Category Archives: Climate Change

‘Planned recession’ could avoid catastrophic climate change – Telegraph.

I’m with Professor  Roger Pielke Jr.  on this one.  Is a “planned recession” really a selling point?

At the moment the UK is committed to cutting greenhouse gases by a third by 2020.

However a new report from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research said these targets are inadequate to keep global warming below two degrees C above pre-industrial levels.

The report says the only way to avoid going beyond the dangerous tipping point is to double the target to 70 per cent by 2020.

This would mean reducing the size of the economy through a “planned recession”.

Kevin Anderson, director of the research body, said the building of new airports, petrol cars and dirty coal-fired power stations will have to be halted in the UK until new technology provides an alternative to burning fossil fuels.

“To meet [Government] targets of not exceeding two degrees C, there would have to be a moratorium on airport expansion, stringent measures on the type of vehicle being used and a rapid transition to low carbon technology,” he said.

Prof Anderson also said individuals will have to consume less.

Some climate and carbon news from our English speaking brethen!

Britain’s only wind turbine plant to close

The UK’s only wind turbine manufact­uring plant is to close, dealing a humili­ating blow to the government’s promise to support low-carbon industries.

Vestas, the world’s biggest wind energy group, said today that it would close its Isle of Wight facility, which employs about 700 people and makes blades for wind farms in the US.

The group had planned to convert the factory in Newport so it could make blades for the British market, but said this morning that the paralysis gripping the industry meant that orders had ground to a halt. Such low demand could not justify the investment, Ditlev Engel, the chief executive, told the Guardian.

Not in my back yard you nimby S.O.B.

Engel said the weakness of the pound had also had an effect, making it more expensive to build wind farms in the UK, but the major problem lay in planning application.

“It is extremely time consuming and extremely complicated. Some of our developers, customers, will tell you it is so difficult. In the UK nimbyism is a huge challenge. This is outside of Whitehall territory.

“People talk about big offshore parks. Why not put in onshore parks? The cost of installation is half compared to offshore.”

This a real drag (I know – I’m sorry) because these technologies are needed to pull us out of our recession/depression/BDS.

Bureau blows hot and cold over Antarctica warm-up as Bureau of Metereology backs down from a claim that temperatures at Australia’s three bases in Antarctica have been warming over the past three decades

Well with only two choices you can get confused…

“You were told explicitly that the data collected by the Bureau of Metereology at the Australian bases shows a warming for maximum temperatures at all bases, and minimum temperatures at all but Mawson.”

However, Professor Turner told The Weekend Australian the data showed a cooling of the East Antarctica coast associated with the onset of the ozone layer from 1980 onwards. Professor Turner said the monthly mean temperatures for Casey station from 1980 to 2005 showed a cooling of 0.45C per decade. In autumn, the temperature trend has been a cooling of 0.93C per decade.

“These fairly small temperature trends seem to be consistent to me with the small increase in sea ice extent off the coast,” he said.

Dr Watkins did not dispute the figures referred to by Professor Turner.

Your messenger just reports folks.

NZ glacier findings upset climate theory.

Not to be out done the Kiwis get in on the act…

Glaciers are sensitive indicators of climate changes, usually advancing when it cools and retreating when it warms.

 

The first direct confirmation of differences in glacier behaviour between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the new work topples theories based on climate in the Northern Hemisphere changing in tandem with the climate in the Southern Hemisphere.The research argues that at times the climate in both hemispheres evolved in sync and at other times it evolved differently in different parts of the world.

Dr Barrell said their research presented “new data of novel high precision”, though the team has so far chosen not to roll out wider interpretations too quickly.

Sometimes the worst thing you can do to a person is give him what he wants.

For decades the Anti Nuke crowd clamored for Disarmament and an end to the East/West cold war standoff, but when it came they found themselves with no reason to get out of bed in the morning to not bathe and not shave. The money hose got turned off. So did the media hose.

Now, Global Warming cultists who were so discombobulated by high temperatures throughout the 1990′s are facing the stark reality that as the mercury falls – so goes their careers.  They wanted the globe to cool and they are getting their wish. One would think this would be good news, but no.

From the WaPo via Drudge:

NBC Universal made the first of potentially several rounds of staffing cuts at The Weather Channel (TWC) on Wednesday, axing the entire staff of the “Forecast Earth” environmental program during the middle of NBC’s “Green Week,” as well as several on-camera meteorologists. The layoffs totaled about 10 percent of the workforce, and are among the first major changes made since NBC completed its purchase of the venerable weather network in September.

The timing of the Forecast Earth cancellation was ironic, since it came in the middle of NBC’s “Green Week,” during which the network has been touting its environmental coverage across all of its platforms. Forecast Earth normally aired on weekends, but its presumed last episode was shown on a weekday due to the environmentally-oriented week.

Forecast Earth was hosted by former CNN anchor Natalie Allen, with contributions from climate expert Heidi Cullen. It was the sole program on TWC that focused on global climate change, which raises the question of whether the station will still report on the subject. Cullen’s future role at the network is not known.

Cullen, you should remember, is the Global Warming Guru at the Weather Channel who called for the firing of Meteorologists who publicly disagree with AGW. She’s still got her job for now, however her future prospects look pretty – what’s the word…?