Voldemort/Palpatine 2020!

There’s an article in The Guardian about how much we adults have let down the next generation. And it’s not just about climate change.

Talk About It

Which Candidate?

The last post caused a bit of a stir. Some object to my selection, others propose alternatives, many emphasize that we must show unity to defeat president dumbass.

I want to know more about where various candidates stand on the climate change issue. For instance: is Kamala Harris the proper next choice based on the climate change issue? She has a 100% lifetime rating from LCV (League of Conservation Voters) but ClimateHawks specifically mentions that despite her unmpeacable environmental record overall, she hasn’t “stepped up” to climate change specifically. Still, she looks pretty good.

What about the other candidates? Please share your thoughts on their suitability on the climate change issue. If you want to comment on their other attributes, I believe the previous thread is still open.

And thanks for sharing.

Important Update:

I have a new #1. Someone mentioned Jay Inslee (governor of Washington state), and I discovered that he is a serious possibility as a candidate. He also has announced that climate change would be the focus of such a campaign. If he’s in the race, he’s the clear #1. So far.

Bernie for President

Bernie Sanders has officially announced his candidacy for the Presidency, entering an already-crowded field of democrats.

I’ve been wondering which candidate I should support. Now I know. Sorry, Elizabeth, Kamala, all the rest of you. I like you, really I do. My choice is clear: Bernie.

They can’t stop us. There’s too many of us.

You have run out of excuses, and we are running out of time

Global Cooling

The Hadley Centre/Climate Research Unit in the U.K. has joined NASA, NOAA, and Berkeley Earth, in reporting 2018 as the 4th-hottest year on record, with the five hottest years being the last five years.

David Whitehouse of the “Global Warming Policy Foundation” wants us all to hear about global cooling.

Roy Spencer Hot Under the Collar about Down Under

Evidently, Roy Spencer was so mightily annoyed at Australians and their Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) that he has made his dissatisfaction clear.

He objects to their using the word “record” so often, when talking about the hot temperatures this January. He definitely objects to talk about how heat waves are related to man-made climate change, with distaste for the phrase “Australia’s Extreme Heat is a Sign of Things to Come” when used as part of the title of an article in the Guardian. And, he complains about “alarmists” not knowing the difference between climate and weather.

In my opinion, the most revealing part of Roy’s post is this sentence about records:

Repeating Bullshit

Question: How does a dumb claim go from just a dumb claim, to accepted canon by the climate change denialati?

Answer: Repetition.

Yes, keep repeating it. If it’s contradicted by evidence, ignore that or insult that. Repeat it again. If you’re asked for evidence, ignore that or insult that, just keep repeating it. That’s how things get burned into brains.

Global Warming’s Wild Winter in the USA

The question arises: how might temperature variation have changed? We all know (if you don’t already, then read this blog!) that things like temperature show a combination of trend and fluctuation. We almost always focus on the trend, because that’s what shows the most obvious changes over time. But those fluctuations … the “noise” that we add to “signal” to get “data” … the “variation” we add to “average” to get the “weather” … are they changing too? Or are they just doing the same old same old kind of fluctuation they’ve been doing all along? This is a very different question than we usually hear about in discussion of climate change, not about a change in the average temperature, but whether or not the fluctuations have somehow changed.

They’re prominent in today’s news on two continents. The great plains of the USA are shivering through some of their coldest temperatures on record as the “polar vortex” invades from the north. Meanwhile, Australians suffer through their hottest month and worst heat waves ever, hell on earth for a place already known for it’s heat.

But mainly, it’s that polar vortex thing. Some have suggested that the rapid warming of the Arctic compared to the rest of the world, plus the dramatic decline of Arctic sea ice, have changed things in a fundamental way. It has thrown a monkey wrench into the jet stream, and during winter it can cause the polar vortex to fragment, part of it diving southward and bringing the deep freeze with it.