Apocalypse Now

Yesterday the rain guage at Onion Creek/Hwy.183 at Austin, TX, operated by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), recorded 14.39 inches of rain (365.5 mm). In one day.

A Texas man, whose car was overcome by flood, escaped by jumping out of his car and climbing a tree. You can see a report here:

Advertisement

Dueling Senators

Tulsa World in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has printed statements about man-made climate change from two U.S. senators. One is the well-known climate denier, Oklahoma’s own James Inhofe. The other is the best spokesman for climate action in the U.S. Senate, Rhode Island’s Sheldon Whitehouse.

Inhofe’s entire argument boils down to conspircy theorizing, his belief that the scientific consensus about man-made climate change is a made-up hoax to bring about “global governance.” I’m not exaggerating about that. He appeals to what he calls “Climategate,” saying that “Climate scientists were caught red-handed manipulating data so it supported their global warming objectives.” The truth is just the opposite.

There have been six separate investigations of Inhofe’s allegation. One was done by the Inspector General of NOAA at the request of: James Inhofe. In his report to Inhofe on February 18, 2010 the Inspector General said, “In our review of the CRU e-mails, we did not find any evidence that NOAA inappropriately manipulated data … or failed to adhere to appropriate peer review procedures.” Others who investigated include the Inspector General of the Dept. of Commerce, the National Science Foundation, Penn. State Univeristy, and in the U.K. the University of East Anglia, and no less than the House of Commons (one of the houses of the British Legislature).

But that’s not good enough for Inhofe. Instead he “documents” his allegation of fraud by quoting a newspaper report from the U.K. Independent.

In my opinion, the most revealing thing about Inhofe’s piece is this: he’s got nothing. He had to sink to insane conspiracy theories that have already been investigated many times and found to be groundless. But that’s all he’s got — and it’s nothing but proof that his allegation is false.

The only mentions of actual science are an outright lie: that “In 2008, Al Gore said the north polar ice cap would be “ice-free” by 2013,” and an erroneous reference to “the observed recent warming hiatus.” The one that never happened.

Many papers have been published about what might have brought about a “hiatus” if one happened. But so far, there has not been a single scientific paper — not one — that has provided solid evidence that such a “hiatus” ever happened. However, there have been five papers published which investigated the question of its existence, and all five, without exception, have reached the same conclusion: there’s no real evidence of a “hiatus.” Because it never happened.

The hottest year on record was 2014, but 2015 is well on the way — it’s just about inevitable — to breaking that record and becoming the new hottest year on record. But Inhofe, and Lamar Smith, and WUWT, and all the deniers, are so desperate to cry “hiatus” that they’ve resorted to attacking the data itself. In Inhofe’s case, it amounts to repeating what isn’t true, about scientists “manipulating data so it supported their global warming objectives.”

He resorts to that because that’s all he’s got. In other words, he’s got nothing.

Except, of course, a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Plot idea: 97% of the world’s scientists contrive an environmental crisis, but are exposed by a plucky band of billionaires & oil companies and the politicians they support.

Another Really Big Storm

If you think global warming has no effect on storm frequency or severity, check out this interesting tweet:

And while you’re at it, you might look at this.

Lamar Smith: #1 Enemy of Science

In a rebuke to the #1 enemy of science, Congressman Lamar Smith of Texas, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has refused to comply with his attempt “to subpoena internal communications relating to a recent climate-change study by its scientists,” according to reports by Nature.

High Water

We’ve already mentioned that Miami is suffering more flooding because of sea level rise. The overall elevation there is so low, and the sea level rise big enough, that you don’t need a storm to get local flooding — a very high tide (the kind that occurs annualy, sometimes called “perigean spring tide“) can do it.

Lamar Smith will be the most expensive legislator ever imposed on the American public, will put millions of Americans out of work and cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars, and will most impact financially vulnerable families who already struggle to find employment and pay their bills

Because Lamar Smith is a climate denier. He’s also chairman of the House Committe on Science, Space, and Technology.

2015: A Very Bad Year for the Global Warming Policy Foundation

Desperate to hold on to the “pause” that never happened in global warming, David Whitehose has penned a piece for the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF). What he really shows is that it’s a very bad year indeed for the GWPF.

Whack-a-Mole

Here’s a challenge for readers: how many long-debunked-but-will-never-die climate denial themes can you spot in the following advertisement from the New York Times back in 2000 (you can read more about it here)

Honey, I broke the graph

Well, I did it.

NOAA released their global temperature data for September, so I thought it was time for an update. But I was trying to update the NOAA temperature data graph in a way that would really tell the story. So first I graphed the yearly average global temperature up to last year, but left out this-year-so-far. Then, I figured I’d add an extra point, marked as an asterisk, in red, to emphasize this year’s value (so far). Problem is — it broke the graph:

Dang that pesky global warming.

Miami — Why Worry?

Harvey Ruvin, Miami-Dade Clerk of Courts, has asked for a superfund to deal with the problem of sea level rise in the Miami area. And it’s all because sea level rise threatens $6 trillion worth of property. And the water supply, as saltwater continues to intrude into the groundwater. And the lives of millions of South Floridians.