Angry Weather?

“The most powerful voice is that of Mother Nature, the increasing storms, floods, droughts and other extreme events. We’re paying the cost of carbon every day and we should put a price on carbon in markets and put a price on denial in the political system.” - Al Gore - Bloomberg October 18, 2013

One of the silliest claims put forward by warmanistas is the notion that more human activity - you know, like people exhaling, causes more destructive and frequent storms. Its hard to fathom how any sane person could believe this nonsense. And its even harder to imagine that people who supposedly care about the environment would confuse climate and weather. But I digress.

In my previous post, I linked to a report showing how hurricanes have not increased in frequency or intensity, much to Al Gore's dismay. Now I want to share another inconvenient truth - tornadoes are at an all time low. At the current pace, there may be less than 1000 tornadoes for 2013 - currently 797 through November 2, 2013. Compare that to the 2194 (2008) and 2122 (through November 2, 2008). That SHOULD be good news. Who wants destructive weather, right? I can only imagine how this will be spun as proof that global warming continues.

And the bad news for the warmanistas keeps coming. There has been A 17 year pause in warming that some suggest might continue for another 30 years - as if anyone really knows anything for sure. Either way, the idea that a one or two degree fluctuation in either direction was somehow catastrophic, has always amused me.

Human activity has very little impact on global climate. And he has absolutely nothing to do with making the weather "angry" - whatever the heck that means to the left. But let's play along with the idea that man is somehow responsible for making the weather mad. If that is the case, it would seem we've made it so mad, its locked itself in its room.

The Truth Will Set You Free

The warmanistas cling to their hockey stick charts and climate models as if their very salvation depends on them. With every failed prediction - an ice free Arctic, more dangerous and frequent hurricanes, skyrocketing temperatures, they flail away with excuses as to why the climate does not behave as the climate charlatans predicted. Its almost comical, if it weren't so deadly serious.

The last few weeks there have been numerous setbacks for global warming "believers" both here and abroad. All these stories give me hope that the world is waking up.

Australians voted in large numbers for new leadership primarily as a rejection of the climate tax hysteria. This should lead to a meaningful reduction in the spiraling costs of just about everything down under.

In Europe, the climate scam has been devastating to the region. Germans pay almost 3x per kilowatt hour compared to Americans. Naturally, these asinine policies have led many businesses to move or expand elsewhere. Since Americans have largely resisted the climate taxes, we have attracted businesses because of lower energy costs. This is in spite of the sputtering economy, and the looming threat of Obamacare. This shows how much more of a threat carbon taxes are to an economy as compared to socialized medicine. Neither scheme solves anything. And they both are an egregious attack on individual freedom. However, taxing energy consumption, or CO2 production, gives government permission to literally regulate, forbid, or tax every aspect of human existence. The Global Warming Scam is one of the biggest threats to freedom ever imagined.

In the Fall 2013 edition of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, MIT Professor Richard S. Lindzen, Ph.D. said,

Global climate alarmism has been costly to society, and it has the potential to be vastly more costly. It has also been damaging to science, as scientists adjust both data and even theory to accommodate politically correct positions.

Climategate opened a lot of eyes to the corruption in the scientific community all over the world. The warmanistas are fond of labeling anyone that dares to speak against their belief system as being owned by Big Oil. The irony is that if your sugar daddy is Big Government, you are far more likely to have your science compromised. Its very doubtful that any big progressive government will spend a dime in support of any scientific effort that undermines the state's position. Those carbon taxes guarantee that the last bit of wealth in private hands gets transferred to the governing elites. They are not about to let go of that revenue stream no matter what damage it does to the economy.

In Lindzen's article he presents an image (Figure 1) that shows the problem with Global Warming in a nutshell. Scientists make ambiguous or meaningless statements on climate change. Activists spin these into alarming statements. I would add that the media takes these, along with any weather anomaly, and scares the public unnecessarily. And then politicians do their damage by passing unconstitutional laws and raising taxes in the name of saving the earth. They then provide even more funding to scientists to continue the corrupt cycle.

Lindzen ends the article with a statement I heartily agree with,

Global Warming has become a religion. A surprisingly large number of people seem to have concluded that all that gives meaning to their lives is the belief that they are saving the planet by paying attention to their carbon footprint.

Its sad but true. A whole generation has been raised on environmental propaganda based on some very bad science. The adults of today, were the kids yesterday, who were told daily that Mommy was killing Polar Bears because she drove an SUV. They are suffering under the delusion that somehow, modern life is contributing to the destruction of the planet. The indoctrination is so strong that some see humans as a parasite, sucking the very life out of the planet. Lies like that can only come from the pit of Hell. And the only way they can find some sort of peace is a sacrifice to mother earth. We're just one great leap forward away from progressives launching Carrousel, where those that turn 30 (or others deemed undesirable) are vaporized. Save the planet, right?

As the scam unravels, governments scurry to keep the nightmare alive. The upcoming UN report from the IPCC is already being criticized by governments because it undermines the cause. Truth does not matter to them. All that matters is that government continues confiscating all the wealth possible, while causing unnecessary hardship for the people of the world, especially in developing nations that need energy.

This has gone long, so I will wrap it up with this great video. Few people have really looked at the cost and benefit of fighting global warming. As we have seen in so many political/social wars - on poverty, drugs etc., we rarely win. Instead, we waste trillions in the process, and in the case of poverty, simply turn the proverbial safety net into a hammock. So what is the cost/benefit of a global warming war?

Topher Field shows that it is 50 times more expensive to try and stop global warming than it would be to make changes and adapt to the higher or lower temperatures if it happens. Quite frankly, it is just as likely, based on reduced sunspot activity, that we may be heading into a prolonged cooling phase. But they already tried to sell that in the 70s, and it didn't sound scary enough.

Enjoy!

This Is The Biggest Storm Since...

I pray for all those who have experienced loss during Hurricane Sandy and hope every family can recover quickly. Its never pleasant when a natural disaster occurs. I'm sure the people in New York and New Jersey see about as many hurricanes as I see major ice storms in Dallas, Texas. And its certainly not easy to prepare for something that occurs so infrequently.

Even before landfall, the warmanistas were already staking their claims to Hurricane Sandy as proof that global warming exists - and we must take immediate action to stop it. Sadly, their plans often include laundering taxpayer money through bankrupt "green" companies, which hardly seems like a prudent strategy to combat global warming, or to help a struggling economy.

In times like these, we need a little perspective. Accurate records for Atlantic hurricanes only go back so far for the United States. But there are reports of storms hitting the East Coast all the way back to the 12th Century. There were 3 storms in 1888 that hit New England, and 2 in 1869, 1893, 1954, 1972, and 1985. The further back in time, the less accurate the records. There is no way of knowing how many storms made landfall that went unnoticed, or were not recorded for posterity.

It wasn't that long ago that a certain well known climate charlatan was making movies, receiving a Nobel Prize, and telling the UN that hurricanes were getting more frequent and more dangerous. He was back on camera this week, using his best scary voice to tell us that Hurricane Sandy was, “a disturbing sign of things to come.”

In a very disturbing speech to the UN in 2005, and a noteworthy performance that should have won an Academy Award, Al Gore breathlessly blamed George Bush for everything from 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina, in the latter case, apparently the local government in Democrat-controlled New Orleans gets a pass for their ineptness. The global warming pope himself made the following outrageous predictions.

Now, the scientific community is warning us that the average hurricane will continue to get stronger because of global warming. A scientist at MIT has published a study well before this tragedy showing that since the 1970s, hurricanes in both the Atlantic and the Pacific have increased in duration, and in intensity, by about 50%. The newscasters told us after Hurricane Katrina went over the southern tip of Florida that there was a particular danger for the Gulf Coast of the hurricanes becoming much stronger because it was passing over unusually warm waters in the gulf.

Poppycock. Its almost as if nature likes mocking Al Gore. Every wacky prediction he makes falls short. Since his proclamation of doom, the US has gone 7 years without a major hurricane (Cat 3+) making landfall - blowing past the previous record set between 1900 and 1906. That does not mean that hurricanes cannot, or will not be dangerous. But the assertion that global warming is making them more frequent and/or more dangerous is obviously flawed.

Technology, such as satellites, computers, and aircraft, has made it much easier to spot and track hurricanes and tropical storms in the modern era. Media proliferation has made it much more accessible for everyone to be aware of hurricanes globally. That would help explain any perceived increase in storms in the last 40 years. 2005 was a deadly year for major hurricanes with 7 in the Atlantic. But even without the advantages of modern technology, that number was matched in 1961, and surpassed in 1950 (8). In the preceding centuries, that number may have been eclipsed several times, but we simply have no accurate records to prove this.

Hurricane Sandy, as destructive as it may have been, was just barely a Category 1 storm when it hit the coast. I'm sure architects and engineers never considered the once a decade possibility of a direct hit from a hurricane as they were building New Jersey and New York. Just like New Orleans would probably not be placed below sea level in prime hurricane country if it were being founded today. Hopefully, in both cases, rebuilding will take into consideration future storms.

Hurricanes come, natural disasters occur, and as Solomon says, there is nothing new under the Sun. Speaking of Scripture, in that same speech to the UN, Al Gore invoked God's Word. He quotes Proverbs 29:18 - where there is no vision, the people perish. He cuts the verse short and uses the King James Version. When you look at this same complete verse in other translations, the meaning becomes much more dynamic.

When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful. Proverbs 29:18 NLT

Stay with me while I tie this together. God's Law is simply summed up as - Love your Heavenly Father with all your heart, and love others as yourself. If you love God and others, you do not lie. Nor do you sow fear and deception. Its one thing to promote a belief that mankind is destroying the planet, however wrong and misguided that may be. It takes on a much more sinister nature when you knowingly deceive folks, and then try to profit from it. 

There are many reasons why Americans have rejected the global warming hysteria. Chief among these is that many Americans are Christians who know to reject fear, and those that use it for political purposes. I will never be motivated by fear or deception - both weapons of the enemy.

Quite a few Americans, like myself, have also been on this planet long enough to recognize that not every single weather event is the biggest, worst, coldest, warmest, or longest that has ever been. When we hear claims like these, we recognize them as laughable exaggerations. And when these weather events are politicized to push a "green" agenda, we rightly recognize them as propaganda.

Climate change has happened in the past, and will continue to occur in the future, with or without man. And there are far too many factors beyond man's control that influence the global climate, chief among these is the Sun. It is irresponsible to utilize a weather event, such as Hurricane Sandy, and the suffering of those that endure it, to score cheap political points for a highly controversial belief system. But then again idolatry, placing creation and even man above its Creator, has been around since the beginning of time. Solomon had it right, there is nothing new under the Sun.


Related:
Roger Pielke: Hurricanes and Human Choice 

Hurricane Sandy’s ‘Unprecedented’ Storm Surge

Have The Warmanistas Cried Wolf Too Many Times?

Far too many folks have used fear or a crisis to promote their agenda. If you are led to believe that driving your SUV is killing polar bears, well naturally, you would be inclined to not drive your SUV. And if the "experts" claimed that by implementing some cap & tax scheme, you could thwart the apocalypse, naturally you would be willing to comply, no matter what the cost to the economy or your family.

But what if all those predictions were not just wrong, but downright deceitful? That has been my concern from day one. The outlandish claims of an Arctic without ice, or Florida under water, or Polar Bears disappearing, should have been dismissed immediately by the general public as gross distortions. The idea that creating a trading scheme, taxing energy of all things, would somehow change the GLOBAL climate and grow the economy should be laughable to anyone with a basic understanding of economics. And yet there are still people pushing these same lies and schemes. Makes you wonder why?

With Hollywood, the media and far too many politicians going all-in for the global warming agenda, its nice to see more scientists pushing back. The latest effort is a full length documentary called The Boy Who Cried Warming. You can watch the film in its entirety at the link. It is free and I would recommend turning off the HD option unless you have a super fast connection.

The film is a good exploration of the global warming claims, and the agenda behind some of the lies. It is certainly not a purely scientific presentation. Neither is it agitprop like that laughable Al Gore "Truth" film educators sometimes force students to watch. Even a climate novice or student will get some value from this film.

Some of the issues addressed include:
- What science really is
- The Polar Bear myth
- Historical temperature record and its distortion by global warming believers
- C02's importance to life
- Larger forces (beyond man's control) that influence climate - Sun, Earth's movement, water vapor
- Politicization of science and government bodies like the IPCC
- Devastating consequences of Cap & Trade and other government solutions

Here is a preview. I encourage everyone to watch the entire film and share the link with your friends. You must inoculate yourself against this policy by panic. If you don't, politicians will force solutions on you that steal your freedom, and fix nothing.

Policy By Panic - Global Warming

Did you catch this random act of journalism in Slate discussing global warming's outlandish predictions?

I'm shocked to see the author, Bjørn Lomborg, stray slightly from global warming orthodoxy. Look for Bjørn to be shunned at the next earth worship service.

And while its nice to have some fun with this piece, the author makes a good point about policy by panic. Fear mongering is not an acceptable path to change hearts or minds. Because of all the wild claims made by the left over the years (hole in ozone, DDT, Alar, new ice age, mortgage crisis etc), many like myself are automatically suspicious of any prediction that comes from the Progressive-Democrat-Media complex. When you have folks eager to "never let a crisis go to waste," it is highly probable that they would create one, real or imagined, to implement their agenda.

The man-made global warming crisis gave me great pause when I first heard about it. I remember the outlandish claims in the 70s - that we would have to move to Mexico to avoid freezing to death in the coming ice age. Thankfully, that idiocy died rather quickly. But the myth of man-caused global warming will not end so gracefully. There is just too much money at stake, too many UN agendas to implement, too many 3rd world countries to plunder, and too many reputations at risk for this nonsense to finally die.

Commonsense should tell you that the sheer size of the Earth, a planet that is over 70% water, and with only a small percentage of land inhabited by humans in any appreciable density, would limit mankind from having much, if any influence on the GLOBAL climate. Even a limited scientific knowledge should cause you to consider the Sun, which is beyond man's control, as the most significant driver of any climate change. And even if you focused exclusively on greenhouse gasses, why would you not focus on water vapor, which is by far the largest greenhouse gas, instead of CO2? And of course there is the Earth's historical record, which includes long periods that were both much colder and much warmer than now, and sometimes much higher concentrations of CO2, should make any wild claims of man's influence on global temperatures suspect.

But this blog is not to dispute the why or why not of global warming. Climate change has happened in the past, and will happen again, with or without man's help. This is about the propaganda war waged by the left.

When Al Gore and other warmanistas claimed after Hurricane Katrina that global warming would cause ever increasing numbers of storms like Katrina, with ever increasing destructive power, it was laughable. We are now almost 2500 days (2488) removed from the last Cat 3 or above storm making US landfall. This far surpasses the last record (1900-1906 - 2231 days). But do you hear any "believer" apologizing for their obvious fear mongering? No. They are still pushing this nonsense with ever increasing fervor and even more ridiculous claims.

This is where Bjørn hits the nail on the head. Every incident, climate related or not, seems to get blamed on global warming. BTW - I know the warmanistas have been running away from the global warming term, but as far as I am concerned, they invented and own it, and I will use it as long as free speech is still allowed. The warmanistas use every drought, rain shower, snowstorm, tornado, heat wave, cold snap as absolute proof of global warming, in spite of sometimes overwhelming evidence against such claims. They make ridiculous predictions about more frequent hurricanes or the Arctic sans ice, and are never called out when these predictions are epic failures. If they want anyone to take this issue seriously, the propaganda needs to end.

IF the climate is changing, let REAL scientists do their job figuring it out apart from the politics and agitprop. Let them examine all factors before automatically blaming man. You may just find that the climate is getting warmer no matter what man does. If that is the case, it hardly seems prudent to tax the world into the stone age, leaving the common folks, those not enjoying the Carbon Tax/Cap & Trade windfall, incapable of adapting to their changing environment.