Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Archives for February 11, 2006

Richard Lindzen on Hockey Sticks

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There has been more published in the last week about the hockey stick with summaries of what it all means at Real Climate and Climate Audit.

David J commented yesterday at this blog that,

It would seem the Hockey Stick “debate” is fast going the same way as the MSU “debate”.

I understand David’s comment to mean that more data and analysis is confirming that current warming is ‘unnatural’ and a consequence of global warming from greenhouse gases.

But the following comment from Richard Lindzen (see the second reason), sent as a letter to Benny Peiser, has got me wondering confused:

Dear Benny,

The concern over the hockey stick has always struck me as weird. There are several reasons for my impression:

1. There is no doubt that Europe and the North Atlantic were warmer than they are today for several centuries during the high middle ages. This is more than enough information to tell us that major climate changes can occur without the present level of industrialization — regardless of what happened to the global mean temperature.

2. Indeed, if the global mean temperature did not change while Europe and the North Atlantic underwent very substantial warming, this would imply a major change in the geographic pattern of
temperature. However, a major assumption in the hockey stick is that the patterns remain fixed. One is then left with the paradoxical conclusion that if the hockey results are right, the hockey stick analysis is wrong.

3. The medieval warm period in Europe was a period of high population, vibrant intellectual activity, and an absence of famine and plague. The onset of the little ice age was marked by famine, plague, and much reduced population. This suggests that warmth wasn’t all that bad. At the same time, the Renaissance and the intellectual flowering that followed all occurred before the end of the little ice age, suggesting that human abilities can rise above the problems posed by the environment.

In many ways, the whole story can be regarded as encouraging. Yet we focus on a couple of tenths of a degree in the global mean.

Best wishes,

Dick

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Richard S Lindzen is Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For more information visit http://www-eaps.mit.edu/faculty/lindzen.htm .

Letter republished with permission from Benny Peiser.

Whales Fed to Dogs

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I received a note from marine ecologist Walter Starck this morning. He wrote,

Here’s an interesting news item on whaling. A growing stockpile of unsold whale meat would seem to indicate that the Japanese whaling effort is driven by political rather than commercial considerations. If the situation is really as depicted (always a big “if”) it seriously undermines the whole cultural importance argument.

Walter was refering to a piece in UnderWaterTimes.com that included the comment,

Some 1,035 tons of whale meat hit the market in Japan last year, a 65 percent increase from 1995, the Fisheries Agency says. And sluggish demand means inventories have almost doubled in five years to 2,704 tons in 2004.

And all of this before the most recent expedition to the Antarctic.

The article continues,

But the glut of whale meat hasn’t stopped the harpoon guns. Tokyo plans to kill – under a research program – some 1,070 minke whales in 2006, over 400 more than last year. Japan will also hunt 10 fin whales, and a total of 160 Bryde’s, sei and sperm whales, fisheries official Kenji Masuda said.

The International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling in 1986, approving limited hunts for research purposes a year later. Opponents have called Japan’s hunts merely a way for it to dodge the whaling ban.

The government, which distributes the meat and uses profits to fund research, is working to promote whale meat and secure new distribution channels.

“Even if we capture 2,000 whales a year for 100 years, it’s OK because whale numbers are growing,” the pamphlet says.

Some local governments have begun offering whale meat in school lunches.

Wakayama, a prefecture with a whale-hunting tradition 280 miles southwest of Tokyo, has been aggressive in getting youngsters to eat whale, introducing whale meals at 270 public schools in 2005.

Nutritionists have even developed child-friendly whale dishes, including whale meatballs, hamburgers and whale spaghetti bolognese, said Tetsuji Sawada of Wakayama’s education board.

Chimney Co., which runs the Hana No Mai eateries, acknowledges customers are wary of new whale dishes.

So there is more whale meat from the ‘research efforts’ than the Japanese can collectively stomach.

So, according to BBC News whale meat is being turned into dog food.

The dog food is apparently promoted as “organic” and fished “freshly out of the water”.

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Story updated here: https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/blog/archives/001190.html