Samantha Pierce

So the title of this article is a little sensationalist and, well, alarmist, but it does point to some very interesting research. Bottom line is that reality does not conform to the climate change computer models. We might want to consider attempts to radically alter how we live bases on the assumption that human sources of CO2 are harmful to the global climate. New NASA Data Blow Gaping Hole In Global Warming Alarmism NASA satellite data from the years 2000 through 2011 show the Earth's atmosphere is allowing far more heat to be released into space than alarmist computer models have predicted, reports a new study in the peer-reviewed science journal Remote Sensing. The study indicates far less future global warming will occur than United Nations computer models have predicted, and supports prior studies indicating increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide trap far less heat than alarmists have claimed. Study co-author Dr. Roy Spencer, a principal research scientist at the Univer...

These are just a few things that caught my eye over the last week. If you're inclined to commit murder and don't want to get caught Oklahoma is apparently the place to be. Parents Fight To Find Truth Behind Daughter's Death . Who needs an autopsy when you've got someone who should be a prime suspect telling you that it was suicide? Seriously, when was the last time you heard someone who believed in AGW say that something was NOT a sign/symptom/proof of AGW? Charles Krauthammer: 'If Godzilla Appeared on National Mall Gore Would Say It’s Global Warming' GMO done right. Cassava packs a protein punch with bean genes A DEADLY poison could save the lives of millions of African children, thanks to the discovery that cassava can be duped into turning about half of the cyanide it makes into extra protein. Mystery of the mummy's Chinese travel ban The government-approved story of China's first contact with the West dates back to 200BC when China's...

This, BP Oil Spill: Against Gov. Jindal's Wishes, Crude-Sucking Barges Stopped by Coast Guard: 59 Days Into Oil Crisis, Gulf Coast Governors Say Feds Are Failing Them , is ridiculous and inexcusable. People are starting to notice this stuff, More Incompetence… Crude-Sucking Barges Ordered By Gov. Jindal Shut Down By Feds Bureaucracy Standing In The Way Of Oil Spill Clean Up Efforts

You know, "Escape the draconian rule of the green police by buying our cool green car" doesn't really strike me as good pr for environmentalists or the car. Americans have a bit of a history of starting revolts over stuff like this.

Hilarious commentary (to me anyway) from Tim Blair on the race politics of climategate: Robert James Taylor of the National Black News Journal : Blacks should not join the global warming battle or accept new taxes or restrictions on their lives until the truth about global warming is actually known. I dream of a day when this freedom is also granted to whites. More from the Taylor article: The CRU is the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia near Norwich, England. The CRU is populated by British and American scientists who more than any other group in the world has been responsible for the computer models and measurements upon which the bulk of global warming predictions are based. Indeed, President Obama was in Copenhagen this week pushing an anti-global warming agenda based largely on CRU data. There is just one problem: Global warming has actually stopped. Yes, the planet’s mean temperature did rise for at least 30 consecutive years but somewhere around the ...

I'm starting to feel like one of those gawkers who turn out to see how bad the three car pile up is. Anyway, Pajamas Media has put together a climategate database for you to peruse and comment on at your leisure. Here are a couple of interesting reads, Global warming consensus: garbage in, garbage out and Climategate and Scientific Journal Chicanery Reading the comments section of just about any article on global warming climate change policy is particularly amusing these days since the articles almost universally ignore the unfolding climategate scandal but it keeps cropping up in the comments sections of these articles. This story amusingly tries to make the argument that CRU scientists and their contacts trying to keep papers that have differing conclusions from their own from being published was actually an attempt to protect the public from "junk" science, Stolen E-Mails Raise Questions On Climate Research . In this case "junk" science being anything tha...

In another chapter of the Scientists behaving Badly saga the rumblings of lawsuits and congressional probes over the information in leaked emails and files from CRU have begun (via Instapundit). Competitive Enterprise Institute Sues NASA in Wake of Climategate Scandal Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute filed three Notices of Intent to File Suit against NASA and its Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), for those bodies’ refusal — for nearly three years — to provide documents requested under the Freedom of Information Act. The information sought is directly relevant to the exploding “Climategate” scandal revealing document destruction, coordinated efforts in the U.S. and UK to avoid complying with both countries’ freedom of information laws, and apparent and widespread intent to defraud at the highest levels of international climate science bodies. Numerous informed commenters had alleged such behavior for years, all of which appears to be affirmed by leaked emails, compu...

I like Scientists Behaving Badly much better than Climategate. We don't really need another X-gate. Although this "gate" is more like the original than some of the other "gates" that have been christened as such. Anyway, here's a round up of facts and opinion on the revelations in the hacked emails and data from University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit (CRU). Most of these I picked up from Instapundit . Climate cuttings 33 , summaries of some of what's in those hacked CRU files. Climategate, Coal Mine Deaths, Air Pollution and Coals assault on human health . I'm not sure I would agree with everything this blogger concludes about coal but this is certainly true, "The over reaching on the science and over aggressive tactics are now blowing up in face of the pro-global warming side." This from the comments section regarding claims about climate conditions in the earth's past also rings true, "How can you trust that these con...

Apparently some place called University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit got hacked. Their emails and data on global warming climate change are all over the internet. There was initial caution that the data and emails might have been fakes but they have since been confirmed to be the real deal. Why should anyone care about information hacked from the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit? Well only because they've apparently been massaging their data to get the desired results with regard to global warming climate change. The desired result being that the planet is warming and that the warming is the fault of mankind. So much for the integrity of the scientific process. There's a post full of updates here , the most amusing of which so far is, "UPDATE VI. The BBC declines to cover this story, preferring a piece on mammoth dung ." Reactions from our part of the globe can be found here . Both posts provide access to the leaked information for you to ev...

I've been saying for weeks that the last time it rained this much the Irish starved, a reference to the potato famine of the 1800s that lead to the migration of a large segment of the Irish of the time to American shores. So I felt pretty vindicated when I heard this story on the radio, Growers Worry Blight Could Wipe Out Tomato Crops . Potatoes and tomatoes are in the same family and vulnerable to some of the same diseases in this case potato or late blight . We aren't likely to have a famine though thanks to the wide availability of fungicides and the lack of a meddling government making matters worse. Your produce may cost you a bit more though. Although with food prices they way they have been you might not notice the blight driven price increase among the other reasons the cost of your food is going up.

Obama's green guru calls for white roofs : President Obama's energy adviser has suggested all the world's roofs should be painted white as part of efforts to slow global warming. I'm hoping that this was a throw away idea in a brainstorming session 'cause if he was serious... Just what percentage of the planet is covered by roofs, roads, and sidewalks? Perhaps my sense of proportion is a bit off but I always thought not much. How much of that is already shaded by trees? One of the nice things about dark road surfaces and roof tops in the higher latitudes is that they get warmed up and thawed out faster in the winter. How are we supposed to compensate for that lost heat during the winter?

Back after an unplanned break. So... Nancy Pelosi taking pot shots at the CIA? Really? I know that they regularly take one for the team but the CIA knows how to fight dirty (if they don't we're in bigger trouble than I thought). My money is on the CIA in this fight. Drought, Politics Trouble Farmers In California . Why is it that when there is a dispute over water farmers (the ones responsible for growing the food you stuff your face with every day) get shafted? Why turn around and complain about how much food costs if you're going to do stuff that ruins crops or keeps farmers from planting enough to meet your demands? Trying to portray as "greedy" farmers who want enough water to keep their crops alive long enough to harvest them suggests a complete disconnect from what the lives of farmers are actually like. Why aren't the people who live in an arid climate but want to act like they live in a rain forest not the greedy ones? In the long run cheap food is mo...

People are seriously hyperventilating over NASA Administrator Michael Griffin's comment about global warming. Their chances of convincing me of anything they believe about global warming pretty much hits bottom when they freak out like this over someone not agreeing whole heartedly with them. These reactions aren't about science. They're about politics and they're personal. Scientists Surprised by NASA Chief's Climate Comments NASA's Griffin on Global Warming: Don't Worry, Be Happy NASA Administrator Not Sure Global Warming A Problem NASA Chief Questions Whether Global Warming Is a Problem NASA Administrator Griffin “not sure” global warming is a problem or long-term concern Hansen shoots back on NASA head Griffin’s “incredibly ignorant and arrogant statement” NASA Administrator: Global Warming Is Not A ‘Problem’ NASA Chief Sparks Global Warming Fury Scientists Denounce NASA's Michael Griffin For Saying Earth's Warming May Not Be A Concern In the end...

(Cross posted at Say Anything: Reader Blogs .) Newt Gingrich was on the Dianne Rehm show this morning. I listened while I was on the road from Utica to Syracuse. I thought the interview was going well up until I lost the station. I didn't get back until the show was almost over. I caught the tail end of Dianne Rehm saying how upset she was that Gingrich had cut short the interview and a rather nasty comment from a caller about Gingrich leaving his first wife on her death bed for another woman. My first thought was, who the heck is screening their calls and why did they let something like that through? My second thought was, what happened to make them/him cut the interview short? Turns out that after all his years in Washington Mr. Gingrich and his crew don't seem to know that Dianne Rehm's show format is two one hour interviews, A Possible First: Newt Gingrich Zinged for Not Talking Enough . This isn't the first time that I've heard someone bail in the middle of one...

(Cross posted at Say Anything: Reader Blogs .) Never saw this one coming did you? Below are two examples of just what "green" ethanol fuel is going to cost us. Ethanol and the Price for Milk New York dairy farmers are seeing higher prices for raw milk. The finding comes from the New York State Dairy Foods, a trade group that represents dairy product producers. As WRVO's Chris Ulanowski finds out, the demand for corn to produce ethanol, is driving up consumer prices for dairy products. Ethanol byproduct can hurt pork quality: U.S. experts Demand for distillers grain as a feed alternative has picked up following the rise in corn prices to 10-year highs this year, which has been fueled by the ethanol industry's voracious appetite for the grain. Dry distillers' grains with solubles, or DDGS, can be used as livestock feed and has been touted as a potentially inexpensive option for producers who are being priced out of the corn market by companies that use corn to make ...

Al Gore's testifying in Washington DC today about global warming. I can't decide which he makes me think of more, Chicken Little declaring that the sky is falling or a herd of lemmings heading for a cliff. I caught a snippet of his baby with a fever analogy as I was doing some housework. "The planet has a fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don’t say, 'well, I read a science fiction novel that tells me it’s not a problem,' " Gore said. "If the crib’s on fire, you don’t speculate that the baby is flame retardant. You take action. Which prompted me to think, if I think my baby's got a fever I'm not going to take him to the dude who says, "I'm not a doctor but I play one on TV." I'm certainly not going to follow the advice of someone who wants to amputate when soap and water or a cold compress will do. How's that for over doing an analogy? Al Gore Urges Congre...

The following illustrates one of the problems that I have with the environmentalist movement in its current incarnation. Organic cod methods not 'horrific', says RSPCA Farmers deny cod isn't "organic" (The initial stories containing the accusations about organic cod farming, linked to here , have disappeared.) Situation: Organic cod is raised in pens set in the ocean in the Shetlands. The fish farmers use lights to simulate near arctic summer light conditions and stave off maturation and subsequent aggressive behaviour of the cod. Problem 1: Artificial light simulating natural conditions is not considered "organic" by some. Problem 2: Without the light the cod mature before reaching optimum market size. They also become aggressive when mature which would lead to charges of animal cruelty against the fish farmers. Option 1: Ditch the lights, keep the "organic" label, harvest the fish younger and smaller and accept the reduction in profits or...

I had an enjoyable evening watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and so missed the Oscars. But in honour of Al Gore winning an Oscar for An Inconvenient Truth I give you: A complete list of things caused by global warming (This is a favourite of mine.) Got a problem? Blame global warming! (An article written by the compiler of the above list.)

Below is part of a response made by "Aaron" to my global warming post that was quoted on another blog : Global warming is a fact, an undeniable fact, as recognized by every reputable scientist on the planet. I suggest you all watch Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, and see if you can refute just one of the facts presented their, just one. But I imagine you're afraid to even watch, because it might make you face the reality that every other thinking person on the planet is being forced to face. Or try reading the thousands of peer-reviewed scientific papers which all come to the same conclusion that the disasters warming of the planet is the direct result of human folly and greed. The entirety of this comment can be found here . Since it has been slow blogging for me this week, and because I think people really need to consider this issue very carefully, I'll post my response: Aaron the dispute is over anthropogenic global warming. Do you know what that means? It...

My one anthropogenic global warming question that encompasses many of the problems that I have with the issue. What is the evidence that current climate trends are any different from any of the other times that the global climate has oscillated between "hot" and "cold"? I find Tim Blair's take on this new development rather endearing " YEEEEE-HAAAAA! We’re all gonna die, according to a global headline consensus." He got links to several stories about the UN's new consensus that human beings are the cause of global warming. Frankly, I find the "consensus" to be a rather egotistical assessment of the influence of human beings on the natural world. Yeah we can muck things up when we don't pay attention to what we're doing. However, this rock we live on was spinning in space and doing its thing long before we crawled out of the ooze or walked out of Eden (depending on which creation story you choose to believe). Here's a link to ...