MUCH AS I AM TEMPTED TO MOVE ON into the riches of the right wing’s take on the grave threat to our right to have an assault weapon in every household, the problem of global warming and its effects continue to dominate my concerns. It is an incredibly crucial and complex problem.
Primary among those concerns is the bizarre denial process that continues to accompany the rapidly growing evidence of warming and its dangers. Warming theory is described as “a great hoax”; “false and not based on any reality”; “a product of the financial rewards for frightening research results.” (As opposed, of course, to the pocket change being tendered by the corporate giants of the fossil fuel industries for reassuring scenarios!) There is the denigration of CO2 as a factor of significance in increasing warming. Accompanying these denigrations is the calming refrain: ’twas ever thus — it gets hot, it gets cold, ice forms and melts and the sun has its moods.
Before going into any specifics, let me review some fundamental realities involved in this “debate.”
First, there is no earth-shaking debate between scientific bodies and leading centers of research on whether there is warming, or about the realities of a critical CO2 problem. One of the sad aspects of the coverage of warming is that the outliers continue to get space far beyond their significance. Allowing for a variety of emphases, minor disagreements and interpretations of specific studies and evidence, every major scientific body in this land and 80 international scientific organizations are in agreement on the basic issue and on the fundamental science that undergirds our present understanding of its realities. Essentially what is being suggested by implication is that all of these are in collusion to falsify reality.
I quote this dramatic assertion by a denialist as one powerful example of the flow of claims with respect to these realities: “To put this in perspective, there is far more carbon dioxide created by volcanoes than all the carbon dioxide produced by factories and cars in the world.”
I excerpt the following from a Nov. 27 piece in Discovery News, “Humans Dwarf Volcanoes for CO2 Emissions,” by Jessica Marshall:
“‘However, these spectacular volcanic explosions that are so stunning on TV last only a few hours,’ noted Terrence Gerlach, a retired volcanologist. ‘They are ephemeral. In contrast, the sources of anthropogenic CO2 (smokestacks, exhaust pipes, etc.) are comparatively unspectacular, commonplace, and familiar, and in addition they are ubiquitous, ceaseless, and relentless. They emit CO2 24/7.’
“While there is uncertainty in the measurements — (volcano) researchers estimate between 0.13 and 0.44 billion metric tons per year, with their best estimates between 0.15 and 0.26 billion tons — even the highest end of the range is dwarfed by anthropogenic emissions of 35 billion metric tons in 2010.
“Gerlach noted that human land-use changes alone, which include deforestation, release 3.5 billion metric tons per year. Cars and light-duty trucks produce 2 billion metric tons; even cement production produces 1.5 billion tons. Any of these by itself is still several times higher than the annual emissions of all of the world’s volcanoes.”
I add another stunning example of the dangers of simplification in this “debate.” Expositor of the comforting truism that sometimes it’s hot and sometimes it’s cold is Professor Syun-Ichi Akasofu, director of the International Arctic Research Center located in the Arctic, (who) keeps getting calls from people around the world asking him, “Is the ice cap melting?” to which he replies, “Yes! As it does EVERY year about the same time!” (Note that Akasofu is a comforting presenter at Heartland Institute’s annual conference on climate change.)
The fellows at Joe’s Pool Hall couldn’t have phrased the subtleties of global climate and the arguments against the silliness of global warming theory any better. Hey, you idiots, it gets warmer in summer and colder in winter! Get a clue!
Unfortunately for the fellows at the pool hall and Professor Akasofu, the scientific bottom line on the future of ice and the Artic is a bit more complicated.
This from “Arctic Sea Ice Levels Hit Record Low, Scientists Say We’re ‘Running Out Of Time,’ Sept. 19, 2012: “The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) released preliminary findings Wednesday suggesting that on Sept. 16, Arctic ice covered just 1.32 million square miles — the lowest extent ever recorded. This minimum is 49 percent below the 1979 average, when satellite records began. As Arctic sea ice levels hit a new record low, note was made that we are ‘really running out of time.’
“‘The loss of summer sea ice has led to unusual warming of the Arctic atmosphere, that in turn impacts weather patterns in the Northern Hemisphere, that can result in persistent extreme weather such as droughts, heat waves and flooding,’ NSIDC scientist Dr. Julienne Stroeve told Greenpeace in a press release.
“What the scientific community understands is that Arctic ice is melting at an accelerated rate — and that humans play a role in these changes.”
A new study has found that Arctic Sea ice melt is creating a warming spiral: “Death Spiral Watch: Experts Warn ‘Near Ice-Free Arctic In Summer’ In A Decade If Volume Trends Continue,” by Joe Romm, Climate Progress, Sept. 5, 2012:
“The sharp drop in Arctic sea ice area has been matched by a harder-to-see — but equally sharp — drop in sea ice thickness. The combined result has been a collapse in total sea ice volume.
“Many experts now say that if recent volume trends continue we will see virtually ice-free conditions sometime in the next ten years. And that may well usher in a permanent change toward extreme, prolonged weather events ‘such as drought, flooding, cold spells and heat waves.’ …
“The latest satellite CryoSat-2 data shows the rate of loss of Arctic sea ice is ‘50% higher than most scenarios outlined by polar scientists and suggests that global warming, triggered by rising greenhouse gas emissions, is beginning to have a major impact on the region,’ as the UK Guardian reported last month.”
The article continues, saying scientists “estimated a loss of 1,120 cubic kilometres per year from 1996 to 2007,” quite close to the recently reported CryoSat-2 measurements. And: “Given the estimated trend and the volume estimate for October-November of 2007 at less than 9,000 km3 … one can project that at this rate it would take only 9 more years or until 2016 ± 3 years to reach a nearly ice-free Arctic Ocean in summer.
“Peter Wadhams, who heads the Polar Ocean Physics Group at the University of Cambridge and who has been measuring Arctic Ocean ice thickness from British Navy submarines, says earlier calculations about Arctic sea ice loss have grossly underestimated how rapidly the ice is disappearing. He believes that the Arctic is likely to become ice-free before 2020 and possibly as early as 2015 or 2016 — decades ahead of projections made just a few years ago.
“Mark Drinkwater, mission scientist for the European Space Agency’s CryoSat satellite and the agency’s senior adviser on polar regions, said he and his colleagues have been taken aback by the swiftness of Arctic sea ice retreat in the last 5 years. ‘If this rate of melting (in 2012) is sustained in 2013, we are staring down the barrel and looking at a summer Arctic which is potentially free of sea ice within this decade,’ Drinkwater said in an email interview. The Cambridge University expert says that the Arctic ice cap is ‘heading for oblivion.’”
What all of the above — and a mountain of scientific data behind it — adds up to is simply this: We don’t have much time to get our planning in order, and if we can’t extract ourselves from the morass of current right-wing mythology and corporate greed concerning this problem, our prospects are slim indeed.
Jerome Page is a Benicia resident.
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I’m going to respond to this report in CAPS. MUCH AS I AM TEMPTED TO MOVE ON into the riches of the right wing’s take on the grave threat to our right to have an assault weapon in every household, (huh?) the problem of global warming and its effects continue to dominate my concerns. It is an incredibly crucial and complex problem (SAYS WHO? JUST FOLLOW THE SCIENTIF STUDY THAT HAS BEEN DONE OVER HUNDREDS OF YEARS, NOT JUST THE FEAR-MONGERS WHO HAVE CREATED THEORIES BASED ON FALSE ASSUMPTIONS OVER THE PAST 25 YEARS)
Primary among those concerns is the bizarre denial process that continues to accompany the rapidly growing evidence (EVIDENCE?) of warming and its dangers. Warming theory is described as “a great hoax” (TRUE); “false and not based on any reality” (TRUE); “a product of the financial rewards for frightening research results (TRUE).” (As opposed, of course, to the pocket change being tendered by the corporate giants of the fossil fuel industries for reassuring scenarios!) (WHY WOULD THEY PUT UP ANY MONEY WHEN THE GOVERNMENT IS OFFERING BILLIONS?) There is the denigration of CO2 as a factor of significance in increasing warming (NO DENIGRATION, IT’S TRUE. CO2 MAKES TAKES UP SO LITTLE SPACE IN THE ATMOSPHERE, IT CANNOT BE A FACTOR!). Accompanying these denigrations is the calming refrain: ’twas ever thus — it gets hot, it gets cold, ice forms and melts and the sun has its moods.(ALL TRUE — KEEP GOING)
Before going into any specifics, let me review some fundamental realities involved in THIS “debate.” (THERE’S NO DEBATE! THE FEAR-MONGERS STARTED MAKING HYPOTHESIS BASED ON UNSCIENTIFIC MODELS IN THE 80s — THEY ARE DEBATING AMONGST THEMSELVES) First, there is no earth-shaking debate between scientific bodies and leading centers of research on whether there is warming (CORRECT – THERE’S NO DEBATE), or about the realities (REALITIES? SAYS WHO?) of a critical CO2 problem. One of the sad aspects of the coverage of warming is that the outliers (I THINK YOU ARE ONE OF THESE “OUTLIERS” JERRY!) continue to get space far beyond their significance. Allowing for a variety of emphases, minor disagreements and interpretations of specific studies and evidence, every major scientific body in this land and 80 international scientific organizations are in agreement on the basic issue and on the fundamental science (THERE’S NO SCIENCE — AGAIN, IT’S THEOREIS BASED ON UNREALISTIC MODELS AND ASSUMPTIONS) that undergirds our present understanding of its realities. Essentially what is being suggested by implication is that all of these are in collusion to falsify reality.(I DON’T THINK THERE IS COLLUSION TO FALSIFY REALITY — THE REALITY IS THAT THESE PEOPLE ARE MAKING ASSUMPTIONS THAT ARE NOT REALISTIC AND THEY ARE TRYING TO SEE IF THERE IS ANY REALITY — BUT THERE IS NOT! YOU KNOW IT AND I KNOW IT!)
I quote this dramatic assertion by a denialist as one powerful example of the flow of claims with respect to these realities: “To put this in perspective, there is far more carbon dioxide created by volcanoes than all the carbon dioxide produced by factories and cars in the world.” (TRUE – PROFESSOR NIR SHAVIV, INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS, UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM STATS, “THERE HAVE BEEN TIMES IN HISTORY WHEN THE EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE HAD 10 TIMES THE AMOUNT OF CO2 AS CURRENTLY EXISTS WITH NO EFFECT”,) I excerpt the following from a Nov. 27 piece in Discovery News, “Humans Dwarf Volcanoes for CO2 Emissions,” by Jessica Marshall:
“‘However, these spectacular volcanic explosions that are so stunning on TV last only a few hours,’ noted Terrence Gerlach, a retired volcanologist. ‘They are ephemeral. In contrast, the sources of anthropogenic CO2 (smokestacks, exhaust pipes, etc.) are comparatively unspectacular, commonplace, and familiar, and in addition they are ubiquitous, ceaseless, and relentless. They emit CO2 24/7.’ (ANOTHER ASSUMPTION TO TRY TO PROVE THEIR THEORY!)
“While there is uncertainty in the measurements — (volcano) researchers estimate between 0.13 and 0.44 billion metric tons per year, with their best estimates between 0.15 and 0.26 billion tons — even the highest end of the range is dwarfed by anthropogenic emissions of 35 billion metric tons in 2010. (A TRULY UNTRUE STATISTIC)
“Gerlach noted that human land-use changes alone, which include deforestation, release 3.5 billion metric tons per year. Cars and light-duty trucks produce 2 billion metric tons; even cement production produces 1.5 billion tons. Any of these by itself is still several times higher than the annual emissions of all of the world’s volcanoes.”
I add another stunning example of the dangers of simplification in this “debate.” Expositor of the comforting truism that sometimes it’s hot and sometimes it’s cold is Professor Syun-Ichi Akasofu, director of the International Arctic Research Center located in the Arctic, (who) keeps getting calls from people around the world asking him, “Is the ice cap melting?” to which he replies, “Yes! As it does EVERY year about the same time!” (Note that Akasofu is a comforting presenter at Heartland Institute’s annual conference on climate change.)
The fellows at Joe’s Pool Hall couldn’t have phrased the subtleties of global climate and the arguments against the silliness of global warming theory any better. Hey, you idiots, it gets warmer in summer and colder in winter! Get a clue!
Unfortunately for the fellows at the pool hall and Professor Akasofu, the scientific bottom line on the future of ice and the Artic is a bit more complicated. (WHY IS ALL OF THIS SO COMPLICATED ALL OF A SUDDEN?)
This from “Arctic Sea Ice Levels Hit Record Low, Scientists Say We’re ‘Running Out Of Time,’ Sept. 19, 2012: “The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) released preliminary findings Wednesday suggesting that on Sept. 16, Arctic ice covered just 1.32 million square miles — the lowest extent ever recorded. This minimum is 49 percent below the 1979 average, when satellite records began. As Arctic sea ice levels hit a new record low, note was made that we are ‘really running out of time.’
“‘The loss of summer sea ice has led to unusual warming of the Arctic atmosphere, that in turn impacts weather patterns in the Northern Hemisphere, that can result in persistent extreme weather such as droughts, heat waves and flooding,’ NSIDC scientist Dr. Julienne Stroeve told Greenpeace in a press release. (NOT TRUE – EXTREME WEATHER IS CAUSED BY LARGE VARIANCES IN TEMPERATURES BETWEEN THE POLES AND THE EQUATOR. IF WE ARE EXPERIENCING GLOBAL WARMING, WE WOULD BE EXPERIENCING LESS EXTREME WEATHER!)
“What the scientific community understands (NOBODY I KNOW BELIEVES THIS HOAX) is that Arctic ice is melting at an accelerated rate — and that humans play a role in these changes.”
A new study has found that Arctic Sea ice melt is creating a warming spiral: “Death Spiral Watch: Experts Warn ‘Near Ice-Free Arctic In Summer’ In A Decade If Volume Trends Continue,” by Joe Romm, Climate Progress, Sept. 5, 2012: (THESE FEAR MONGERS MUST CONTINUOUSLY RAMP UP THEIR SCARE TACTICS WITH GREATER AND GREATER MAGNITUDE TO KEEP THE PUBLIC’S INTEREST AND KEEP THE MONEY FLOWING IN! IT’S ALL A HOAX!)
“The sharp drop in Arctic sea ice area has been matched by a harder-to-see — but equally sharp — drop in sea ice thickness. The combined result has been a collapse in total sea ice volume. (THERE HAVE BEEN TIMES IN HISTORY – PERHAPS STUDY THE “HOLOCENE MAXIMUM” PERIOD OF HISTORY WHEN TEMPERATURES WERE MUCH HIGHER THAN TODAY – IT’S INTERESTING THAT THE POLAR BEARS SURVIVED THIS PERIOD)
“Many experts now say that if recent volume trends continue we will see virtually ice-free conditions sometime in the next ten years. And that may well usher in a permanent change toward extreme, prolonged weather events ‘such as drought, flooding, cold spells and heat waves.’ …
“The latest satellite CryoSat-2 data shows the rate of loss of Arctic sea ice is ‘50% higher than most scenarios outlined by polar scientists and suggests that global warming, triggered by rising greenhouse gas emissions, is beginning to have a major impact on the region,’ as the UK Guardian reported last month.”
The article continues, saying scientists “estimated a loss of 1,120 cubic kilometres per year from 1996 to 2007,” (YOU’RE LOOKING AT 11 YEARS OUT OF A MILLION YEAR + HISTORY – GIVE ME A BREAK) quite close to the recently reported CryoSat-2 measurements. And: “Given the estimated trend and the volume estimate for October-November of 2007 at less than 9,000 km3 … one can project that at this rate it would take only 9 more years or until 2016 ± 3 years to reach a nearly ice-free Arctic Ocean in summer.
“Peter Wadhams, who heads the Polar Ocean Physics Group at the University of Cambridge and who has been measuring Arctic Ocean ice thickness from British Navy submarines, says earlier calculations about Arctic sea ice loss have grossly underestimated how rapidly the ice is disappearing. He believes that the Arctic is likely to become ice-free before 2020 and possibly as early as 2015 or 2016 — decades ahead of projections made just a few years ago. (SO? IT’S HAPPENED BEFORE!)
“Mark Drinkwater, mission scientist for the European Space Agency’s CryoSat satellite and the agency’s senior adviser on polar regions, said he and his colleagues have been taken aback by the swiftness of Arctic sea ice retreat in the last 5 years. ‘If this rate of melting (in 2012) is sustained in 2013, we are staring down the barrel and looking at a summer Arctic which is potentially free of sea ice within this decade,’ Drinkwater said in an email interview. The Cambridge University expert says that the Arctic ice cap is ‘heading for oblivion.’”
What all of the above — and a mountain of scientific data behind it — adds up to is simply this: We don’t have much time to get our planning in order, and if we can’t extract ourselves from the morass of current right-wing mythology and corporate greed concerning this problem, our prospects are slim indeed. (AGAIN, SAYS WHO? THESE ARE FEAR-MONGERS TRYING TO SUBSTANTIATE THE MONEY THEY ARE RECEIVING FROM THE GOVERNMENT! I DON’T BELIEVE ANY OF THIS PREVARICATION AND NEVER WILL. NONE OF IT ADDS UP!)
(THERE HAS BEEN NOTHING PROVEN BY ANYBODY IN RECENT YEARS. JUST A BUNCH OF THEORIES AND/OR HYPOTHESIS BASED ON ASSUMPTIONS AND HOPE AND DREAMS FOR WHICH THE “SCIENTISTS ARE FINALLY GETTING SOME GRANT MONEY FROM THE GOVERNMENT WHO IS DESPERATELY TRYING TO PROVE THAT MAN-MADE CO2 IS CAUSING GLOBAL WARMING. BUT, IT IS NOT SO IT’S WASTED MONEY – TAXPAYER MONEY – THAT NEEDS TO COME TO AN END. THAT’S THE ONLY DANGER HERE! YOU WOULD BE MUCH BETTER OFF SPENDING YOUR TIME AND ENERGY ON “THE GRAVE THREAT TO OUR RIGHT TO HAVE AN ASSAULT WEAPON IN EVERY HOUSEHOLD” AND THE FACT THAT EVERY KILLING THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE IN RECENT YEARS WAS COMMITED BY SOMEBODY ON SOME KIND OF PSYCHSOMATIC DRUG. THAT’S AN ISSUE WORTH STUDYING AND TALKING ABOUT!)
I read these articles and the comments. There is such a clear difference between a smart, well-written article by Mr. Page and the moronic ramblings of Mr. Ernst.
Mr. Page comes off as sane, educated, and interesting, a person with heart and wisdom. Mr. Ernst sounds like a bombastic fool, and, frankly, not a particularly pleasant fellow. I don’t think Mr. Ernst does anything for his cause except underline how out-of-touch with reality he is. He sounds bitter and angry about something, not sure what.
I don’t know these people personally, just saying what comes across in their writings and comments here. Sort of makes me sad to see someone go on and on like Mr. Ernst with all that anger and vitriol. I wonder what is really bugging him. Who knows? I am not a shrink.
I apparently need to restate this NEW POLICY: I will not respond to any comments, on this or any future blog, where the author is name-calling or diverting the issue with sophmorical, condescending, and/or immature remarks and comments! You troglodytes can carry on the conversation without me. If you are not old enough to stay on topic, you are not worth my time! Sorry!
Why do I feel like this threat to leave the conversation is an empty one?
“I will not respond to any comments, on this or any future blog, where the author is name-calling or diverting the issue with sophmorical, condescending, and/or immature remarks and comments!”
Examples of sophomorical(sic) remarks and name-calling that should be avoided:
“You troglodytes”
“Kelm, are you and Aaron twin brothers from Louisiana?”
“You know you’re not supposed to use the computer unless your mommy or daddy is watching! Bad girl! Bad girl!”
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You are too funnny! Do you even know how to read, little girl?”
“Mr. Fake American! Have your mommy or daddy write that down for you so you can remember.”
Ouch. And amen
I side with Jerome Page as always—the denialists are all soaked in their petroleum stock, everyone and are afraid of losing their oily nestegg of money, period…and no one has ever accused politicians of ever being timely or overly intelligent…I side with every science-based organization…George W. Bush took no action on global warming when he could of because his family is steeped in oil–same as the other non-science clods…pb
Excellent comment by DDL on a similar blog:
I went to the link to learn more about some of those on this list, selecting one name at random I hit upon this:
James A. Wanliss is an associate professor of Physics and Computer Science at Presbyterian College. His main areas of research are physics and space weather. Wanliss says that he entered the environmental debate after teaching a course that “examined scientifically several prominent claims of the green movement that proved to be either false or highly exaggerated.”
He contends that “the green movement is not about science, or the environment, but is offered as an alternative to Christian faith, one that people interested in truth need to learn to combat.”
His credentials appear to be impeccable, yet he is on this list in part because of his strong Christian faith, thus making him an enemy of the Anti-Christian bigotry that is rampant on the left. This is a continuation of the intimidation tactics used by the Global Warming Alarmists.
I wonder how many who are not on this list have actually been intimidated into silence? Or more likely, how many have been intimidated into silence by the GWA, who post information such as lists like this which may be used, not by the well meaning members of the GWA crowd, but by those rogue or fringe elements who approve of eco-terrorism as a tactic.
I saw a quote the other day that succinctly sums this situation up:
The Right believes the Left is wrong, but the Left believes the Right is evil.
DDL
January 19, 2013 at 12:07 pm
No, just misguided and not bright enough to figure it out.
Thank you Rick,
Ben Shapiro, one of the heroes that worked with Breitbart has a book on the subject:
Bullies by Ben Shapiro
It is laughable to look at the one star comments section, as their complaints serve to prove Shapiro’s points:
As I was reading the reviews for Bullies, I notice the name of a friend of mine who is a member of a group of people who do nothing but look for conservative, tea party leaning books and trash them in the review sections of Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Here is a more typical one:
It is tantamount to an overweight school yard thug whining when his victims gather the strength to fight back.
I have absolutely no sympathy for Ben Shapiro or those like him and the amount of absurd, self absorbed, myopic rhetoric and simple mindedness that they all generate is as impressive as it is sad.
Now I need my flak jacket for daring to mention Breitbart, the man the left hates with a passion.
Anti-Christian bigotry that is rampant on the left.” Not at all dissimilar from the anti-atheist bigotry rampant on the right.
As an aside, for every Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Michael Shermer or Neil deGrasse Tyson, there is a Kirk Cameron, Malcolm Muggeridge, John Lennox or Ray Comfort.
I no longer take you guys seriously, it always degrades to adolescent slumber party pillow fights, as dysfunctional as a US Congress for the past 50 years—no progress, only jabber…juvenile bile—pb
You have said that before Peter, yet you are back.
I’m an optimist, “out of the mud grows a lotus…” early KSFO Disc Jockey, Don Sherwood
pb
Thanks, Peter!
Intelligent input is great, but tripe is tripe. –pb
http://www.peterbray.org/pedro
When life gives you tripe, make menudo. I just made that up.
Who is Martin Durkin and why does it matter?
Debunking the T.V. documentary: “The Great Global Warming Swindle.”
http://www.desmogblog.com/video-abc-australias-tony-jones-dissects-debunks-martin-durkin
Well Will some might wonder who is Will Gregory and why do his Liberal sources matter.?
That depends, of course, on whether Will’s information is accurate. Tell you what Bob — if you see no remonstration from me in this comment thread, you can assume it is, because we have checked it out. Heck, there might even be a story there.
Facts, Bob. They have a distinctly different appearance than rumors and innuendo. Ed.
beniciaherald
August 30, 2011 at 9:56 pm
Will, that comment would be applicable to the pieces of yours that the paper printed or posted, not to those items posted here.
Will in your case I would follow the advise from Satchel Paige. “Sometimes I sits and thinks and other times I just sit”. Very good advise Will try following it.
Sometimes me thinks Bob Livesay sits too much…pb
I might be more impressed if the Right-Majestic, Herr Professor-Doctor Wanliss were a full professor at MIT, Stanford U., Cal Tech or UCB.
More on…The Great Global Warming Swindle.
http://climatedenial.org/2007/03/14/stuff-and-nonscience/