Michael Mann — Climate Warlock downunder — coal mines cause wildfires 1,000 km away. Sees giant Petrostate Conspiracy

Rejoice Australia. The Star of Mann has crosseth The line of Capricorn. The great Prof has flown 10,000 miles to tell us “Australia is on fire”. Something only thirty million people knew already, including every Australian and the five million New Zealanders who can smell the smoke too.

According to Michael Mann, his plane causes bushfires, and he had to fly all the way to a nation on fire to tell them that.

Australia, your country is burning – dangerous climate change is here with you now

Sadly, everything he knows about the Australian climate comes from a Midnight oil song:

When we mine for coal, like the controversial planned Adani coalmine, which would more than double Australia’s coal-based carbon emissions, we are literally mining away at our blue skies. The Adani coalmine could rightly be renamed the Blue Sky mine.

In Australia, beds are burning. …

Now we know why those models keep failing.

As he goes on to explain:

The songs of Peter Garrett and Midnight Oil I first enjoyed decades ago have taken on a whole new meaning for me now. They seem disturbingly prescient in light of what we are witnessing unfold in Australia.

Prescient indeed. Yes, if only we’d made Peter Garrett the Environment Minister of Australia he could have fixed all this! Oh wait… we did!

Mann, condescendingly observes the fauna:

The locals, whom I found to be friendly and outgoing, would volunteer that they have never seen anything like this before.

Possibly because not many are 168 years old.

Some even uttered the words “climate change” without any prompting.

“Without prompting?” Hardly. They’ve had thirty years of prompting — in school, at uni, on the nightly news, in coloring in contests, cereal packets and pop songs. The marvel is that Australians are still capable of doing some science, despite the ABC’s and The Guardian’s best efforts.

 Hypothesis lost: Your air conditioner causes bushfires?

This is science with error bars so wide they overlap til there’s no science left in between.

The prophet can see “climate change” with his superhuman eyes:

The brown skies I observed in the Blue Mountains this week are a product of human-caused climate change. Take record heat, combine it with unprecedented drought in already dry regions and you get unprecedented bushfires like the ones engulfing the Blue Mountains and spreading across the continent. It’s not complicated.

In Simple-Mann-land, heat and drought make fires. Sure, and that’s why the Sahara is the Fireball of Africa, right? Or maybe it’s just a marketing meme designed to scare the kiddies? Fire = hot, therefore “climate change”. In reality, fires need fuel more than hot weather. The worst fires in Australia are not at Oodnadatta where we have lots of heat and permanent drought, they’re in the South-east corner where there is lots of neglected forest. How could a “Prof” forget the most important factor? Looks like he is nearly as bad at science as that legendary guy who could take red noise or bus timetables and discover hockey sticks. The same man who sued someone for calling him a fraud, dragged it on for years, but couldn’t find any evidence to defend himself.

Could anyone calling themselves a prof really make statements so blandly conclusive: no caveats, no margins, missing the main point, and with no direct cause and effect link. Oh yes he can…

The warming of our planet – and the changes in climate associated with it – are due to the fossil fuels we’re burning: oil, whether at midnight or any other hour of the day, natural gas, and the biggest culprit of all, coal. That’s not complicated either.

Not complicated sayth the master guru. Yet none, not one, of the giant models predicts “simple” rainfall or drought?

If it’s so obvious, perhaps Mann can explain the part where a warmer world is a wetter world and the extra rain makes “more droughts”?

But we all know how this circular conversation pans out — Mann says that extra rain is just an average and there will be droughts in some spots and floods in others. I’ll ask him where and when those droughts and floods will happen in the 2020s, and Michael Mann will say “I don’t know, that’s weather, not climate”. And I’ll ask why a bushfire “is climate not weather”, and he’ll ignore the point and talk about extending bushfire seasons, which are not fires,  but sound sorta the same. Or he’ll point to probabilities of extremes in models we know are broken, that use data we know is wildly adjusted, and he’ll call it science when it might as well be sorcery.

If there is any tiny link between coal mines and bushfires, it’s through an ocean of chaotic complexity — via changes in droughts and flood patterns thanks to jet-streams shifting, enhanced by ENSO oscillation, the Indian Dipole and the SOI. The skillless modelers can’t predict any of these. The error bars ate my science mum, and there’s nothing left here but a sales scheme of false pretenses built on magic spells, mystery assumptions, total failure, and parasitic self aggrandizement. All designed to prey on the weak-minded and gullible. Quick, someone protect “The Guardian”?

Petrochemical conspiracy — here we come:

Who needs facts when speculative conspiracies will do?

Morrison has shown himself to be beholden to coal interests and his administration is considered to have conspired with a small number of petrostates to sabotage the recent UN climate conference in Madrid (“COP25”), seen as a last ditch effort to keep planetary warming below a level (1.5C) considered by many to constitute “dangerous” planetary warming.

The Guardian thinks this is worth publishing?

Let’s post the editors a copy of A Disgrace To the Profession. That’s what The Guardian is.

9.7 out of 10 based on 111 ratings

223 comments to Michael Mann — Climate Warlock downunder — coal mines cause wildfires 1,000 km away. Sees giant Petrostate Conspiracy

  • #
    Simon

    Prof. Mann is correct. He know what he is talking about. Stop denying the truth.

    197

    • #
      Dennis

      How is his court case going?

      Did he ever table the data requested as evidence?

      640

    • #
      el gordo

      The truth is that he has discredited his profession with a Yamal yarn and then dug himself a deeper hole.

      ‘Failed libel litigant Michael Mann will soon add his lustre to the University of New South Wales’ climate corps, where a grand total of 37 professors, associate professors, lecturers, ARC fellows, ARC laureates and post-doctoral researchers evidently aren’t enough to grapple with a problem that doesn’t exist.’

      660

      • #
        Rereke Whakaaro

        Yesterday upon the stair,
        I met a Mann, who wasn’t there.
        He wasn’t there again today.
        I wish that Mann would go away.

        20

        • #

          Ode to a Bristlecone Pine.

          What good is that wood?
          That wood is no good.
          Would you graph that wood?
          I don’t think I would.

          -Brad Keyes, CliScep, Dec, 2013.

          00

    • #
      hatband

      The Madrid Conference wants to ”Turn the Tide on Deforestation”. https://unfccc.int/news/at-cop25-a-call-to-turn-the-tide-on-deforestation

      How does this work, Simon?

      Is it possible to reforest faster than the forests burn down due to Climate

      Change?

      Or does the word pass along the secret forest grapevine to stop burning

      itself down because forests are not on the way out anymore?

      180

    • #
      AndyG55

      [snip]

      People like you have been sucked-in because you don’t have the intelligence to see through his anti-science garbage.

      Drought is because of a strong El nino , and no drop back to La Nina. Cold water above and below Australia, lower rainfall

      Winds and hot/cold cycle is from the meandering jet stream

      Intensity is also helped by the greenie agenda of lock up an neglect National Parks and State Forests.

      Nothing to do with “CO2 climate change”, (which does not actually exist anyway)

      I defy you to produce scientific evidence that it is. !

      Those who have tried, have been a monumental FAILURE.

      410

    • #
      Graeme Bird

      Ha ha ha ha ha. The fantasy natural historian. A fellow who used tree rings for a temperature proxy, in all his studies, to get a bogus temperature increase.
      A man so magical in his abilities that he singlehandedly eliminated the medieval warming period. The fellow who took on the role of bankrupting in court as many authentic scientists as he possibly good. The man who had a trick to hide-the-decline.

      490

    • #
      Latus Dextro

      Prof. Mann is correct. He know [sic] what he is talking about. Stop denying the truth.

      That’s facile Simon. It’s also very funny. Seriously. All credit on stringing together a clutch of zinger words, of slogan thinking meaninglessness. You had the opportunity as the #1 post in dropping a clincher, the compelling empirical science, the persuading argument, the paper of papers that would have us all convinced we were on the dark side and relieved we were about to redeemed by the street thug of scientivism, DEMon Michael of Mann.

      The schtick has long been discredited and debunked. In fact, its a wanton embarrassment, much like Mann and his claim of a Nobel Prize. He’s been done over by Tim Ball and is about to be eviscerated by Mark Steyn in Washington DC. He’s not only on the wrong side of science, he’s on the wrong side of history. To the victor go the spoils. He’ll never get to write history and so he’ll always look like a scientific satire. In fact he’s morphed into the jet set to become a phartingly funny self-parody.

      “Truth” in the post modern World is rank subjectivism. Too bad. You lost.
      There should be song and dance routine run by the IPCC with the UNFCCC as backing, lighting in rainbow hues. The Mannian cabal hides his decline in the hockey schtick group shuffle. It’s a wonderful number, well worth watching.

      Now, had you said “facts”and provide a few, rather than “truth,” you just might have had a debate.
      Instead, you simply betrayed yourself.

      400

    • #
      OriginalSteve

      I had great delight explaing to my 20 something cousin that it was lack of hazard reduction burning, therefore not climate change, that has been the root of the current bush fires. You could tell he was having trouble dealing with actual science. But I gently but firmly drove the point up to the hilt , so to speak, and left him to it.

      I have also come to the conclusion we need to treat CAGW believers as members of a religion, and tread carefully as you would with any other discussion about religion.

      This is because like a lot of programmed cult members, they are prone to unpredictable behaviour when thier belief system is questioned rigorously.

      However, under no circumstances should you back off, no matter how wild eyed thry become…..

      350

      • #
        tonyb

        Mann comments

        “The locals, whom I found to be friendly and outgoing, would volunteer that they have never seen anything like this before.”

        Having closely examined the anecdotal comments by those who have recorded weather incidents in England over the last 2000 years, the phrase ‘such as no man had ever seen before ‘ crops up frequently. It tends to refer to ten years or at a stretch 20 years, i.e one generation.

        However, until we know the repeat frequency of natural weather cycles, whilst I suspect 2000 years is long enough to know the constraints of climate, I suspect ten years is not sufficient and merely records ‘weather’.

        250

      • #
        Richard Ilfeld

        O Steve, The explanation can be statistical. There are forests all over the world. Some are well managed. Some are not, and allow fuel
        to accumulate. And where do we find the catastrophic fires? The evidence for a correlation between fuel accumulation and catastrophic
        fires (and leftist governments) is fare better than that supporting CO2 as a change agent.

        120

    • #
      Bill In Oz

      This foreigner is
      ( being polite )
      A complete DUMBNUT !

      140

    • #
      David Maddison

      Is “Simon” the same being as “frednk”?

      90

    • #
      Fin

      Simon is way out beyond his depth and is terminally struggling. Best he writes to The Guardian which accepts such silliness.

      90

    • #
      • #
        Hivemind

        As far as scientific frauds are concerned, Piltdown Man was nothing compared to Climate Change.

        80

        • #
          sophocles

          The Piltdown Man hoax appeared in 1910 and was not disposed of until 1953. Radio Carbon dating exposed it completely. That was a lifetime of 43 years.

          So, CAGW and CC started in or around 1980. If we give it a similar lifetime of 45 years (max), it’s due to die c. 2025 (or before).

          The IPCC has received a caning from some of the big US universities: Yale, Harvard, Stanford et al, (all the ones with big investments in physix and solar research) circa 2017, and they told the IPCC in no uncertain terms that they had to take into account at the very least Solar particulate effects and forcings (Solar Wind, Magnetic fields, Cosmic Rays and clouds etc etc etc), rather than relying on their lip service of +/- 0.1 % TSI in their climate models. They have handed over their (big) solar data-base. It’s been interesting to note none — absolutely none — of the MSM has reported this massive sea change. But, given the <sarcasm> education, and scientific nous exhibited by the likes of Nick Kilvert et al, why should we be surprised? </sarcasm> They couldn’t possibly understand. 😀

          Version 6.0 of the IPCC major opus is due out in 2022, so it’s going to be interesting to see if they are going to be anywhere nearer something which is actually accurate. Much work and effort is going into the climate models. (CIMP6 is still running too hot which the modellers are quite worried about.)

          By the time they do bring it out, Solar Cycle 25 will be well under way, the climate will no longer be hovering on the cusp but cooling and we will see what they come out with and can cheer or jeer depending on the results.

          40

          • #
            Binny Pegler

            ‘By the time they do bring it out, Solar Cycle 25 will be well under way, the climate will no longer be hovering on the cusp but cooling.’
            They know this is coming. Just one of the reasons for their increasing desperate push to get their taxes in place – So they can claim they worked, and actually cooled the planet.
            If they could have got those taxes through 10 or 20 years ago. We’d now be hearing how the planet is showing signs of cooling.

            10

            • #
              Graeme Bird

              Will they really need to worry? The number of people that know they are gypping us with skewed data is quite small. Most of us over 50. They can just wait it out for their medical wing to start stuffing such people with blood pressure pills to give them dementia. But even those of us who know that the data is no good are not supposed to say so in mixed company. Or even in unmixed company. There are word trip-wires here which condition us to use more polite words when speaking of the data we have. Words that might start with an f and end with a d.

              I am amazed at the blood pressure strategy. If your blood pressure is high thats your body telling you that there is some kind of circulation problem and so you need more pressure to keep the brain and liver healthy. Imagine giving blood pressure pills to a giraffe? If you were a psychopath, you could do this and watch the giraffes fall over one by one, and laugh and laugh and laugh until you yourself fell over. . We had this be campaign not long ago called “Blood pressure … the silent killer.” So silent indeed that it never killed anyone. Even if the root cause of the symptom may have. But you know. If you take an old guy, change the rules on him seven times, empty out his retirement account and kick him in the balls he might lose his temper. “Look over there. There is an old guy losing his cool. Quick get him some blood pressure pills.”

              So I don’t think the bigshots need to worry. Doesn’t matter how strongly the snow falls in the spring, they can keep these upward trends going forever. I’m amazed they don’t just draw the graphs freehand at this late stage.

              00

    • #
      Hasbeen

      I think Mann may have made incredible mistake of actually starting to believe his own propaganda.

      Poor man, there is no return from such stupidity.

      151

    • #
      truth

      If your Mann knows the truth, Simon…and is confident that he’s right….why was it necessary for his hypothesis right from the start to be fiercely protected from the tenets of the scientific method that has underpinned all the great science of the 20th and 21st centuries.

      If Mann is so unimpeachable why did the UK Institute of Physics…in their first scathing report to the UK House of Commons that commissioned it …say this and much more …after expressly including in its criticism not just CRU but the entire climate science cohort..

      [‘ There is also reason for concern at the intolerance to challenge displayed in the
      e-mails. This impedes the process of scientific ‘self correction’, which is vital to the integrity of the scientific process as a whole, and not just to the research itself. In that context, those CRU e-mails relating to the peer-review process suggest a need for a review of its adequacy and objectivity as practised in this field and its potential vulnerability to bias or manipulation’]

      The Commons made the IOP revise their report but it was still scathing…and finished with this…

      [ ‘A great responsibility rests on the shoulders of climate science: to provide the planet’s decision makers with the knowledge they need to secure our future. The challenge that this poses is extensive and some of these decisions risk our standard of living. When the prices to pay are so large, the knowledge on which these kinds of decisions are taken had better be right. The science must be irreproachable’ ]

      https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmsctech/387/38709.htm

      160

  • #
    Dennis

    So he will now fly to India and China and give them a lecture?

    sarc.

    300

    • #
      PeterS

      He won’t because he knows it’s not worth going to a country where it’s known CAGW is a scam and a hoax. People like him only go to places where there is a rich source of gullible people, such as here.

      330

      • #
        truth

        Absolutely…the High Priest himself is always in protection mode… arrives here to preach his voodoo and consult with our Australia-hating academics on the fine detail of their final suicide plan for OZ.

        You can bet your house on it that he won’t answer any questions he hasn’t first vetted for his veto.

        This hocus pocus of his was never meant to be open to scrutiny…just obedience….hence the bodyguard consensus….science closed.

        The High Priests’ blog Real Climate made that crystal clear years ago …so deeply insecure and authoritarian were/are they that any respectful pertinent question from a commenter perceived to be less than 100% sucked-in was met with abuse…name-calling…slimed as a ‘flat-earther’…’shill for big oil’…’creationist’…whatever…their next comment sent to The Bore Hole’…some of the comments arriving there, quite scholarly …by well-respected dissident scientists…but not the ‘right stuff’.

        Just watch Australia’s almost all LW journalists fawn and faint over the wonders of their Dark Lord’s manifesto.

        1984 was written to alert us about this mob.

        160

    • #
      WXcycles

      You don’t bite the hand that feeds you.

      110

      • #
        sophocles

        You don’t bite the hand that feeds you

        You just swallow it whole, without chewing and hope it doesn’t get caught up going down.

        10

    • #
      James Poulos

      Nah, probably just ask China to build new islands in the South Pacific for all those Tuvaluvans.

      110

      • #
        hatband

        Probably not much to do on Tuvalu, apart from fishing, going for a swim,

        eating, and working on your suntan.

        The place must be an absolute hellhole.

        60

  • #
    Reed Coray

    One can but hope that the UN climate conference in Madrid (“COP25”) was the last ditch effort to keep planetary warming below 1.5C. But alas, I feel the actual last ditch effort will occur only when the AGW money train jumps the tracks.

    170

    • #
      Dennis

      It started wobbling after the IPCC dismissed the Indian railway engineer driver-manager.

      120

      • #
        Greg in NZ

        Toot-toot!

        Wonder which fantasy gravy-train he’s riding THESE days.

        70

        • #
          Latus Dextro

          Didn’t he have a close call with prison for interfering with his pulchritudinous staff?

          50

        • #
          Sambar

          Another vanished report from News.com has it that the fallout from the fires has turned your snow fields brown, could you duck up and have a look for us? (snow cam views ). Meanwhile back here in the low part of the high country I have had to disconnect the smoke alarms as they keep going off. Visibility very low, tomorrow is shaping up as a shocker.

          80

          • #
            Hivemind

            Good luck with the fires in your area. Here in the Peoples Republic of Canberra, the government is very worried about tomorrow. Something about inadequate burn-offs in preparation. Cows coming home to roost, I think.

            80

            • #
              OriginalSteve

              I have this holarioys image of a cow landing on the roofof the ACT Chief Monsters house, and going through the roof….rather apt under the circumstances. Which reminds me…the chief monster is currently MIA and left the bouique to be minded by some lower level lackey…

              20

        • #
          sophocles

          Pachauri was charged sometime in 2016. Latest I could find was this https://www.gulf-times.com/story/610091/Former-UN-climate-chief-Pachuari-goes-on-trial dated October 2018. Indian courts seem to be very slow … either that or Pachauri has a superb lawyer … 🙁

          20

    • #
      Leo G

      Mann claimed to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the Australian PM “dropped a monkey wrench” into the Madrid talks and bears responsibility for triggering a climate tripping point:-
      The tipping point is playing out right now’ says renowned climate scientist Michael Mann | ABC News

      07

    • #
      John F. Hultquist

      The 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is expected to take place from 9-19 November 2020, in Glasgow, UK.

      20

  • #
    Dennis

    Australia that managed to achieve all of the Kyoto Agreement emissions targets, one of the few nations that did, and now on track to achieve the Paris Agreement emissions reduction target.

    But a new PM and Government he leads has declined from tipping more taxpayer’s monies into the IPCC gravy train’s begging bowl, and Minister Taylor recently questioned the value and effect of Emissions Trading Scheme wealth creation financial engineering tool.

    The smear file has been dusted off, AbbottAbbottAbbott replaced with MorrisonMorrisonMorrison.

    How dare he: talk about the need for new power stations and to secure baseload electricity supply, to not make unreliable energy a top priority, to want to construct new dams and to not force introduction of EV, and more.

    301

    • #
      george1st:)

      Crazy isn’t it that a Govt is criticised for fulfilling its international commitments and still trying to sustain its own economy .

      60

    • #
      Binny Pegler

      Some what ironically most of our Kyoto targets, are in the process of re-entering the atmosphere 🙂

      10

  • #
    Simon

    It is a fact that Australia’s refusal to negotiate on the treatment of Kyoto overhang credits was one of the main reasons why the Madrid talks failed.

    242

    • #
      Graeme No.3

      Simon:

      I would think that the main reason was the refusal of those countries with advanced economies (money) to donate to those who who wanted money (not necessarily the citizens of poorer countries).

      By the way, are you the replacement for Peter Fitzroy as Duty Troll?

      381

    • #
      Serp

      Anybody who thinks the abandonment of COP25 is a lamentable outcome should tell someone who cares say at The Conversation or The Guardian or The ABC; you’re wasting your time posting such sentiments here Simon.

      290

    • #
      Reed Coray

      Simon–If you’re right (and based on your past comments, that’s a big “if”), Way to go Australia!

      241

    • #
      David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

      Good.
      Dave B

      110

    • #
      Travis T. Jones

      “It is a fact that Australia’s refusal to negotiate on the treatment of Kyoto overhang credits was one of the main reasons why the Madrid talks failed.”

      That would account for the bushfires. Climate scientists explain …

      2009: Just 96 months to save world, says Prince Charles
      https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/just-96-months-to-save-world-says-prince-charles-1738049.html

      Science.

      190

    • #
      WXcycles

      It is a fact that Australia’s refusal to negotiate on the treatment of Kyoto overhang credits was one of the main reasons why the Madrid talks failed.

      Good

      180

    • #
      Dennis

      So credits earned are disallowed Simon.

      One of the few nations that achieved Kyoto emissions targets gets penalised for achievment, goal posts moved again.

      240

    • #
      AndyG55

      Yes, Australia has done a wonderful job helping to stall the totalitarian socialist control agenda espoused by the “climate change” farce.

      160

    • #
      Graeme Bird

      Wonderful if true. A blow for local sovereignty and therefore the potential efficacy of governance and therefore the potential for liberty.

      110

    • #
      GD

      Sigh. A new year, a new troll.

      100

      • #
        sophocles

        Sigh. A new year, a new troll.

        … probably because last year’s one:
        – was found out too quickly
        – was unable to make much traction
        – became very unpopular (did the thumbs down it collected ever exceed previous records? Must have come close!)

        Right: roll out the next model. This one must the S3 …

        10

    • #
      el gordo

      Simon, if true then Morrison and Taylor deserve our thanks.

      The Conversation thought Australia’s behaviour was ungallant, falling back on our carbon credits, but quite a few countries jumped on the bandwagon and the place was in uproar. Good effort by Angus Taylor

      Ultimately, those nations with the most to lose were ‘unwilling or unable to agree on stronger plans to curb their emissions.’

      100

      • #
        truth

        Morrison will have my vote El Gordo ….only…only … if he ends the juggernaut he’s got us on now…stops implementing the Turnbull/Labor/Photios policy that has as its ends an Australia out on a dangerous limb…alone…the only nation on earth without a reliable secure electricity system.

        We’re unlikely to keep many businesses here in Morrison’s Australia…let alone attract new investment.

        We’re unlikely to be able to keep our borders secure.

        Amid the chaos of insecurity at every level, a Labor government that’s likely to follow this one won’t make border security a priority…they’ll welcome the chance to divert scarce energy and funds elsewhere….and Morrison’s playing right into Labor’s hands.

        We can kiss goodbye to safety nets like PBS…Australian kids will just have to die if in need of the massively expensive lifesaving drugs.

        And that will be just the start of it in the 3rd world Australia Simon and his Mann and those bewitched by the warlock’s evil brew…plan for our children’s futures.

        90

    • #
      william x

      Simon, it is also a fact that China is not subject to emissions reductions until 2030.

      The UN classes that country as a developing nation.

      China as a country, is the largest emitter of CO2 in the world.

      The UN allows them to increase their CO2 emissions. They are busy building more coal fired power stations, in less than a year, than we have in this country.

      3 questions to you,

      If Human CO2 emissions is a cause, isn’t it an obligation of all countries to lower their emissions? Not just Australia.

      Why is China allowed to increase their CO2 output levels for the next 10 years, if Scientists and the UN have scientifically proved that climate change, due to humankind CO2 emissions, is a clear and present danger to this planet?

      Finally

      Have you bothered to send an email in protest to the Chinese Government?

      170

    • #
      truth

      Will people like you stop at nothing to sink Australia Simon?

      You must know that if Australia is to get no credit for doing more than most re Kyoto…then we should just do nothing that’s demanded of us by the poobahs of the EU/UN in the future. Cut the ties.It will never be enough!

      You…. and the entities to whom you are loyal… and it sure as eggs isn’t Australia…will never be satisfied unless Australia submits to being the sacrificial goat for your Global Socialism agenda…so we should get out of the Paris Accord right now.

      Why if not to betray Australia…do you demand Australia be the only first world country to commit suicide for your little Mann’s hoax?

      Why specifically do you want Australia to be the only nation on the face of the earth that’s crippled forever by being totally dependent on 100% weather-dependent intermittents…with zero baseload security…poverty-stricken…our sovereignty gone…with all our competitors…every one of them…. having multiple sources of baseload security forever?

      You’ve either lost your marbles over Marxism or you just want to kill Australia…either way ..you belong elsewhere….IMO.

      100

      • #
        OriginalSteve

        As they say…you vote your into Socialism, but have to shoot your way out of it.

        That day will come, if nothing changes.

        Presumably this is why successive left wing govts ( including Howard ) have embraced tge socialist policy of gun control.

        10

    • #
      hunter

      Simon, the inability to distinguish opinion from fact is one of the characteristics of a fanatic.

      20

      • #
        sophocles

        hunter said:

        Simon, the inability to distinguish opinion from fact is one of the characteristics of a fanatic.

        It’s not an inability, it’s a choice.
        (but that doesn’t change your overall point).

        00

  • #
    Samsbanned

    Simon says jump. Everybody jump.

    93

    • #
      PeterS

      No I refuse 🙂

      150

    • #
      Another Ian

      The question to that here is

      “WHY?”

      100

    • #
      Annie

      Simon says jump? No way!

      60

      • #
        Mack

        Simon is this jerk here…
        https://www.climateconversation.org.nz/2020/01/mike-kelly-cool-agile-under-bbc-4-climate-grilling/comment-page-1/#comment-1567548
        He’s a long established climate clown, [sh**] stirring troll, who probably finds he gets nowhere over at the NZ site so has decided to infest here.
        [It’s a little early for such strong language Mack] ED

        10

        • #
          Kalm Keith

          Mack, it’s always good to have extra contributors to the site like PF and Simon.

          Knowing they are here means that I can have a break from “contributing” and rest easy in the knowledge that they are supporting the web site.

          None of us is perfect, but where people like this post huge volumes of material which says absolutely nothing, and then descend into abuse: that’s too much.

          Their presence detracts from the blog after the first five posts and their treatment of the blog proprietor makes me feel that they just see the blog as a convenient telegraph pole.

          Any “contributor” who indicates that they follow the patterns of these two, and others, should be permanently blocked.

          KK

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        • #
          Mack

          Apologies for the strong language…. I’m probably upset because I’m pretty sure that “climate change” activists ( the ones gluing themselves to the streets) are behind this Eco terrorism. Such an early start in the season for these fires, when you couldn’t blame lightening strikes. Apparently about 200 people have been arrested… so there could be some co-ordination. These fanatics will stop at nothing to justify their AGW belief…. finally confirmed when I saw those cut fire hoses.

          20

  • #
    Travis T. Jones

    – Thank you fossil-fuelled carbon (sic) emissions ✔

    “After years studying the climate, my work has brought me to Sydney …”
    – Thank you fossil-fuelled carbon (sic) emissions ✔

    “Prior to beginning my sabbatical stay in Sydney, I took the opportunity this holiday season to vacation in Australia with my family.
    We went to see the Great Barrier Reef – one of the great wonders of this planet – while we still can.”

    – Thank you fossil-fuelled carbon (sic) emissions ✔

    “We also travelled to the Blue Mountains, another of Australia’s natural wonders, …”
    – Thank you fossil-fuelled carbon (sic) emissions ✔

    “The warming of our planet – and the changes in climate associated with it – are due to the fossil fuels we’re burning ..”

    ->> Who is this ‘we’ you speak of, Kemosahbe?

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    • #
      OriginalSteve

      Presumably he is sailing home?

      Hide the decline!!!!..

      Oops…sorry…no idea what came over me….

      He he

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  • #
    beowulf

    Speaking of the fauna and Australian beds burning and all that Midnight Oil stuff . . .

    Well done Greenies. Talk about shooting yourself (and everybody else) in both feet. As a lover of nature I am livid at the news below, as we all should be.

    Thanks to superb Green forest management dogma, in NSW alone it is estimated that 480 million animals have been killed by the bushfires thus far, excluding insects, bats and frogs.

    It makes destroying a few bird nests in spring in Gippsland rather pale into insignificance, doesn’t it?

    The University of Sydney academics explained how they made their sobering findings. The authors . . . said they used World Wild Fund estimates for mammal density in NSW, and calculated how it would extrapolate to bushfire-destroyed areas.
    “The authors deliberately employed highly conservative estimates in making their calculations,” the university said in a statement.
    “The true mortality is likely to be substantially higher than those estimated.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/animal-death-toll-most-likely-higher-than-480-million/ar-BBYz5fC?ocid=spartandhp

    Get the Greens and their idiot camp followers in academia, governments at all levels, and critical government departments, to hell out of our bushland and allow people who know what they are doing to once again manage our bush and forests, preferably before the practical knowledge of the older generation is lost.

    While we’re on the job, let’s get the bushfire bureaucrats out of fire-fighting. Give authority and independence back to the local district captains/deputies who know their fire grounds. Someone in a clean white shirt sitting in Sydney should not be telling fellas 300 miles away in sooty yellow overalls how to fight the fires they can see in front of them. The white-shirts should be there to provide coordination, crucial information and backup resources, not to remotely micro-manage, and especially not to micro-manage hazard reduction burns.

    The PM needs to strike while the iron is hot, get off his duff and do 3 things ASAP:
    • eliminate red/Green tape that stops adequate hazard reduction (apply as much pressure as necessary to get the state governments to play ball — crack a few heads if required)
    • give di Natale his royal commission with terms of reference set to blow wide open the Green agenda for years to come — cripple the Greens
    • ignore Michael Mann and his grubby ilk

    Let’s see if Morrison has the nous to use this opportunity to best advantage. Based on past and current performances I’m not holding my breath.

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    • #
      hatband

      NSW alone it is estimated that 480 million animals have been killed by the bushfires thus far, excluding insects, bats and frogs.

      Colour me sceptical on that figure.

      Eucalypt bushland isn’t noted for teeming with wildlife.

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      • #
        PeterS

        Do all those deaths mean we can meet the next lot of emissions reduction targets “in a canter”?

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      • #
        Latus Dextro

        SInce when did the World Wild Fund morph out of the WWF, the known big player Davos ideologue and globalist?

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      • #
        beowulf

        Yes I understand your scepticism of figures by “experts”. With 3.6 million hectares burnt in NSW that’s only 133 creatures/ha.

        Leave out the koalas, wallabies and wombats. That number is actually quite do-able when you consider all the lizards and birds and possums in 10,000m2.

        Even if it’s only say 30 creatures/ha that’s still 108,000,000 that are now ash.

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    • #
      sophocles

      Ooh: the unkindest cut of all:

      • ignore Michael Mann and his grubby ilk

      10

  • #
    a happy little debunker

    The Guardian has attacked a Volunteer Fire Fighter over his thoughts about climate change how it relates to the current bushfires.

    They are the climate cultists our former PM has decried.

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    • #
      PeterS

      He is 100% correct except for one major point. The climate change cult is limited only to Western nations. The rest of the world has long ago recognised it’s a cult and so building several hundreds more coal fired power stations.

      180

    • #
      Kalm Keith

      England has a bigger problem than the EEU.

      They have a cult running their media.

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      • #
        Latus Dextro

        KK #9.2 Don’t we all.
        Honestly, I’ve said it before. If we had the restoration of a critical thinking researching media, a media adherent to the Canons of Journalism, the entire globalist narrative, Trojan horses of climatism and safe-ism, religion of peace and borderless mayhem, hijab wearing virtue signallers, the Sadiq Khan’s of this World, the AOC’s, the Burisma Holding melange of deep swamp soup, the clamour for de-industrialisation, de-population, destitution, disease and despair, ALL THESE AND MORE would evaporate in days, snapping emptily back to nothing in particular, in a few weeks, a month or two. Oh and, the UN would surely find itself repurposed to core business in absurdly short order. The climajunket fests would be a dim embarrassing memory. Gremlin Greta would repair to life-long counselling and one day at a time.
        Talk about the Joy of Christmas, a ‘Reborn’ World. A sight to behold. Liberty, prosperity, hope and happiness once again.

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        • #
          PeterS

          You left out a lot of other useless drop kicks but the ones you listed is more than enough to bring down the West in a decade or two, unless of course the populace wake up. Fat chance of that happening.

          20

        • #
          Kalm Keith

          I don’t think you missed anything there, and the ending is full of hope.

          Well, we can dream.

          KK

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  • #
    Serp

    Cancel this pestiferous dirtbag’s visa and send him packing before the tiresome round of Q&A appearances begins please whoever the federal minister responsible be.

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  • #

    Quick move on from the previous post which was, let’s face it, complete tosh, by distracting with a crowd pleasing hand wringer.

    This blog is finding it so hard to sustain any scientifically based narrative that it is now piggy-backing on the bad science promulgated on other blogs and trash media.

    How is the “New Science” force N-D coming along? Everyone loves new science (as opposed to new information but noice to have science redefined)

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    • #
      • #
        OriginalSteve

        Tsk…clesrly when it gets to ad hom attacks it means we’re forging ahead, and your side is losing.

        Oh well…enjoy that…

        Alea Iacta Est.

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      • #

        Bushfires are getting to you GeeAye. Losing your cool?

        The squeeze is on isn’t it, as the nation wakes up to the true horrible cost of politically correct “science”. People have died, wildlife destroyed, tourism, industry, homes, livelihoods. Billions of dollars wasted that could have been used for health and education or to save the bats, birds and koalas. “Dang” eh?

        Prof Mann posts witchcraft in a major paper misleading thousands, but that’s OK for Gee Aye. But when Jo nova explains for free why it’s sorcery you have no defense for Mann but toss weak old distractors? Who has failed in his own words to “to sustain any scientifically based narrative”. It’s pro-jection…

        And since you asked: David’s work is progressing very well, extremely well, thank you. I notice you’ve had four years to find a mistake in his ND hypothesis, but nothing yet eh?

        And if it takes one man eight years to unravel the mess that 100 men created in decades, poor you. You could always fix their errors yourself…

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    • #
      AndyG55

      All your posts are complete tosh and irrelevant garbage, GA

      Why do you bother ???

      You know you have ZERO scientific narrative to support the “CO2 caused climate change” farce

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    • #
      AndyG55

      “bad science promulgated on other blogs and trash media.”

      You still reading SkS are you ?

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    • #
      PeterS

      Yet another pea-brain post ignoring all the real evidence posted here and in earlier threads. Open your eyes.

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      • #

        real evidence being the stuff you like ? Is there any real evidence that challenges your view or is it one way. If so you have your answer.

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        • #
          AndyG55

          Zero evidence, YET AGAIN, from the dried leaf…..

          Because he doesn’t understand what scientific evidence is.

          He has made it perfectly clear he is TOTALLY CLUELESS.

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        • #
          robert rosicka

          I’ve stopped looking for evidence when I found that the whole premise of CAGW is based on useless models that predict nothing factual .
          And I learnt to count to one .

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        • #
          PeterS

          The answers have already been posted on Jo’s website for a long time. I’m not going to repeat it all. I say again open your eyes, or else stop posting trash.

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        • #
          James Poulos

          And for the sake of Auld Lang Syne – bring back The Griss…

          50

        • #
          OriginalSteve

          Tsk tsk GA…you have zero evidence of CAGW and yet you persist

          2/10 – must try harder.

          10

    • #
      WXcycles

      Face it gee-aye, your crotch chaffs raw because the blog provides an educated balanced perspective, a sense of proportion and rationality thus quenches global greenie climate-hysteria daily.

      100

    • #
      James Poulos

      Hey Leaf, Happy New Year.

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      • #

        Happy new year to you too James and all your kin. I hope the climate is treating you well. Here the smoke comes in and the smoke doesn’t quite go away.

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        • #
          AndyG55

          Gee Aye now thinks CO2 causes smoke. So funny

          Do you have any evidence of anything, GA, or just continued mindless nonsense..

          No scientist, are you little leaf !

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        • #
          John F. Hultquist

          Rumor has it that Victoria had a large fire in early 1939, similar results as the current fires. Otway Forest, Wyelangta, Warrnambool district, and others all mentioned in news reports.
          I wonder if all that smoke did not go away?
          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_bushfires

          Point is that one of the best refutations of global warming as the cause of fires is historical reports.
          Here’s one in the western USA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_1910
          Note the date.
          Here’s another, one – 1950 – of the largest ever, but in Canada:
          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinchaga_fire

          . . . the single largest recorded fire in North American history.

          And for the record, I live in an area where fires are common, and the smoke always goes away.
          See: Taylor Bridge Fire
          . . . started by a red hot rivet from bridge construction.

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        • #
          James Poulos

          I’m near Goulburn, Leaf.

          Couldn’t see 20 metres on New Years Eve.

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          • #

            I flew into the ACT from the west (carbon offset of course) on NYD and the whole vista was disturbing. It was emotional and is an image that will stay with me. The passengers went very quiet.

            00

            • #
              AndyG55

              LOL, GA actually thinks paying a carbon offset does anything at all.

              Gullibility is your thing, GA. !

              20

            • #
              glen Michel

              My observations of people over the last decade or so indicate that they have a lack of life experience. They are naive and have little nous when they see something out of the ordinary. Gee aye,you fit the snowflake category.

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    • #
      Rereke Whakaaro

      “This blog is finding it so hard to sustain any scientifically based narrative that it is now piggy-backing on the bad science promulgated on other blogs and trash media”.

      Well, that depends on what you mean by, “scientifically based narrative”. A narrative, according to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, “tells a story”. A narrative does not require facts, or repeatable observations or experimentation. It only requires a scenario, and the development of ideas, that can exist without the presence of facts.

      Actually, now I think about it; “Narrative” quite nicely defines the fiction of climate science, in its current form.

      20

  • #
    Dennis

    Simple Simon met a pieman going to the conference fair,
    Simple Simon went to the pieman and said I hope no meat in there.

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  • #
    OriginalSteve

    Which is more dangerous – a huge bushfire or those pedalling eco slavery and lying through thier teeth?

    At least a fire is honest…

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    Graeme Bird

    I was shocked last year to find out, on some supposedly respectable leftist blogs, that people are still pretending to live in Michael Mann’s world. I mean obviously they cannot believe it. Or else they would have moved to a house, high up in the mountains of the South Island of New Zealand. But they still pretend to un-ironically belief that this cretin is a real scientist. When I was looking into this both sides were paralysed. The skeptics were too scared to ask questions. They were standing there like a bunny in the headlights. But now clearly the skeptical side has forged ahead.

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    OriginalSteve

    This is really funny….fires that appear caused by restricting hazard reduction burning, now the CAGW flunkies are now bemoaning the fact that the same fires produce CO2….

    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/bushfires-spew-two-thirds-of-national-carbon-emissions-in-one-season-20200102-p53oez.html

    “Talking points

    “Australia’s annual industrial emissions budget in 2018-19 was 532 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

    “This season’s bushfires, which have burnt through more than 5 million hectares across the country, are estimated to have released two-thirds of this amount – or about 350 million tonnes – of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere so far.

    “Until recently, Australia’s forests were thought to reabsorb all the carbon released in bushfires, meaning they achieved net zero emissions.
    But scientists say climate change, drought and escalating fires combined are reducing forests’ ability to reabsorb carbon.

    “Australia’s bushfires are believed to have spewed as much as two-thirds of the nation’s annual carbon dioxide emissions in just the past three months, with experts warning forests may take more than 100 years to absorb what’s been released so far this season.

    “Until recently, Australia’s forests were thought to reabsorb all the carbon released in bushfires, meaning they achieved net zero emissions, but scientists say climate change is making bushfires burn more intensely and frequently.

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    • #
      hatband

      .fires that appear caused by restricting hazard reduction burning, now the CAGW flunkies are now bemoaning the fact that the same fires produce CO2….

      So they’re being consistent with their thesis that CO2 changes the climate

      and increases the occurrence and intensity of floods and bushfires.

      Since floods and bushfires keep getting more intense, and happening more

      often, all they’e got to do is to keep pointing that out, and

      eventually,they’ll win.

      07

      • #
        OriginalSteve

        Youve completely missed the point….

        The eco loons stop hazard reduction burning, then they have the cheek to complain that thier own firey creation has realeased so much co2.

        Cant have it both ways old chum….

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        • #
          hatband

          I haven’t missed the point.

          Whether you do periodic control burns, or it all goes up later in a massive

          fire, CO2 is still released.

          Perhaps even more CO2 is released using Controlled burning than letting

          nature take it’s course.

          What i’m saying is that these people are being very consistent by

          repeating the message that burning Coal is the root cause of the problem,

          ceasing Coal burning is the answer, and ending Coal mining is the morally

          responsible course.

          017

          • #
            Kalm Keith

            Bizarre

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          • #
            OriginalSteve

            That is complete nonsense. Par excellence.

            Try this basic physics experiment….

            Pile up 1 kg of woods, ignite it, have a standard airflow of say 100 L/s. Measure temp from 1m away over time.

            Pile up 10 kg of woods, ignite it, have a standard airflow of say 100 L/s. Measure temp from 1m away over time.

            Question- which fire will be hotter?

            We also allow for the reality that the larger the fire due to larger fuel load, the combustion rate and therefore heat output will be much higher.

            This is also illustrated in heat output in boilers – thd higher the fuel feed rate, the higher the heat output.

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      • #
        Another Ian

        Can I expect that pulse of CO2 to remedy our current drought pronto or do I have to wait till it circles the globe?

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  • #
    OriginalSteve

    It must be Patricias day off…Somon has tag teamed with her by looks of things….

    50

  • #
    robert rosicka

    Michael Mann famous for –
    The discredited and much ridiculed hockey stick .
    Climate Gate .
    Slapping lawsuits on anyone who questions his version of science.
    Losing lawsuits.
    Being a Guru to the brainwashed who only need faith and not science to prove something .

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  • #
    Ken Davis

    Give a woman a hammer and every problem is a nail – give a Mann a hockey stick and every problem is climate change. Sorry for the bad dad joke – but I know a worse one – his name is Michael.

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    • #
      Graeme No.3

      Micky rose to fame,
      doing his favourite trick.
      He stuck a splinter in his thumb,
      and called it a hockey stick.

      20

  • #
    pat

    during a cricket break…turned on Sky Extra Ch604, for Uni of Sydney event – “who should govern environmental disasters”.
    first words I heard (4min in) were spoken by the Chair Prof from Sydney Uni (see below) who asked the question, adding “when there is a disaster in the White House, tweeting all day”.
    this passes for academia. the other bits I saw before switching channels, were so cliched, so boring, with the first speaker, a female Prof, mentioning how many bushfires were in NSW before she flew to China a week or so ago! stop coal, listen to Greta.

    am not recommending listening. checking for the reference to President Trump was bad enough – had to wade past colonialist/capitalist trash of the worst kind:

    AUDIO: 46m06s: Uni of Sydney: Who should govern environmental disasters, and how?
    Effective governance for extreme weather events
    Bushfires, hurricanes, life-threatening heatwaves and floods have ravaged our planet in recent years. There is a mounting pool of evidence that climate change, including global warming, is a major cause of these extreme weather events…
    This event was part of the Environmental Disasters Symposium (21-22 November), a collaboration between Sydney Social and Humanities Advanced Research Centre, Sydney Environment Institute and the University of Sydney Office of Global Engagement.
    Speakers
    Professor Linda Hancock, Deakin University
    Professor Susan Park, University of Sydney
    Postdoctoral Fellow Francisco Molina Camacho, CIGIDEN
    Chair: Professor Abbas El-Zein, University of Sydney
    https://sydney.edu.au/engage/events-sponsorships/sydney-ideas/2019/environment-disasters-governance.html

    meanwhile, the following has been repeated on community radio across the country this week. Jeremy is not a communicator. utterly boring.

    AUDIO: 43m32s: Brotherhood of St.Laurence: Brotherhood Talks: Climate Justice: the ethics and politics of responding to climate change
    Professor Jeremy Moss says the concept of justice needs to be front and centre of our efforts to reduce the harmful impacts of climate change. If we don’t, he says, we could make a very bad situation worse.
    To avoid dangerous climate change, the world must drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions. Social and economic changes to achieve that will be costly and disruptive. The choices we make will determine who benefits and who bears the burden.

    Jeremy Moss is a Professor of Political Philosophy and Co-Director of the Practical Justice Initiative at the University of New South Wales, where he leads the Climate Justice Research Program. He also chaired the UNESCO working group on Climate Ethics and Energy Security.
    He was keynote speaker at a public talk hosted by the Brotherhood of St Laurence Research and Policy Centre on 11 April 2019.
    https://www.bsl.org.au/media/podcasts-brotherhood-talks/climate-justice-the-ethics-and-politics-of-responding-to/

    UNSW: Jeremy Moss, Professor of Political Philosophy
    Professor Moss’s main research interests are in political philosophy and applied philosophy. Current research interests include projects on: climate justice, the ethics of renewable energy as well as the ethical issues associated with climate transitions. He is Co Director of the Practical Justice Initiative and leads the Climate Justice Research program at UNSW as part of the Practical Justice Initiative (PJI). Moss has published several books including: Reassessing Egalitarianism, Climate Change and Social Justice, and Climate Change and Justice (Cambridge University Press). He is the recipient of the Eureka Prize for Ethics, the Australasia Association of Philosophy Media Prize and several Australian Research Council Grants including most recently, Ethics, Responsibility and the Carbon Budget, with researchers from Adelaide, ANU and Oxford. He chaired the UNESCO working group on Climate Ethics and Energy Security, and has been a visitor at Oxford, Milan and McGill universities. Recent publications include: ‘The Morality of Divestment’, Law and Policy, July 2017; ‘Mining and Morality’, Australian Journal of Political Science, Vol 51 No 3, 2016; ‘Going It Alone: Cities and States for Climate Action’, Ethics, Policy and Environment’, 12/2/18.
    https://www.arts.unsw.edu.au/our-people/jeremy-moss

    Michael Mann is probably feeling right at home in Australia.

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    • #
      pat

      should have added, during an earlier cricket break, Sky UK’s Press Review ended with 2 “bright” young journos discussing The Guardian’s latest front page on the Aussie bushfires.

      what did I learn (and the Brits hear)?
      we have a govt that has done nothing about CAGW, we could green the economy, end coal, stop the climate denial.

      40

      • #
        OriginalSteve

        And when peopl sneeze, rainbows come out yhiet nostrils….

        Seriously, the CAGW crew are like dealing with wide-eyed gullible children….

        30

  • #
    Travis T. Jones

    If carbon (sic) emissions simultaneously cause extreme cold in the northern hemisphere winter, and extreme bushfires in the southern hemisphere summer, how do you know when it is fixed?

    January, 2018: World-renowned climate scientist Dr. Michael Mann explains why the bitter cold and snowy conditions gripping the US are “an example of precisely the sort of extreme winter weather we expect because of [global warming].”

    https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/perfect-storm-extreme-winter-weather-bitter-cold-and-climate-change

    January 2020, Mann: “Take record heat, combine it with unprecedented drought in already dry regions and you get unprecedented bushfires like the ones engulfing the Blue Mountains and spreading across the continent.
    It’s not complicated.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/02/australia-your-country-is-burning-dangerous-climate-change-is-here-with-you-now

    How does carbon (sic) do that?
    They say it’s not complicated.

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    • #
      Another Ian

      Travis

      “If carbon (sic) emissions simultaneously cause extreme cold in the northern hemisphere winter, and extreme bushfires in the southern hemisphere summer, how do you know when it is fixed?”

      When we get extreme bushfires in the extreme cold of the northern hemisphere winter? (/s)

      40

    • #
      Ken Davis

      Its a bit like the socialist agenda – equality of outcome. When the temperatures are the same all over the globe, all year round, then utopia has arrived. Until then – we must pay more tax to support the heroic efforts of those selfless apparatchiks working to save us from the evil old cisgender straight white climate patriarchy.

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  • #
    Deano

    Suppose Professor Mann is right. This would mean that by shutting down our coal mining industry we would see a drastic reduction in bush fires within a few years with NO other changes to fire control policy. That’s how ridiculous his argument is.

    But we wouldn’t be hearing anything from the professor – because with a wrecked economy, luxuries like professors and universities wouldn’t exist.

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  • #
    robert rosicka

    OT but did anyone just see the sky news weather map ? 76 port Lincoln, 56 Canberra etc and the poor host believed it .

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  • #
    pat

    h/t Chris Smith show/Sky:

    2 Jan: Guardian: Australian bushfire crisis: global figures and media react to ‘climate emergency’
    ***Hillary Clinton, Greta Thunberg and Bernie Sanders among those responding to Australia’s unprecedented fires
    by Eleanor Ainge Roy
    Former US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton said the fires – which began during Australia’s hottest ever year – left no room to question the effects of climate change.
    “With Australia on fire and the Arctic in meltdown, it’s clear we’re in a climate emergency,” Clinton said, going on to detail her support for the Earthshot prize, described by Sir David Attenborough as “the most prestigious environment prize in history”.

    Bernie Sanders, in the race to become the Democrats’ US presidential nominee, said the scenes in Australia would become “increasingly common around the world” and issued a call to action…
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/02/australian-bushfire-crisis-global-figures-and-media-react-to-climate-emergency

    ***would that be the Hillary Clinton who funded the fake Russian dossier that was used to spy on the Trump campaign, interfere in the 2016 election, overthrow the President, etc etc, and for which she has still not been held accountable for?

    2 Jan: Breitbart: Hillary Clinton Named Chancellor of Belfast University
    London (AFP) – Former US secretary of state and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was appointed Thursday as the new chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast.
    Clinton will serve for five years in the largely ceremonial role, the Northern Irish institution announced.
    “It is a great privilege to become the chancellor of Queen’s University, a place I have great fondness for and have grown a strong relationship with over the years,” Clinton said in a statement.
    “The university is making waves internationally for its research and impact and I am proud to be an ambassador and help grow its reputation for excellence.”…

    Clinton received an honorary doctorate from Queen’s in October 2018.
    “Secretary Clinton has made a considerable contribution to Northern Ireland and as an internationally-recognised leader will be an incredible advocate for Queen’s and an inspirational role model for the Queen’s community,” said Stephen Prenter, who chairs the university’s governing body.
    The chancellor’s duties involve presiding at degree awarding ceremonies, representing Queen’s in an ambassadorial role and advising the university’s executive
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/01/02/hillary-clinton-named-chancellor-of-belfast-university/

    that’s Michael Mann’s type of academia.

    50

  • #
    Athelstan.

    It’s an utterly crass intervention playing on this disaster for invidious, personal PR purpose and from a bloke who is a noted bodger of statistical analyses and thus a charlatan – in very self regarding alarmist fruitcake.

    What is needed, in the interim ARE some cool heads, give all the help possible to the lads fighting these fires and pray for some rain.

    Ascribing this awful calamity to some chimeric supposition is tantamount to a version of postmodernist sorcery, ain’t they all witches hubblin’ and burblin’ to stirring the cauldron?

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    • #
      Deano

      The idea that all these fires are all the result of CO2 rises reminds me of the Python movie about the holy grail when King Arthur says “This new learning amazes me, Sir Bedevere. Explain again how sheep’s bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes.”

      We can laugh when it’s a movie but it’s sad to see similar scientific rigor being taken seriously when lives are being lost.

      60

  • #
    Nezysquared

    Perhaps it’s time we tagged the greens with an appropriate monicker. I’m using Koala Killers at the moment but any other suggestions welcome. Hopefully it will stick at the next state / federal election….

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    • #
      Kalm Keith

      Great idea.

      Unfortunately in our area the bomb fire of 2013 killed a lot of feral rabbits/hares along with the indigenous wildlife. They may claim removing the ferals and lantana and bitou as a positive but they’re probably all back.

      KK

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    • #
      Graeme Bird

      Yeah I think this is a work in progress. Might we lock in the last several weeks of history as “The dumb-leftist fires of 2019.” I put this phrase down only as something to be re-written and improved upon. I wasn’t even paying much attention to fuel reduction obstruction in the past. But I have noticed on leftist blogs you cannot get them to accept any action at all. They always want to turn it back to energy-deprivation. Ask them the question “Do you want more fuel reduction, less fuel reduction or no fuel reduction at all?” Its unbelievable how hard it is to get a straight answer from these people to such a simple question.

      Of course there is many reasons why someone becomes the 1984 Immanuel Goldstein of a blog and some of them valid. But they are going to identify their own Goldstein SO FAST if anyone shows up and actually starts talking about real solutions. Bloody solutions. They’ll be waiting for that caper. No solutions allowed. Man. They sure take a no-nonsense approach to solutions these lefties. You often think that such people are hard-wired to spend taxpayer funds no matter what. No no. No Sirree. Not where SOLUTIONS are concerned. Hell no. “Not on my watch.” The number of alarm bells you can set off with this kind of solutions troll-talk. Clearly just asking for trouble.

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        Graeme No.3

        We are still a democracy so why shouldn’t they get their solutions? What we need is lots of money to get there, so an annual levy (starting at $1,000 but rising to supply the funds) on every one who wants those solutions.

        It should, of course, be voluntary.

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        OriginalSteve

        We should send them down to the south coast to talk to the traumatized and seriously angry locals…they would be severely taken to task…

        The lefty greenies in councils have apparently blocked and obstructed a lot of practical bush fire fuel management.

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    Anthony

    Long time fan ,first time comment. 8pm on 3 Jan 2020 the following is on vic gov site
    Within the Alpine and Greater Gippsland Bushfire Risk Landscape, residual risk is currently at around 52%.

    Residual risk fell sharply following major bushfires in the early 1980s. As fuels slowly re-accumulated, residual risk increased.

    Residual risk fell again in 2003 and 2006/07 following the significant bushfires in the Alpine areas. Planned burning kept residual risk down to historically low levels in the years following these bushfires, but risk has been increasing in recent years as fuels re-accumulate in bushfire-affected areas.

    Implementation of the risk-based fuel management strategy on public land is projected to keep residual risk well below the levels that existed prior to the 2003 and 2006/07 bushfires. Without planned burning, residual risk would increase to around 74% by 2021.
    https://www.safertogether.vic.gov.au/landscapes/alpine-and-greater-gippsland
    And these are the socialist idiots in charge !

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      David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

      Thanks Anthony
      The term “residual risk” is new to me, apparently not used in NSW. Probably too intimidating for NSW warmists. Does Vic have a target value above which they actually do something? And is it a single value for the state or does each area get its own?
      Cheers
      Dave B

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    Graeme Bird

    Here is some information on taking a dry place and manipulating the land so that there is water everywhere. No need to watch the whole thing. Just the first thirty minutes will show you what is possible. Clearly the capacity to do this has implications for fire control. More generally this water retention landscapes solution to our problems (droughts, floods, fires, untapped economic potential) falls through the political divides. Libertarians aren’t interested on libertarian grounds. The left don’t like it because it doesn’t afford them the opportunity to whine about something they are calling “climate change” and keep proving they cannot speak English.

    I think communist catalytic programs are justified. So long as they are not straight subsidies, are low-key and very patient. The daily cash allowance can be increased if you have a crack team of highly skilled zealots with proven productivity. With long lead times involving only small daily cash allowances it ought to be possible to have high productivity. Simply on the grounds that if low productivity persists you have set it up that the daily cash flow slowly diminishes again.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N4ftMi_I1I&t=2211s

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      Graeme Bird

      Lets chop it down to 5 seconds flat. Here is some before and after photos of what can be achieved in a very dry climate.

      https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/See1_in_Tamera_-_Foto_Simon_du_Vinage.jpg

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        Serp

        That’s better; “a picture’s worth a thousand words” whereas a youtube video is an invitation to die of boredom.

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        Graeme Bird

        Its important as our no-banker-left-behind system has been a failure when it comes to agriculture. Typically bankers will loan huge amounts of cheap credit for the acquisition of land but will turn usurious and nasty when it comes to loans for improvement of land. So multiple billions will be turned over, and land will keep changing hands over the decades, without much in the way of land improvement. Hence you have this ridiculous situation where we have all this earth-moving equipment yet we haven’t been able to achieve the kind of shaping and terracing of the land that the ancient Peruvians were able to do. As a consequence new farmers tend to start off semi-paralysed from the start, and are usually on the brink of becoming welfare recipients. The welfare comes after floods, droughts or fires but its usually droughts. Water retention landscapes are the cure for both floods and droughts and would be helpful with dealing with fires as well. Usually the best these guys can manage is a dam or two to pump water to the house and to the animals which is not really hydrating the land but just making some water more available. So we are talking about one more aid program for the farmers. As opposed to continual bailouts.

        I would say zero interest loans for any land hydration schemes. But the problem is that any kind of aid programs tend to inflate the price of land. So a quid quo pro could be that the bigger land owners who wanted to get hold of that sort of aid might have to offload some of their land onto the market.

        The key things are that water ought to be sent under the ground. You can have plenty of grasses but you want to have enough trees to have a contiguous mycelial (fungal) network. Fungi are oxygen breathers. They take any cellulose or sugar that they find underground, they will suck in oxygen and turn that cellulose or sugar into a great deal more water, and water that won’t be evaporated, being that its underground. Whatever explanations one has for how these techniques work, this land hydration system seems to work magically well. In the long way tricking out the land to retain and create more water would save us, and make us, a great deal of money. And it would be effective in any hilly area at the very least.

        Low budget communist undertakings with similar goals could be started on public lands. I was watching a fireman talking about the long turn-around times when it comes to filling up the fire-trucks. Really you want access to water everywhere. On leftist sites there is a lot of ass-covering going on with regards to fuel reduction. They way overstate the case I am trying to make here. They try and say that the fuel reduction is ineffective because dry stressed trees will burn easily, even where there has been pre-emptive burning. Thats not an excuse to skimp on fuel reduction as they are trying to make it out to be. But there is some truth to this story. Of course they want the implication to be that we need to practice energy deprivation, so when I respond to this objection with land hydration suggestions, thats the last you’ll see of me on that leftist site under that name.

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          sophocles

          There is one big problem with implementing that in Australia: there’s not enough rain.
          There almost never is.

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            Graeme Bird

            The place in Portugal was also a dry place. This is why we use these techniques. We use them to hydrate dry places.

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    pat

    headline on ABC “Just In”:

    ‘I’ve got a nine-year-old son who’s never seen green grass’: Qld’s low rainfall figures
    QLD Country Hour By Lydia Burton, Arlie Felton-Taylor, Megan Hughes and Maddelin McCosker
    ***Some Queensland farmers say they have just recorded their lowest rainfall in 113 years…

    ***”some” appears to be one, Will Roberts:

    3 Jan: ABC: Rainfall figures lowest in 113 years for some Queensland farmers, desperate to diversify and keep going
    Country Hour By Lydia Burton, Arlie Felton-Taylor, Megan Hughes and Maddelin McCosker
    Dirranbandi farmer Martin Sullivan: “We haven’t had a crop since 2016 … and as far as the grass goes, I’ve got a nine-year-old son who’s never seen green grass.”…

    Worst rainfall in 113 years
    Will Roberts runs a merino stud and a commercial cattle herd on his property ‘Victoria Downs’ near Morven in western Queensland.
    He said 2019 recorded the worst rainfall total in 113 years.

    “For 2019 we had 174.7mm, which is our lowest rainfall since 1906,” he said”We’re in 21 inch [525mm] rainfall country and we haven’t had it for a long time.
    “Our last good rain was in 2016 when we had 647mm, and then in 2017 we had a record low which was 214mm. 2018 was lower again at 187mm, so it’s been quite an extraordinary run of very low rainfall events.”…
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2020-01-03/lowest-rainfall-in-queensland-for-113-years/11837418

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      pat

      well, at least some children got to see snow:

      2 Jan: 660CityNews: Year in Review: A record-breaking September snowfall
      by Kayla Butler and Jared Launchbury; with files from Canadian Press
      CALGARY – A brutally early arrival of winter-like conditions–Calgary was blanketed by a record-breaking storm in late September.
      The first flakes fell on the evening of Friday, Sept. 27 and by the time the storm moved on four days later, 32 centimetres of snow fell, including 25 centimetres on that Sunday.

      It’s the second highest single-day September snowfall ever for the city of Calgary – and the most in 65 years.
      The snow left many in awe.
      “Mother Nature – she doesn’t read rules books,” said one man in the core…

      Calgary didn’t even experience the worst of the storm – just ask our weather specialist Michelle Yi.
      “South and southwest of us really got hit. Lethbridge got almost 55 centimetres. Water got 70-plus,” said Yi.
      The storm affected harvests here and across the prairies as it made it way towards Manitoba on Thanksgiving weekend, causing several states of emergency and more record snowfall there.
      Thirty-four centimetres of snow was recorded over two days in Winnipeg – the highest October total for the city since records began in 1872.

      The wild winter weather made Environment Canada’s top 10 weather stories of the year.
      https://www.660citynews.com/2020/01/02/year-in-review-a-record-breaking-september-snowfall/

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        Environment Skeptic

        “well, at least some children got to see snow:”

        And will they ever get to see weed free Australian vegetation?

        From decades of observations, and at least one decade of establishing native grasses and other Australian native flora in my front yard, it is clear to me that these are ‘BurnProof’ and living proof that Australian grasses remain perfectly green all year round, and so intense fires are the result of weed species. Dangerously fast growing. The fires are a signal to perform follow up weeding. Lantana, blackberry bushes 10 meters high, out of control lawn grass, introduced perennial grasses and so on. Easy to control after a fire. All that is needed is the ‘BurnProof Army’. 🙂

        Follow up weeding after a fire are a must that must be taken advantage of if we are to avoid becoming a land of highly inflammable weeds.

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      Environment Skeptic

      Takes years to establish a healthy Australian Kangaroo Grass tussock that does not need watering for example.

      However, as long as they are not subjected to repeated grazing, they can recover. If overgrazing occurs, they are not able to survive and so this allows fast growing, ultra highly inflammable weed grasses to predominate.

      A good example of Australian grass that is green all year round is Microlaena Stipoides amongst many others. Unlike Lawn grass, it is green all year round, in extremely dry conditions. The trade off is that is slow growing. Unlike the fire hazard weed grasses.

      “Microlaena is a genus of grass with a single species Microlaena stipoides or Ehrharta stipoides. It occurs naturally in all states of Australia as well as in New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and the Philippines. Wikipedia

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    pat

    open access – full of nonsense, but at least a brief mention of traditional fire management techniques eventually!

    3 Jan: UK Telegraph: Australia is burning – but why are the bushfires so bad?
    By Sarah Newey
    But in the long term, experts have said that there should be a review of building standards in bushfire zones to create resilient homes and larger buffer zones between the bush and properties.
    There have also been calls for emphasis on traditional fire management techniques used by Indigenous communities and a paid fire service less reliant on volunteers…

    Domestically, the government also has a poor record tackling climate…
    What about the government’s relationship with coal?
    Australia is also the world’s largest exporter of coal and liquefied natural gas and the coal lobby holds significant sway over national politics.
    But Mr Morrison has denounced calls to downsize Australia’s profitable coal industry…
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/climate-and-people/australia-burning-bushfires-bad/

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      Environment Skeptic

      …..”but why are the bushfires so bad?”

      As i have already pointed out in part the fires are so bad because they are mainly the result of perennial weed species and so Australia is becoming a gigantic super-continent of highly inflammable fast growing weed species….and highly inflammable juvenile plantation forests dependent on squillions of tons of herbicide to destroy the undergrowth….fire managemnet on steroids.

      Simple

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    pat

    3 Jan: ClimateNewsNetwork: Atlantic current could falter before 2100
    by Tim Radford
    LONDON: European scientists think they have settled one of the more alarming questions of the climate crisis: the potential collapse of the Atlantic current, the Gulf Stream that delivers heat from the tropics to the Arctic.

    The answer is clear. Total collapse is not likely for another ***1000 years. But there is roughly a one in six chance in the next century that the flow of the north Atlantic current may temporarily halt or falter because of climate change…
    https://climatenewsnetwork.net/atlantic-current-could-falter-before-2100/

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      Graeme Bird

      Sure is funny how the Gulf Stream could get so fragile all of a sudden. In the old days to stop the Gulf Stream, a super-large ice berg would have to break off at Hudson Bay, and land right on top of it. This wold halt the Gulf Stream and stop us from climbing out of the glacial period. Now it just takes a few dumb left science-workers and bad journalism to imperil longstanding natural processes.

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    Hivemind

    Not meaning to be pedantic, but why are we calling them “wildfires”? They are bushfires in Australia, because the things that are burning are bushes.

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    Roy Hogue

    If my name was Michael Mann and I had his reputation hanging around my neck I would, at the bare minimum stay silent. I would put a paper bag over my head when going out in public lest I be recognized.

    In short, I would have a sense of shame, something Michael Mann appears to lack.

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      Graeme Bird

      He will be a social lion in many circles. The capacity to talk nonsense and keep a straight face is highly valued in some networks.

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        Roy Hogue

        Social lion and science disgrace all in the same person. Maybe we should give him a gold star for contradiction of the century.

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    Crakar24

    I saw that fat phuc on tv as i was preparing to evacuate……tbe funny t6bing is the biggest thing that pisses my wife off the most about the whole scam is that i was right, she loves me she really does lol

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    Rod King

    Unprecedented?

    Black Thursday 1851, 5 million hectares burnt.
    Red Tuesday 1898, 12 people killed, 2,000 buildings destroyed, 260,000 hectares burnt.
    Black Sunday 1926, 60 people killed, 1,000 buildings destroyed.
    Black Friday 1939, 71 people killed, 650 buildings destroyed, 2 million hectares burnt.
    WW2 Bushfires 1943/44, 51 people killed, 650 buildings destroyed.
    Ash Wednesday, 1983, 75 people killed, 3,700 buildings destroyed, 1.2 million hectares burnt (Vic and SA).
    Eastern Victorian Bushfires, 1.2 million hectares burnt.
    Eastern Victorian Great Divide Bushfires 2006/07, 51 homes destroyed, 1.2 million hectares burnt.
    Black Saturday Bushfires 2009, 175 people killed,3,500 buildings destroyed, 450,000 hectares burnt.

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