The Week That Was: 2022-01-22 (January 22, 2022)
Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)
The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week: “When a great genius appears in the world you may know him by this sign; that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.”― Jonathan Swift
Number of the Week: 4,996,000 b/d
THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Scope: TWTW will continue reviewing significant efforts over the last year or so. Steve McIntyre exposed the shoddy nature of the proxy data used to claim that temperatures for the last two thousand years have been roughly stable, with the recent increase unusual. In a post on McIntyre’s website, Donald Rapp goes into the specific deficiencies of the proxy data, which was featured in the UN Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) Summary for Policymakers (SPM) of the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6, 2021). The lack of rigor in the SPM illustrates the politicized nature of the IPCC’s science.
Also reviewed will be the presentation by Tom Sheahen describing the significance of the work by William van Wijngaarden and William Happer on the extent to which the five major greenhouse gases influence temperatures in today’s atmosphere. Howard Hayden extends the work of van Wijngaarden and Happer to show that the procedures used by the IPCC (the methodology) are unlikely to reveal the impact of increasing greenhouse gases on the globe’s temperatures.
After making bold promises that the UK will significantly reduce the use of fossil fuels, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is being called upon to show how such a reduction will not have a major negative impact on the economy and how wind power can be affordable and reliable. US President Biden is also receiving such calls as his administration tries to use administrative measures to make the use of fossil fuels extremely expensive, to the detriment of the US public.
Despite the administration’s efforts to cripple the oil and natural gas industries, Texas appears to be leading the way out of the government policy (COVID) induced recession through the development of oil and natural gas.
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Manufacturing Evidence to Order: For several years Steve McIntyre has warned readers of Climate Audit that an effort has been underway to produce spotty marine data over the past two thousand years and declare it compelling. As stated in the September 11 TWTW:
McIntyre traced that the assertions that temperatures have been stable up to the industrial revolution come from a set of studies by an international paleoclimatology group based in Bern, Switzerland, known as PAGES 2k (PAst Global ChangES with 2k referring to the past two thousand years). The data itself are maintained by NOAA in Boulder. The most devastating criticism is the deliberate omission of high-resolution, well-established proxy studies of alkenone deposits (produced by marine algae). These deposits include those in limestone beds and date back millions of years. McIntyre writes:
“But most of all, given that the 60-30S latband [latitude band] is almost entirely (~96%) ocean, it seems bizarre that PAGES 2019 did not use any ocean core proxies, especially since there are physical formulas for estimating SST [Sea Surface Temperatures] from alkenone or Mg/Ca measurements. Any conversion of tree ring widths to temperature in deg C is the result of ad hoc statistical fitting, not a universal formula. Alkenone values have been measured all over the modern ocean and nicely fit known ocean temperatures. In addition, alkenone values for ocean cores going back to deeper time (even to the Miocene) give a consistent and reproducible narrative. So, there’s a lot to like about them as a candidate for a “good” proxy.
“While there are numerous high-resolution (10-year resolution) alkenone and Mg/Ca measurements in the North Atlantic with values through the last millennium and up to the present, to my knowledge, there were not any such series as of PAGES 2013 or PAGES 2017. (In my opinion, IPCC AR5 [2013] ought to have noted this and suggested that this deficiency be remedied.)
“PAGES 2017 included three ocean core proxy series in the 30-60S, all from offshore Chile. Their resolutions ranged from 24 to 83 years. There are some thus far undiscussed puzzles in the PAGES 2017 version of these series – as, in each case, modern values available in the underlying archive series were deleted. In each case, unsurprisingly, the effect of the deletion was to hide a decline. I will discuss this series below.
In the series of posts on his website, McIntyre extends the coverage of the deficiencies in the PAGES2k data to cover marine data from 60° South Latitude to 30° North Latitude. This is about 68% earth’s surface (not separating oceans from land). McIntyre finds no 2000-year period with roughly stable temperatures from the beginning of the Christian era to the beginning of the industrial era. The deficiencies in these data prompted Donald Rapp, author of Assessing Climate Change: Temperatures, Solar Radiation and Heat Balance (in its third edition) to post a comment on McIntyre’s website on November 1 discussing a theory of the Climategate hack and the problems with proxy data used by the IPCC:
I think the arguments presented are credible – there was a simple hack most likely based on a simple entry. But from my point of view, I don’t care if the world’s worst villains were responsible for the hack, nor am I concerned with the degree of sophistication used to get into these secret files. What does matter is that as of 2009, it is clear that the climate science tribe was strongly biased in favor of alarmism and built their arguments around dubious data and worse manipulation of the data, complete with cherry picking some and hiding others, while at the same time using their influence to squelch alternative views and punish those not in the tribe. It became clear that the whole science of proxies for past climate was rife with fake news. Any proxy requires a standardization period when the model can be compared to data. Then, extrapolation to previous eras requires justification by showing that other variables were comparable during the extrapolated period to those during the standardization period. I have read dozens of published papers that utilize proxies. Very few if any show the comparison during the standardization period and/or the basis for justifying extrapolation. I came to the reluctant conclusion that almost all the proxy data is highly suspect. SM [Steve McIntyre] penetrated far more deeply than I did into the proxies used by MBH [Michael Mann, Raymond Bradley, & Malcolm Hughes] and demonstrated the fallacies in both the proxies themselves as well as the methods of processing data. It seems unimaginable that after all the demonstrations by SM over a decade and more, they are still putting forth their un-science and Mann still is a highly respected leader in the climate field. The climate gate releases demonstrated not so much the details (they were revealed by SM) as much as the mindset of these rascals. Altogether, the events of 2009 cast a very long shadow on the periodic UN reports that came out subsequently. Can you believe anything that the climate establishment publicizes? [Boldface added]
Without question, everyone must be wary of using proxy data promoted by the IPCC. It is as likely to be solid science as manufactured wood (wood particles glued together and covered with a veneer) is solid wood. See the September TWTWs and link under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Greenhouse Gas Warming: As discussed in previous TWTWs, In 2020 W. A. van Wijngaarden and W. Happer submitted a paper on the “Dependence of Earth’s Thermal Radiation on Five Most Abundant Greenhouse Gases” to the journal Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics. The paper has been ignored.
Those physicists are experts on Atomic, Molecular, and Optical physics (AMO) and spectroscopy, the study of the interaction of electromagnetic radiation and matter (including atoms and molecules). Spectroscopy is applicable to many fields of physics, chemistry, and biology. Chemist John Tyndall started using it in 1859 to study radiative heat transfer from the Earth to find why the Earth was warm enough to support life. Tyndall coined the term “greenhouse gases”, the dominant one being water vapor. Tyndall realized that the greenhouse effect is critical for human existence, without it the land masses would be far too cold every night for plant life to grow. (Also, without carbon dioxide no plant life would exist.)
The van Wijngaarden and Happer paper relies on a comprehensive set of observations and calculations known as HITRAN, an acronym for high-resolution transmission molecular absorption, compiled under Air Force contract by the Atomic and Molecular Physics Division, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. It is a compilation of spectroscopic parameters (defining characteristics) that can be used to predict and simulate the transmission and emission of light (electromagnetic energy) in the atmosphere.
Using these data, which apply to cloudless skies, van Wijngaarden and Happer calculate the influence that increasing water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, nitrous oxide, and methane have on temperatures. The observations and calculations confirm major conclusions by Tyndall and decades of laboratory experiments. Water vapor is the dominant greenhouse gas, but it is not increasing significantly with a warming planet. Further, the influence of additional carbon dioxide diminishes greatly with concentrations above one hundred parts per million in volume (ppm), which is far less than that which naturally occurs. Overall, carbon dioxide provides roughly twenty to twenty-five percent of the total greenhouse effect but doubling the concentration would only increase the total greenhouse effect by a little over 2 percent. And given the existing influence of water vapor, the influences of the other gases on global temperatures are insignificant.
The November 13 TWTW discussed that at the Heartland Conference, physicist Tom Sheahen reported why the paper was an outstanding example of using the scientific method to get the physics right. The authors calculated the cumulative radiation leaving the earth, calculated what is delayed in the atmosphere, the greenhouse effect, and found that that the remainder matched satellite measurements of radiation leaving the atmosphere (going into space). Further, no one has done such thorough calculations before and showed they matched observations.
Sheahen emphasized that the agreement of calculations with observations is the key factor which certifies that their computational model is correct. That’s the proper use of the scientific method. Van Wijngaarden & Happer calculated the intensity of electromagnetic radiation (infrared radiation) leaving the atmosphere above the Sahara desert (low humidity); the Mediterranean (normal humidity) representative of the temperate regions of the earth; and wintertime Antarctica. Antarctica is remarkable since the relatively warm greenhouse gases in the troposphere, [mostly CO2, O3 and H2O] radiate more to space than the thermal radiation from the cold ice surface would through a transparent atmosphere. One can add that this is an example of the importance of convection transporting heat from the tropics to the polar regions where it is lost to space. [The surface temperature used in the calculations is 190 K (minus 83 C, minus 118 F)].
Sheahen underlined that agreement between theory and experiment (and observations) is THE HALLMARK of good science. The method used by van Wijngaarden and Happer meets that criterion. Therefore, it can be trusted to make predictions about hypothetical states where the concentrations of the various gases are changed.
The model of van Wijngaarden and Happer, validated by physical evidence, was used to forecast the effects of increasing greenhouse gases on escaping radiation, which in turn affects temperatures. At current concentrations, increasing water vapor and carbon dioxide have a tiny effect on temperatures; the term is “saturated.” The effects of increasing the other greenhouse gases are virtually imperceptible.
Consequently, their method is far superior to that used in the global climate models featured in IPCC reports and its followers. Those models begin with different (and highly questionable) initial assumptions, and greatly exaggerate atmospheric temperature increases compared with actual observations.
In their paper, “Methane and Climate” discussed in the November 6 TWTW, van Wijngaarden and Happer conclude: The net forcing increase from CH4, and CO2 is about 0.05 watts per meter squared per year.
“Other things being equal, this will cause a temperature increase of about 0.012 C [per] year. Proposals to place harsh restrictions on methane emissions because of warming fears are not justified by facts.”
It is important to remember that these calculations are based on “clear skies,” no clouds. If and when a solid theory on cloud formations is developed, then the calculated influence of greenhouse gases on temperatures should be lower. Clouds reflect significant sunlight, preventing it from reaching the surface, cooling the surface. See link under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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The Whole Globe, Atmosphere Included: In his presentation at the Heartland Conference, and in a subsequent paper on the SEPP website, physicist Howard Hayden shows that for 30 years the IPCC and its followers ignored the long-established Stefan-Boltzmann Law which is critical for understanding the radiation emitted from the surface of the earth.
Discussed in the November 13 TWTW, Hayden shows that the IPCC claims the average temperature increase from a doubling of CO2 will be 3 ºC. Using the Stefan-Boltzmann law, which the IPCC now recognizes but apparently does not understand, this would require an increase surface radiation of 16.5 W/m2. Yet the IPCC continues to discuss “radiative forcing” as if it will be significant. Using the model and calculations advanced by van Wijngaarden and Happer, which have been tested and validated by physical evidence, Hayden shows IPCC’s “’radiative forcing’ due to CO2 doubling of 3.7 W/m2 – is a mere 2.3% nudge with a dramatic name.” That is, the “radiative forcing” of CO2 is negligible compared to the total greenhouse effect of over 150 W/m2.
Hayden also explains why the procedures (methodology) used by the IPCC and its followers are unlikely to result in an accurate understanding of the greenhouse effect. What is important to determine a warming or cooling of the globe is the energy released to space, which can be measured from the top of the atmosphere, not at the surface. The infrared energy can be measured using instruments on satellites under NASA’s Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) program, which have been operating since 1999 and show no dramatic change in infrared radiation going to space,
Without an increase in absorbed sunlight (hence, outgoing IR), the increased IR from the surface must be matched exactly by an increase in “radiative forcing.” With a supposed 3ºC rise in surface temperature, there must be an increase of 16.5 W/m2 from the surface supposedly caused by 3.7 W/m2 due to CO2 doubling. IPCC has never considered this contradiction, let alone provided an explanation. Hayden constructs derives a simple formula from elementary physics which should be a constraint on any and all climate model projections. of increased warming from a doubling of CO2. The direct increase in the greenhouse effect is 2.3%, a temperature increase far less than glacial to interglacial warming. For example, the glacial-to-interglacial warming of 10ºC caused the surface to radiate more than 50 W/m2, yet the “radiative forcing” due to the increase in CO2 concentration was certainly less than 3.7 W/m2. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy and Hayden’s paper at http://www.sepp.org/science_papers/Climate%20Comments.pdf
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Another Assessment Report: Boris Johnson’s government released the Third Climate Change Risk Assessment required under the UK’s Climate Change Act of 2008 and prepared by the Climate Change Committee (CCC). Paul Homewood sums up its value: “I think the CCC have been watching too many disaster movies!” and “The whole report is just another attempt to scare the children and persuade people to accept the high costs of Net Zero.”
Further, the net balancing costs [cost of balancing the electricity load for erratic wind and solar power] in the UK continue to skyrocket. These will continue to increase as additional intermittent generation is brought in. Homewood states, “Net balancing costs were £506m in 2015. The system pressures mentioned above have pushed the net cost in 2020 to £1.3Bn, 67% higher than 2019 (£794m).”
Further, according to the BBC the Johnson government “is developing a £15bn plus ‘Cost Deferral Mechanism’ to smooth the expected rise of energy bills over a period of years, with ‘some supporters of the PM arguing he will use this Cost Deferral Scheme, to relaunch his premiership.’”
Net Zero Watch states: ‘Mr Johnson’s political gamble is bad news for everyone. Rather than address the fundamental problem with UK energy supply, which has been distorted and damaged by vast subsidies to intermittent green generators (£10 billion a year at present), the government seems prepared to bail out energy companies and force banks to lend them billions.”
We have here another subsidy pit. Green subsidies require ever more green subsidies to bail out those who took the initial green subsidies. “The Tony Blair (former PM) Institute for Global Change” claims that high energy (electricity) prices could have been avoided by building more wind turbines earlier.
Now with Net Zero Watch, Professor Gordon Hughes, School of Economics, University of Edinburgh, who has long studied wind power economics and differentiated between rhetoric and reality responded:
“The ‘Tony Blair Institute’ and ‘Carbon Brief’ authors appear to live in an alternative universe of speculative numbers. We have plenty of actual evidence about the cost of onshore wind in exactly the period under discussion. It was (and still is) extremely expensive. To have built more of it would have made the current situation even more painful for consumers.”
See links under Defending the Orthodoxy and Energy Issues – Non-US
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The Alternative Universe: The entire Biden Administration appears to be in an alternative universe of speculative numbers. It continues to clamp down on oil and natural gas production in the US and promote wind and solar which are not affordable and reliable. The cost of providing necessary back-up is severe and greatly underestimated. “The BPA (Bonneville Power Authority) Balancing Authority Total Wind and Solar (Generation and Basepoint), Near-Real-Time” for this week illustrates this problem.
After days of bouncing at zero, on Jan 17 wind power began to increase to about 50% of capacity (about 2900 MW under the BPA) in late morning on the 18th, then fell back to zero by the end of the day where it stayed until Jan 20 when it increased to almost 90% of capacity about noon where it stayed for a few hours before falling down to near zero on Jan 22. It has stayed there since. This erratic power is balanced (backed-up) by the nation’s largest hydroelectric system. The system cannot handle any more erratic wind. Yet, the Biden Administration is bragging about building more wind and solar, and issued an executive order requiring the government, including the Department of Defense to go Net Zero. This order can greatly damage the US military and the US grid.
See links under Change in US Administrations, Energy Issues – US, Washington’s Control of Energy, and https://transmission.bpa.gov/Business/Operations/Wind/twndbspt.aspx
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Texas Responds? Despite the administration’s opposition to the oil and natural gas industry, a group called Texans for Natural Gas issued a report on the plentiful quantities of natural gas in Texas:
“An abundance of natural gas – made possible by the Shale Revolution that began in Texas’ Barnett Shale nearly two decades ago – has enabled the United States to become one of the world’s largest exporters of the resource in only a few short years. Global demand for natural gas continues to grow as the world seeks to increase energy access and reduce emissions, and the bottom line is that Texas is poised to help meet the world’s energy needs.
“The United States is currently the third largest exporter of liquefied natural gas and is forecast to surpass Qatar and Australia to become the top exporter by 2023. The growth of LNG has occurred as the international market for natural gas has grown, giving rise to the use of natural gas in its liquefied form for efficient transportation.”
For more on this remarkable shift in the natural gas industry see links under Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
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Number of the Week: 4,996,000 b/d. The US Energy Information Administration reported that in January 2022, it expected that the Permian Basin alone (West Texas and Eastern New Mexico) will produce 4,966,000 barrels of crude oil a day. According to World Population Review, in 2021 US oil production was 12,108,000 b/d; Russia was 10,835,000 b/d; Saudi Arabia (member of OPEC) was 9,580,000 b/d; Iraq (member of OPEC) was 4,620,000 b/d, Canada was 4,129,000 b/d, China was 3,823,000 b/d, UAE (member of OPEC) was 3,068,000 b/d, Kuwait (member of OPEC) was 2,652,000 b/d. Except for Saudi Arabia, the Permian Basin is producing more oil than individual countries that are member of OPEC.
This gives a basis for understanding the enormous size of the oil and gas industry in the US, which the Biden Administration is trying to cripple while promoting unreliable and expensive wind and solar which cannot survive without subsidies. No wonder the Russian Deputy PM Alexander Novak and top OPEC+ negotiator could not believe the Biden Administration when it approached “hat in hand” requesting OPEC+ increase oil production!
See links under Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past? and https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/oil-production-by-country
Challenging the Orthodoxy — NIPCC
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science
Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2013
Summary: https://www.heartland.org/_template-assets/documents/CCR/CCR-II/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts
Idso, Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2014
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/climate-change-reconsidered-ii-biological-impacts/
Summary: https://www.heartland.org/media-library/pdfs/CCR-IIb/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Fossil Fuels
By Multiple Authors, Bezdek, Idso, Legates, and Singer eds., Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, April 2019
http://store.heartland.org/shop/ccr-ii-fossil-fuels/
Download with no charge:
Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming
The NIPCC Report on the Scientific Consensus
By Craig D. Idso, Robert M. Carter, and S. Fred Singer, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), Nov 23, 2015
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/
Download with no charge:
https://www.heartland.org/policy-documents/why-scientists-disagree-about-global-warming
Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate
S. Fred Singer, Editor, NIPCC, 2008
http://www.sepp.org/publications/nipcc_final.pdf
Global Sea-Level Rise: An Evaluation of the Data
By Craig D. Idso, David Legates, and S. Fred Singer, Heartland Policy Brief, May 20, 2019
Getting It Right
Scientifically, “success” means “agreement with measurement.” Because van Wijngaarten & Happer did so, their method of calculation can be used to make predictions about alternate GHG conditions.
By Tom Sheahen, 14th International Conference on Climate Change, Oct 16, 2021
Follow the Science: The IPCC’s Backdoor Science Agenda
By Howard Hayden, 14th International Conference on Climate Change, Oct 16, 2021
A Constraint Equation for Climate
By Howard Hayden, SEPP Website, 2021
http://www.sepp.org/science_papers/Climate%20Constraint%20Equation.pdf
A Theory of the Hack [Climategate 2009]
By Stephen McIntyre, Climate Audit, Nov 1, 2021
Global warming has saved 500,000 lives in England and Wales in the last 20 years
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 17, 2022
[SEPP Comment: From “Climate-related mortality and hospital admissions, England and Wales; 2001 to 2020,” Office for National Statistics.]
When The Administrative State Slips Its Constitutional Bonds
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, Jan 20, 2022
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2022-1-20-when-the-administrative-state-slips-its-bonds
“Today there are hundreds of thousands of these ‘experts’ in the bureaucracy. To a person, they appear to believe that the most pressing issue of our era is saving the world from U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide. How do they know that? Obviously, they know it because they are the ‘experts.’”
[SEPP Comment: Exposing the “Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases” for what it is – a group of Washington “experts” out to ban carbon dioxide who do not understand the greenhouse effect and the importance of carbon dioxide for existence of life on this planet.]
So about that stable climate
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 19, 2022
Link to article: What’s the hottest Earth’s ever been?
By Michon Scott and Rebecca Lindsey, Climate.gov., Sep 7, 2021
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-qa/whats-hottest-earths-ever-been?fbclid=IwAR2cDXUf6jyEOnk4lAwo48rXIr5TXCyA6ZT-KTdoxiQzjFgePoT3VcTps4s
The ESG [Environmental Social And Governance] Movement Is Anti-Energy, Anti-Development, Anti-America
ESG poses as a moral and financially savvy movement. In reality it is an immoral and financially ruinous movement that is destroying the free world’s ability to produce low-cost, reliable energy.
By Alex Epstein, His Blog, Jan 6, 2022
https://alexepstein.substack.com/p/the-esg-movement-is-anti-energy-anti
UK’s Third Climate Change Risk Assessment
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 18, 2022
Link to report: UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2022
Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 56 of the Climate Change Act 2008
By Staff, HMG, Jan 17, 2022
What’s the hottest Earth has been “lately”?
By Michon Scott, Climate.gov., Sep 7, 2021
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-qa/what%E2%80%99s-hottest-earth-has-been-%E2%80%9Clately%E2%80%9D
[SEPP Comment: Features a hockey-stick with no standardization period demonstrating that two different measurement techniques are both measuring temperature changes simultaneously with equal sensitivity. No range of uncertainty of surface-air thermometer measurements is given.]
Defending the Orthodoxy – Bandwagon Science
Dimming Sun’s rays should be off-limits, say experts
By Staff, Phys.org, Jan 17, 2022
https://phys.org/news/2022-01-dimming-sun-rays-off-limits-experts.html
How the Refrigerator Became an Agent of Climate Catastrophe
The evolution of cooling technology helps to explain why supposed solutions to global warming have only made the situation worse.
By David Owen, The New Yorker, Jan 15, 2022
https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-a-warming-planet/how-the-refrigerator-became-an-agent-of-climate-catastrophe
[SEPP Comment: Would the author prefer meat preserved the old fashion way – smoked and salted – and winters without fresh fruits and vegetables? What about the need to refrigerate child’s medicines in tropical countries?]
Questioning the Orthodoxy
Maori Science Beats Woke Myths
By Jennifer Marohasy, Her Blog, Jan 21, 2022
The Curse of Scientism’s Dominant Paradigm
By Christopher Carr, Quadrant, Jan 22, 2022
Fallen Icon, Book Review
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 20, 2022
Book Review: FALLEN ICON by Susan J. Crockford
Book Review by Kip Hansen, WUWT, Jan 18, 2022
This year in climate disaster
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 19, 2022
Thriving Tigers
Video, CO2 Coalition, Jan 19, 2022
After Paris!
Yes it’s real
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 19, 2022
“In the Financial Post, Henry Geraedts writes that ‘what actually happened’ at the UN’s COP26 Glasgow Climate Change confab last November was extremely significant. ‘Net Zero’s magical thinking met unyielding global energy realities and it lost, leaving the Paris Accord’s climate ambitions withering on the vine.’”
The dangerous Executive Order no one is talking about
Last month, President Biden issued a “net zero” Executive Order that threatens the very existence of our nation. And yet he has received very little pushback.
By Alex Epstein, His Blog, Jan 21, 2022
https://alexepstein.substack.com/p/the-dangerous-executive-order-no
[SEPP Comment: No doubt it will be interesting to see how well M1A2 Abrams tanks run on wind and solar power.]
Biden administration unveils plan for addressing wildfires
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, Jan 18, 2022
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/590233-biden-administration-unveils-plan-for-addressing-wildfires
“Through the initiative, the administration said it will use intentional ‘prescribed’ fires to help maintain forest health and invest in helping communities adapt to fires. It will also include investments in addressing post-fire risks, recovery and reforestation.”
[SEPP Comment: Will the “greens” support this method abandoned about 30 years ago?]
How Biden torched the Trump recovery
By Liz Peek, The Hill, Jan 20, 2022
https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/590451-how-biden-torched-the-trump-recovery
Problems in the Orthodoxy
European governments scramble to manage fuel price spikes amid energy crunch
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 17, 2022
China Coal Output Hits New Record
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 20, 2022
Seeking a Common Ground
Linking Extreme Cold and Snow to Global Warming: An Extreme Climate Conundrum?
By Madhav Khadekar, Frontier Center, Jan 19, 2022 [H/t Eduard Harinck]
“Overall, it is not clear that the world’s temperature is, in fact, warming or cooling. So far, scientists are speculating on whether or not the global temperature will change in a consistent way over the next decade or two. No one really knows.”
Science, Policy, and Evidence
What The Climate Scare And Pandemic Fearmongering Have In Common
By I & I Editorial Board, Jan 7, 2022
“ESG” = Extreme Shortages Guaranteed!
By Ronald Stein, CFACT, Jan 17, 2022
https://www.cfact.org/2022/01/17/esg-extreme-shortages-guaranteed/
Environmental regulations can sometimes do more harm than good
By Rainer Zitelmann, Cornwall Alliance, Jan 14, 2022
Measurement Issues — Surface
Day/Night temperature spread fails to confirm IPCC prediction
By David Mason-Jones, WUWT, Jan 22, 2022
The Bureau of Meteorology finds Australia is still getting colder a century later
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Jan 22, 2022
Japan’s Own Data Show No Warming For Tokyo…But NASA Tampers, Changes Trend To Warming!
By P Gosselin, Charts by Kirye, Text by Pierre, No Tricks Zone, Jan 19, 2022
Creating Records By Hiding The Past
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Jan 20, 2022
https://realclimatescience.com/2022/01/creating-records-by-hiding-the-past/
Video on Australia temperatures.
Text https://realclimatescience.com/2022/01/creating-records-by-erasing-the-past/
1920 or 2020? Adelaide Australia Edition
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 19, 2022
Measurement Issues — Atmosphere
Global Temperature Report
By Staff, Earth System Science Center, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, December 2021
https://www.nsstc.uah.edu/climate/
Map: https://www.nsstc.uah.edu/climate/2021/december2021/202112_Map.png
Map: Jan 1979 to Dec 2021 Trend: https://www.nsstc.uah.edu/climate/2021/december2021/2021_Trend_Map.png
Graph: Base Period 1991-2020: https://www.nsstc.uah.edu/climate/2021/december2021/202112_Bar.png
[SEPP Comment: No general warming trend over Antarctica in 43 years.]
NOAA National Centers for Environmental information, Climate at a Glance: Statewide Time Series, published January 2022,
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/
“Satellite data have been adjusted by the Global Hydrology and Climate Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). An independent analysis is also performed by Remote Sensing Systems (RSS) and a third analysis has been performed by Dr. Qiang Fu of the University of Washington (UW) (Fu et al. 2004) to remove the influence of the stratosphere on the mid-troposphere value. Global averages from radiosonde data are available from 1958 to present, while satellite measurements began in 1979.”
[SEPP Comment: Yet NOAA and NCAR modelers ignore these data. The NCEI ignores the lower troposphere, where the greenhouse effect is concentrated.]
The over-under on clouds and climate sensitivity
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 19, 2022
Compensation Between Cloud Feedback and Aerosol-Cloud Interaction in CMIP6 Models
By Chenggong Wang, et al, Geophysical Research Letters, Jan 15, 2021
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020GL091024
Flying with the clouds
By Staff Writers, Beijing, China (SPX), Jan 19, 2022
https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Flying_with_the_clouds_999.html
Link to paper; Microphysical characteristics of precipitating cumulus cloud based on airborne Ka-band cloud radar and droplet measurements
By Lei Wei, et al. Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters, Nov 21, 2021
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674283421001136?via%3Dihub
Al Gore: Emissions reductions hinge on AI measurements from space
By Sharon Udasin, The Hill, Jan 20, 2022
https://thehill.com/policy/equilibrium-sustainability/590663-al-gore-emissions-reductions-hinge-on-ai-measurements-from
“’What’s so unique about the space resource is we can see and measure and identify things from space that are extremely difficult to measure at ground level,’ Gore said on Tuesday.”
[SEPP Comment: Yet, Gore ignores temperature measurements from space.]
Changing Weather
2021 had the fewest global hurricanes in the satellite era
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 17, 2022
Winter Will not Loosen Its grip Anytime Soon in the Eastern US
By Paul Dorian, Via WUWT, Jan 17, 2022
This Week In 1929 – Deadly Tornadoes In The US And Canada
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Jan 21, 2022
https://realclimatescience.com/2022/01/this-week-in-1929-deadly-tornadoes-in-the-us-and-canada/
[SEPP Comment: So much for winter tornadoes being caused by greenhouse gas warming.]
Changing Seas
Not King Canute
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 19, 2022
Climate crisis drives Mediterranean coral populations to collapse
By Staff Writers, Barcelona, Spain (SPX), Jan 20, 2022
https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Climate_crisis_drives_Mediterranean_coral_populations_to_collapse_999.html
Population collapse of habitat-forming species in the Mediterranean: a long-term study of gorgonian populations affected by recurrent marine heatwaves
By D. Gómez-Gras, et al. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Dec 22, 2021
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2021.2384
From the abstract: “Therefore, our results underpin the great risk that recurrent MHWs [marine heatwaves] pose for the long-term integrity and functioning of these emblematic temperate reefs.”
Increase in marine heat waves threatens coastal habitats
By Staff Writers, Gloucester Point VA (SPX), Jan 19, 2022
https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Increase_in_marine_heat_waves_threatens_coastal_habitats_999.html
Link to paper: Marine Heatwaves in the Chesapeake Bay
By Piero L. F. Mazzini and Cassia Pianca, Frontiers in Marine Science, Jan 7, 2022
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.750265/full
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
Changes in the Greenland Ice Sheet volume lag climate changes, such that today’s climate could still be affecting its size in thousands of years’ time
Press Release, PLOS One, Jan 19, 2022 [H/t WUWT]
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/939912
Link to paper: Impact of paleoclimate on present and future evolution of the Greenland Ice Sheet
Hu Yang, et al. PLOS One, Jan 20, 2022
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0259816
From Abstract: “We propose that the GrIS [Greenland Ice Sheet] was not in equilibrium throughout the entire Holocene and that the slow response to Holocene climate needs to be represented in ice sheet simulations in order to predict ice mass loss, and therefore sea level rise, accurately.”
To Shrink or not to Shrink, That is the Question
By Roger Roots, WUWT, Jan 20, 2022
Changing Earth
The Tongan eruption sent shockwaves around the world
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Jan 18, 2022
“It’s interesting watching air pressure waves travel across Japan and the USA. Ken Stewart found the compression- decompression wave hit the east coast of Australia at about 5:16 Qld time and took 3 hours and 24 minutes roughly to get to Shark Bay, an average speed of about 1,160 kph. The decompression was about half an hour after the first peak and can be seen (still) in weather station pressure data.”
The Tonga Volcano Affects the Weather and Water of the Pacific Northwest
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, Jan 15, 2022
https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-tonga-volcano-affects-weather-and.html
Researchers say Earth’s core may be cooling ‘more rapidly than expected’
By Mychael Schnell, The Hill, Jan 19, 2022
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/590454-researchers-say-earths-core-may-be-cooling-more-rapidly-than
Link to paper: Radiative thermal conductivity of single-crystal bridgmanite at the core-mantle boundary with implications for thermal evolution of the Earth
By Motohiko Murakami, et al. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Jan 15, 2022
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X21005859
Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine
What’s Wrong With USDA’s ‘Bioengineered’ Label? NBC Botches The Story
By Cameron English, ACSH, Jan14, 2022
https://www.acsh.org/news/2022/01/14/whats-wrong-usdas-bioengineered-label-nbc-botches-story-16062
Lowering Standards
Global agency sows fear with misinformation
By Gregory Wrightstone and Kip Hansen, CO2 Coalition, Jan 17, 2022
Link to report: WMO Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water Extremes (1970–2019) (WMO-No. 1267)
By Staff, World Meteorological Organization (WMO), 2021
https://library.wmo.int/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=21930#.YexV5P7MJyG
UK MET Climate Forecast: Armed Criminals Roaming Feudal Britain
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Jan 17, 2022
Link to article: The Met Office warns of armed militias roaming a UK ravaged by climate change in doomsday report (but maybe they should get this week’s weather right first!)
By Glenn Owen, Daily Mail, UK, Jan 15, 2022
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10406521/Met-Office-predicts-collapse-society-following-climate-disaster.html
The Government-funded UK Climate Resilience Progamme issued the report
Researchers considered what would happen in the event of climate change
The report predicts the collapse of law and order in the event of catastrophe
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
Study: Global Warming End of Snow Threatens Winter Olympics
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Jan 18, 2022
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
Nearly half of GDP in cities at risk of disruption from nature loss
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, Jan 17, 2022
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/590023-nearly-half-of-gdp-in-cities-at-risk-of-disruption-from-nature-loss
Link to report: BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming cities’ relationship with nature
By Staff, World Economic Forum, Jan 17, 2022
https://www.weforum.org/reports/biodivercities-by-2030-transforming-cities-relationship-with-nature
SSE [Renewables] Chief Talks With Forked-Tongue!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 20, 2022
“Meanwhile Greater Gabbard [Offshore Wind] is subsidised via ROCs to the tune of £100/MWh, which they receive on top of the income from sales of electricity. With a wholesale price of £200.MWh, SSE are getting an obscene £300/MWh for every unit of electricity they sell.
“Funny how Mr Phillips-Davies forgot to mention these inconvenient facts!”
SCMP: China to go 70% Renewable in Three Years
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Jam 17, 2022
“Climate change: Renewable energy to meet over 70 per cent of China’s additional power needs in next three years, says IEA”
[SEPP Comment: The IEA has lost it!]
World risks more years of high energy prices, emissions: IEA
By AFP Staff Writers, Paris (AFP), Jan 14, 2022
https://www.energy-daily.com/reports/World_risks_more_years_of_high_energy_prices_emissions_IEA_999.html
“‘In the absence of faster structural change in the sector, rising demand over the next three years could result in additional market volatility and continued high emissions,’ the IEA said.
“IEA executive director Fatih Birol said emissions from electricity must fall by 55 percent by 2030 if the world is to meet a target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“‘But in the absence of major policy action from governments, those emissions are set to remain around the same level for the next three years,’ Birol said in a statement.
“‘Not only does this highlight how far off track we currently are from a pathway to net zero emissions by 2050, but it also underscores the massive changes needed for the electricity sector to fulfil its critical role in decarbonising the broader energy system.’
“Birol also warned that high electricity prices ‘have been causing hardship for many households and businesses around the world and risk becoming a driver of social and political tensions.’”
Attenborough fibbed about hundreds of dead walrus because he wanted what the WEF wants
By Susan Crockford, Polar Bear Science, Jan 20, 2022
False starving polar bear meme from 2019 making social media rounds with Greenland added
By Susan Crockford, Polar Bear Science, Jan 17, 2022
Wrong Again, Atlantic, High Lumber Prices Are Not Being Caused by ‘Climate Change’
By Linnea Lueken, Climate Realism, Jan 19, 2022 [H/t WUWT]
Communicating Better to the Public – Go Personal.
Cooking The Weather
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Jan 20, 2022
https://realclimatescience.com/2022/01/cooking-the-weather-2/
[SEPP Comment; Video on ex EPA bureaucrats attacking those who question them fantasies.]
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda on Children
BOOK REVIEW: ‘Miseducation: How Climate Change is Taught in America’
Failing to convince adults of a climate crisis, the sky-is-falling tale is targeting school kids
By Anthony Sadar, The Washington Times, Jan 20, 2022
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/jan/20/book-review-miseducation-how-climate-change-is-tau/
Communicating Better to the Public – Protest
Resist: Join the WorldWide Freedom Rally Protests this Saturday/ Sunday
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Jan 21, 2022
“Major protests against mandatory vaccination are being planned in 40 countries and at least 150 cities around the world this weekend.’
Expanding the Orthodoxy
Just what we need
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 19, 2022
Innovation Uptake: The Final Frontier for Energy Policy
By David M. Hart, Real Clear Energy, Jan 20, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/01/20/innovation_uptake_the_final_frontier_for_energy_policy_812892.html
“The full weight of the national laboratory complex created for the Manhattan Project is being put behind such efforts, amplified by collaborators in academia and industry.”
[SEPP Comment: The Manhattan Project was based on understanding the physics involved demonstrated by experiment, the “climate crisis” is based on ignoring the physics involved.]
Biden launches green buildings partnership with states, cities
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, Jan 21, 2022
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/590805-biden-launches-green-building-partnership-with-states-cities
Questioning European Green
Boris Johnson’s plan to bail out energy companies risks fresh banking crisis
By Staff, Net Zero Watch, Jan 17, 2022
“The only winners of Boris Johnson’s precarious gamble are the energy suppliers and their shareholders, who are protected from bankruptcy, and Mr Johnson himself who hopes to save his premiership by pushing the energy crisis onto the banking sector.”
Guardian: BoJo’s Political Weakness Endangers Climate Action
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Jan 18, 2022
Grid Balancing Costs Rocket
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 20, 2022
Questioning Green Elsewhere
Two More Contributions On The Impossibility Of Electrifying Everything Using Only Wind, Solar And Batteries
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, Jan 17, 2022
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2022-1-17-two-more-contributions-on-the-impossibility-of-electrifying-everything-using-only-wind-solar-and-batteries
[SEPP Comment: The ultimate “green solution” to a problem: if you cannot address it, ignore it.]
Litigation Issues
Complaints Filed with Congressional Watchdogs Over Use of Donor-Provided Consultants as Congressional Investigative Staff
By Staff, Government Accountability & Oversight, P.C., Jan 17, 2022
House Inspector General Suggests Complainants Make Complaint Someone Else’s Problem
By Staff, Government Accountability & Oversight, P.C., Jan 18, 2022
See link immediately above.
Virginia exits multi-state coalition backing EPA in climate lawsuit
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, Jan 20, 2022
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/590606-virginia-exits-multi-state-coalition-backing-epa-in-climate-lawsuit
President Joe Biden Resumes Oil and Gas Leasing in Response to Court Ruling
By Kenneth Artz, Environment & Climate News, Dec 30, 2022
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
Norway: Record Oil & Gas Export Revenue in 2021! How Else Could They Have Funded Massive EV Subsidies?
By David Middleton, WUWT, Jan 18, 2022
EPA and other Regulators on the March
A Year of Accomplishments at EPA
Press Release, EPA, Jan 20, 2022
https://www.epa.gov/perspectives/year-accomplishments-epa
“One year ago today, President Biden took office and launched the most ambitious environmental agenda in our nation’s history. From restoring scientific integrity, to confronting climate change, to advancing environmental justice, the EPA team has been hard at work implementing the President’s vision of a healthier, more equitable America.” [Boldface in original]
Chris Skidmore Defends The Indefensible
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 18, 2022
[SEPP Comment: Discusses an article “Don’t listen to the net zero naysayers – green levies work” by the energy minister who signed the law.]
Net Zero Watch pours scorn on Tony Blair Institute claims about ‘cheap’ onshore wind
By Staff, Net Zero Watch, Jan 21, 2022
Sunnica Solar Farm
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 16, 2022
“There is something drastically wrong with our planning system, if industrial developments like Sunnica can take place in the middle of pristine countryside without locals having any say in the matter.”
Dreaming of a new conservatory? Climate change building rules could shatter that middle-class aspiration
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 19, 2022
Green Campaigner Exempts Herself From Her Own Climate Demand
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Jan 21, 2022
“A green campaigner has called for conservatories to be banned – while sitting in her own one.”
Energy Issues — US
Net-Zero Carbon and the Electric Grid
By Donn Dears, Power For USA, Jan 18, 2022
Prolonged ‘Drilling Dispute’ Is Really About Fairness, Justice, and Accountable Government
By Kaitlyn Schiraldi, Real Clear Energy, Jan 18, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/01/18/prolonged_drilling_dispute_is_really_about_fairness_justice_and_accountable_government_812600.html
“This ‘sacred land’ is also surrounded by modern disturbances. The proposed drill site is a short distance from existing pipelines, and just a few miles from a highway and a century-old railroad. When the Bureau of Land Management initially approved the drilling permit, it noted compliance with the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, since no religious sites were found where the drilling was to take place.”
[SEPP Comment: Is there any land in the West that is not “sacred” to some aboriginal group?]
Climate change could lead to blackouts, higher power costs on U.S. West Coast
Studies offer preview of what electricity consumers on the West Coast could experience
Press Release, NSF, Jan 18, 2022
https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_1&cntn_id=304242&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
Link to one NSF funded study: The Effects of Climate Change on Interregional Electricity Market Dynamics on the U.S. West Coast
By Joy Hill, et al., Earth’s Future, Dec 7, 2022
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2021EF002400
[SEPP Comment: No discussion on failing government policies.]
Washington’s Control of Energy
Electricity: Mandatory Participation in RTOs/ISOs Is a Bad Idea
By Michael McKenna, Real Clear Energy, Jan 18, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/01/17/electricity_mandatory_participation_in_rtosisos_is_a_bad_idea_812104.html
Link to: 2021 Long Term Reliability Assessment, North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), December 2021
“First, we’ve been trying to administratively design electricity markets for 30 years, and despite federal legislation requiring one, there has not yet been a comprehensive, independent study of the economic value of regional transmission organizations. We have no ability to say decisively and without reservation that the current administrative constructs provide greater consumer benefits than possible alternatives.
“That seems like important data to have before deciding on whether to make something mandatory.
“Second, there are some questions about whether regional transmission organizations and independent system operators are as focused on reliability as they should be.”
Revisiting the Keystone XL Pipeline and Joe Biden’s False Promise of ‘Green Jobs’
By Kevin Mooney. Real Clear Energy, Jan 19, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/01/19/revisiting_the_keystone_xl_pipeline_and_joe_bidens_false_promise_of_green_jobs_812798.html
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
Permian Oil Output Hits Record
By Irina Slav, Oil Price.com, Jan 19, 2022
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Permian-Oil-Output-Hits-Record.html
Link to report: Drilling Productivity Report
By Staff, EIA, Jan 18, 2022
https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/drilling/
“Bloomberg noted in a report on the news that this makes the Permian alone a bigger producer than any OPEC members except Saudi Arabia.”
EIA: US Fossil Fuels Production to Reach Record Highs in 2023… The Permian is already there!
By David Middleton, WUWT, Jan 22, 2022
Texas LNG: Poised to Meet the World’s Energy & Climate Needs
By Staff, Texans for Natural Gas, Accessed Jan 21, 2022
Offshore U.S. Oil and Gas Is Critical to Lowering Energy Prices
By David Holt, Real Clear Energy, Jan 20, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/01/18/offshore_us_oil_and_gas_is_critical_to_lowering_energy_prices_812602.html
Return of King Coal?
As coal use surges, America finds it’s hard to unplug from carbon
By Robert Bryce, The Hill, Jan 16, 2022
https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/589538-as-coal-use-surges-america-finds-its-hard-to-unplug-from-carbon
Preliminary US Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimates for 2021
By Alfredo Rivera, Kate Larsen, Hannah Pitt, and Shweta Movalia, Rhodium Group, Jan 10, 2022
Bryce: “In short, it’s easy for politicians and climate activists to vilify hydrocarbons, hype renewables, and talk about quitting coal. But as the Rhodium Group’s report makes clear, economics matter. The U.S. and other countries aren’t going to suddenly quit using coal (or natural gas) to produce electricity because doing so would be too expensive.”
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
Biden 30,000 MW Offshore Wind Systems by 2030: An Expensive Fantasy
Posted by Willem Post, Citizens’ Task Force on Wind Power – Maine, Jan 17, 2022 [H/t Eduard Harinck]
https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/biden-30-000-mw-of-offshore-wind-systems-by-2030-a-total-fantasy
New Study: Adding Wind Farms Leads To 1°C Per Decade Nighttime Land Surface Temperature Warming
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Jan 20, 2022
Link to latest Accepted Manuscript, Impacts of 319 wind farms on surface temperature and vegetation in the United States
By Yingzuo Qin et al 2022 Environ. Res Lett. 2022
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac49ba/pdf
[SEPP Comment: One can argue that it is only local, but the same can be argued about surface-air temperature trends.]
The value of wind energy
By Mary Ann Showalter, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Jan 21, 2022 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-01-energy.html
“Future distributed wind valuation work could expand on other aspects, such as resilience; environmental justice impacts of distributed wind systems; and economics of potential hybrid systems using wind, solar, and energy storage.” [Boldface added]
[SEPP Comment: Environmental justice impacts – everyone has no electricity when wind fails?]
When Did They Know? Industrial Wind on the Health Firing Line
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, Jan 20, 2022
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other
In Praise of Corn Ethanol
By Staff, Doomberg, Jan 17, 2022
https://doomberg.substack.com/p/in-praise-of-corn-ethanol
[SEPP Comment: Does not address damage to two cycle engines.]
U.S. EPA Proposes Revised Ethanol Rules
By Kevin Stone, Environment and Climate News, Jan 14, 2022
US Politicians Pin Green Hopes on a Geothermal Energy Breakthrough
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Jan 19, 2022
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Storage
Pumped hydro provides the vast majority of long-term energy storage
By Andrew Blakers, Bin Lu and Matthew Stocks, The Conversation, TechXplore, Jan 19, 2022
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-01-hydro-vast-majority-long-term-energy.html
[SEPP Comment: The largest such facility is Bath County Pumped Storage (Virginia) which reports a 79% round-trip efficiency, a 21% energy loss.]
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles
Sadiq [Mayor of London] Wants To Charge London Petrol Drivers By The Mile
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 20, 2022
650 km Wintertime Trip With VW E-Car Took 13 Hours, 3 Recharges And Lots Of Warm Clothes
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Jan 18, 2022
“According to the kreiszeitung.de, she made the crucial mistake of charging up too seldom and wasted much time charging the batteries to 100% instead of 80% (the last 20% take the longest). ‘Charge faster, accept a little less range and charge again earlier – but again faster.’”
Carbon Schemes
Decarbonisation tech instantly converts CO2 to solid carbon
New tech offers pathway for instantly converting carbon dioxide as it is produced and locking it permanently in a solid state, keeping CO2 out of the atmosphere
Press Release, RMIT University, Jan 18, 2022 [H/t WUWT]
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/940555
Link to paper: Direct conversion of CO2 to solid carbon by Ga-[Gallium] based liquid metals
By Karma Zuraiqi, et al. Energy & Environmental Science, Jan17, 2022
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2022/EE/D1EE03283F
California Dreaming
Biden administration approves third major California solar project
By Sharon Udasin, The Hill, Jan 14, 2022
https://thehill.com/policy/equilibrium-sustainability/589764-biden-administration-approves-third-major-california-solar
“Together with two other recently approved projects — Arica and Victory Pass — Oberon’s construction will bring solar power generation on Californian public lands up to 1,000 megawatts.”
“Oberon will generate up to 500 megawatts of renewable energy — enough to power 142,000 homes — and have capacity for 200 megawatts of battery storage, according to the Interior Department.”
[SEPP Comment: No mention of costs or reliability. Question if the reporter knows the difference between 200 megawatts (power) and 200 megawatt hours (energy). Batteries store energy not power.]
Health, Energy, and Climate
Industrial Wind Turbines: Negative Health Effects (more evidence)
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, Jan 19, 2022
Link to paper: “Wind turbines and adverse health effects: Applying Bradford Hill’s criteria for causation”
By Anne Dumbrille, Robert Y McMurtry, Carmen Marie Krogh, Environmental Disease, Oct 22, 2021
https://www.environmentmed.org/article.asp?issn=2468-5690;year=2021;volume=6;issue=3;spage=65;epage=87;aulast=Dumbrille#:~:text=The%20nine%20criteria%20described%20by,experimental%20evidence%2C%20and%20analogous%20evidence.
Other Scientific News
Being in space destroys more red blood cells
By Staff Writers, Ottawa, Canada (SPX), Jan 14, 2022
https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Being_in_space_destroys_more_red_blood_cells_999.html
Link to paper: Hemolysis contributes to anemia during long-duration space flight
By Guy Trudel, et al, Nature, Medicine, Jan 14, 2022
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01637-7
Other News that May Be of Interest
I was duped by the Covid lab leak deniers
By Matt Ridley, Rational Optimist, Jan 12, 2022
https://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/duped-by-the-lab-leak-deniers/
Why did scientists suppress the lab-leak theory?
In private, they said it was plausible. In public, they called it a conspiracy theory.
By Matt Ridley, Rational Optimist, Jan 12, 2022
https://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/suppressing-the-lab-leak-theory/
BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE
Your proposal is acceptable
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 19, 2022
Link to paper: The tragedy of climate change science
By Bruce C. Glavovic School of People, Environment and Planning, Massey University, New Zealand; Timothy F. Smith Sustainability Research Centre, School of Law and Society, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Australia; and Iain White, School of Social Science, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand; Climate and Development, Accepted Nov 16, 2021
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epub/10.1080/17565529.2021.2008855?needAccess=true
From the assertion: “The science-society contract is broken. The climate is changing. Science demonstrates why this is occurring, that it is getting worse, the implications for human well-being and social-ecological systems, and substantiates action. Governments agree that the science is settled.”
Climate change causing not only more landslides, but bigger and deadlier ones
“We’re seeing an increase in the number of landslides and the sizes and the people killed,” said Portland State geology professor Scott Burns.
By Keely Chalmers, KGW, Jan 13, 2022 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://www.kgw.com/article/tech/science/climate-change/climate-change-landslides-increase/283-c77bca1a-5102-414d-9ba8-3dee5ee3838a
[SEPP Comment: Based on atmospheric rivers which have been hitting the West Coast long before “dangerous CO2-caused” climate change.]
The Met Office Warns Of Armed Militias Roaming The UK In Climate Doomsday Report (But Don’t Worry–The Corrupt EU Will Save Us!)
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 18, 2022
“It is now apparent that the Met Office has been taken over by a handful of climate extremists. “No serious public organisation, particularly one that is supposed to be scientific, would dream of putting its name to ultra garbage like this.”
What is global warming?
Facts about global warming: Causes and effects
By Stephanie Pappas, Live Science, Jan 20, 2022 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://www.livescience.com/37003-global-warming.html
[SEPP Comment: Her references explain her views: K. Hayhoe. Professor Political Science, Texas Tech; M. Mann; and EPA.]
ARTICLES
A Regulatory Burden for Every Room of Your House
The Biden administration moves to make appliances more expensive and less effective.
By Ben Lieberman, WSJ, Jan. 20, 2022
https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-regulatory-burden-for-every-room-of-your-house-energy-efficiency-standards-household-dishwasher-furnace-natural-gas-11642719043?mod=opinion_lead_pos10
TWTW Summary: After beginning with a list of economic and social ills, the senior fellow with the Competitive Enterprise Institute who was a staff member on House Energy and Commerce Committee, where he worked on home appliance regulations writes:
“…The president’s bureaucrats are working on enough annoying regulations to affect every room in your house:
“• The kitchen. The Trump administration took steps to fix the Energy Department’s efficiency standards for dishwashers that had the unintended consequence of increasing the time to clean a load of dishes from an hour or less in older models to well over two in new ones. But now the Biden DOE is in the process of reinstating these time-wasting and unpopular rules.
“• The bathroom. In one of several agency measures that limit freedom of choice, the DOE has tightened water-use limits for certain types of showers. In addition, for those who prefer incandescent light bulbs surrounding their bathroom mirror (or anywhere else), the DOE is targeting these bulbs with energy-efficiency standards likely to boost their price to $7 each, leaving LEDs as the only viable option.
“• The laundry room. Washing machines have been hit with multiple rounds of energy and water-efficiency regulations that have compromised performance and even forced some owners to buy and use special products to eliminate the stink that accumulates in the new models. Compliant dryers, like the new dishwashers, take longer to do the job. But rather than consider consumer-friendly improvements to existing standards, the Biden DOE is working to make them more stringent.
“• The basement. Your next new furnace may be significantly more expensive, thanks to regulatory changes percolating through the Biden DOE bureaucracy. Furnaces are currently available in natural-gas or electric versions, but the DOE is all-in on the war against gas, which environmentalists hate because it’s a fossil fuel and thus a contributor to climate change. The agency has initiated steps toward new efficiency regulations that would skew the market toward electric versions, a costlier option.
“Note also that the war on natural gas could also affect choice in other appliances that come in both gas and electric versions, such as water heaters, clothes dryers and even stoves. Many cooks swear by the superiority of gas over electric cooking, but the Biden administration wants to electrify everything. By one estimate, a forced switch away from natural gas would cost the average household $750 to $910 annually in higher energy bills.
“• Any air-conditioned room. The regulators may all work in nicely air-conditioned federal buildings, but that hasn’t stopped them from targeting everyone else’s air conditioner. The Environmental Protection Agency, under authority granted by Congress in 2020, just rolled out tough new quotas on several refrigerants blamed as contributors to climate change. The price for the one used in most home air conditioners has already quadrupled, so don’t be surprised if your next repair bill is hundreds of dollars higher than you expected.
“• The garage. Your car’s there. Need I say more?
“Anyone thinking that the feds want to regulate everything but the kitchen sink would be wrong. They are also reviewing kitchen sinks. Specifically, the DOE is reconsidering the method for testing compliance with water-use limits for faucets, and a change could result in tighter restrictions, with some currently available models declared illegal.
“With or without government meddling, any homeowner who wants environmentally friendly appliances is always free to choose them. So why force the politically correct option on everyone? Part of it is the self-interest of the Washington swamp: Plenty of bureaucrats inside the government as well as activists and lobbyists outside it make a nice living from an endless regulatory process. And while appliance manufacturers occasionally oppose new regulations, they often welcome them as potential money makers. Add to that the Biden administration’s obsession with cracking down on anything that uses energy, in the name of fighting climate change, and you have an all-out assault on Americans where they live.”
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