Arctic temperature is still not above 0°C – the latest date in fifty years of record keeping

25 06 2009

By Joseph D’Aleo, AMS Fellow, CCM

The average arctic temperature is still not above (take your pick) 32°F 0°C 273.15°K–this the latest date in fifty years of record keeping that this has happened. Usually it is beginning to level off now and if it does so, it will stay near freezing on average in the arctic leading to still less melting than last summer which saw a 9% increase in arctic ice than in 2007.  H/T to FredM and MarcM


image
Data from DMI (Danish Meteorological Institute)

See larger image here. Compare with DMI charts in other years here.

[NOTE: as a second source to Joe’s article I’ve added this weather station data from the “North Pole Cam” operated by NOAA. Link is here: http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/gallery_np.html

There is a webcam at the “North Pole” (at least it starts out very near there) that reports via satellite data uplink at regular intervals. They also have a weather station with a once weekly data plot.  Note it is still below zero centigrade there. Read the rest of this entry »






A comphrehensive comparison of GISS and UAH global Temperature data

24 06 2009

Part 1 of Comparison of GISTEMP and UAH MSU TLT Anomalies

Guest Post by Bob Tisdale

I originally started this comparison by looking at the differences between OI.v2 SST and the UAH MSU Lower Troposphere Temperature (TLT) anomalies for the same ocean segments. Since OI.v2 SST data has been used by GISS for their GISTEMP product since December 1981, I decided to add another comparison: GISS Land Surface Temperature (LST) versus UAH MSU TLT for the same continental land segments. Then I added one last comparison, which is the subject of this post.

Note 1: The data illustrated in the following graphs are as I downloaded them from the KNMI Climate Explorer website. I made no effort to offset either dataset in the comparative graphs so that the two curves rested on one another. The graphs will show that GISTEMP anomalies are higher than UAH MSU TLT anomalies. This is a function of base years. Focus on the trends and the shapes of the curves, not the location of the curves.

Figure 1 is a comparison of Global GISS Surface Temperature (GISTEMP) and UAH MSU Lower Troposphere Temperature (TLT) anomalies. Both datasets have been smoothed with 12-month running-average filters.
http://i41.tinypic.com/34ryski.jpg
Figure 1 Read the rest of this entry »





Pelosi concedes ‘not enough votes to pass global warming bill’

24 06 2009

If any WUWT readers have moderates in their congressional district, now is the time to make your opinions known.

May I suggest that you send your congressional representative this story with a request to read it on the floor. And while you are at it, the EPA shenanigans and my surfacestations report.  – Anthony

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/11/23/us/politics/23waxman_span.jpg

From CNN political ticker

House Democrats unsure of global warming bill’s passage

WASHINGTON (CNN) – House Democratic leaders are furiously lobbying their members and moderate Republicans to support a landmark energy bill in the face of resistance from some conservative members of their own party, and staunch opposition from the GOP — roadblocks that are making it difficult to find the 218 votes necessary to pass the measure, according to Democratic leadership aides.

A vote on the Clean Energy and Security Act, which would restrict emissions of green house gases and require use of alternative energy in an effort to slow the effects of global warming, is scheduled for Friday.

The legislation’s lead sponsors held a pep rally outside the Capitol on Wednesday to whip up support for the legislation’s passage. Read the rest of this entry »





The EPA suppresses dissent and opinion, and apparently decides issues in advance of public comment

24 06 2009

http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/epa_logo_1.png?w=130&h=142http://www.openmarket.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/cei-logo-square.jpg

The EPA apparently doesn’t care about any negative comment of their GHG Endangerment findings, even internally, so the exercise in Democracy we did yesterday apparently was for naught.

The time for such discussion of fundamental issues has passed for this round. The administrator and the administration has decided to move forward on endangerment, and your comments do not help the legal or policy case for this decision… I can only see one impact of your comments given where we are in the process, and that would be a very negative impact on our office.”

- Internal EPA email, March 17th, 2009

The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) has caught EPA administration red-handed in concealment of internal dissent as well as apparently proceeding with plans in advance.

From this PDF circulated today by CEI, here are the points:

Read the rest of this entry »





NCDC writes ghost “talking points” rebuttal to surfacestations project

24 06 2009

UPDATE: The “ghost author” has been identified, see the end of the article.

When I first saw it, I laughed.

When I saw the internal memo circulated to top managers at NOAA, I laughed even more.

Why?  Because NOAA and NCDC are rebuking an analysis which I have not even written yet, using old data, and nobody at NOAA or NCDC  had the professionalism to put their name to the document.

First let’s have a look at the National Climatic Data Center’s web page from a week ago:

ncdc_web_page_061209

I was quite surprised to find that my midterm census report on the surfacestations.org project evoked a response from NCDC. I suppose they are getting some heat from the citizenry and some congress critters over lack of quality control. I was even more surprised to see that they couldn’t even get the title right, particularly since the title of my report defines most of what NCDC is all about; Surface Temperature Measurement. Read the rest of this entry »





Dr. James Hansen of NASA GISS arrested

23 06 2009

Daryl Hannah, scientist arrested at W.Va. mine protest

James Hansen and unidentified woman under arrest by WV state trooper. Photo credit: Antrim Caskey, Rainforest Action Network Field Photography

SUNDIAL, W.Va. (AP) — More than two dozen people — including actress Daryl Hannah and NASA climate scientist James Hansen — were arrested Tuesday in the latest protest in a growing civil disobedience campaign against mountaintop removal in Southern West Virginia.

State Police said about 30 people were charged Tuesday afternoon after they blocked State Route 3 near a Massey Energy subsidiary’s coal processing plant in Raleigh County.

Full AP story here

In a statement distributed by the Rainforest Action Network, whose executive director was also arrested, Dr. Hansen said: Read the rest of this entry »





ISS has best balcony seat for volcanic eruption

23 06 2009
Source: International Space Station - Click for larger image

Sarychev Peak Eruption, Kuril Islands Source: International Space Station - Click for a larger image

I can’t ever recall seeing a more stunning image of a volcanic eruption. The ash plume from it has spread quite a bit. What effect will it have?

Read the rest of this entry »





Updates from West Virginia on Jim Hansen’s protest and debate

23 06 2009

Our WUWT correspondent (and surfacestations.org volunteer surveyor) Michael Caplinger reports in.

Marsh Fork aerial view

Marsh Fork Elementary and the coal operation nearby. More here at WV Public Broadcasting. Media coverage so far has been light. – Anthony

Mike updates us from WV:

As of 10:30 am here I have not heard exactly when the protest will be happening today, and they apparently have not happened yet. They may not happen at the strip site itself (with drag lines, etc), but near (and at) a local school which has been having a standoff for some time about the construction of a new coal storage silo very close to the school.  That is where they will also have the debate I believe (could be wrong though).
Read the rest of this entry »





Pushback on Waxman-Markey – now is the time for all good citizens to come to the aid of their country

23 06 2009

push-back-sq

House to Vote on Climate Bill By Friday

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090622-716255.html

If you have not contacted your legislator yet, consider doing so after reading this. – Anthony

Left Pushback on Waxman-Markey: Is It Time to Start Over?

by Robert Bradley, Master Resource
June 23, 2009

The battle cry of Joseph Romm at Climate Progress (Center for American Progress) earlier this year was “Obama Can Get a Better Climate Bill in 2010: Here’s How.” But now Romm is in panic mode, trying to convince the rebelling Environmental Left that the out-of-control Waxman-Markey climate change bill (now 1,090 1,201 pages) is the last best hope to save civilization. As Romm stated in a post yesterday:

Waxman-Markey is the only game in town.  If it fails, I see no chance whatsoever of stabilizing anywhere near 350 to 450 ppm since serious U.S. action would certainly be off the table for years, the effort to jumpstart the clean energy economy in this country would stall, the international negotiating process would fall apart, and any chance of a deal with China would be dead.

But given that Waxman-Markey is climatically inconsequential, a fact that Romm does not dispute ( “well, duh“, he said), the hard Left is understandably getting restless, even rebelling against the pseudo climate bill. After all, who really wants an Enronesque cap-and-trade bill that enriches lawyers and corporate types at the expense of everyone else?  The first comment on Romm’s blog at Climate Progress made this point:

No. I’m sorry, but the first question everyone must ask about Waxman-Markey is “Did we really need more than 600 pages to do legislate what needs to be done and isn’t 600 pages of dense text likely to have hidden in it so many loopholes, exceptions, obscure procedures and contrary regulations and guidelines that no one except a high-powered corporate law firm will be able to make total sense of it (and thus be able to use it to their corporate clients benefit).”

For the same reason, to Romm’s chagrin, NASA scientist and Al Gore mentor James Hansen got off the Waxman-Markey bandwagon 553 pages ago. Hansen complained: Read the rest of this entry »





WUWT Tips & Notes page installed

23 06 2009

Finally, a way to communicate without cluttering threads.

WUWT_menu_look

Just click on TIPS & NOTES TO WUWT on the menu under the masthead and leave a comment. See the instructions there. – Anthony





Archibald – The Ap Index says: “There will be no sunspots”

23 06 2009

Guest post by David Archibald

Sun today - a spot group has appeared, spots 1022 & 1023 are cycle 24 spots

Sun today - a spot group has appeared, spots 1022 & 1023 are cycle 24 spots

Frank Hill’s summoning up of sunspots from the vasty deep of the Sun’s convection zone reminds me of some Shakespeare (Henry the Fourth):

Glendower:
I can call spirits from the vasty deep.

Hotspur:
Why, so can I, or so can any man;
But will they come when you do call for them?

Frank Hill says that his sunspots will be with us in three to six months.  The Ap Index suggests otherwise.  There is a correlation between the geomagnetic indices (aa Index and Ap Index) at minimum and the amplitude of the following solar cycle.  Earlier this year I produced this graph of the Ap Index plotted against solar cycle maxima when I thought that the Ap Index would bottom out at three, giving a maximum amplitude of 25:

Archibald_Ap_Indexmin

This is June and the monthly average of the Ap Index is 3.1.  What is interesting from that graph is that there will be no sunspots if the monthly Ap Index goes below 2.  The heliospheric current sheet is telling us that the month of minimum is possibly a year off and the Ap Index is showing no signs of pulling out of its glide slope of 0.28 per month, as shown in this graph: Read the rest of this entry »





LAST DAY: The June 23rd EPA CO2 endangerment public comment deadline is TODAY

23 06 2009

epa_logo_1I just sent my comments in, and have included excerpts from them below for structure and ideas. If you have not done it yet, get your comments in. I did mine via email. Some excerpts from my commentary are listed below. You can send public comments here:  ghg–endangerment-docket@epa.gov

To submit a comment, identify them with Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0171 and submit them online, by email, by facsimile, by mail or by hand delivery.

The docket # is Re: Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– OAR–2009–0171 Be sure to include that number in email

They must be received by EPA by June 23. TODAY

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0171, by one of the following methods: Read the rest of this entry »





Eco group calls for volunteers to “Get Arrested with James Hansen to stop MTR!”

22 06 2009

That headline is NOT a typo, that’s what they say:

Arrested_with_Jimbo

Screencap from the website this morning - click for larger image

If there was even any doubt about Hansen changing from scientist to advocate, that doubt is now shattered.

Meanwhile, amazingly, James Hansen has agreed to a debate. Hansen is going to debate with Don Blankenship of Massey coal company. Read the rest of this entry »





Surfacestations update – help needed for the final stretch

21 06 2009

I’m pleased to announce that after a quality control review of all stations surveyed so far we are now at the 80.4% mark. 982 stations out of 1221 of the USHCN network have been surveyed. 239 stations remain to be surveyed.

USHCN Surface Stations remaining to be surveyed - click for larger image

USHCN Surface Stations remaining to be surveyed - click for larger image

A Google Earth KML file has also been created to help volunteers assist us in surveying these remaining stations to the best of our ability. I don’t expect to get all of them, but we should be able to easily exceed the 1000 station mark and perhaps reach 90% before the end of summer.

You can download the Google Earth KML file which was used to make the map above, get it -click here.  [Note,  if using Internet Explorer, right mouse click and choose "Save Target As.."  ~ charles the moderator] It is very helpful in locating stations. Google Earth is a free download here.

For those who don’t have Google Earth capability, get it – click here, is the list of stations remaining that you can view in your browser. Both files are useful in different ways, so I suggest getting both.

Our goal is to find the few remaining “best” CRN1 and CRN2 stations. So far there have been very few of these “best” stations, 92 so far, making up only 10% of the network. The majority of those also happen to be ASOS stations at airports, and as we have seen from the MIC in Hawaii’s WSFO, ASOS stations have not been deemed suitable for climate monitoring, since they are placed for aviation purposes.

Here are the percentage breakdowns so far, plus a nice bar chart by Gary Boden showing the states that have been completed and those that need the most attention: Read the rest of this entry »





Quote of the Week #11

21 06 2009

hydracable

Our QOTW comes from the newly minted Wikipedia page of the late, great Dr. Jack Eddy. Jack had a way with words, he liked them immensely and wielded them in ways that were not only profound but entertaining.

As a person who has worked on all sorts of meteorological and TV broadcast electronics systems in my career, this one quote from Dr. Eddy really hit home for me, and I think many of our readers will get the same great laugh and flash of understanding that I did from it. Then, you’ll understand the image I rendered above. Read the rest of this entry »





Global cooling – hail to the chief!

21 06 2009

“He’ll stop the globe from getting warm; fuel your car with nuts and corn”
(h/t to Tom Nelson)

The link for the YouTube video is below. It is very well done. Read the rest of this entry »