Can We Talk?

Recently Walt Meier posted about artic sea ice 2010 on WUWT. Good for Anthony for giving Dr. Meier the podium. Meier emphasized that the state of arctic sea ice has changed dramatically. Referring to predictions of this year’s summer minimum in arctic sea ice extent:

The first thing to point out is that none of the estimates approached the 1979-2000 monthly September average of 7.0 million square kilometers. Even the highest estimates were nearly 20% lower. This is a recognition that conditions have clearly changed since the 1980s and 1990s. It is no longer plausible to prognosticate anything near average levels.

So: things have changed.

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History of Arctic (and Antarctic) Sea Ice, Part 1

Nobody in his right mind disputes that since satellite observations began, the extent of sea ice in the arctic has declined dramatically; this year the summer minimum extent was the 3rd-lowest on record. There is also considerable observational evidence that arctic sea ice extent over the last few decades is much lower than it has been for at least a century prior to modern times.

A team of researchers, led by Leonid Polyak of Ohio State University’s Byrd Polar Research Center, has culled the available evidence from hundreds of studies of proxy data for sea ice extent. As reported at Science Daily, in a new paper in Quaternary Science Reviews they report their findings: that the present extent of sea ice in the arctic is at its lowest for at least several thousand years.

Anthony Watts: Pants on Fire

In my last post I made two predictions. The second one was this:

Second: Either Anthony Watts won’t answer my question about why he’s so fond of less than 6 years’ data when we have over 30 (and that’s just from satellites) — or he’ll attack me personally, calling me a coward for blogging under a pseudonym. After all, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.

The question was this:

We have over 30 years of satellite data for arctic sea ice. Why do you consistently display the only data source I know of that covers less than 6 years?

Anthony has replied. But just as I predicted, he didn’t answer my question. Instead he told a lie.

Go Ice Go! … Going … Going … Gone!!!

When it comes to up-to-date measures of arctic sea ice, the most popular choice with Anthony Watts and Steve Goddard is the estimated extent from DMI. Others seem to prefer NSIDC data for monthly averages of both sea ice area and sea ice extent, or JAXA for daily data on sea ice extent, or daily sea ice area data from Cryosphere Today. So there are several satellite-based data sets to choose from, but Watts seems to prefer, and Goddard seems to love, the DMI data.

Wonder why?

The great conspiracy to destroy freedom, sabotage the USA, increase taxes, undermine the economy, institute world government based on socialism with Al Gore as dictator, and of course … drive us all back to the stone age

It’s all a conspiracy of lies, deceit, greed for money and power, and hatred of all the USA stands for. It’s nothing but an attempt to destroy our freedom!

Because if fossil-fuel industry profits aren’t safe, then we aren’t safe.

And one of the most important conspirators is NASA. Specifically, the evildoers at GISS: the Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The folks at GISS have been fudging the numbers, and I’ve uncovered their dirty little secret. They apply “adjustments” to the raw data (which they get from a number of sources, but mainly the Global Historical Climate Network) which they’ve cleverly manipulated to make the global temperature trend — if there even is such a thing! — seem different than what the plain old data say.