, the overall underlying agenda is very radical.”
Daoud Kuttab, the Jordan-based director of the Community Media Network, a Middle East media group, said Al Jazeera’s Arabic-language programming “is very different” from its English counterpart.
 Al Jazeera was begun in 1996 and owned by the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa, an Arab monarch who has offered support to Hamas, the U.S.-designated terrorist group in Gaza, and presides over an authoritarian regime.
Freedom House, a U.S.-based group that monitors repression worldwide, has given Qatar its lowest rating of “Not Free.” Homosexuality is a crime in Qatar, journalists are sometimes jailed and non-Muslims are discriminated against.
The news media watchdog Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America or CAMERA, which frequently takes U.S. outlets to task over errors in reporting on Israel, says the network has been assailed for bias even in the Middle East.
In 2004, interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi temporarily shut down Al Jazeera’s broadcast in Iraq because he said it was inciting violence and racial hatred. In 2008, former ABC-TV Nightline reporter Dave Marash, brought on to anchor Al Jazeera English for American audiences, quit after two years and said the anti-American bias at the station was “reflexive.”
The agreement by Al Jazeera cable television network to buy Current TV is not necessarily a plus for U.S. cable operators or their audiences,” said Andrea Levin, president and executive director of CAMERA. Al Jazeera Arabic “is not the Middle East equivalent of CNN, as it is often but mistakenly described,” Levin said.
CAMERA says one of the network’s most popular programs is Shariah and Life, hosted by Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a former “spiritual guide” of the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Qaradawi has called for conversion of Europe and North America to Islam and a Muslim-led genocide of Israel and the Jews, Levin said.
Al Gore is an opportunist.  His stardom in the green movement came about from the movie, “An Inconvenient Truth” despite the fact that it is full of half truths and deceptions.  He has recently said he made a mistake backing the ethanol fuel initiative.  When I heard this, I thought that perhaps he was finally getting it.  But in view of this sale, I have to wonder if he was taken off the payroll by the ethanol producers and he got back at them by saying it was wrong to mandate ethanol into gasoline.
cbdakota

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Posted in AGW, Al Gore, Al Jazeera, CO2, Domestic Energy, fossil fuels, Fracking/Shale Gas, Media Bias