Tuesday, December 8, 2009

ClimateGate: Mainstream Media Takes Note...

The conclusion of an editorial in Canada's National Post:
Except now we’re told that CRU disposed of the raw data some 20 years ago after it was manufactured into “homogenized” and “value added data.” The manufacturer 20 years ago? Another Climategate star, Tom Wigley, who was then the head of CRU.

But what of Phil Jones’s argument, that the Hadley and CRU datasets are nothing special. “Our global temperature series tallies with those of other, completely independent, groups of scientists working for NASA and the National Climate Data Centre in the United States, among others,” he says. “Even if you were to ignore our findings, theirs show the same results. The facts speak for themselves.”

The answer to Phil Jones comes from the Hadley Centre itself, through another fact that speaks for itself. “The datasets are largely based on the same raw data,” the FAQ page at the Hadley Centre website states, in explaining that NASA, the National Climate Data Center and Hadley-CRU all use the same data. The different results these organizations sometimes obtain, it elaborates, stems not from the data but from its absence — where the data is poor or non-existent, the different agencies employ different types of guesswork.

There is no unimpeachable raw data in which we can have confidence. There is a large cast of impeachable characters in the Climategate drama with an evident appetite for cooking the books.

And there are but two honest options for our governments to now employ. They can choose to redo the studies, with data, scientists, and a peer-review process that can be trusted. Or they can recognize that the IPCC process has been politicized from the start, and that the prima facie evidence for dangerous global warming does not meet the threshold required to prolong the scientific sham of the generation. 

The National Post has heretofore been a consistently credulous AGW supporter.  Read the whole thing here.

Jamulian Weather...

We had a terrific storm yesterday, truly violent weather by local standards.  What does that mean?  Well, we had nearly 3 inches (75mm) of rain, strong gusty winds that peaked at over 20 mph (32 kph), and the temperature got down into the 30s F (near 0 C). 

Our power was knocked out at 4 pm yesterday, and didn't come back on for 9 hours (1 am this morning).  As I drove out of Lawson Valley and through Jamul, I saw that the power was out for long stretches until I got to Rancho San Diego.  I passed a fleet of SDG&E (the local electric company) trucks along state 94.  Going through the intersection of state 94 and Steele Canyon Road was kind of eerie – all the bright lights there at the 7-11, Cafe Bravo, etc. were out, and the traffic signal was completely out. 

Then when I pulled into the parking lot at work (in Solana Beach), when I opened my door the wind ripped the door out of my hands and slammed it open.  I thought it had broken, but so far as I can tell it's ok.

Driving in, I heard on the radio that yesterday there were 476 accidents recorded, presumably mostly related to the rain and wind.  I also heard that over 100,000 people were without power at some point during the storm, and at that hour (around 2 am) there were still 10,000 people without power (and I was driving through one such area as I heard that report).

That's violent weather to us!

ClimateGate: People Start Wondering...

It is just wonderful to see questions being asked about the data supporting the AGW argument by folks who haven't been part of the AGW skeptical crowd in the past. I take this as a sign of an awakening of sorts, and a very welcome one at that...

J. Storrs Hall has a terrific example of this, wherein he looks at just one of the temperature data sources (ice cores) and demonstrates the importance of perspective – and the perils of carefully selected data (as the CRU folks did).  You really need to read it from the top down; don't jump around or you'll miss the impact...

AGW Debate Graphic...

David McCandless, posting at information is Beautiful, has an interesting graphical summary of the AGW debate (skeptics vs. proponents).