The immovable wall met the inflexible mind this week. The bitterly cold weather brought out some spectacular cases of cognitive dissonance. The Greg Graven’s who were overcome with passion, and the Monboit’s who were overcome with the complete “suspension of disbelief” whilst hunting for ways to rationalize their faith in a theory. Too warm? Too cold? It doesn’t matter, what ever it is, it matches a model somewhere, somehow, post hoc, ad hoc, hoc post, whatever…
Craven tried to explain himself on Judith Curry’s site and it only got worse.
I’m betting we’ll see more of those implosions in 2011.
Thanks to all of those who helped me this year — with advice, information, tips, and chocolate. Thanks to the unsung moderators too. 🙂
Apologies for all the times I forgot to say thanks to the right person for tips — a few weeks ago my intray seriously did reach 21,000 messages and the magic 4G mark, whereupon my email functionality collapsed, the computer crashed, and then I learnt the importance of something called “compacting”. I would like to thank people more often, and am conscious that I didn’t always get it right.
I’ll be taking a few days off and posting less often over January. I wish I could keep up this pace, but there are other commitments at hand. Please add your name to the email list (see the “register for emails link” top right) if you want me to notify you of new posts.
If you are searching for a fix in the meantime, can I recommend one of my favourite posts?
Sincerely, with best wishes.
Jo
As an avid reader of your blog, and on behalf of many others, may I wish you a “Happy Christmas” and may the New Year bring some sanity to the “Climate World.”
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merry christmas jo.
enjoy your break – u deserve it.
we will be here when u return and may we all enjoy a CAGW-free new year.
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Merry Christmas to Jo and her family from the soggy east coast; hope Santa Claus made it; Merry Christmas to all of Jo’s other fans and here’s to a new year where sanity prevails and the carbon tax fails and if that wish doesn’t come true then here’s to sanity continuing to prevail on Jo’s blog
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Merry Xmas all… Baa Humbug (the expression… not the blogger) to the CAGW trolls >.>
I wonder how many people snuck off to Gleneagle Forest and increased their footprint with a sneaky live tree addition for the living room…
For the festive mood (borrowed, see link below):
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
-12 lumps of coal
-11 dirty pools
-10 student experts
-9 pine tree cones
-8 cut-off dates
-7 pressure groups
-6 pal reviews
-of 5 hockey sticks
-4 big reports
-3 working groups
-2 flying pigs
-and a climate bible with integrity.
From: http://nofrakkingconsensus.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/the-ipccs-12-days-of-christmas/
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PS> Hope the Thompsons are hanging in there and making a dececnt Xmas of things.
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Jo,
Merry Christmas one and ALL!!!
Stay warm and stay safe!
Joe
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tena koutou koa hararei
Happy holiday to all …
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Jo,
Thanks for all your great work.
Merry Christmas to you and all your great contributors.
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Jo, a merry xmas to you and David – I hope you both have a great new year.
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this is unbelievable – an interview with James Hansen
http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2010/20101221_McKibbenQA.pdf
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Season’s greetings to all. Thanks again Jo for a fantastic site. It very quickly became my CS home about six months ago. Hopefully January will be relatively quiet for you, but I remember what happened last time you tried to take a few days off (10:10)!
Monboit says “they did and we missed it” in reference to a rhetorical question he posed as to why the climate models didn’t predict the UK cold snap. Yeah right, all those thousands of climate scientists “missed it”!
Loved your invisible ink gag yesterday Jo. Or was it just me? I’m not sure!
Thinking of the Thompsons especially on this Christmas Day.
Ian
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Merry Christmas and a great 2011 to yourself and family also to all your blog contributors/helpers. Thanks for your prodigious efforts.
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janama,
re JH interview: what impressive science!
BTW, I was down your way recently doing a lyre bird muster at Washpool. It only stopped raining so it could start again in 5 minutes. Lots of LBs though.
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Well the politicians asked the climate scientists for an explanation of all that snow and ice and naturally ‘The Team’ came up with the appropriate computer modelling
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Merry Christmas Jo and a Happy New Year.
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Merry Christmas, Jo.
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Merry Christmas Jo. Please keep up the good work. We need you.
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Merry Christmas Jo, and all of you !
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Happy Christmas Jo from snowey Yorkshire, although only a little. Many thanks for your sanity clause!! Ian #11 heard from Janet and Matt that they are celebrating full on. Just started on the Wolf Blass before lunch!
All good wishes to everyone who reads Jo and contributors.
As Groucho Marx said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS2khYJZKwA
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Merry Christmas Jo.
Have a good break, you have certainly earned it.
Thanks.
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It’s not always other people you need to concern yourself to thank, the world is a much bigger place ‘an that, but it is so very much closer now though, so often time you actually truly really, very honestly, need to just thank yourself and nobody else. 😉
And yes, I learnt that in therapy. :p
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Same old Hansen. Irrational is as irrational does. But enough of this until next year.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.
Roy
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There is barely any Christmas left at this time of day. Soon it’ll be Boxing day.
Merry Christmas to all!
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Merry Christmas Jo!
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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I’ll be looking forward to seeing more of the ______gate scandals that have helped to discredit the global elites message that humanity is somehow causing the Earth to cook through greenhouse gas emissions.
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Merry Christmas Jo and everyone else here.
I was just trawling through the big backfire with the responses to cravens rant. It is extremely noticeable how the “illuminated ones” have a complete disdain for the intelligence of the people. Apparently the Catastrafarian collapse has nothing to do with the fact that it’s a load of cobblers which was dressed up as the new belief system – Noooo – apparently it’s just that the peasants are revolting because they can’t comprehend what is being said… The problem must be with the scientists not being able to communicate properly…. They just haven’t broken the message down into single syllable words for us plainfolk to understand, apparently.
Well I just aint quite dun got dat yet.
Well I say this, AGW was the first cab off the rank to get clobbered, and it won’t be the last. What we are seeing is intelligent people everywhere getting together using blogs and such to communicate ideas and ask questions in communities which most people would not be able to communicate with for reasons of distance and difficulty finding said communities. These communities used to reside in University halls which only tended to have long term residents who were academics.
Now the Blogosphere and the internet has opened up these communities to the public for vigorous scrutiny and debate. I have not doubt that without the advent of the internet in homes, the privileged ones would have gotten away with CAGW.
My gut is telling me that their condescension is and will continue to be their undoing. I don’t think they’ll change either. They have spent so long in their ivory towers that they have a sense of entitlement to data and ownership of information. Gosh it must be terrible when the minions won’t do as they’re supposed to anymore, eh what?
Maybe I’m taking this too far, but I do think we’re finally seeing a radical transformation on how data and information is distributed, shared and interpreted. Old Institutions will have to evolve.
Jos blog is a shining example of this, and I thank Jo for her brilliant work over the last couple of years.
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no holiday break for the CAGW alarmists, unfortunately. my final half-hour on christmas night was a BBC nightmare – richard black doing a wholly pro-geoengineering piece, even tho he’s done at least two pieces on the subject this year about the pitfalls. not a hint there was nothing to geoengineer in the first place:
23 and 26 Dec: BBC: One Planet: 2050: An Earth Odyssey
Richard Black explores one of the more controversial ways of averting or dealing with climate change: geoengineering
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00chrk9/One_Planet_2050_An_Earth_Odyssey/
then a local radio station last night alerted me to the Australian’s content for today. no hint that there’s any debate about CAGW in either piece:
27 Dec: Australian: Bligh correct to call for a debate on nuclear power
Environmentalists are right to argue that we need a suite of energy sources to reduce carbon pollution…
But it is a debate that everybody serious about effective ways to reduce greenhouse emissions knows we need.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/bligh-correct-to-call-for-a-debate-on-nuclear-power/story-e6frg71x-1225976465509
27 Dec: Australian: Sid Maher: ‘Fewer drawbacks’ to cap-and-trade scheme
JULIA Gillard’s climate change committee has been told an emissions trading scheme would minimise the risk to the federal budget…
A carbon tax, which has been advocated by the Greens, was found to carry significant fiscal risks for the federal budget…
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/fewer-drawbacks-to-cap-and-trade-scheme/story-fn59niix-1225976475022
am afraid we have a long way to go to counter the incessant propaganda.
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Hansen from this that Pat linked at #10:
Someone help me here. I’m confused. Are they trying to save the children or blow them up?
And we’re irrational?
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I blew it at 28, it’s not Pat at 10 but Janama.
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The “global warming causes regional snowing” meme is spread far and wide :
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/opinion/26cohen.html
Sorry, you’re playing Whack-A-Mole for the foreseeable future.
Hope you had a merry holiday and you’re taking a well-earned break.
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Talking about the twelve days of Christmas, this find I’ve got to share. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbejNNCTr7k
Pointman
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A bit off theme but a sensible approach to priorities:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/doctors-obligation-to-patient-before-planet/story-e6frg6zo-1225976795292
A Happy and Prosperous New Year to all.
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http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/12/27/climate-change-and-the-corruption-of-science-where-did-it-all-go-wrong/
May I draw readers attention to the above link. One of the better articles I have read.
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A Happy New Year to everybody and I promise not to mention the word CRICKET.
What CRICKET, I hear you asking.
NO, I’m not going to mention CRICKET.
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yes, mentio cricket.
congratulations to the wonderful British Test Team.
You out bowled us, you out batted us and deserved to win, which you did.
May we reform out battle team and meet you next time.
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Is there a video link of Craven’s meltdown anywhere?
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28 Dec: Boston Herald: Michael Graham: ‘Warming’ up to junk science
According to members of the government/science funding axis pushing the theory of Anthropomorphic Global Warming – aka “Your Pick-Up Is Frying Our Planet” – the mountains of snowfall across North America actually prove the Earth is warming. Believe it or not, they say, warming actually makes the Earth colder…
That very day a Professor Stephan Rahmstorf released a report saying climate change means “we have to anticipate milder winters rather than cold ones,” and that even our “cold” winters have gotten “warmer.”
He says more warmth, not more cold, is proof of global warming. And who is this nut? He’s a scientist at the same Potsdam Institute.
Which is why “climate change” is the perfect mantra of the modern bureaucrat and big-government activist: The evidence always proves you right…
Meanwhile climatologist Piers Corbyn warned London of a white Christmas weeks ago. His models have been far more accurate than the UN-approved “science,” but he’s ignored.
Why? Because Corbyn’s research shows the sun has far more to do with climate patterns than your Prius does. Unfortunately, there’s no money to be made at places like the Potsdam Institute studying things like the sun. No legislature can regulate excessive solar output, and there are no jobs to hand out at the Department of Sunshine Control…
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view.bg?articleid=1305752&srvc=home&position=emailed
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Pointman, @31… that was absolutely hilarious … thanks, you’ve made my day! Here’s the link again (in case anyone missed it!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbejNNCTr7k
Here’s wishing Jo, her team, the visible regulars hers, the occasional commenters/frequent lurkers (such as I) a happy, healthy and carbon-footprint loaded New Year 😉
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Floods, freeze not the end of global warming: CSIRO. Once more their ABC leads the chant – high temperatures mean climate change/global warming, cooler temperatures are just natural weather variability. So 2010 may or may not prove to be the warmest year in the last 100 years, why should that surprise. After all, wide spread temperature records started only about 100 years ago during a rising planetary temperature trend that commenced at the low point of the little ice age about 300 years ago. Clearly that was long before man made CO2 emissions could have influenced planetary temperature.
Also problematic for the man made warming hypothesis, observational evidence has invalidated the warming projections of the gaggle of grants financed climate models including that of CSIRO. During the last 10 – 15 years there has been no statistically significant planetary warming (a point agreed by Professor Phil Jones of “Climategate” fame) while during that same period man made CO2 emissions have continued unabated?
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Jo your work is vital and greatly appreciated. Keep it up – but look after yourself and your family. Here’s wishing you and all readers a great 2011.
PS: I use Google Reader to subscribe to Jo’s site so that I know when there has been a new post by Jo. For those interested open Google, click on “More”, then cursor down to “Reader” and click. Top left click on “Add Subscription”. Copy and paste JoNova URL where indicated.
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Before Climategate, it was a conspiracy to say that Global Warming is just a vehicle for global government just like 9/11 is a MOSSAD job.
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Its kind of funny, but do you remember a few years ago when those AGW nutters started saying that climate change would lead to an increase in extreme weather events? Did they have a crystal ball or what? Russian heat waves, Queensland floods, very white Christmases in the UK and France, heavy snow in the US, huge floods in Pakistan, drought in Western Australia…..
How could they have known?
Its silly really, blaming the high number of extreme weather events on man made climate change. Isn’t it?
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I wish all down under a safe and happy New Year, I would say prosperous but your govt. is going to take your prosperous from you like ours will here in the states, With a govt. like ours who needs enemies! Good luck to all.
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John,
The same nutters that say cold = warm? yes that IS silly
Lets see…Piers Corbyn gets it right by considering the SUN (you know the same sun that the nutters discount as a trivial influence)
By the way isn’t that weather not climate anyway?
By the way wasn’t it drought for ALL of Australia?
Didn’t they predict dangerous sea level rise too?
Didn’t they also predict, oh yes, how many degrees of temperature rise in the last 10 years?
And can you explain this: http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/easterbrook_fig1.jpg
Read the whole thing and weep John, http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/12/28/2010%E2%80%94where-does-it-fit-in-the-warmest-year-list/#more-30425
Excerpt:
UNPRECEDENTED? indeed…..!
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John,
You’ve never spoken any truer words than those.
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John Brookes: #42
December 30th, 2010 at 12:26 am
I’m happy to say I agree with you John, as soon as you produce some evidence that extreme weather has increased over the last 40 years.
In the mean time, I’m happy to offer you the following for you to chew on whilst you’re having your new years champers.
Wow John lookey here, there were ONLY 12 notable extreme events in the first half of the century, but a WHOPPING huge 13 notable extreme events in the second half of the century.
You are absolutely right John, notable extreme events HAVE INCREASED BY ONE per HALF CENTURY.
Quick, tax me tax me, stop me from emitting nasty plant food, take control of my day to day life, please, how can we ever possibly manage one extra notable extreme event every 50 years TAAAXXXX MEEEEEEEE.
I am not worthy, I prefer the Greenies to tell me how to live, how much to earn and how I spend it. My thoughtless selfish ways has increased bad bad bad weather by one each lifetime. I shall repent and pray at the feet of Gaia for redemption.
A happy and climate wise uneventful year to you John.
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John Brookes: #42
December 30th, 2010 at 12:26 am
Dear dear John
When I read your comment, I knew there was a syndrome to describe it. And lo and behold I remembered what it was.
That was from 11 years ago. And boy oh boy, didn’t this syndrome turn out to be highly infectious?
I’m told there is only one cure for it. If one is infected, such as you, then one needs to sit in front of his/her computer and google away like mad, using words and phrases like “floods” “droughts” “extreme weather events of the past century” etc etc
Guaranteed to cure all but the worst cases.
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Jo,
Thanks for all the insight and fun this year.
In return, I thought I’d share an antique family recipe that is best served/dunked in a hot cup of coffee or a good glass of red wine.
Anise Toast
Ingredients:
6 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup cake or bread flour
2 tsp Anise seeds
pinch of salt
Instructions:
6 eggs separated: beat whites stiff — set aside; beat yokes ’til light yellow and then gradually add 1 cup sugar and 2 tsp Anise seeds until throughly mixed.
Carefully fold the the egg whites into mixture.
Finally, add 1 Cup of either sifted cake or bread flour and a pinch of salt.
Lightly fold into greased pan(s) and bake at 325 degrees F for 25 minutes or until done (use a tooth pick to test)
Let stand until cool and cut in the pan into strips (bread knife works best). Remove from the pan, cover with a dish towel, and let dry overnight on a rack. Toast in the oven the next day (sides slightly brown) and serve.
Happy New Year
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Hello everyone;
Have a good year in 2011 or whatever time reference is valid to your culture….
As a race we seem to be rather bad for anything not us! We only really worship intangible promises like money or religion, both of which have a lot in common if you think about it.
We undervalue the things we cannot reproduce yet rely upon for our society to function and we obssess over the things we dont control. We seem to belive that if we all think about a problem, discuss it and reach an understanding it is resolved but no one belives in telekenesis or correct spelling.We are destined to fail, die out and be forgotten. Maybe what follows us might try to understand why we did what we do, but thats irrevelent.
If we dont think of the consequences of our actions and we do not adjust our behavior to suit our enviroment, well the enviroment will only suit us because we do adapt and really who actually gives a hoot about frogs etc. We should not think about the enviroment , money religion ethics and the future or even why we exist. We destroy and we are very good at what we do. So embrace your natural function and eat your children to save the world.
Tax as we all know is the modern evolution of canniblism!
SANITY IS DEAD and common sense is not at the funeral
vegans will die out if there is a lack of manure
I like ice cream…….
I feel better now..
RoKo
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I know this is o/t but thought you might enjoy this which I received from John Droz today:
Now it’s time again for the annual “Stella Awards.” For those unfamiliar with these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald’s in New Mexico, where she purchased coffee. She took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving away. Who would ever think one could get burned doing that, right?
These are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S.. You know, the kinds of cases that make you scratch your head and say WT#$@. So keep your head scratcher handy.
Here are the Stellas for the past year:
* SEVENTH PLACE *
Kathleen Robertson of Austin , Texas, was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The store owners were understandably surprised by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son.
* SIXTH PLACE *
Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles , California , won $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. This all came about as Carl apparently didn’t notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor’s hubcaps.
* FIFTH PLACE *
Terrence Dickson, of Bristol, Pennsylvania, had just burglarized a house and was exiting through the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he couldn’t get the garage door to open. Worse, he couldn’t re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage to the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for EIGHT days and survive on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner’s insurance company claiming undue mental anguish. Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish!
* FOURTH PLACE *
Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, garnered 4th Place when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor’s beagle — even though the beagle was on a chain in its owner’s fenced yard. Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun…
* THIRD PLACE *
Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, got a jury to order a Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument. Hmmm.
*SECOND PLACE*
Kara Walton, of Claymont, Delaware, sued the owner of a night club in a nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two front teeth. Ms.Walton acknowledged that she sneaking through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge. Despite that, the jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000 — plus dental expenses.
* FIRST PLACE *
This year’s runaway First Place Stella Award winner was: Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, from an OU football game, having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver’s seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mrs. Grazinski subsequently sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner’s manual that she couldn’t actually leave the driver’s seat while the cruise control was set. The Oklahoma jury awarded her $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home. Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home.
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I have problem with “whilst the cat is away”
she’s never away – happy new year Jo.
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val @50,
Forgive my being slow on the up-take but did Winnebago also put in their manuals that when on cruise control one must still steer the vehicle? Oh, and maybe that one must not sleep while on cruise control?
Better yet, update the sales manual to say, “DO NOT SELL THESE TO IDIOTS!”
All in good fun… 🙂
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