There is one way we could save ourselves and that is through the massive burial of charcoal. It would mean farmers turning all their agricultural waste – which contains carbon that the plants have spent the summer sequestering – into non-biodegradable charcoal, and burying it in the soil. Read more here.
Opinion
Modellers Remove Evidence of Cooling and Editor Removes Comment by Climate Sceptic
WITHIN the scientific community it has generally been accepted that as a continent, Antarctica, has been getting colder – or at least not warming. Those who subscribe to the general consensus that climate change is driven by manmade carbon dioxide emissions, and that the world is generally getting warmer, have claimed this is not inconsistent with their greenhouse gas theory or the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) models. They have explained that Antarctica is a general exception to the global trend because of a loss of ozone in the polar stratosphere. [1]
When communicating with the general public, however, some high profile scientists, including from the CSIRO, have been so bold as to falsely claim even the Antarctic is warming. Perhaps because they wanted to avoid appearing inconsistent or having to explain such an annoying exception to the generally accepted global warming trend over the last 100 or so years. [2]
Now the prestigious journal Nature has published an article explaining that the Antarctic has been generally warming and at about the same rate as the rest of the planet. [3] This news made the cover of the latest issue of the journal with a dramatic graphic illustration of the new reconstruction of Antarctic surface temperature trends for 1957–2006.
More Birds in New York is Good News – Sorry about the Airbus
THERE has still been no official confirmation, but it seems likely that the airbus that ditched into the Hudson River last week was brought down by one, two or several Canadian geese.
According to the New York Times: “The cause is still under investigation,” said Stephen Sigmund, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. But he said preliminary reports indicated that Flight 1549 was several miles out from La Guardia Airport, at 3,000 to 4,000 feet, when the pilot radioed that there had been a bird strike.”
Lots of praise has been heaped on the pilot for not losing a single passenger.
There has been some discussion in the mainstream media about the problem of geese getting in the way of aircraft and how populations of many bird species, particularly Canadian geese, have increased dramatically in recent years – but no congratulations for this achievement.
[Read more…] about More Birds in New York is Good News – Sorry about the Airbus
Bob Carter Warns of Likely Global Cooling
THE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that October in the US was marked by 63 record snowfalls and 115 lowest-ever temperatures.
Over the past few years, similar signs of colder than usual weather have been recorded all over the world, causing many people to question the still fashionable, but now long outdated, global warming alarmism. Yet individual weather events or spells, whether warmings or coolings, tell us nothing necessarily about true climate change.
Nonetheless, by coincidence, growing recognition of a threat of climatic cooling is correct, because since the turn of the 21st century all real world, long-term climate indicators have turned downwards. Global atmospheric temperature reached a peak in 1998, has not warmed since 1995 and, has been cooling since 2002. Some people, still under the thrall of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change’s disproved projections of warming, seem surprised by this cooling trend, even to the point of denying it. But why?
[Read more…] about Bob Carter Warns of Likely Global Cooling
To Dump Iron Sulphate in the Southern Ocean, or Not
YOUR concept of nature is almost certainly going to influence whether you support the idea of a German ship dumping 20 tons of iron sulphate over 300 square kilometres of Southern Ocean to provoke a massive algal bloom for carbon sequestration.
Those who subscribe to the idea that earth systems are delicately balanced are likely to be horrified and may want to send off a letter to the German government as suggested by Climate Ark to stop the experiment. The ship is already in the Southern Ocean and ready to dump.
Those, who, like Paleontologist Peter Ward, reject the notion of ‘Gaia’, and subscribe to the ‘The Medea Hypothesis’ that there is no balance of nature are likely to favor geo-engineering solutions including to climate change. [Gaia versus Medea discussed here.]
I tend to fall into a third category, recognising that natural systems are dynamic and also generally fairly resilient. I would not advocate large scale geo-engineering unless the problem was well defined and the benefits clearly articulated.
As regards dumping tons of iron sulphate in the Southern Ocean – if an excess of carbon in the atmosphere really is a problem then it is perhaps justified as part of a mix of potential solutions. But I am not convinced that the elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide are causing a problem.
Australia Lacks Capacity to Meet Carbon Reduction Targets
THE Australian government has committed to the introduction of an emissions trading scheme – officially named the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. I have previously suggested that this scheme may reduce the amount of energy available to every man; woman and child currently living in Australia by up to 35 percent, absent the discovery and implementation of new sources of carbon free energy.
Last Friday the Australian Academy of Technical Sciences and Engineering (AATSE) confirmed my pessimism.
[Read more…] about Australia Lacks Capacity to Meet Carbon Reduction Targets
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.