Merry Christmas to you and your family Jo. Hopefully all the other Santas out there will find their way to your ‘Tip Jar’ and leave a well earned present: http://joannenova.com.au/about/donations/
You have definitely been naughty to the global warming alarmists which means nice to the world of real science. You deserve to be rewarded for your incredible efforts made so consistently over such a long period of time.
Well done and may you be able to keep up this vital work in 2014.
I want to thank most of the contributors to this blog. Over the last couple of years I have learned what science is and how it works as well as a tremendous amount of physics, engineering and climate science.
You should all be proud of your well thought out and crafted contributions!
Joanne, I don’t know how you do it; but however you do it, keep up the good work. A very merry Christmas to all, but especially to you and David Evans.
Yep , it’s been a very good year for rationalists. I think we can look forward to next year and the death throes of the AGW monster. Nothing like a bit of biffo to keep the circulation going.
Have a good one everybody (that includes the “Michael”).
Love the cat, Jo. Reminds me of ours when they were kittens — curious and eager to explore their world. And just as eager to get into trouble. One is gone now and the other is 14 years old but she still likes to get into trouble.
The 25th of December 1642 date that many use is based on the Julian calendar, not the Gregorian calendar we use today. However, England and its colonies switched from the Julian to Gregorian system later in 1752. So at the time and place he was born it was officially 25th December and so was born on Christmas day as it was celebrated at the time. When converted to the Gregorian system in use today it would have been 4th January 1643. Also, he was a devout but some would say unorthodox Christian so it’s very possible he would have said Merry Christmas anyway.
Yes indeed they rioted. They also rioted because some Protestants viewed the Gregorian calendar as a Catholic plot to overthrow England’s rule. After all, the Gregorian calendar was first introduced in mostly Catholic dominated places some 200 years earlier given it was initiated by the Roman Catholic Church. Interesting to note the Easter Orthodoxy dominated nations made the switch fairly recently with Greece in 1923. They persisted longer than UK as the Greek Orthodox Church had an even greater disdain of the RCs thanks to the East–West Schism many centuries prior. There are still some dissenters to this day in Greece who still follow the Julian system.
Best wishes to everyone and thanks to Jo, David and family. Let’s hope for a better 2014 even if we have to wait until July to get rid of Labor’s imbicillic co2 tax.
I’ve got some relatives a motion-activated guard frog that will croak in the dark. Hopefully it will keep the cats away from food items left on the table top at night.
Merry Christmas Jo and David (from a non-Christian who has no problem recognising, and enjoying, all peaceful festivals).
I admire the energy, dedication and intellect you put into this blog. I hope you have enough left for 2014.
Happy 2014 to you, and to my fellow readers.
I notice that Gore says he’s started The Climate Reality Project. Perhaps, just maybe a tiny little bit, with a new emphasis on reality he’ll be more reasonable? 😉
I don’t understand why some people would rather go down with the ship, standing stoically on the bridge like Captain Smith on the Titanic as the waves take them down, when they could admit their mistake and get on with a real life. Gore and Obama — two peas in a pod in that regard. Why is it that such small men always try to be the such big men when they have so little chance of pulling it off?
Perhaps it’s because they still think they can pull it off. Only time will tell if they fail or not. Of course we all hope they will fail but don’t be so certain they will just yet. One way to tell when they have failed is when they are on the next scam. That hasn’t happened as yet. Another way to tell is when sites like Jo’s are no longer needed. That is certainly not the case now.
I understand your point but I think both Gore and Obama will remain small, constricted little men no matter what their outward appearance of success may be. It’s a matter of the substance behind what they do. And there’s none of the right substance there.
The Goracle means “reality” purely in the Orwellian sense of the word, where he and his brethren alone define the reality.
They are pathological, dangerous, nasty, narcissistic and genocidal. And that is just their good points. They live in hope of thwarting the modest aspirations of 95% of the planet, while they live the grandiose life of Reilly on the proceeds of their ill-gotten gains, milking the public purse in a bald-faced theft of unprecedented proportions on a plethora of failed predictions and alarmist diatribes warning of either non-existent or spurious mooted calamities. That people like Michael the Realist or John Brookes actually acquiesce and defer to such a flagrant egomaniac making himself into a trillionaire by preaching the gospel of global warming, while living such an apposite lifestyle to that he professes is necessary to save the planet, is the most perplexing aspect of this whole scam for me personally.
So, at Christmas, when charity and goodwill to your fellow man is meant to be the order of the day, I leave it to the alarmists to contemplate the meaning of those sentiments, and to contrast that to the callous indifference to suffering and poverty that their alarmism, whether they like to acknowledge it or not, has increasingly been shown to be founded upon. 2014 seems likely to see the death knell of this anti-human cult, and my Christmas wish is for all those little boys and girls who have been greedy and trying to take all the presents for themselves get exactly what’s coming to them.
Merry Christmas to one of only a very few blogs that understands what the term science means. Thanks for keeping rationality present in public discourse that is dominated by cult scams and self-interested conmen and women. Great work against appalling opposition.
A happy and joyful Christmas to Joanne, David and family, and to ALL the people who contribute here with their Comments, because this site is where I learn so much ….. about Science, and about people in general.
For those of you who are young enough, on this day especially, put yourself in a place where you can see the faces of your children on this day, and for others, your grand children.
This is a day for family, because, after all, Christmas started with a family.
One of my presents was a gift voucher for a book shop, so, that gives me my joy.
I’m between novels now, and luckily I have a large selection on my book shelf to choose from while waiting for something new, so this time, I’m re-reading Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff, originally read in the late 80’s, so it’s been a while.
For insight into what makes an Astronaut, you can’t go past this wonderful book. Wolfe was given access to all 7 of the original Mercury Astronauts, and this book is the result. The movie was good, even at three and a quarter hours, but the book contains so much more, especially about the best of the best, Charles E Yaeger, (Chuck) and even with some stuff about his arch rival, Scott Crossfield, highlighting the typical Air Force/Navy rivalry.
Yaeger missed out on becoming an astronaut because the Government wanted officers with college degrees, and Chuck rose up through the ranks with only a high school education. Incidentally, BrigGen (one Star) Yaeger was also a movie star (loosely speaking) as he played Fred the barman at Pancho’s Place, the bar in the desert at Muroc (now known as Edwards) in the movie The Right Stuff.
In 1947, Yaeger was the first man to break the sound barrier in the Bell X1, and as part of the 65th anniversary of that feat in 2012, Yaeger did it again in an F15D ….. at the age of 89. He’s still alive today. He retired from the USAF in ’75 after serving for 34 years, and remained a test pilot for a further 30 years.
If you want to find out about men who did indeed have the right stuff, get the book, because a novel is really just a movie in your mind, only much longer lasting.
Tony,
I live in central Washington State. Last evening a big wind went through and then just before midnight it passed by. Here’s what happened (12/18 to now):
Figure 3, page 4, shows the annual energy in the Pacific Northwest by fuel from 1961 until 2011.
Natural gas came on in the late 1970s but shows a leap in about 2000, then more in the last couple of years of the chart.
Wind started in about 2000 and has grown just large enough to become a problem. The river system is managed for the fish resource also and goals seldom match.
Hydro is the main energy but cannot be expanded much to be a backup for that increasing wind input. With coal and nuclear sort-of on hold the use of gas is ramping up even though the region does not have that as a big resource.
Anyway, there are a couple of coal plants and an increasing co-generation and gas input.
Scroll down from the original chart in 26.1 to see a list and note the company names that involve wood products & paper, and landfills. Centralia and Boardman use coal.
Admitted, this information is 18 Months old, but note specifically how (almost expected) wind power is hyped. (see page 6)
They use the old stand by which makes wind power seem to be contributing, using Nameplate Capacity only. Here you see (right scale, red line) Capacity at 4GW, or 4000MW.
For actual supply, that would be closer to 30% (maximum) so that immediately takes it down to only 1.2GW of actual power supplied, with reference to Nameplate Capacity.
That means that, similar to the U.S. overall total when it comes to power actually being generated for consumption, then wind power barely manages 3% of the total power delivered.
It’s hyped to make it look good when it really isn’t at all.
Thermal energy is the use of any fuel which boils water to high temperature high pressure steam, and then the steam drives the turbine which drives the generator.
So, it is traditionally used for coal fired power, but can be Combined Cycle Gas Turbine where the second function uses the exhaust from the Natural gas fired turbine to boil water to steam etc.
It could also be used for Concentrating solar where the focussed sunlight is used to make a compound molten and this molten compound then boils water to steam etc.
It could also be loosely applied to Nuclear power generation, both the original methods PWR and BWR, where the nuclear reaction boils water to steam etc, except PWR uses a second function.
Anything really which uses steam to drive the turbine etc.
Traditionally though, Thermal Power is most often applied to coal fired power generation.
Chuck Yaeger is a very remarkable man in his own right. If you haven’t read his autobiography I recommend it wholeheartedly. Unfortunately I can’t find my copy and I don’t remember the title (a senior moment as my wife all too often says).
The right stuff hardly suffices to describe what these men had going for them.
Quote: “The true scientist does not say, “I believe”: but he ought, if there is any curiosity and awe in his soul, to say “I wonder …”.
Those two words are the foundation of all genuine scientific enquiry.” Monckton of Brenchly
Good morning Jo, David and loved ones, have a good day today. Blog readers are reminded that goodwill to all is still an aspiration yet to be acheived in this world. Let’s see if the human race can improve next year
happy christmas, jo & family, mods, & all who keep up the fight against dogmatic CAGW science. u r an inspiration, jo:
libertarian-minded review-journal, the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada, says it all:
23 Dec: Las Vegas Review Journal Editorial: Global warming on ice
The arrogance required to boldly predict anything that could happen on this planet — whether it’s in five years, 20 years, 100 years or more — is laughable.
The alarmism is less about “preventing” climate change than it is about raising gobs of money, which countless groups then use to push their agenda: to ratchet back first-world economies and living standards by making energy much more expensive and much less available.
Sure, there’s climate change. We like to call it “weather.” Enough with the hysteria. Stay cool, Mr. Claus. http://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/editorial-global-warming-ice
the CAGW extreme:
23 Dec: InTheCapital, Washington DC: Anthony Sodd: This Is What DC Will Look Like If Sea Levels Rise [PHOTOS]
If global warming continues unabated and every glacier in Antarctica and Greenland were to melt, it would raise the global sea levels by as much as 80 meters — about 260 feet higher than today’s sea level. Without context, those numbers don’t mean much. Luckily, a deep-sea biologist named Andrew Thaler created some illustrations of what some of America’s largest cities would look like under various climate change scenarios…
At any rate, given the lack of headway we have made in curbing climate change you may want to invest in swimming lessons or a house in Kansas City. Stay dry and enjoy the city before it’s rechristened as “Atlantis.” http://inthecapital.streetwise.co/2013/12/23/this-is-what-dc-will-look-like-if-sea-levels-rise-photos/#ss__97586_1_5__ss
DC underwater? almost makes one wish CAGW was real…for DC at least.
can hardly believe MSM also published the Thaler Sea Level rubbish! actually, it comes as no surprise:
20 Dec: The Weather Channel: Andrew Thaler’s ‘Drown Your Town’ Webpage Projects Sea Level Rise Hundreds Of Years From Now (PHOTOS)
Today, #DrownYourTown has been tweeted millions of times from more than 100 countries, and Thaler still receives daily requests (which he answers) at the site he set up to collect them all, drownyourtown.tumblr.com… http://www.weather.com/news/science/environment/drownyourtown-sea-level-rise-your-city-20131219
AUDIO: National Geographic: December 15, 2013: Paddling Through The World’s Biggest Rapids, Swimming in the World’s Coldest Oceans and More
Posted by Justin O’Neill in NG Weekend Radio Show on December 17, 2013.
If all of the world’s ice melted instantly, a flood of water would cause the seas around the world to raise by 262 feet, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Wanting to know what that would look like, marine biologist Andrew Thaler used Google Earth to increase the ocean depth and flooded several major global cities that live along the oceans. “Drown Your Town” became popular online in his social media and science blog. He tells Boyd about how sea level rise will become a more pressing concern in future generations, and is already having an impact on cities around the world. http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/12/17/december-15-2013-paddling-through-the-worlds-biggest-rapids-swimming-in-the-worlds-coldest-oceans-and-more/
Merry Christmas, Jo.
Love the photo of Mischief and the big green cat toy.
We discovered this cat/tree thing many years ago. It is a consensus, then, of 2 at least. Current cat is called Rascal.
I hope you’ve had a really Happy and Merry Christmas Jo and all who come here.
The big green cat toy is certainly popular here and I’ve had to rescue some old family tree ornaments. We have taken over DD’s farm cats (brought in after mouse plague) and they are little blighters where the tree is concerned. Cats seem to be the pets ‘de jour’….Anthony Watts has a pic of his today too!
Roy,
The wind went from an average near 30 mph with gusts to near 45 to almost nothing; officially calm. I don’t know about all the places but the one nearest me does not shut down until about 56 mph. So the answer is the wind quit. Still so.
All along the US west coast there is high pressure today (25th) so very little wind or power. Our house is “all-electric” but the source is hydro on the Columbia River about 50 miles away. Today, air stagnation alerts are in effect and interior valleys are full of fog. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/12/25/san-francisco-bans-wood-burning-on-christmas-eve/?intcmp=latestnews
Farther south (LA, Long Beach CA), Santa Ana winds and wildfire alerts are up.
We had the wind yesterday but it never got very bad. I’ve no way to measure it but at a guess, maybe 15 MPH. It’s very dry though. The humidity has been in the basement for weeks.
Roy–We bought a “weather station” this fall. It measures wind, temperature and barometric pressure. I’m always curious about how much wind we have, so we purchased this, along with a rain gauge.
Right now, we have little wind. Usually, we have 15 to 20 mph wind, with gusts to 45. They say it’s good for wind plants, but I don’t see that. Besides, wind is “energy on it’s own terms”, not useful energy. If I only wanted lights when the wind blew, I would not be paying the power company. Funny how people claim to love wind plants but keep that umbilical cord to the power company attached. Guess they don’t love it so much as they claim.
Had I been on the computer yesterday I could have read the wind speed and direction from a little utility I have called, Weather Bug. It makes use of a reporting station close to where you are and gives you wind, temperature, forecasts and weather service alerts. It’s free too. My copy of it is reading data from the elementary school less than a mile away and it shows right now (1:00 PM PST):
Wind: 8 – 15 MPH from the northwest
Temperature: 75.8 F, no doubt more accurate than my patio temp sensor which shows 78.1; probably the influence of the sun on the patio roof.
That 15 MPH is only a bit less than we had yesterday. So my guess wasn’t very far off.
Sheri, I don’t know the terrain around where you live but I suspect there’s a lot more prairie than mountains. If so, you must get some real rip snorting winds during bad storms.
The relative humidity is showing 9% by the way. Anything you’re wearing has that static cling to it. Not to mention anything like plastic wrap that so many things come in these days.
If we could get our usual ocean breeze it would be much higher — and much more comfortable on the respiratory system.
Weather Bug doesn’t do me much good. The nearest station is 25 miles away but I do leave it on my desktop (it sort of works with my Mac….) for warnings. The “bug” blinks when there’s a warning. Right now, the “bug” says 34F, 20 mph wind and 50% humidity. My station says 39F, 7 mph wind and 58% humidity. Actually, your current relative humidity is what we have for most of the summer–which is why open burning, camp fires, etc are rarely allowed. It is uncomfortable.
I live on the high prairie, just north of mountains (10 miles or so). Yes, there are some rip snorting winds! The highest sustained wind has been 34 mph. Gusts were much higher. Where my cabin is has even more wind–50 to 60 mph. It is out on the open prairie at 6900 feet. I actually like the wind, except after they started destroying the plains by putting in wind turbines. I also love chinook winds–I learned about those in physical chemistry and was so excited to see them out here. (I am easily entertained! 🙂 )
I’d never heard of Chinook Winds but being curious I looked it up. It turns out to be what pilots call a mountain wave. The wind blowing against the windward side is pushed up, sweeps over the top of the ridge and then swoops down the other side, of course warming up again as the pressure increases with lower altitude, allowing it to melt snow.
A mountain wave can be very dangerous if you don’t allow enough clearance between your flight altitude and the mountain below because the vertical speed can be more than your climb ability can compensate for. Flying against the wind it can literally force you right down into the mountain without anything you can do about it. And by the time you’re in it it’s too late to turn around. The Sierra Nevada range on the east side of the California central valley can be especially treacherous flying west.
One crash in particular stands out in which the lone survivor hiked all the way down to the highway to flag down a car and get help. It made the news because of that, where otherwise it wouldn’t get much notice. But it can happen anywhere there’s a significant mountain ridge or peak. I was caught in the wave one day and at best rate of climb airspeed I was descending — time to turn around and go elsewhere for the day.
Watching he snow melt, though, sounds about as exciting as watching the grass grow. 😉
But kidding aside, I suspect the Chinook Wind is a special case of the general mountain wave that happens when conditions are just right.
Actually, with chinook winds, the snow melt can be much faster than grass growing. Add to that the rapid temperature change, and it definately outranks grass growing any day! 🙂
I found this while researching chinooks in the past:
On January 22, 1943, the northern and eastern slopes of the Black Hills were at the western edge of an Arctic airmass and under a temperature inversion. A layer of shallow Arctic air hugged the ground from Spearfish to Rapid City. At about 7:30am MST, the temperature in Spearfish was -4 degrees Fahrenheit. The chinook kicked in, and two minutes later the temperature was 45 degrees above zero. The 49 degree rise in two minutes set a world record that is still on the books. By 9:00am, the temperature had risen to 54 degrees. Suddenly, the chinook died down and the temperature tumbled back to -4 degrees. The 58 degree drop took only 27 minutes.
perhaps you may wish to read this. It’s a Post of my own, part of the series on O’Reilly’s Guest House and the famed Stinson rescue here in Australia in 1937, which made Bernard O’Reilly a reluctant hero, when he discovered the wreck with two men still alive, more than six hundred miles from where everyone was looking for the wreckage, almost a week after the plane went missing.
Part Five of that Series deals with what came after that rescue, and it especially mentions Mountain Waves and the effects of super high winds in Mountainous areas, which is where this crash happened.
While the effects of these mountain waves are relatively well known now, they didn’t really get much (real) investigation until more recent times.
Bernard O’Reilly lived in the mountains of the Lamington Plateau for many decades, and had an idea of what he was looking for, and here I mean exactly what he was looking for. He just knew all this, as part of his every day life.
Keep in mind he knew all this when he started out on his stirring rescue mission ….. in 1937.
Early in 1994, about 27 January I think, at 2200 hrs. it was minus 35 F in Taylor, British Columbia. There was at least three feet of snow on the ground. There had been a chinook arch in the West in the afternoon. At that time of year it is dark by 1600 hours.
Overnight the chinook came through, with winds over 100 mph. It took most of the shingles off the roofs in the Company housing site.
By 0800 the next morning, there was no snow and no water anywhere. It was a balmy plus 70 F. Not as short as your chinook, Sheri, but it was at least a hundred degree F change in temperature.
Rod Stuart: Very impressive! Chinook winds are one of the most destructive yet awesome natural phenomena. 100F change in temperature and 3 feet of snow gone in no time. Incredible!
Thanks for that link. I didn’t get the chance to explore everything yet but I intend to go back and look at it all.
The history of flight is littered with lessons learned the hard way as the O’Reilly story demonstrates. The human race has paid very dearly for what it knows about aviation safety.
One of the most dramatic statistics I’ve seen is from the recovery of the flight data recorder from the Air France flight 447, Rio to Paris crash in the Atlantic. The data shows the airplane hit the water with a vertical speed of 100 MPH (not a mountain wave of course). That kind of thing is frequently found in and around thunderstorms and there isn’t an airplane in the world that can withstand that kind of bruit force. I have no good guess as to why they flew into that storm because they were equipped with radar more than capable of showing them the storm ahead. And I’ve never met a pilot who had not been trained in the danger of thunderstorms. No pilot in his right mind would fly into that. But with no survivors we’ll never know.
I see you’ve been there. Not only are the instructions just the manufacturer’s opinion but these days they’re written by someone who grew up speaking a language you don’t understand. I’ve never had more fun in my life than trying to decipher something written in English by non English as first language writers.
Then of course we have the trend toward putting in pictures instead of words. A picture is definitely not worth a thousand words as we’ve all been told. And top that all off by having what words there are, supplied in 5 different languages. Don’t these people understand the tree huggers?
My wife bought a “simple” timer for outdoor lights to replace one that finally failed. How hard could it be? Thanks to “good” instructions I nearly threw it against the wall in frustration before I got it working. 🙁
“My wife bought a “simple” timer for outdoor lights to replace one that finally failed. How hard could it be? Thanks to “good” instructions I nearly threw it against the wall in frustration before I got it working.”
Having been through this same exercise every time we go on vacation, or off to see grand kids on opposite coasts, I feel your pain.
Last Sunday morning we bought a couple of ‘WeMo’ timers made by Belkin, the cable people. You plug it in, install it on your wireless network, download the app to your cell phone and iPad, and you’re in business in 2 or 3 minutes. The interface is super-simple and easy to use, and you can check it from anywhere, like the airport. (…did I set the timers?) We got them at full price, $40 each, but they’re bound to go on sale at some point. When we went on vacation in early November, I spent 3 hours programming 4 different timers with instructions from hell. Never again.
For all those still struggling to interpret instructions on how to put a new Christmas gift together, whether written or in pictures, there is another option – look on youtube for a video of how to do it. Don’t tell me, show me! Seasons Greetings to all contributors to this wonderful blog.
Mankind has obviously somehow stooped to a new low when we need to lookup a youtube video to replace the battery to our carkeys. I can only imagine trying to explain that one to one of my grandparents.
It’s kind of like needing a soldering iron to replace a battery in an iphone. I mean sure, they want to sell more crap, but seriously – a battery? FFS!
I am just waiting for a smartphone update to disable the phones’ ability to make phone calls – you laugh now, but we all know it will happen one day. I’m calling this one out now.
Just drop the car key onto some concrete. Case goes one way, old battery goes another, and the lid goes somewhere else.
The real challenge, is getting it all to go back together again, with the battery right side up, and then getting it to stay together, now that your keys have learnt about “apartness”.
I hate to whine. But why do my car keys even need a battery? For that matter, why do they insist on a button to start the engine? Am I too lazy to simply turn the key one more notch? Apparently they think so.
It’s crazy — too much technology with too little benefit.
Best wishes for Christmas and all power to your pen in 2014. Although I don’t know how you keep it up in refuting this nonsense. Or why anyone needs to.
Merry Christ Mass and Happy New Year to you and yours Jo as well as all the gang that participate in making this forum as informative and Cooooool as it is. Mischief is adorable. Great shot!
May 2014 be even better for us and worse for the crooks, liars, thieves, pols and trolls.
Merry Christmas Jo and all that regularly post here. I was hoping that I’d have an early Christmas present with the repeal of the Carbon Tax,but sadly that’s not to be. May 2014 be a good year for us,and thanks for your efforts Jo,and the many other informed people that regularly post here.
last nite abc had a repeat of a 14-minute interview they’d already aired in august, with a female blogger. listening to what can only be described as pure gibberish, i kept thinking why on earth hasn’t jo been invited on all kinds of abc programs?
take note of the description of Tavi:
AUDIO: 24 Dec: ABC Books & Arts Daily with Michael Cathcart: Media mogul at 17: Tavi Gevinson
Tavi Gevinson was already setting the fashion world alight at 11 with her fashion blog The Style Rookie, and now she has her own online magazine for teen girls called Rookie. It’s viewed by millions, has a staff of 80 and tackles everything from feminism to fashion. And she’s only 17 years old. She has been called ‘the future of journalism’ and ‘the voice of teenage girls’. First broadcast 22nd of August. http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/booksandartsdaily/media-mogul-at-173a-tavi-gevinson/5038048
seems Tavi’s also had an entire HOUR – according to the single comment – on “Big Ideas” in September:
9 Sept: ABC Big Ideas: Books & Authors: Tavi Gevinson: Tavi’s World
Tavi Gevinson was 11 when she kicked off her writing career with a fashion blog called Style Rookie…
She was a keynote speaker at the Melbourne Writers Festival and she packed out the Athanaeum Theatre with young women wearing ‘Tavi headgear’ the bunches of roses that she used to wear when she was 11 or 12, and their mums and the odd dad.
Here, she’s giving her ‘fangirl’ keynote speech.
It’s worth taking a look at Rookie, her online magazine for young women. http://www.abc.net.au/tv/bigideas/stories/2013/09/09/3840224.htm
anyway, Cathcart’s build-up on abc last nite about her millions of blog visitors, & Tavi telling a story of how a NYT editor actually told her she’d quit her job to help Tavi, made me think her websites must be overflowing with fans & online activity.
just take a look! and this person gets a 14 minute repeated interview, plus an hour on “Big Ideas” …on an australian-taxpayer-funded radio station, while Jo is nowhere to be seen or heard, despite the huge success of the JoNova Website. as for her being a keynote speaker at the Melbourne Writers Festival, with fans in attendance – well, that is Melbourne for you!
StyleRookie: Most recent Thread: Dec 3 2013:
LONG TIME NO TALK. Here’s what’s happened since last spring:
Rookie Yearbook Two is out! It is the print edition of our best content from our second year as a website and I am crazy proud of it…
I’m rubber, you’re glue, your enthusiasm bounces off me and sticks 2 u…
I was asked to share my “big big world” at the Sydney Opera House and the Melbourne Writers Festival and mostly talked about fangirling, the anxiety of influence, and being happy instead of putting pressure on yourself to be some tortured artist…
PREVIOUS THREAD APRIL 2013. http://www.thestylerookie.com/
25 Dec: AAP: Sydney Morning Herald: Antarctic tourist ship trapped by sea ice
Australian explorers are stranded near Antarctica after their ship became wedged in thick sheets of sea ice.
The Spirit of Mawson voyage, which includes scientists, explorers and tourists, is trapped in Antarctic ice floes and awaiting rescue.
But with the nearest ship with ice-breaking abilities at least two days away, the crew will spend Christmas and Boxing Day stuck about 1500 nautical miles south of Hobart.
The ship had been on a multi-day tour from New Zealand to visit several sites along the edge of Antarctica…
It is not known how long the ship has been unable to break free from the ice floes…
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority received a distress call on Christmas morning, notifying the rescue co-ordination centre that the ship was trapped in ice and would need help…
The privately funded expedition was to visit Mawson’s huts on Antarctica, which had been inaccessible for many years because of an iceberg. http://www.smh.com.au/national/antarctic-tourist-ship-trapped-by-sea-ice-20131225-2zwjr.html
Just watched QI on ABC. Could we not have a Christmas eve without CAGW on TV. Bloody Stephen Fry daring to make an analogy between the Ejafjallajokul (spot?) eruption and Genghis Khan slaughtering half of Asia. That’s because both events were wonderful for saving the planet from human depredations.
Just astonishing.
I dunno. He was certainly good in Kingdom, but he was positively genius in Blackadder Goes Forth, playing General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett.
Hard to believe the cast of that particular Blackadder, when you had Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Tim McInnerny, Rik Mayall, and Adrian Edmondson. Great cheer in this also, as the lowly private is so far the only one to be actually Knighted!
Extraordinary series was Bladder, initially written by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson, with later episodes written by Curtis and Ben Elton. Of the innumerable quotes and focus moments, this seems to have a certain applicability to the moment:
Ye Haa,its over.No not the warming tripe,Xmas.The kids,grand kids,inlaws and other hungry hangers on,all gone home.Petty differences,small peoples scratches and lumps and “that’s mine” arguements all over.Fridge empty,pantry empty,garbage full who would want it any other way,cant wait till next year!
Happy New Year everyone,keep up the essential work you have taken on Jo,the plot gets thicker all the time,thanks
How do you shoot down a soldier’s moral? Just keep on as we’re going. That’s all you need to do. This is nothing but intolerance in the name of tolerance. I spent a lonely year in Saigon away from my wife and family and I know how important the little things are to someone isolated from all that’s friendly and familiar.
Merry Christmas to you top Army brass Grinches too. But may you someday have your toes rolled over by the voice of mindless authority so you learn what the hell your doing.
Just in case you who pull the strings at the Pentagon can’t get it, what you’re doing offends me. 🙁
Why is no one jumping on those annoying newscasters that keep saying things like “Christmas shopping” and “after Christmas” sale? Plus, all calanders have the holiday marked as “Christmas”, not “Holiday”. What amazes me is people still join the army, knowing it’s a social engineering group, not really meant to save America, but rather to advance PC ideas.
G’day Roy,watching the U.S.news there are a lot of things going on with similar story lines.The Defence equal opportunity management institute sounds like the sort of group krudd or gilly would have come up with.Maybe they have,we have a lot of gangreen offices of this and that all set up to point us in their direction,all paid very well.Calling a spade a spade may not be correct but if you don’t its game over.
Dear Anthony
You’re a shining example of everything good. A huge Happy New Year to you and your family. They deserve a medal too. And a Catastrophic New Year to the AGW mob. Kind regards from… an Australian fan.
This is a nice little Christmas present to the world from Egypt, even in spite of our idiotic government being so opposed to the recent military takeover there.
Egypt declares Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. It looks like the good guys can win after all. But it could go either way so let us hope there is sufficient resolve to both rid Egypt of the Brotherhood and all it stands for and build and maintain a viable democracy.
Sorry everyone, I held off saying this as long as I can.
Throughout its history Islam has been the most intolerant religion the world has ever seen. If we in the west don’t soon start to recognize this and fight it we’re going to be overrun by it. The militant faction now seemingly in full charge is not going to be nice simply because an idiot President of the United States wants them to be. They will even slaughter their own who don’t toe the party line. We see it in Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Sudan. What does it take to wake everyone up?
If anyone is not familiar with the metaphor, the handwriting is on the wall, best get familiar with it.
The Syrian war is a religious war between Shiite and Sunni. The Shiite are backed by Iran (Shiite) and the Sunni by Saudi Arabia.(Sunni) Iraq is the same. Sudan is also a religious/cultural problem with Northern Sunni Muslims v southern African non-Muslims. Since Southern Sudan’s independence in 2011 internal fighting has occurred which is not Muslim related.
Egypt is also a Sunni nation but it’s problems stem from the Muslim Brotherhood that has shattered the economy (by ruining it’s major asset tourism) and the country now has high youth unemployment which is a similar problem in all the aformentioned countries.
The other Muslim countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and now possibly Libya and Morocco are run by the wealthy Sheikhs as of old. You don’t hear Muftis and Mullahs voicing strong opinions in the local press or on TV – if they do they are told to STFU. The Muslim Brotherhood tried to establish itself in the UAE and were promptly deported. These countries are engaging with the west instead of protesting against them. The UAE also has strong ties with India as Indians have been a part of the Gulf States well before the creation of the Emirates and a high proportion of the working population is Indian. When I’m watching the cricket live streamed on the net the commercials are for money transfer exchange companies competing to send money to India for the cheapest rate. There are around 400 – 500 plane flights weekly between India and the UAE, it’s only 3-4 hours away.
You’re correct. And I’m not ungrateful for the Muslim faction that is pro West. But I do not believe for a single second that the radicals have anything less than world dominance in mind. You can read the Koran for confirmation.
Nevertheless, much of Islam remains dedicated to converting the infidel or killing him. And I can see no way to come to terms with this attitude.
G’day Roy,the lefties and gangreens want their version of communal socialist government world wide.The religious militants want to take over everything,so this has the potential for a modern re-run of the crusades and no one will talk their way out of something like that.
Sending festive greetings especially for you, Jo, for your unrelenting temerity in steering the ship of ‘good hope’ through stormy seas towards the promise land. Jo, have a wonderful Christmas and a vigorous new year and to all of the contributors who is embarking on this epic journey with you.
“By 2013 Global Warming(tm) will have caused the floorboards in family rooms to reach such temperatures that domestic cats will be forced to take shelter in Christmas Trees.”
– Tim Flannery (maybe… citation needed… 😀 )
A belated Merry Christmas to you and your family. Keep up the good work in 2014. I’ve learned a great deal from the contributors – even the numpties though I am sure it wasn’t the message they were trying to convey.
Nice looking kitten. Pity they grow into cats.
In the words of B.T.Grieve, “Dogs are social, cats are sociopaths”.
Spot on Ceetee – however I have no intention of learning.
Again to quote the perceptive B.T. Grieve; “Cats are ideal cohabitants for the millions of lazy, busy or inert people who clog the arteries of humanity”
Having said that I must also admit my daughter has one of the friendliest, most sociable moggies I have encountered and who is half of a mutual admiration society with one of my Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.
A big big thank you for helping me understand what’s going on. Your writing is so clever, entertaining and informative. Wishing the very best of everything for you and your family in 2014 and may governments stop propping up the AGW myth.
Just a thought from another commenter — I’ve never seen anything incoherent about the things you say and link to. And that’s a complement from me to you. Happy New Year!
Glad it’s just not our cat who is obsessed with the Christmas tree!
Merry Christmas, and keep up the good work. Whilst I don’t post much, this is one of my main “goto sites” to keep up with what is happening on the great global warming scare.
Thanks Jo and David for a great site with a continuous, accurate information stream and the exceptional effort that’s behind it.
I’ve learnt a lot from the many qualified and intelligent bloggers here (Trolls excluded, of course.) and look forward to learning more in the New Year.
Thanks to you all and here’s to the great global awakening of 2014.
But of course he will whine “he’s not a climate scientist”, ignoring the fact that what we are talking about are scientific principles, not conclusions per se.
26 Dec: WUWT: So much sea ice in Antarctica that a research vessel gets stuck, in summer!
It is summer in the southern hemisphere and yet there is still signifiicantly above normal amounts of sea ice present as the passengers and crew of one tour ship discovered. The icebreakers Xue Long and Aurora Australis, and a French research vessel Astrolabe are cruising towards the Akademik Shokalskiy at full throttle for rescue…
The expedition is being led by Chris Turney, “climate scientist”, who has “set up a carbon refining company called Carbonscape which has developed technology to fix carbon from the atmosphere and make a host of green bi-products, helping reduce greenhouse gas levels.” The purpose of the expedition is “to discover and communicate the environmental changes taking place in the south.” http://www.christurney.com/ (h/t to Sagebrush Gardener)
It seems they found out what the “environmental changes taking place in the south.” are… http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/26/so-much-ice-in-antarctica-that-a-research-vessel-gets-stuck-in-summer/#more-99920
25 Dec: SMH: Antarctic tourist ship trapped by sea ice
by Nicky Phillips, Colin Cosier
On board the Akademic Shokalskiy are scientists from the University of NSW, a journalist from the Guardian and dozens of tourists who have paid to be part of the recreation of Mawson’s expedition…
Whether the Aurora Australis returns to station or heads home to Hobart after this mission will depend on many factors, said the ship’s captain, Murray Doyle, and the voyage leader, Leanne Millhouse… http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/antarctic-tourist-ship-trapped-by-sea-ice-20131225-2zwjr.html
27 Dec: NZ Herald: Ben Irwin: Ice-stranded Kiwis happy despite storm
Ornithologist Kerry-Jayne Wilson is one of six New Zealanders stuck on the MV Akademik Shokalskiy, which has been on an expedition led by scientists from the University of New South Wales. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11178214
don’t know how my comment got posted, but –
from the NZ piece above:
“Dr Wilson, chair of the Blue Penguin Trust, said the stoppage might have been a blessing in disguise.”
from the SMH piece above:
“Just before 5am the Rescue Co-ordination Centre, part of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in Canberra, ***ordered*** three ships, a Chinese and French vessel and the Aurora Australis, to lend assistance.”
***”ordered” sounds a bit strong!
27 Dec: Hobart Mercury: David Killick: Stricken ship trapped in the ice, 900km from help
The Akademik Shokalskiy is carrying 22 scientists from the privately funded Spirit of Mawson expedition plus 22 crew and 30 paying passengers…
The Spirit of Mawson expedition is a private venture being led by University of NSW academics Professor Chris Turney and Chris Fogwill and famed Australian mountaineer Greg Mortimer.
The ship is also carrying a three-member conservation team from the Mawson’s Huts Foundation – Ian Godfrey, John Tucker and Barbara Tucker…
“There’s no danger to the ship or any of the people on the ship. The mood inside is positive and given the time of year is quite jovial,” he told the Mercury.
“Having said that people are aware that because of the nature of the environment the captain did have to put out a note to maritime services pointing out the situation that we’re in.” Dr Peacock said the ship became stuck after a change in the notoriously fickle Antarctic weather.
“There was a change in the weather conditions, such that significant pack ice put itself between us and open water and despite the fact that we have a very capable ship, we were unable to progress any further north and just came to a halt,” he said.
“It is an extremely dynamic environment we’re in, amazingly so, sometimes nature just overwhelms the technology we have to keep going.”…
SINGLE COMMENT BY MARY STARK OF HOBART: The passengers on this ship may be having a great adventure but this rescue is no doubt costing the other vessels concerned huge amounts of money and time. Why are vessels without sufficient ice breaking capacity permitted to venture into areas where this nay hsppen? http://www.themercury.com.au/news/rescue-mission-for-trapped-antarctic-ship/story-fnj4f7kx-1226789717821
yesterday i was surprised that most people i spoke to didn’t seem to know about this story. certainly the australian reporting is extremely odd with, of course, all the interesting details left out, played down, etc.
Pat,these people went to Antarctica to find out that the world has an extremely dynamic environment.Is that money well spent or what!We will have to wait and see how the ABC can work this into something negative for the IPCC to use.What type of green products do you make from CO2.
Fom CNS News who advise that their prime purpose is to:
“put a higher premium on balance than spin and seek news that’s ignored or under-reported as a result of media bias by omission.”
“The group, which includes two Guardian journalists, is retracing the harrowing 1911 Antarctic expedition led by Sir Douglas Mawson, who lost many of his team members and nearly died himself on the frigid continent a century ago.”
“…The ship’s passengers include an Australian research team led by University of New South Wales Professor Chris Turney, who said in November that the voluminous data collected by Mawson 100 years ago is critical to understanding global warming.”
But Turney reported that blizzard-like conditions and thick ocean ice is preventing the latest expedition from leaving.
“While it is early winter in the Arctic, it is early summer in the Antarctic. Continuing patterns seen in recent years, Antarctic sea ice extend remains unusually high, near or above previous daily maximum values,” according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).
“Sea ice extent averaged 17.16 million square kilometers (6.63 million square miles) for November. The long-term 1981 to 2010 average extent for this month is 16.30 million square kilometers (6.29 million square miles),” the agency reported.
Whilst not pointing out the obvious, at least this media crowd is muttering about the facts. It’ll be interesting to see what spin the Guardian journo tagging along will develop.
And from me to you and your wife, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, along with thanks for thinking enough of me to do something special that was way out of your way to do.
ChrisTurney.com: THE AUSTRALASIAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION 2013-2014
To mark this special centenary, we intend to lead a privately-funded voyage of discovery to the Antarctic during the Austral summer of 2013-2014.
Taking a team of 36 women and men south, the new Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) aims to discover just how much change has taken place in this very special part of our planet…
The expedition has been costed at US$1.5 million, which includes the charter of an ice-strengthened ship to access these remote locations. We will shortly be announcing major corporate sponsorship but the expedition is also looking for members of the public who wish to take part in a public-funded scientific expedition south… http://christurney.com/Australasian_Antarctic_Expedition.html
BBC: The Return to Mawson’s Antarctica – Part One
Duration: 29 minutes
First broadcast: Monday 16 December 2013
Join the scientists of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 2013, as they go about their experiments and seek adventure at the windiest place on earth…
This remote area hasn’t been studied systematically for 100 years, so the expedition will reveal any changes that have taken place as a result of climate change. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01n1dtv
Guardian: Science: Antarctica live (MASSIVE COVERAGE, NO HINT ABOUT THE SHIP’S CURRENT PREDICAMENT!)http://www.theguardian.com/science/antarctica-live
26 Dec: BBC: Andrew Luck-Baker: Science continues for trapped Australasian Antarctic expedition
Science reporter Andrew Luck-Baker is on board the Russian research vessel Shokalskiy, covering the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 2013 for the BBC World Service programme Discovery…
Tantalisingly, a low band of grey sky to the Northeast suggests clear water lies not so many kilometres away. The grey colour is light reflected from open water. The early Antarctic explorers named this colour phenomenon “water sky” and used it to navigate their route through the treacherous pack ice…
In addition to the Russian crew of 22, the expedition team consists of 18 professional scientists from Australia and New Zealand, and 22 volunteer science assistants. They are members of the public, ranging in age from their 20s to their 70s. They paid to join the scientific adventure… http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25519059
25 Nov: ABC Lateline: $1.5 million Australian expedition to Antarctica
Professor Chris Turney from the University of NSW is mounting the largest Australian science expeditions to the Antarctic with an 85-person team to try to answer questions about how climate change in the frozen continent might be already shifting weather patterns in Australia.
ABC’s MARGOT O’NEILL: The research stakes are high. Antarctica is one of the great engines driving the world’s oceans, winds and weather, especially in Australia. But there’s ominous signs of climate change.
CHRIS TURNEY: The Southern Hemisphere westerly winds encircle Antarctica, and over the last 20 or 30 years or so, they’ve been pushing further south. Now – so actually in a way it’s almost like Antarctica’s withdrawing itself from the rest of the world…
EMMA ALBERICI: And tomorrow night, in the second part of this special report, could the British Antarctic explorer Robert Scott have lived? We look at how Professor Turney discovered that choosing the right team can be a matter of life and death. http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2013/s3898858.htm
25 Dec: UK Daily Mail: Tamara Cohen: £30million for wind turbines that don’t work when it’s windy: Cost is £25million higher than last year and paid for by household bills
National Grid is unable to cope with extra power produced
At the start of September, around 40 wind farm firms were paid £2.4million
Another windy weekend in August saw £3.1million handed over
Wind farms have been paid a record £30million this year to stand idle in bad weather…
John Constable, of the Renewable Energy Foundation charity, which compiled the figures from official data, said: ‘The scale and pricing of wind power constraints in 2013 clearly shows that the full system cost of wind power is much higher than government is willing to admit.
‘Unfortunately, there are no cheap solutions, and, ironically, paying wind farms not to produce energy may actually be cheaper than building more grid.
‘At some point government will have to face the fact that wind power is simply too expensive to provide more than a minor share of UK electricity.’… http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2529297/Title-goes-here.html
Yes, but it shouldn’t stop there. The decision makers and leaders of the wind farm disaster should be made accountable. A jail term would suffice but I know it won’t happen. Why? Because it’s not recognized as a scam by the public, yet we all know it is.
ABC has a whole science page, with multiple Chris Turney reports. the ship is on its second trip in a matter of weeks:
ABC Science: Destination Antarctica
Over the six week journey we will study the oceanography, climatology and biology of the region, including the birdlife, mammals and seafloor flora and fauna, and see how one change influences another…
The focus of the first leg will be on the New Zealand sub-Antarctic islands where we will undertake a major science program, below, on and above the surface: looking at the wildlife and taking advantage of some of the most southerly living trees in the world to extract hundreds of years of climate data.
We’ll then return to Invercargill on 7 December, change over some of the team, and head south to Macquarie Island at 54°S — affectionately known as Macca — where we’ll be based for two days. While here, we’ll investigate the shore bed as well as decipher records of change from the peat bogs over the last 3000 years to better understand recent change in this most sensitive of all environments.
From Macquarie Island we’ll push further south towards Commonwealth Bay in Antarctica, which is the site of Mawson’s original base… http://www.abc.net.au/science/photos/2013/11/26/3917772.htm
Commonwealth Bank had a comp for the first of the two trips!
Commonwealth Bank: Antarctic Competition – FAQs
The trip will be from the 26 November to the 8 December 2013.
The Australasian Antarctic Expedition will leave Invercargill, New Zealand on the 27 November and will return on the 7 December 2013… https://www.commbank.com.au/personal/youth-students/antarctic-comp-faqs.html
remember this one i posted on the “Reddit” thread:
20 Dec: Guardian: Tan Copsey: Communicating climate change
(Tan Copsey is research manager for the BBC Media Action project Climate Asia.)
In our morning discussion group, we used BBC Media Action’s Climate Change Communication Toolkit, which includes Climate Communication Cards to stimulate discussion of how to reach diverse audiences, ranging from farmers in Kenya to voters in the United States…
This content is produced and controlled by Connect4Climate. http://www.theguardian.com/connect4climate-partner-zone/communicating-climate-change
which linked to these BBC pages:
BBC Climate Asia: Communication Toolkit
A guide to communicating climate change
‘Communicating Climate Change: What You Can Do’ presents a framework for designing an effective communications strategy, including practical guidance, tips and activities. The guide is based on a bottom-up and collaborative approach, enabling you to work with audiences and partners to develop your strategy together… http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaaction/climateasiadataportal/article/developstrategy#paneltab-0
surely ABC & BBC are both CAGW players, which cannot be acceptable for taxpayer-funded corporations. what Guardian & other commercial MSM do is their own business.
PLUS, in the interest of ACCURACY, it is time MSM is forced to use “CARBON DIOXIDE” every time they write about or mention “CARBON DIOXIDE”. IT IS NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE MSM USES THE WORD “CARBON” INSTEAD.
DITTO MAN-MADE GLOBAL WARMING. IT IS NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE MSM – ESPECIALLY TAXPAYER-FUNDED MSM – USES THE WORDS “CLIMATE CHANGE” INSTEAD.
the MSM’s use of these terms is pure propaganda & precludes any possibility of a sensible debate on the topic.
‘Finishing first, and therefore this year’s winner, is Dana Nuccitelli. Being a connoisseur of strange, exotic and fabled creatures, I like Dana immensely because he’s a pure prat, a thinking man’s prat as well as a moustachioed pipe-smoking woman’s prat, a complete thoroughbred prat prancing around like a ballet dancer doing seemingly impossible grand jets through the media sphere clad in nothing more than green hose and a beautiful miniature yellow codpiece with silvery tinselly bits carefully streaming back out between his legs like the tail of a flatulence-propelled Halley’s comet.’
Indeed.Reading that made me laugh,as much as this link from Judith Curry latest blog discussion did http://www.legalcheek.com/2013/12/the-something-must-be-done-act-2014/ although I have a few candidates of my own that I’d love to nominate. Maybe Jo would consider doing one of these here next year?
I’ve missed Christmas so let me wish Jo and all who agree with the views she holds a very happy New Year.
I received my good New Year news today when I read in “The Australian” the following extracted report:
“RESOURCES, infrastructure and road projects worth $400 billion have been given the green light as the Abbott government demolishes objections from the Greens and moves to reverse a predicted fall in mining investment that could drag down the economy for two years.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt has taken decisions on 125 projects in the Coalition’s first three months in office, including approving 29 major projects, which the government estimates are worth $400bn. The decisions – the latest of which was Clive Palmer’s giant Waratah Coal/China First coalmine and railway line to the Abbot Point coal port – could spark a new wave of development.
Mr Hunt also has approved the $1.4bn Abbot Point coal terminal expansion, which paves the way for the creation of the world’s biggest coal export port.
But the approvals – particularly coalmine approvals in the Galilee Basin and the expansion of the Abbot Point coal port – have sparked allegations of “development at any cost” from the Greens and environment groups.
Queensland Greens senator Larissa Waters has described the approval as a “terrible Christmas present for the planet” and has raised concerns about its impact on underground water aquifers as well as its impact on combating climate change.
The Abbot Point expansion has been attacked as “criminal” by environmental groups that are calling for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to use its powers to protect the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef.
Mr Hunt said the government was sticking to high environmental standards.
He also has fast-tracked another 46 projects to avoid delays, after inheriting 371 unassessed projects from the previous Labor government, with 22 dating back to 2008.
“We have made real steps in unblocking the pipeline while also putting in place some of the strictest environmental conditions in Australian history,” Mr Hunt told The Australian.
“It’s possible to have high environmental standards and genuine decision-making. The previous government was unable to say yes and unable to say no.”
Mr Hunt also has determined that a further 30 projects require no further assessment and 16 require no further assessment as long as certain requirements are met. Another 50 projects have been “assessed and progressed” under the water trigger.”
If the Green Eco-socialists and their commo comrades are against it then it must be good.
On that issue I don’t really think Coalmines in the Galilee basin are a smart idea,over all. I’d like to see the exact details on the ” environmental conditions”they have to meet. If the Galilee Basin is anything like the Darling Downs I’d say hands off.Maybe someone could fill me in on the details in more length,as I have concerns on this issue..
No picture could better symbolize and communicate the intellectual bankruptcy and disillusionment of a faithful group who refuse to believe they have been led astray.
This has to be deeply embarrassing, if not outright humiliating.
The metaphor just couldn’t be more fitting: desperate true believers of global warming/accelerating polar ice melt now find themselves trapped by thousands of square kilometers of summertime sea ice that wasn’t supposed to be there.
UPDATEvia ABC24, 7.15am: Chinese ship stopped -unable to reach them.
The search for intelligence on Earth continues as well. So far, none of either has been found. There are those evil deniers who give an impression of intelligence but I am now sure that is just an illusion. We must return to our home planet and report that the Earth is hopelessly in the grip of an intellectual winter even more severe than the one now shaping up in their Arctic region. The Mggoph-eslly council will be glad that we can avoid the future expense of monitoring Earth for signs of intelligent life.
Set the course for home and make it so, number 1! 😉
But, of course, facts don’t matter to leftist anti-fossil-fuel zealots. All they want is to shut down fossil fuels, irrespective of whether or not there are workable alternatives available at a competitive cost. Nuclear power is the only such alternative, but of course they are opposed to that too. These naive juveniles and obsessive zealots don’t have a policy, they have a wish. Their ‘wish’ is costing us a fortune.
And this slideshow debunks the lies and exaggerations of leftist anti-fracking zealots, especially the deception they are perpetuating about gas coming out of a kitchen tap and catching fire. This myth has been perpetuated in many videos on the subject of fracking. It demonstrates that a lot of ‘activism’ simply involves smart predators fabricating scare stories in order to make money out of people who are stupid enough to believe their scare … just like a certain ‘carbon billionaire’ we are all familiar with.
CNN: Chinese icebreaker stalled en route to stranded ship
Due to bad weather and ice conditions, the Xue Long may take another two days to get to the trapped research vessel with 74 passengers and crew members on board, Wang said.
“Right now we are waiting for winds to blow ice away so we can move closer,” he said. “The current ice condition is exceeding our capabilities to break through further.”…
The captain acknowledged his ship may need help from two other icebreakers headed to the area if conditions deteriorate…
The expedition to gauge the effects of climate change on the region began November 27. The second, and current leg of the trip, started December 8 and was scheduled to conclude with a return to New Zealand on January 4. http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/27/world/antarctica-ship-stuck/
i have heard numerous news headlines on abc RN & local & fairfax news on 4BC – none mentioning this story at all. am just now realising nicky phillips & colin cosier who wrote the SMH story i posted earlier are Fairfax reporters on board. cosier also works for ABC. sky news from the start have made this a dull news ticker about a russian vessel, & have had nothing in the news menu until yesterday. THE TRIP WAS ORGANISED BY UNI OF NSW, IT HAS BBC, GUARDIAN, FAIRFAX/ABC REPORTERS ON BOARD, IT’S ATTRACTED WORLDWIDE ATTENTION (FORGET INACCURACIES IN THE REPORTING) AND THIS STORY ISN’T THE #1 STORY IN AUSTRALIA!
LinkedIn: Colin Cosier
Current:
Producer, ABC News 24 at Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Video Journalist, The Sydney Morning Herald at Fairfax Media
Video Journalist at Freelance http://au.linkedin.com/in/colincosier
“The situation in Commonwealth Bay offers a unique opportunity to investigate what impact expaning sea ice cover has on seawater properties, ocean circulation, and wildlife in the Antarctic.
Because the breaching of the iceberg in Commonwealth Bay is precisely known and the change was so abrupt and extreme, our work should provide new insights into what impact expanding sea ice may have elsewhere around Antarctica if current trends continue.”
.
The result of expanding sea-ice is ignorant people getting stuck!
I’ll put $20 on man made global warming being the cause.
.
Bruce of Newcastle has commented at notrickszone link;
“The only sideways acknowledgement is that the voyage is in honour of Douglas Mawson, the Australian Antactic explorer of 100 years ago. A couple times the interviewees have slipped up by mentioning how Mawson didn’t have these problems with pack ice in high summer back in 1913. Fancy that! “
Pt 2 of BBC’s piece posted earlier. audio available until 1 Jan.
already talking about being trapped by sea ice:
much talk about the “conundrum” of the sea ice expanding which might be indication we may see greater sea level rise than predicted.
26 mins: 24 Dec: VIDEO: BBC: The Return to Mawson’s Antarctica – Part Two
Alok Jha (Guardian) and Andrew Luck-Baker (BBC) continue to follow the scientists on the ongoing Australasian Antarctic Expedition 2013. Ice, the oceans and climate change are the themes this week as one of the expedition scientists makes a troubling finding… http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p01n9gcv/Discovery_The_Return_to_Mawsons_Antarctica_Part_Two/
Wishing a happy and prosperous 2014 to all of you climate change realists and better mental health in 2014 to all of you anti-fossil-fuel zealots.
It is great that you, Jo, have taken in an animal in need. I have five … so far. All have been taken off the streets and spared miserable lives. In the window of a Liberal politician’s electorate office I once noticed an RSPCA poster saying something like ‘There is nothing more rewarding than the love of a cat.’ So, there are some good politicians out there after all.
Sadly, we live in a society with a burgeoning underclass. I don’t say this in a derogatory sense, but as a matter of fact. The welfare, education, youth, immigration, policing and justice policies of successive governments are creating a larger and larger underbelly of angry, disadvantaged people who have no hope in life and whose only power is to cause harm to others by engaging in lawlessness and anti-social behaviour. These people pick easy targets for venting their anxiety and hatred and, more often than not those easy targets are animals. I remember as a child an aunt telling me that ‘only cowards hurt animals’. I asked her why, to which she replied ‘Because the animal cannot defend itself.’ But I noticed a pause before her answer and that her tone of voice sounded uncertain. I suspected that she knew the saying but not its meaning. At that young age I did not question it further, but the saying stayed with me as did the feeling that something about the explanation given for it did not sound quite right. As I grew older and began to understand people I began to understand the flaw in what my aunt had said, namely, that it did not explain WHY people would want to hurt animals.
As I grew older still and wondered why people (namely, leftists) seemed intent on destroying everything decent in our society – they did not want something new, they just wanted to destroy what we have – I began to understand how people who are unhappy with themselves and their lives, people who have developed a belief in their victimhood and are often consumed with self-loathing, take malicious pleasure from destroying things of value to others, just like a common vandal. As social animals we measure our sense of self-worth relative to everyone else. Most people who are unhappy with the conclusion they arrive at will wish harm upon those who are ‘better’ than they are, while some will be so consumed with anxiety about themselves that they will actively try to harm those whom they envy. Many of these people will become politically active and will be drawn to the Left, because, subconsciously, leftist politics serves their unstated desire to vandalise everything of value to those whom they envy (Ayn Rand called ours ‘The Age of Envy’). But it won’t have escaped your attention that the Left comprises not only those who hate themselves but also those from the opposite end of the self-esteem scale – that is, those who love themselves and have convinced themselves that they are superior to ‘ordinary’ people. This, too, can be easily explained, but it will have to wait for another time.
To get back on topic, in the preceding paragraph you will find the answer as to why people wish to harm animals and why it is only cowards who do it. Many people who are angry at the world because of their anxiety about their own sense of low self-worth will look for every opportunity to cause harm others. They know that when they hurt an animal they indirectly cause deep hurt to people, and they know that, unlike when they cause direct harm to people, they will most likely not face any consequences for having done it. Their motive is not to hurt the animal – although hurting it does release some of their rage. Their psychological motivation is to hurt people. It is the coward’s way of hurting people.
So, Jo, in a long-winded and roundabout way, what I am saying is to remember what is out there and take care to keep Mischief in an enclosure, safe from the world our politicians have created.
December, 2013:
An unusually cool summer in the Arctic has led to almost 50 percent more sea ice covering the polar region this fall than the year before.
Scientists say that about 90 percent of the increase is due to growth of multiyear ice, which is thick enough to last through more than one summer without melting.
listen from 37:20 into the 55 min program, don’t know how long this will be available:
27 Dec: BBC Newshour: Kiribati, mentions first climate change refugee turned down by NZ.
says here is island’s President – has to cut off because wrong tape comes up.
moves instead on to Antarctica & BBC’s Andrew Luck-Baker in Antarctica. says they’re trapped. plays report from a couple of days previous.
Luck-Baker: surveying ice edge East Antarctica. if all this ice melts, sea level would ris, e by 53(?) metres –
***but to be frank, i don’t want to talk about climate change & sea level rise and whatnot…i just want to describe what the place looks like… stunning, etc.
next item: back to Kiribati story:
(Quote from Island’s President)
THEN to Robert McLeman (associate professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario, author of book, Climate and Human Migration) :
McLeman: Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh City etc to be uninhabitable.
most will relocate within China, but middle class will migrate externally.
BBC: with tens or possibly hundreds of millions on the move…should people living of higher ground be fearful.
McLeman: if we look at big migrant-receiving countries, Canada, US, UK, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand…we could accommodate this within our existing migration programs…
BBC: strong misgivings in UK about migration.
McLeman: that’s a good point. we have rapidly aging populations so, in 30-40 years, we need young labour migrants just to maintain our social economic well-being. should plan ahead and do it in systematic fashion.
BBC: is it your suspicion that, even if we took concerted effort now to stop global warming to try to reverse or control warming, it’s probably too late, & there will have to be significant migrations, blah blah.
McLeman: u r absolutely right, even if we curtailed greenhouse gas emissions tomorrow, we’re locked into a certain amount of change in the global environment…
so we do have to deal with the root causes, which is the greenhouse gas emissions in the first place. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01nbn7j
more McLeman:
23 Dec: GeorgiaStraight: Daniel Tseghay: Is Canada prepared for climate refugees?
“In Bangladesh, the estimate is that 30 to 50 million people will be displaced by rising sea level by 2050,’’ Mohammad Zaman, the executive director of the Vancouver-based Society for Bangladesh Climate Justice (SBCJ), says in a phone interview with the Georgia Straight.
“The crisis has already started,’’ the social-sector specialist continues, pointing out that people are being displaced every day. On October 24, Zaman—who works as a consultant for the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank—and his organization held an event at the University of British Columbia’s Liu Institute for Global Issues to address the issue facing Bangladesh, situating it within the global phenomenon of climate migration…
“If you’re looking 50 years from now, that’s when the real impacts of sea-level rise start to manifest,’’ Robert McLeman, professor of geography at Wilfrid Laurier University, says during a phone interview with the Straight. “That’s when food supplies start to become under threat because of all these changes we’re making to climate systems.’’
McLeman is the author of the just-published Climate and Human Migration: Past Experiences, Future Challenges (Cambridge University Press). “We’ll get these large populations in places like Vietnam, coastal China, and Bangladesh, where you’d have tens of millions of people living within a few metres of sea level, and that’s where we’ll see very large-scale displacement.’’…
A 2009 report by the International Organization for Migration estimates that there will be between 200 million and 1 billion migrants due to climate change by 2050… http://www.straight.com/news/553886/canada-prepared-climate-refugees
Wilfrid Laurier Uni: Robert McLeman
Academic Background
BA (Geography) 1989 – The University of Western Ontario
MSc (Environmental Management) 1995 – University of Hong Kong
PhD (Geography) 2005 – University of Guelph
Biography
Dr. McLeman specializes in research on the human dimensions of environmental change, with particular attention to the relationship between environment and human migration; rural adaptation to climatic variability and change; and, fostering citizen participation in environmental science. A former Canadian foreign service officer, Dr. McLeman previously worked at Canadian diplomatic missions in Belgrade, Hong Kong, New Delhi, Seattle and Vienna. In recent years, he has advised government agencies in Canada, the US, and Europe on issues related to climate change, labour migration, and security. An award-winning teacher, Dr. McLeman uses a range of media, methods and real-world examples to introduce students to the the systematic study of human-environment relations. Click here to read his blog http://www.wlu.ca/homepage.php?grp_id=13195&f_id=35
timely! MSM picking up story that began in Halifax Chronicle Herald on 12 Dec, which has already been covered by some MSM:
27 Dec: Huffington Post: Message In A Bottle Found In Arctic Glacier Ultimately Reveals Global Warming In Region (PHOTO)
More than half a century ago, on July 10, 1959, American glaciologist and explorer Paul T. Walker was working in a remote region of the Canadian Arctic, the Los Angeles Times reports. In a quirky stroke of genius, Walker left a handwritten note to any scientists who might come behind him, and he stuck the message in a bottle under a pile of rocks.
“To Whom it May Concern: This and a similar cairn 21.3 feet to the west were set on July 10, 1959,” the note states. “The distance from this cairn to the glacier edge about 4 ft. from the rock floor is 168.3 feet.”…
Dr. Warwick F. Vincent, director of the Center for Northern Studies at Laval University in Quebec City, revealed the find earlier in December and said reading the famous names of Walker and his colleague Albert Crary gave him goosebumps.
Vincent, a biologist, and his colleague Denis Sarrazin found the note over the summer in a very remote area near the edge of a glacier, he told GrindTV Outdoor.
“It’s a story about climate change, but it is also a story about the incredibly brave and strong men who worked in this extreme high Arctic environment in the 1950s—back before GPS and sat phone technology,” Vincent told the outlet. “This is the most remote part of North America, and the coldest coastal zone (average temperature -18C). This also makes the evidence of substantial glacial retreat of great interest.”.
The pair carried out Walker’s wish, measuring the distance to the glacier in question, just as Walker had done decades earlier. Vincent and Sarrazin’s measurement revealed that the glacier had retreated 233 feet since 1954…
Given the fact that there is still such noticeable loss in glacial ice, this special message should be heeded by scientists around the world, Vincent added.
“Paul Walker’s message from the past is a wake-up call to how fast our global climate is already changing, and it signals much larger changes in the future that may affect us all,” he said. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/27/message-in-a-bottle-global-warming-glacier-arctic_n_4509358.html?utm_hp_ref=green
12 Dec: HalifaxChronicleHerald, Canada: Selena Ross: 54-year-old message in bottle helps chronicle death of glacier
The 1.2-metre gap between the cairn and the glacier in 1959 has widened to 101.5 metres today because the glacier has shrunk, said Vincent…
He got in touch with Ohio State University, where Walker worked, and promised to send a copy of the Laval work to their archives.
Ian Howat, a glaciologist at Ohio State, said Wednesday he was surprised to hear about the message in a bottle and wanted to ask some older colleagues if they remember any historical connection with Walker.
“I’m sure folks here would be interested in seeing it,” Howat said.
***He won’t get his wish very easily, except in photo form. Vincent and Denis Sarrazin, who found the bottle, left it in the cairn with the letter inside.
But they added their own note, asking the next person who finds it to measure the distance to the glacier and report back to Quebec City. http://thechronicleherald.ca/canada/1173466-54-year-old-message-in-bottle-helps-chronicle-death-of-glacier
I have a question I hope I can get some sensible responses to: I see claims about a UN plan/directive/policy called Agenda 21 which has amongst other things the move away from private property and requiring people to live in certain places and total control over farming type activities. Does anyone know if this is true or not? When I started seeing stuff like this it was touted as being a conspiricist theory. Now I’m seeing discussions about Agenda 21 in much more mainstream writings. Can someone clarify this for me?
I will leave it up to you to read the document and decide what is or not included and what it means for the world.
Gee Thanks. 350 pages of mind numbingly turgid , high sounding, UN obscurantist prose. If I ever get to the end do you think I may have missed the point ?
Has Lord Monckton done any careful blow by blow exposé on it by any chance ?
My bad. I sent you to the source so you would be able to make an unbiased, informed decision as to the document. Perhaps someone else can provide a short cut and an opinion for you.
Sheri, Thanks for that very helpful reference to the source. That was a comment on the document , not on your very kindly provided reference to it. I am steadily reading through it, though I fear that doing so may co-opt me to the UN way of thinking by hypnosis.
It is absolutely true, nothing less than a master plan for control of the world by the UN. If this bothers you — and it should — start communicating your objections to those who represent you in government. I’ve no idea where you live but wherever it is, get active about fighting Agenda-21.
OK I get it. I was hoping for something a little less subtle though, that might actually engage with the believers in unified, top down, unelected , authoritarian running of the World.
My biggest issue ray it that it’s hard to get people to take you seriously on this subject,most of them regard you as a “conspiracy theorist” to name one of the more polite terms,in spite of the fact that the document is available on-line in full. The seem to think that because the NGO’s of the U.N say that it’s “voluntary” and not binding that they can opt out of it at any time.
***Greens senator-elect for Victoria, Janet Rice, is on board too. please explain why all the relevant facts are not being reported by our MSM:
27 Dec: Guardian: Alok Jha: Antarctic mission on ice as rescue ship is forced back
The Guardian’s man on the icebound vessel reports on the freezing conditions as the expedition waits for assistance
Chris Fogwill, a glaciologist at the University of New South Wales and a co-leader of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE): “We need a westerly wind to release the pressure on the pack ice in the area, or we need two icebreakers.”…
The expedition leader had reassured us earlier that this kind of venture always allowed for this kind of contingency. It would, he said, be a couple of weeks before we were reduced to dehydrated food…
The Russian-controlled Shokalskiy became trapped in heavy ice on Tuesday, when it was travelling east around Commonwealth Bay to the Mertz glacier. Strong south-easterly winds pushed the ice floes in the area towards the Antarctic coastline, forming a dense mass around the Shokalskiy. At the time, the ship was only two miles from the open water. Since then, two days of blizzards have built the ice pack around the ship further – and the edge of the ice sheet, and the open water beyond, is now between 13 and 18 nautical miles from the ship.
“It’s a bulbous shape and we’re right in the middle of it,” said Fogwill. “The nature of Antarctica is very different to the rest of the world – everything is at a bigger scale. Storms are ever present, the rate at which they shift is very unpredictable because there is so much ocean around. At the edge of the continent you have strong weather systems and the speed at which things can happen is astronomical. It’s so far outside our normal frame of reference.”…
The Xue Long discovered that the ice at the edge of the pack was much thicker than it expected – around three to four metres thick in places – and the going was slow. It reported travelling at just between 0.1 to 3 knots due to the density of the ice it encountered. Technical issues with its engines meant L’Astrolabe did not enter the ice field at all. “We know the ice conditions around us are extremely difficult and the ice is under a lot of pressure,” said Greg Mortimer, a co-leader of the AAE, aboard the Shokalskiy.
If the Xue Long had reached the Shokalskiy, it would have likely cut a ring in the ice around our ship so that our captain could manoeuvre it into the newly opened channel behind the Xue Long. “It’s quite an elaborate operation and one that takes some time,” said Mortimer…
***Speaking before the Xue Long had turned around, Janet Rice, the Green party senator-elect for Victoria, Australia, who has been on board the ship since it left New Zealand, said: “I understand why people might be concerned, but the feeling today on board the ship is like a summer holiday when the weather is bad, when you’re stuck inside reading books and playing Scrabble. We’ve been assured that we’re in no danger and it’s just a matter of waiting.” http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/27/antarctic-mission-icebreaker-delay-rescue
Expedition spokesman in various MSM is Alvin Stone, ex-Fairfas!
Australian Reseach Council’s (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science
(Photo) Alvin Stone
Media and Communications Manager
ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science
University of New South Wales
Alvin worked as an editor with Fairfax Community News and then News Local for over a decade before moving across to media communications. As a media communicator he has worked for WWF-Australia and most recently Primary Communication, a boutique agency specialising in corporate clients in the energy, transport, IT and not-for-profit sectors. http://www.climatescience.org.au/staff/profile/astone
for the record. am hoping someone at WUWT might give an opinion about this story eventually. it seems a bit extraordinary to me, but who knows. both early explorers have died:
lots of debate in the comments about the distances quoted by CBC:
16 Dec: CBC: 1959 message in a bottle a clue to glacier melt
PHOTO CAPTION: In 1959, an American geologist built a rock cairn 1.2 metres away from this glacier. This summer, the cairn was 101.5 metres away
Comment by KevinMcKinney: I emailed Dr. Vincent about the distance from the cairn to glacier question yesterday. This morning he very kindly responded. Apparently, the researchers who were there also find the note ambiguous, and are trying to get Dr. Walker’s field notebook to resolve the question with certainty.
Comment by QuebeCityOliver
@AnonymousGorf
Like the numbers in the text being totally wrong. Let’s hope CBC corrects it after this morning’s interview on Québec AM.
Comment by Happy Canadian
The measurement was written to detail the edge of glacier was 168.3 ft from the edge of the cairn, and that the glacier overhung the rock floor by about 4 feet.
So, to Canadianize these: 51.3 meters from the cairn to the glacier edge, that was about 1.2 meters above the rock floor.
Now it is 101.2 meters, a shrinkage of 50 meters in 54 years. Much less than the 100 meters in this story.
Comment by MortimerSnerd
As I read that note the distance to the glacier in 1959 was 168.3 ft. not 1.2m. The edge of the glacier was ~4ft (1.2m) from the rock floor (whatever that means). It is now 101.5m or 333 ft, roughly double not roughly 80 times. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/1959-message-in-a-bottle-a-clue-to-glacier-melt-1.2465597
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL 30, NO. 20, 2031, doi:10.1029/2003GL017931, 2003
Break-up of the largest Arctic ice shelf and associated loss of an
epishelf lake
Derek R. Mueller and Warwick F. Vincent, Martin O. Jeffries
published 18 October 2003. http://www.cen.ulaval.ca/warwickvincent/pdffiles/175.pdf
Awwww – love the picture of Mischief – what is it with cats and Christmas trees..? Our son/daughter-in-law’s cat also loves to get right in the middle and peer out, with that ‘Hey, how cute am I’ look…
Still – bought her a hilarious Christmas pressie – its a (carboard) DJ deck where the ‘record’ is a circular scratch pad – so as she scratches it looks like she’s DJ-ing..!
Missed saying Happy Christmas – so all best wishes for 2014, Jo, and all your contributors – could this be the year we all lay the ‘Great Lie’ to rest..?
HI Jo,What an intellectual bunch we are.You post a picture of your pussy in a tree and we screw (sorry) it round into a discussion on master plans for control of the world,the destruction of every thing decent in society,world wide conflict and foot in mouth disease.Kinda like seeing a mongrel behind every bush.With the ever increasing levels of correctness our freedom for discussion gets less every day. Nice pussy though!
Yes, Merry Christmas Jo, and everyone else.
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Merry Christmas Jo, members and crew!
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Thumbs down?
Is that ‘Michael the Realist’ or someone of similar troll-like characteristics?
Anyhow, Merry Christmas to all sceptics and Seasons Greetings to all alarmists.
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Agree, Merry and Meaningful Christmas to all my friends around the world!
Especially also to the warmist trolls that regularly appear here. I pray that you wake up from your dream and quit making my nightmares.
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Merry Christmas to you and your family Jo. Hopefully all the other Santas out there will find their way to your ‘Tip Jar’ and leave a well earned present: http://joannenova.com.au/about/donations/
You have definitely been naughty to the global warming alarmists which means nice to the world of real science. You deserve to be rewarded for your incredible efforts made so consistently over such a long period of time.
Well done and may you be able to keep up this vital work in 2014.
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I want to thank most of the contributors to this blog. Over the last couple of years I have learned what science is and how it works as well as a tremendous amount of physics, engineering and climate science.
You should all be proud of your well thought out and crafted contributions!
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Joanne, I don’t know how you do it; but however you do it, keep up the good work. A very merry Christmas to all, but especially to you and David Evans.
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Merry Christmas to you, Jo, David and family. May you be blessed by this holiday season and throughout the following year.
And Merry Christmas to one and all who read and contribute. It’s my great honor to be able to converse and debate with so many fine people.
Let us hope, pray and work for a better year in 2014.
Roy
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And a special mention for the moderators who keep things working behind the scenes. It couldn’t happen without your volunteer labor of love.
Merry Christmas and a Happy prosperous new year.
RH
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I too wish a Merry and Peaceful Christmas to the 33% of the World’s population, who self-identify with the Christian Religion.
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Yep , it’s been a very good year for rationalists. I think we can look forward to next year and the death throes of the AGW monster. Nothing like a bit of biffo to keep the circulation going.
Have a good one everybody (that includes the “Michael”).
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Love the cat, Jo. Reminds me of ours when they were kittens — curious and eager to explore their world. And just as eager to get into trouble. One is gone now and the other is 14 years old but she still likes to get into trouble.
Is it a Christmas present by any chance?
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Not a Christmas present, but a kitten that has been destroying Christmas decorations for three weeks now. 😉
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I know the feeling. No matter what cat owners think, in reality the cat owns you and that seems to be that.
Enjoy! 🙂
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Merry Christmas to everyone regardless of their faith, including atheists. Enjoy the time with your partner and/or friends.
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Merry Newtoness for the agnostic sceptics. Yes, Newton’s birthday today.
Or perhaps Happy Festivus for the Seinfeldians.
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The 25th of December 1642 date that many use is based on the Julian calendar, not the Gregorian calendar we use today. However, England and its colonies switched from the Julian to Gregorian system later in 1752. So at the time and place he was born it was officially 25th December and so was born on Christmas day as it was celebrated at the time. When converted to the Gregorian system in use today it would have been 4th January 1643. Also, he was a devout but some would say unorthodox Christian so it’s very possible he would have said Merry Christmas anyway.
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I always try to learn something totally off the wall, every year.
This year was looking a bit slim, until you came up with that masterpiece of temporal tribulation. Thank you.
I remember reading that there were riots in 1752 because people thought they had lost ten days of their lives.
In fact you could say that there was an alarmist consensus about it.
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Yes indeed they rioted. They also rioted because some Protestants viewed the Gregorian calendar as a Catholic plot to overthrow England’s rule. After all, the Gregorian calendar was first introduced in mostly Catholic dominated places some 200 years earlier given it was initiated by the Roman Catholic Church. Interesting to note the Easter Orthodoxy dominated nations made the switch fairly recently with Greece in 1923. They persisted longer than UK as the Greek Orthodox Church had an even greater disdain of the RCs thanks to the East–West Schism many centuries prior. There are still some dissenters to this day in Greece who still follow the Julian system.
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Best wishes to everyone and thanks to Jo, David and family. Let’s hope for a better 2014 even if we have to wait until July to get rid of Labor’s imbicillic co2 tax.
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Yes, all best wishes to you Jo, and David, for a very happy Festive season, and a safe and propsperous new year!
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A very Merry Christmas to all the denizens of this Oasis of Sanity.Thank You Jo for your efforts.<:o)
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Wishing everybody and their family a happy and holy Christmas and a prosperous New Year !
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Merry Christmas to all, especially Miss Chief…
I’m sure thats how she hears it!
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Bob,
I see you understand cats quite well.
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Yes. Several of them have owned me over the years….
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I’ve got some relatives a motion-activated guard frog that will croak in the dark. Hopefully it will keep the cats away from food items left on the table top at night.
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Merry Christmas Jo and David (from a non-Christian who has no problem recognising, and enjoying, all peaceful festivals).
I admire the energy, dedication and intellect you put into this blog. I hope you have enough left for 2014.
Happy 2014 to you, and to my fellow readers.
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A Merry Xmas from that giant Hippo Al Gore.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/24/merry-griftmas-from-al-gore/#more-99853
Give to this loon and he’ll match it from some other secretive source. Unbelievable and just to tell more lies about CAGW and OECD mitigation.
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I notice that Gore says he’s started The Climate Reality Project. Perhaps, just maybe a tiny little bit, with a new emphasis on reality he’ll be more reasonable? 😉
I don’t understand why some people would rather go down with the ship, standing stoically on the bridge like Captain Smith on the Titanic as the waves take them down, when they could admit their mistake and get on with a real life. Gore and Obama — two peas in a pod in that regard. Why is it that such small men always try to be the such big men when they have so little chance of pulling it off?
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Perhaps it’s because they still think they can pull it off. Only time will tell if they fail or not. Of course we all hope they will fail but don’t be so certain they will just yet. One way to tell when they have failed is when they are on the next scam. That hasn’t happened as yet. Another way to tell is when sites like Jo’s are no longer needed. That is certainly not the case now.
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Peter,
I understand your point but I think both Gore and Obama will remain small, constricted little men no matter what their outward appearance of success may be. It’s a matter of the substance behind what they do. And there’s none of the right substance there.
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The Goracle means “reality” purely in the Orwellian sense of the word, where he and his brethren alone define the reality.
They are pathological, dangerous, nasty, narcissistic and genocidal. And that is just their good points. They live in hope of thwarting the modest aspirations of 95% of the planet, while they live the grandiose life of Reilly on the proceeds of their ill-gotten gains, milking the public purse in a bald-faced theft of unprecedented proportions on a plethora of failed predictions and alarmist diatribes warning of either non-existent or spurious mooted calamities. That people like Michael the Realist or John Brookes actually acquiesce and defer to such a flagrant egomaniac making himself into a trillionaire by preaching the gospel of global warming, while living such an apposite lifestyle to that he professes is necessary to save the planet, is the most perplexing aspect of this whole scam for me personally.
So, at Christmas, when charity and goodwill to your fellow man is meant to be the order of the day, I leave it to the alarmists to contemplate the meaning of those sentiments, and to contrast that to the callous indifference to suffering and poverty that their alarmism, whether they like to acknowledge it or not, has increasingly been shown to be founded upon. 2014 seems likely to see the death knell of this anti-human cult, and my Christmas wish is for all those little boys and girls who have been greedy and trying to take all the presents for themselves get exactly what’s coming to them.
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Jo, best wishes to you and your family for Christmas and keep up the good work
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All the Best.
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Jo,
Merry Christmas. You are appreciated much more than you can imagine for clearing up the junk science of CAGW. Thank you and Happy New Year.
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It’s Christmas time! ……. The season for releasing reports that you don’t want anyone to see!
Xmas with care, everyone!
bullocky
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To Jo, David, all the mods (thanks for such a great and informative site and keeping up the good fight) and all the visitors to this site.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosporous New Year.
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And a Merry Xmas to you.
(You do know that “merry” used to mean “green”, don’t you?)
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Merry Xmas everyone,
And to Mischief as well from Devil.
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Merry Christmas to one of only a very few blogs that understands what the term science means. Thanks for keeping rationality present in public discourse that is dominated by cult scams and self-interested conmen and women. Great work against appalling opposition.
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A happy and joyful Christmas to Joanne, David and family, and to ALL the people who contribute here with their Comments, because this site is where I learn so much ….. about Science, and about people in general.
For those of you who are young enough, on this day especially, put yourself in a place where you can see the faces of your children on this day, and for others, your grand children.
This is a day for family, because, after all, Christmas started with a family.
One of my presents was a gift voucher for a book shop, so, that gives me my joy.
I’m between novels now, and luckily I have a large selection on my book shelf to choose from while waiting for something new, so this time, I’m re-reading Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff, originally read in the late 80’s, so it’s been a while.
For insight into what makes an Astronaut, you can’t go past this wonderful book. Wolfe was given access to all 7 of the original Mercury Astronauts, and this book is the result. The movie was good, even at three and a quarter hours, but the book contains so much more, especially about the best of the best, Charles E Yaeger, (Chuck) and even with some stuff about his arch rival, Scott Crossfield, highlighting the typical Air Force/Navy rivalry.
Yaeger missed out on becoming an astronaut because the Government wanted officers with college degrees, and Chuck rose up through the ranks with only a high school education. Incidentally, BrigGen (one Star) Yaeger was also a movie star (loosely speaking) as he played Fred the barman at Pancho’s Place, the bar in the desert at Muroc (now known as Edwards) in the movie The Right Stuff.
In 1947, Yaeger was the first man to break the sound barrier in the Bell X1, and as part of the 65th anniversary of that feat in 2012, Yaeger did it again in an F15D ….. at the age of 89. He’s still alive today. He retired from the USAF in ’75 after serving for 34 years, and remained a test pilot for a further 30 years.
If you want to find out about men who did indeed have the right stuff, get the book, because a novel is really just a movie in your mind, only much longer lasting.
A happy and joyful Christmas to you all.
Tony.
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Tony,
I live in central Washington State. Last evening a big wind went through and then just before midnight it passed by. Here’s what happened (12/18 to now):
http://transmission.bpa.gov/Business/Operations/Wind/baltwg.aspx
Merry Christmas everyone.
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What is that Thermal energy?
It’s putting out way more energy than Wind (even at its best).
00
There is a chart here:
http://pnucc.org/sites/default/files/BPA%20Power-Natural%20Gas%20Whitepaper%208-24-12.pdf
Figure 3, page 4, shows the annual energy in the Pacific Northwest by fuel from 1961 until 2011.
Natural gas came on in the late 1970s but shows a leap in about 2000, then more in the last couple of years of the chart.
Wind started in about 2000 and has grown just large enough to become a problem. The river system is managed for the fish resource also and goals seldom match.
Hydro is the main energy but cannot be expanded much to be a backup for that increasing wind input. With coal and nuclear sort-of on hold the use of gas is ramping up even though the region does not have that as a big resource.
Anyway, there are a couple of coal plants and an increasing co-generation and gas input.
Scroll down from the original chart in 26.1 to see a list and note the company names that involve wood products & paper, and landfills. Centralia and Boardman use coal.
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Thanks John.
Admitted, this information is 18 Months old, but note specifically how (almost expected) wind power is hyped. (see page 6)
They use the old stand by which makes wind power seem to be contributing, using Nameplate Capacity only. Here you see (right scale, red line) Capacity at 4GW, or 4000MW.
For actual supply, that would be closer to 30% (maximum) so that immediately takes it down to only 1.2GW of actual power supplied, with reference to Nameplate Capacity.
That means that, similar to the U.S. overall total when it comes to power actually being generated for consumption, then wind power barely manages 3% of the total power delivered.
It’s hyped to make it look good when it really isn’t at all.
Tony.
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So, is thermal energy Gas?
The pdf you link doesn’t mention it, but I was curious about the first link you made.
I was expecting it to be deep earth heating of some sort, like they do in New Zealand.
00
Thermal energy is the use of any fuel which boils water to high temperature high pressure steam, and then the steam drives the turbine which drives the generator.
So, it is traditionally used for coal fired power, but can be Combined Cycle Gas Turbine where the second function uses the exhaust from the Natural gas fired turbine to boil water to steam etc.
It could also be used for Concentrating solar where the focussed sunlight is used to make a compound molten and this molten compound then boils water to steam etc.
It could also be loosely applied to Nuclear power generation, both the original methods PWR and BWR, where the nuclear reaction boils water to steam etc, except PWR uses a second function.
Anything really which uses steam to drive the turbine etc.
Traditionally though, Thermal Power is most often applied to coal fired power generation.
Tony.
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Thanks Tony, the graph makes sense now.
I see that wind has been sitting on zero for the last two days. Good thing we aren’t relying on it.
10
Tony, Merry Chistmas. I discovered this space fighter link today, maybe it will be of interest to you: http://www.bearcanada.com/fae/usa/spacethreate.html
10
Tony,
Chuck Yaeger is a very remarkable man in his own right. If you haven’t read his autobiography I recommend it wholeheartedly. Unfortunately I can’t find my copy and I don’t remember the title (a senior moment as my wife all too often says).
The right stuff hardly suffices to describe what these men had going for them.
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Roy,
thanks so much for mentioning this. Now I just to have to find a copy, here in Australia.
Looks like this could be the one.
Tony.
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It is indeed!
Happy reading.
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A Merry Christmas From Ontario Canada, the land of Ice Storms and Power Outages.
http://www.cp24.com/weather/power-likely-wont-be-fully-restored-by-christmas-ford-1.1606484
May you have a wind turbine free New Year!
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Season’s Greetings to all at Jonova.
Maybe it’s no surprise the Grinch was colored green:
Choosing a Christmas tree can be an ethical quagmire for environmentalists.
In that case, Happy Festivus to our ‘green’ friends.
Quote: “The true scientist does not say, “I believe”: but he ought, if there is any curiosity and awe in his soul, to say “I wonder …”.
Those two words are the foundation of all genuine scientific enquiry.”
Monckton of Brenchly
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At risk of appearing indecisive, I used to wonder but now I’m not so sure . Or is that the awesome kind of wonder ?
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Good morning Jo, David and loved ones, have a good day today. Blog readers are reminded that goodwill to all is still an aspiration yet to be acheived in this world. Let’s see if the human race can improve next year
Merry Christmas
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Merry Christmas to Jo & all, & a happy & cool new year.
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happy christmas, jo & family, mods, & all who keep up the fight against dogmatic CAGW science. u r an inspiration, jo:
libertarian-minded review-journal, the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada, says it all:
23 Dec: Las Vegas Review Journal Editorial: Global warming on ice
The arrogance required to boldly predict anything that could happen on this planet — whether it’s in five years, 20 years, 100 years or more — is laughable.
The alarmism is less about “preventing” climate change than it is about raising gobs of money, which countless groups then use to push their agenda: to ratchet back first-world economies and living standards by making energy much more expensive and much less available.
Sure, there’s climate change. We like to call it “weather.” Enough with the hysteria. Stay cool, Mr. Claus.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/editorial-global-warming-ice
the CAGW extreme:
23 Dec: InTheCapital, Washington DC: Anthony Sodd: This Is What DC Will Look Like If Sea Levels Rise [PHOTOS]
If global warming continues unabated and every glacier in Antarctica and Greenland were to melt, it would raise the global sea levels by as much as 80 meters — about 260 feet higher than today’s sea level. Without context, those numbers don’t mean much. Luckily, a deep-sea biologist named Andrew Thaler created some illustrations of what some of America’s largest cities would look like under various climate change scenarios…
At any rate, given the lack of headway we have made in curbing climate change you may want to invest in swimming lessons or a house in Kansas City. Stay dry and enjoy the city before it’s rechristened as “Atlantis.”
http://inthecapital.streetwise.co/2013/12/23/this-is-what-dc-will-look-like-if-sea-levels-rise-photos/#ss__97586_1_5__ss
DC underwater? almost makes one wish CAGW was real…for DC at least.
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can hardly believe MSM also published the Thaler Sea Level rubbish! actually, it comes as no surprise:
20 Dec: The Weather Channel: Andrew Thaler’s ‘Drown Your Town’ Webpage Projects Sea Level Rise Hundreds Of Years From Now (PHOTOS)
Today, #DrownYourTown has been tweeted millions of times from more than 100 countries, and Thaler still receives daily requests (which he answers) at the site he set up to collect them all, drownyourtown.tumblr.com…
http://www.weather.com/news/science/environment/drownyourtown-sea-level-rise-your-city-20131219
AUDIO: National Geographic: December 15, 2013: Paddling Through The World’s Biggest Rapids, Swimming in the World’s Coldest Oceans and More
Posted by Justin O’Neill in NG Weekend Radio Show on December 17, 2013.
If all of the world’s ice melted instantly, a flood of water would cause the seas around the world to raise by 262 feet, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Wanting to know what that would look like, marine biologist Andrew Thaler used Google Earth to increase the ocean depth and flooded several major global cities that live along the oceans. “Drown Your Town” became popular online in his social media and science blog. He tells Boyd about how sea level rise will become a more pressing concern in future generations, and is already having an impact on cities around the world.
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/12/17/december-15-2013-paddling-through-the-worlds-biggest-rapids-swimming-in-the-worlds-coldest-oceans-and-more/
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Here’s some actual tidegauge data from the NOAA showing that 85% of active stations are reporting less than the “official” 3.2mm per year:
http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2013/12/26/85-of-active-noaa-tide-gauges-report-below-the-claimed-3-2-mmyear/
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From my side of the world (US) a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.
Thank you Jo for what you’re doing.
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My wishes to all for relaxation, merriment, and profligate consumption!
Merry Christmas to Jo, David, the little sceptics, and Mischief.
The moderators deserve a … what do Media Watch at the ABC call it …a Well Earned Break , hehehe .
As for the climate alarmists, both well meaning ones and oppressors, use this time to be thankful for all the wonders of civilization .
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Merry Christmas, Jo.
Love the photo of Mischief and the big green cat toy.
We discovered this cat/tree thing many years ago. It is a consensus, then, of 2 at least. Current cat is called Rascal.
Good Cheer to all!
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I hope you’ve had a really Happy and Merry Christmas Jo and all who come here.
The big green cat toy is certainly popular here and I’ve had to rescue some old family tree ornaments. We have taken over DD’s farm cats (brought in after mouse plague) and they are little blighters where the tree is concerned. Cats seem to be the pets ‘de jour’….Anthony Watts has a pic of his today too!
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John,
Is the falloff of the wind contribution because they had to shut the windmills down to protect them or because they failed? Or maybe a little of both?
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Roy,
The wind went from an average near 30 mph with gusts to near 45 to almost nothing; officially calm. I don’t know about all the places but the one nearest me does not shut down until about 56 mph. So the answer is the wind quit. Still so.
All along the US west coast there is high pressure today (25th) so very little wind or power. Our house is “all-electric” but the source is hydro on the Columbia River about 50 miles away. Today, air stagnation alerts are in effect and interior valleys are full of fog.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/12/25/san-francisco-bans-wood-burning-on-christmas-eve/?intcmp=latestnews
Farther south (LA, Long Beach CA), Santa Ana winds and wildfire alerts are up.
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We had the wind yesterday but it never got very bad. I’ve no way to measure it but at a guess, maybe 15 MPH. It’s very dry though. The humidity has been in the basement for weeks.
00
Roy–We bought a “weather station” this fall. It measures wind, temperature and barometric pressure. I’m always curious about how much wind we have, so we purchased this, along with a rain gauge.
Right now, we have little wind. Usually, we have 15 to 20 mph wind, with gusts to 45. They say it’s good for wind plants, but I don’t see that. Besides, wind is “energy on it’s own terms”, not useful energy. If I only wanted lights when the wind blew, I would not be paying the power company. Funny how people claim to love wind plants but keep that umbilical cord to the power company attached. Guess they don’t love it so much as they claim.
00
Sheri and John,
Had I been on the computer yesterday I could have read the wind speed and direction from a little utility I have called, Weather Bug. It makes use of a reporting station close to where you are and gives you wind, temperature, forecasts and weather service alerts. It’s free too. My copy of it is reading data from the elementary school less than a mile away and it shows right now (1:00 PM PST):
Wind: 8 – 15 MPH from the northwest
Temperature: 75.8 F, no doubt more accurate than my patio temp sensor which shows 78.1; probably the influence of the sun on the patio roof.
That 15 MPH is only a bit less than we had yesterday. So my guess wasn’t very far off.
Sheri, I don’t know the terrain around where you live but I suspect there’s a lot more prairie than mountains. If so, you must get some real rip snorting winds during bad storms.
00
The relative humidity is showing 9% by the way. Anything you’re wearing has that static cling to it. Not to mention anything like plastic wrap that so many things come in these days.
If we could get our usual ocean breeze it would be much higher — and much more comfortable on the respiratory system.
00
Weather Bug doesn’t do me much good. The nearest station is 25 miles away but I do leave it on my desktop (it sort of works with my Mac….) for warnings. The “bug” blinks when there’s a warning. Right now, the “bug” says 34F, 20 mph wind and 50% humidity. My station says 39F, 7 mph wind and 58% humidity. Actually, your current relative humidity is what we have for most of the summer–which is why open burning, camp fires, etc are rarely allowed. It is uncomfortable.
I live on the high prairie, just north of mountains (10 miles or so). Yes, there are some rip snorting winds! The highest sustained wind has been 34 mph. Gusts were much higher. Where my cabin is has even more wind–50 to 60 mph. It is out on the open prairie at 6900 feet. I actually like the wind, except after they started destroying the plains by putting in wind turbines. I also love chinook winds–I learned about those in physical chemistry and was so excited to see them out here. (I am easily entertained! 🙂 )
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Sheri,
I’d never heard of Chinook Winds but being curious I looked it up. It turns out to be what pilots call a mountain wave. The wind blowing against the windward side is pushed up, sweeps over the top of the ridge and then swoops down the other side, of course warming up again as the pressure increases with lower altitude, allowing it to melt snow.
A mountain wave can be very dangerous if you don’t allow enough clearance between your flight altitude and the mountain below because the vertical speed can be more than your climb ability can compensate for. Flying against the wind it can literally force you right down into the mountain without anything you can do about it. And by the time you’re in it it’s too late to turn around. The Sierra Nevada range on the east side of the California central valley can be especially treacherous flying west.
One crash in particular stands out in which the lone survivor hiked all the way down to the highway to flag down a car and get help. It made the news because of that, where otherwise it wouldn’t get much notice. But it can happen anywhere there’s a significant mountain ridge or peak. I was caught in the wave one day and at best rate of climb airspeed I was descending — time to turn around and go elsewhere for the day.
Watching he snow melt, though, sounds about as exciting as watching the grass grow. 😉
But kidding aside, I suspect the Chinook Wind is a special case of the general mountain wave that happens when conditions are just right.
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Actually, with chinook winds, the snow melt can be much faster than grass growing. Add to that the rapid temperature change, and it definately outranks grass growing any day! 🙂
I found this while researching chinooks in the past:
On January 22, 1943, the northern and eastern slopes of the Black Hills were at the western edge of an Arctic airmass and under a temperature inversion. A layer of shallow Arctic air hugged the ground from Spearfish to Rapid City. At about 7:30am MST, the temperature in Spearfish was -4 degrees Fahrenheit. The chinook kicked in, and two minutes later the temperature was 45 degrees above zero. The 49 degree rise in two minutes set a world record that is still on the books. By 9:00am, the temperature had risen to 54 degrees. Suddenly, the chinook died down and the temperature tumbled back to -4 degrees. The 58 degree drop took only 27 minutes.
As noted, I find these things fascinating!
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Roy,
perhaps you may wish to read this. It’s a Post of my own, part of the series on O’Reilly’s Guest House and the famed Stinson rescue here in Australia in 1937, which made Bernard O’Reilly a reluctant hero, when he discovered the wreck with two men still alive, more than six hundred miles from where everyone was looking for the wreckage, almost a week after the plane went missing.
Part Five of that Series deals with what came after that rescue, and it especially mentions Mountain Waves and the effects of super high winds in Mountainous areas, which is where this crash happened.
While the effects of these mountain waves are relatively well known now, they didn’t really get much (real) investigation until more recent times.
Bernard O’Reilly lived in the mountains of the Lamington Plateau for many decades, and had an idea of what he was looking for, and here I mean exactly what he was looking for. He just knew all this, as part of his every day life.
Keep in mind he knew all this when he started out on his stirring rescue mission ….. in 1937.
O’Reilly’s At Green Mountains (Part 5)
For others who are interested, That Stinson Rescue is part of Australian aviation legend now, and for some insight into that, this is the Permanent link to the Menu page for that 5 part series, and the rescue is detailed in Parts 2 and 3.
Tony.
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Early in 1994, about 27 January I think, at 2200 hrs. it was minus 35 F in Taylor, British Columbia. There was at least three feet of snow on the ground. There had been a chinook arch in the West in the afternoon. At that time of year it is dark by 1600 hours.
Overnight the chinook came through, with winds over 100 mph. It took most of the shingles off the roofs in the Company housing site.
By 0800 the next morning, there was no snow and no water anywhere. It was a balmy plus 70 F. Not as short as your chinook, Sheri, but it was at least a hundred degree F change in temperature.
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Rod Stuart: Very impressive! Chinook winds are one of the most destructive yet awesome natural phenomena. 100F change in temperature and 3 feet of snow gone in no time. Incredible!
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Tony,
Thanks for that link. I didn’t get the chance to explore everything yet but I intend to go back and look at it all.
The history of flight is littered with lessons learned the hard way as the O’Reilly story demonstrates. The human race has paid very dearly for what it knows about aviation safety.
One of the most dramatic statistics I’ve seen is from the recovery of the flight data recorder from the Air France flight 447, Rio to Paris crash in the Atlantic. The data shows the airplane hit the water with a vertical speed of 100 MPH (not a mountain wave of course). That kind of thing is frequently found in and around thunderstorms and there isn’t an airplane in the world that can withstand that kind of bruit force. I have no good guess as to why they flew into that storm because they were equipped with radar more than capable of showing them the storm ahead. And I’ve never met a pilot who had not been trained in the danger of thunderstorms. No pilot in his right mind would fly into that. But with no survivors we’ll never know.
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Merry Christmas to Everyone,
Have a safe and Fun day. Don’t forget to deposit 20 IQ points just to accelerate the fun!
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One more thing – don’t forget – Instructions are just Manufacturers’ opinions!
40
I see you’ve been there. Not only are the instructions just the manufacturer’s opinion but these days they’re written by someone who grew up speaking a language you don’t understand. I’ve never had more fun in my life than trying to decipher something written in English by non English as first language writers.
Then of course we have the trend toward putting in pictures instead of words. A picture is definitely not worth a thousand words as we’ve all been told. And top that all off by having what words there are, supplied in 5 different languages. Don’t these people understand the tree huggers?
My wife bought a “simple” timer for outdoor lights to replace one that finally failed. How hard could it be? Thanks to “good” instructions I nearly threw it against the wall in frustration before I got it working. 🙁
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“My wife bought a “simple” timer for outdoor lights to replace one that finally failed. How hard could it be? Thanks to “good” instructions I nearly threw it against the wall in frustration before I got it working.”
Having been through this same exercise every time we go on vacation, or off to see grand kids on opposite coasts, I feel your pain.
Last Sunday morning we bought a couple of ‘WeMo’ timers made by Belkin, the cable people. You plug it in, install it on your wireless network, download the app to your cell phone and iPad, and you’re in business in 2 or 3 minutes. The interface is super-simple and easy to use, and you can check it from anywhere, like the airport. (…did I set the timers?) We got them at full price, $40 each, but they’re bound to go on sale at some point. When we went on vacation in early November, I spent 3 hours programming 4 different timers with instructions from hell. Never again.
20
A word is worth a millipicture.
20
For all those still struggling to interpret instructions on how to put a new Christmas gift together, whether written or in pictures, there is another option – look on youtube for a video of how to do it. Don’t tell me, show me! Seasons Greetings to all contributors to this wonderful blog.
10
I had do exactly this to replace a battery in my car keys.
No way could I figure out how to pull the cover of the keys. Just to replace a battery?
10
Mankind has obviously somehow stooped to a new low when we need to lookup a youtube video to replace the battery to our carkeys. I can only imagine trying to explain that one to one of my grandparents.
It’s kind of like needing a soldering iron to replace a battery in an iphone. I mean sure, they want to sell more crap, but seriously – a battery? FFS!
I am just waiting for a smartphone update to disable the phones’ ability to make phone calls – you laugh now, but we all know it will happen one day. I’m calling this one out now.
00
No problem. It is easy.
Just drop the car key onto some concrete. Case goes one way, old battery goes another, and the lid goes somewhere else.
The real challenge, is getting it all to go back together again, with the battery right side up, and then getting it to stay together, now that your keys have learnt about “apartness”.
00
Two words – Duct Tape.
00
I hate to whine. But why do my car keys even need a battery? For that matter, why do they insist on a button to start the engine? Am I too lazy to simply turn the key one more notch? Apparently they think so.
It’s crazy — too much technology with too little benefit.
20
Best wishes for Christmas and all power to your pen in 2014. Although I don’t know how you keep it up in refuting this nonsense. Or why anyone needs to.
20
Let me fetch my Glock to get kitty out of the tree. 🙂
Merry Christmas. Stay warm. Wherever you are. (link to NoFrakkingConsensus.)
51
Merry Christmas Jo and to all of you people who care about our future world.
40
Merry Christ Mass and Happy New Year to you and yours Jo as well as all the gang that participate in making this forum as informative and Cooooool as it is. Mischief is adorable. Great shot!
May 2014 be even better for us and worse for the crooks, liars, thieves, pols and trolls.
Davet
30
Merry Christmas Jo and all that regularly post here. I was hoping that I’d have an early Christmas present with the repeal of the Carbon Tax,but sadly that’s not to be. May 2014 be a good year for us,and thanks for your efforts Jo,and the many other informed people that regularly post here.
20
Merry Christmas to one and all.
10
Happy Solstice and a prosperous New Year Joanne and David and family – thank you for your wonderful site.
10
My greetings to everyone and especially to our Miss Chief for the wonderful work she does.
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jo,
last nite abc had a repeat of a 14-minute interview they’d already aired in august, with a female blogger. listening to what can only be described as pure gibberish, i kept thinking why on earth hasn’t jo been invited on all kinds of abc programs?
take note of the description of Tavi:
AUDIO: 24 Dec: ABC Books & Arts Daily with Michael Cathcart: Media mogul at 17: Tavi Gevinson
Tavi Gevinson was already setting the fashion world alight at 11 with her fashion blog The Style Rookie, and now she has her own online magazine for teen girls called Rookie. It’s viewed by millions, has a staff of 80 and tackles everything from feminism to fashion. And she’s only 17 years old. She has been called ‘the future of journalism’ and ‘the voice of teenage girls’. First broadcast 22nd of August.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/booksandartsdaily/media-mogul-at-173a-tavi-gevinson/5038048
seems Tavi’s also had an entire HOUR – according to the single comment – on “Big Ideas” in September:
9 Sept: ABC Big Ideas: Books & Authors: Tavi Gevinson: Tavi’s World
Tavi Gevinson was 11 when she kicked off her writing career with a fashion blog called Style Rookie…
She was a keynote speaker at the Melbourne Writers Festival and she packed out the Athanaeum Theatre with young women wearing ‘Tavi headgear’ the bunches of roses that she used to wear when she was 11 or 12, and their mums and the odd dad.
Here, she’s giving her ‘fangirl’ keynote speech.
It’s worth taking a look at Rookie, her online magazine for young women.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/bigideas/stories/2013/09/09/3840224.htm
anyway, Cathcart’s build-up on abc last nite about her millions of blog visitors, & Tavi telling a story of how a NYT editor actually told her she’d quit her job to help Tavi, made me think her websites must be overflowing with fans & online activity.
just take a look! and this person gets a 14 minute repeated interview, plus an hour on “Big Ideas” …on an australian-taxpayer-funded radio station, while Jo is nowhere to be seen or heard, despite the huge success of the JoNova Website. as for her being a keynote speaker at the Melbourne Writers Festival, with fans in attendance – well, that is Melbourne for you!
StyleRookie: Most recent Thread: Dec 3 2013:
LONG TIME NO TALK. Here’s what’s happened since last spring:
Rookie Yearbook Two is out! It is the print edition of our best content from our second year as a website and I am crazy proud of it…
I’m rubber, you’re glue, your enthusiasm bounces off me and sticks 2 u…
I was asked to share my “big big world” at the Sydney Opera House and the Melbourne Writers Festival and mostly talked about fangirling, the anxiety of influence, and being happy instead of putting pressure on yourself to be some tortured artist…
PREVIOUS THREAD APRIL 2013.
http://www.thestylerookie.com/
Rookie Magazine
http://rookiemag.com/
ABC IS TRULY AN EMBARRASSMENT. but always good for a laugh.
10
25 Dec: AAP: Sydney Morning Herald: Antarctic tourist ship trapped by sea ice
Australian explorers are stranded near Antarctica after their ship became wedged in thick sheets of sea ice.
The Spirit of Mawson voyage, which includes scientists, explorers and tourists, is trapped in Antarctic ice floes and awaiting rescue.
But with the nearest ship with ice-breaking abilities at least two days away, the crew will spend Christmas and Boxing Day stuck about 1500 nautical miles south of Hobart.
The ship had been on a multi-day tour from New Zealand to visit several sites along the edge of Antarctica…
It is not known how long the ship has been unable to break free from the ice floes…
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority received a distress call on Christmas morning, notifying the rescue co-ordination centre that the ship was trapped in ice and would need help…
The privately funded expedition was to visit Mawson’s huts on Antarctica, which had been inaccessible for many years because of an iceberg.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/antarctic-tourist-ship-trapped-by-sea-ice-20131225-2zwjr.html
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Isn’t it SUMMER in the southern hemisphere?
Where is all that ice coming from? That ice certainly has a hide, showing up at Christmas time.
10
Best wishes to one and all this Christmas and the New Year from the other side of the World.
My son, who lives with his wife and two children in Brisbane, has just called so this message has to be short and sweet.
Have a great time and ROLL ON 2014!!
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Just watched QI on ABC. Could we not have a Christmas eve without CAGW on TV. Bloody Stephen Fry daring to make an analogy between the Ejafjallajokul (spot?) eruption and Genghis Khan slaughtering half of Asia. That’s because both events were wonderful for saving the planet from human depredations.
Just astonishing.
70
Even Santa cannot deliver a present of that magnitude.
20
Stephen Bloody Fry – great in the TV series “Kingdom” but otherwise a leftist tosser.
30
I dunno. He was certainly good in Kingdom, but he was positively genius in Blackadder Goes Forth, playing General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett.
Hard to believe the cast of that particular Blackadder, when you had Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Tim McInnerny, Rik Mayall, and Adrian Edmondson. Great cheer in this also, as the lowly private is so far the only one to be actually Knighted!
Great image of the 5 main characters.
Tony.
20
G’day Tony,
Forgot about Blackadder Goes Forth. Must be advancing age or a surfeit of festive juices.
He was good in that.
20
Extraordinary series was Bladder, initially written by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson, with later episodes written by Curtis and Ben Elton. Of the innumerable quotes and focus moments, this seems to have a certain applicability to the moment:
General Melchett: If nothing else works, a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through.
00
Fry gets out and about in adventures for luvvies series with Bear Grylls in the Italian Dolomiti, Christmas Day.
Bear’s Wild Weekend
&
Clip here
20
Ye Haa,its over.No not the warming tripe,Xmas.The kids,grand kids,inlaws and other hungry hangers on,all gone home.Petty differences,small peoples scratches and lumps and “that’s mine” arguements all over.Fridge empty,pantry empty,garbage full who would want it any other way,cant wait till next year!
Happy New Year everyone,keep up the essential work you have taken on Jo,the plot gets thicker all the time,thanks
50
Merry Christmas all and thanks for the great entertainment and enlightenment. Happy troll hunting for the 2014 season.
10
Merry Christmas Everyone!
20
Merry Christmas Jo and to the Warmists a Happy, Snowy Cold New Year!
Which seems to be happening already.
Rare heavy snowfall in Vietnam comes just after U.S. Sec. of State John Kerry visited Vietnam to promote the new enemy: climate change
Do you think Kerry will be plagued by The Gore Effect during the rest of his career as Sec of State?
Oh, what a wonderful Christmas gift that would be.
50
From sunshiney Colorado to all you good people in the great Down Under, Merry Christmas.
30
Belatedly.
10
Merry Christmas, Jo!
http://www.thegwpf.org/renewables-fiasco-doldrums-clouds-bring-green-electricity-production-halt/
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Even as we celebrate, this is going on behind our backs.
How do you shoot down a soldier’s moral? Just keep on as we’re going. That’s all you need to do. This is nothing but intolerance in the name of tolerance. I spent a lonely year in Saigon away from my wife and family and I know how important the little things are to someone isolated from all that’s friendly and familiar.
Merry Christmas to you top Army brass Grinches too. But may you someday have your toes rolled over by the voice of mindless authority so you learn what the hell your doing.
Just in case you who pull the strings at the Pentagon can’t get it, what you’re doing offends me. 🙁
40
Why is no one jumping on those annoying newscasters that keep saying things like “Christmas shopping” and “after Christmas” sale? Plus, all calanders have the holiday marked as “Christmas”, not “Holiday”. What amazes me is people still join the army, knowing it’s a social engineering group, not really meant to save America, but rather to advance PC ideas.
30
G’day Roy,watching the U.S.news there are a lot of things going on with similar story lines.The Defence equal opportunity management institute sounds like the sort of group krudd or gilly would have come up with.Maybe they have,we have a lot of gangreen offices of this and that all set up to point us in their direction,all paid very well.Calling a spade a spade may not be correct but if you don’t its game over.
00
It’s hardly about equal opportunity is it? There’s a political agenda in play and I certainly don’t like it. Not one bit.
20
Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year, Jo – and all contributors to this most enjoyable site!
30
Happy Christmas Jo and David! Thanks for all you do.
My NY Resolution is to post under my family name: Harry Passfield – given that my old ‘name’ was the result of a poor joke.
Happy New Year!
40
Honors, joy, and best wishes to Jo and to all my friends in Australia.
131
Dear Anthony
You’re a shining example of everything good. A huge Happy New Year to you and your family. They deserve a medal too. And a Catastrophic New Year to the AGW mob. Kind regards from… an Australian fan.
00
Marcus Aurelius Augustus
A very happy, blessed Christmas to all and a prosperous, healthy and sane new year.
Notable thanks to Jo for her exemplary tenacity both in the engine room and on the bridge of this remarkable site.
For those who may not have seen this, an enjoyable way of passing an hour or so at this time.
Climate Change Global Warming Truth Allegory
100
This is a nice little Christmas present to the world from Egypt, even in spite of our idiotic government being so opposed to the recent military takeover there.
Egypt declares Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. It looks like the good guys can win after all. But it could go either way so let us hope there is sufficient resolve to both rid Egypt of the Brotherhood and all it stands for and build and maintain a viable democracy.
60
Yes, it’s interesting how the West is very reluctant. What’s worse is the World Turns Away as Rebel Massacres of Syrian Christians Intensify
We are so lucky to live in a country with the freedom to celebrate Christmas.
50
Sorry everyone, I held off saying this as long as I can.
Throughout its history Islam has been the most intolerant religion the world has ever seen. If we in the west don’t soon start to recognize this and fight it we’re going to be overrun by it. The militant faction now seemingly in full charge is not going to be nice simply because an idiot President of the United States wants them to be. They will even slaughter their own who don’t toe the party line. We see it in Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Sudan. What does it take to wake everyone up?
If anyone is not familiar with the metaphor, the handwriting is on the wall, best get familiar with it.
30
The Syrian war is a religious war between Shiite and Sunni. The Shiite are backed by Iran (Shiite) and the Sunni by Saudi Arabia.(Sunni) Iraq is the same. Sudan is also a religious/cultural problem with Northern Sunni Muslims v southern African non-Muslims. Since Southern Sudan’s independence in 2011 internal fighting has occurred which is not Muslim related.
Egypt is also a Sunni nation but it’s problems stem from the Muslim Brotherhood that has shattered the economy (by ruining it’s major asset tourism) and the country now has high youth unemployment which is a similar problem in all the aformentioned countries.
The other Muslim countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and now possibly Libya and Morocco are run by the wealthy Sheikhs as of old. You don’t hear Muftis and Mullahs voicing strong opinions in the local press or on TV – if they do they are told to STFU. The Muslim Brotherhood tried to establish itself in the UAE and were promptly deported. These countries are engaging with the west instead of protesting against them. The UAE also has strong ties with India as Indians have been a part of the Gulf States well before the creation of the Emirates and a high proportion of the working population is Indian. When I’m watching the cricket live streamed on the net the commercials are for money transfer exchange companies competing to send money to India for the cheapest rate. There are around 400 – 500 plane flights weekly between India and the UAE, it’s only 3-4 hours away.
20
Janama,
You’re correct. And I’m not ungrateful for the Muslim faction that is pro West. But I do not believe for a single second that the radicals have anything less than world dominance in mind. You can read the Koran for confirmation.
Nevertheless, much of Islam remains dedicated to converting the infidel or killing him. And I can see no way to come to terms with this attitude.
10
G’day Roy,the lefties and gangreens want their version of communal socialist government world wide.The religious militants want to take over everything,so this has the potential for a modern re-run of the crusades and no one will talk their way out of something like that.
20
I fear exactly that possibility.
20
Hi Peter,
“Lucky”?
After so many years, so many wars and lives committed to the common purpose of creating a safe and just society, some politicians,
about forty years ago, “decided” that we had arrived. Discipline was relaxed and people did what they always do when freed of strong,
firm guidance; they became lazy drunken, violent sponging a’holes whose only useful quality is that THEY VOTE.
In Egypt they voted for the MB Hood and here they vote for whoever will give them a law free society and large social security payments.
Australia now has school achievement levels in maths, science and reading that are a disgrace and we sit below places like West Kurdistan.
Politicians say schools need more money but students are out of control in Australia and completely undisciplined.
Punishment is almost absent from our legal system and we now are in dire trouble and unable to walk the streets at night and small business
owners outside of large malls are scared witless about being the next holdup victim.
Australia has been sold down the tubes by our elected politicians and we don’t have the spine to stop Muslim drive by shootings in Sydney.
BUT.
We can cover over this mess by having Newspaper headlines proclaim that we are sending more “aid” to Sudan.
As if the rest of the world is worse off than us.
Maybe, maybe not.
KK
20
Sending festive greetings especially for you, Jo, for your unrelenting temerity in steering the ship of ‘good hope’ through stormy seas towards the promise land. Jo, have a wonderful Christmas and a vigorous new year and to all of the contributors who is embarking on this epic journey with you.
30
“By 2013 Global Warming(tm) will have caused the floorboards in family rooms to reach such temperatures that domestic cats will be forced to take shelter in Christmas Trees.”
– Tim Flannery (maybe… citation needed… 😀 )
70
😛
10
Merry Christmas from the frozen north.
Thanks for another year of entertainment all.
Hoping to see the madness of the mob reduce in 2014.
50
G’day Jo,
A belated Merry Christmas to you and your family. Keep up the good work in 2014. I’ve learned a great deal from the contributors – even the numpties though I am sure it wasn’t the message they were trying to convey.
Nice looking kitten. Pity they grow into cats.
In the words of B.T.Grieve, “Dogs are social, cats are sociopaths”.
Kol tuv
20
David, cats aren’t so bad, you just need to learn to be a more faithful employee.
00
Spot on Ceetee – however I have no intention of learning.
Again to quote the perceptive B.T. Grieve; “Cats are ideal cohabitants for the millions of lazy, busy or inert people who clog the arteries of humanity”
Having said that I must also admit my daughter has one of the friendliest, most sociable moggies I have encountered and who is half of a mutual admiration society with one of my Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.
🙂
00
A big big thank you for helping me understand what’s going on. Your writing is so clever, entertaining and informative. Wishing the very best of everything for you and your family in 2014 and may governments stop propping up the AGW myth.
30
Truth in science
20
Just a thought from another commenter — I’ve never seen anything incoherent about the things you say and link to. And that’s a complement from me to you. Happy New Year!
20
Warmest of Christmas greetings to Jo Nova and family as well as all those who frequent this site.
10
Glad it’s just not our cat who is obsessed with the Christmas tree!
Merry Christmas, and keep up the good work. Whilst I don’t post much, this is one of my main “goto sites” to keep up with what is happening on the great global warming scare.
30
Thanks Jo and David for a great site with a continuous, accurate information stream and the exceptional effort that’s behind it.
I’ve learnt a lot from the many qualified and intelligent bloggers here (Trolls excluded, of course.) and look forward to learning more in the New Year.
Thanks to you all and here’s to the great global awakening of 2014.
50
http://nofrakkingconsensus.com/2013/12/20/celebrated-physicist-calls-ipcc-summary-deeply-unscientific/
This short piece is well worth a read.
40
Yes but. Is scientific luminary Darriulat a qualified Climate Scientist, with specialist knowledge in torturing the uncertainties till they bleat ;-?
That’s one cute kitty btw. Jo.
Please accept my Thanks & Best Wishes for this Christmas Season,
Eddie.
10
Indeed. People like Michael the Idealist should in fact read the whole thing.
But of course he will whine “he’s not a climate scientist”, ignoring the fact that what we are talking about are scientific principles, not conclusions per se.
Indeed, Darriulat demolishes the IPCC entirely.
Seasons greetings to all!!!
10
BTW, is Michael the Idealist a “climate scientist?”
00
26 Dec: WUWT: So much sea ice in Antarctica that a research vessel gets stuck, in summer!
It is summer in the southern hemisphere and yet there is still signifiicantly above normal amounts of sea ice present as the passengers and crew of one tour ship discovered. The icebreakers Xue Long and Aurora Australis, and a French research vessel Astrolabe are cruising towards the Akademik Shokalskiy at full throttle for rescue…
The expedition is being led by Chris Turney, “climate scientist”, who has “set up a carbon refining company called Carbonscape which has developed technology to fix carbon from the atmosphere and make a host of green bi-products, helping reduce greenhouse gas levels.” The purpose of the expedition is “to discover and communicate the environmental changes taking place in the south.”
http://www.christurney.com/ (h/t to Sagebrush Gardener)
It seems they found out what the “environmental changes taking place in the south.” are…
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/26/so-much-ice-in-antarctica-that-a-research-vessel-gets-stuck-in-summer/#more-99920
25 Dec: SMH: Antarctic tourist ship trapped by sea ice
by Nicky Phillips, Colin Cosier
On board the Akademic Shokalskiy are scientists from the University of NSW, a journalist from the Guardian and dozens of tourists who have paid to be part of the recreation of Mawson’s expedition…
Whether the Aurora Australis returns to station or heads home to Hobart after this mission will depend on many factors, said the ship’s captain, Murray Doyle, and the voyage leader, Leanne Millhouse…
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/antarctic-tourist-ship-trapped-by-sea-ice-20131225-2zwjr.html
26 Dec: ABC: Antarctic rescue of ship trapped in ice could be hampered by blizzard: AMSA
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) says the search-and-rescue operation for a passenger ship stuck in ice near Antarctica will be lengthy and challenging…
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-26/antarctic-rescue-could-be-hampered-by-blizzard/5174964
27 Dec: NZ Herald: Ben Irwin: Ice-stranded Kiwis happy despite storm
Ornithologist Kerry-Jayne Wilson is one of six New Zealanders stuck on the MV Akademik Shokalskiy, which has been on an expedition led by scientists from the University of New South Wales.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11178214
20
don’t know how my comment got posted, but –
from the NZ piece above:
“Dr Wilson, chair of the Blue Penguin Trust, said the stoppage might have been a blessing in disguise.”
from the SMH piece above:
“Just before 5am the Rescue Co-ordination Centre, part of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in Canberra, ***ordered*** three ships, a Chinese and French vessel and the Aurora Australis, to lend assistance.”
***”ordered” sounds a bit strong!
27 Dec: Hobart Mercury: David Killick: Stricken ship trapped in the ice, 900km from help
The Akademik Shokalskiy is carrying 22 scientists from the privately funded Spirit of Mawson expedition plus 22 crew and 30 paying passengers…
The Spirit of Mawson expedition is a private venture being led by University of NSW academics Professor Chris Turney and Chris Fogwill and famed Australian mountaineer Greg Mortimer.
The ship is also carrying a three-member conservation team from the Mawson’s Huts Foundation – Ian Godfrey, John Tucker and Barbara Tucker…
“There’s no danger to the ship or any of the people on the ship. The mood inside is positive and given the time of year is quite jovial,” he told the Mercury.
“Having said that people are aware that because of the nature of the environment the captain did have to put out a note to maritime services pointing out the situation that we’re in.” Dr Peacock said the ship became stuck after a change in the notoriously fickle Antarctic weather.
“There was a change in the weather conditions, such that significant pack ice put itself between us and open water and despite the fact that we have a very capable ship, we were unable to progress any further north and just came to a halt,” he said.
“It is an extremely dynamic environment we’re in, amazingly so, sometimes nature just overwhelms the technology we have to keep going.”…
SINGLE COMMENT BY MARY STARK OF HOBART: The passengers on this ship may be having a great adventure but this rescue is no doubt costing the other vessels concerned huge amounts of money and time. Why are vessels without sufficient ice breaking capacity permitted to venture into areas where this nay hsppen?
http://www.themercury.com.au/news/rescue-mission-for-trapped-antarctic-ship/story-fnj4f7kx-1226789717821
yesterday i was surprised that most people i spoke to didn’t seem to know about this story. certainly the australian reporting is extremely odd with, of course, all the interesting details left out, played down, etc.
40
Pat,these people went to Antarctica to find out that the world has an extremely dynamic environment.Is that money well spent or what!We will have to wait and see how the ABC can work this into something negative for the IPCC to use.What type of green products do you make from CO2.
10
Fom CNS News who advise that their prime purpose is to:
“put a higher premium on balance than spin and seek news that’s ignored or under-reported as a result of media bias by omission.”
Regarding the icy Antarctic entrapment of the hapless scientists-who-should-know-better CNS writes:
Whilst not pointing out the obvious, at least this media crowd is muttering about the facts. It’ll be interesting to see what spin the Guardian journo tagging along will develop.
00
Merry Christmas and a great New Year for 2014.
KK
00
And from me to you and your wife, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, along with thanks for thinking enough of me to do something special that was way out of your way to do.
Roy
10
Thanks Roy and all the best to you and family.
Reading what you said about people from my wife’s country making a new home in the US confirmed what I had found here.
They are good people who work hard, save, study and have contributed much to our society.
The world needs good people and I appreciate those who understand that.
Thanks for having been there.
Happy New Year.
KK
20
ChrisTurney.com: THE AUSTRALASIAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION 2013-2014
To mark this special centenary, we intend to lead a privately-funded voyage of discovery to the Antarctic during the Austral summer of 2013-2014.
Taking a team of 36 women and men south, the new Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) aims to discover just how much change has taken place in this very special part of our planet…
The expedition has been costed at US$1.5 million, which includes the charter of an ice-strengthened ship to access these remote locations. We will shortly be announcing major corporate sponsorship but the expedition is also looking for members of the public who wish to take part in a public-funded scientific expedition south…
http://christurney.com/Australasian_Antarctic_Expedition.html
BBC: The Return to Mawson’s Antarctica – Part One
Duration: 29 minutes
First broadcast: Monday 16 December 2013
Join the scientists of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 2013, as they go about their experiments and seek adventure at the windiest place on earth…
This remote area hasn’t been studied systematically for 100 years, so the expedition will reveal any changes that have taken place as a result of climate change.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01n1dtv
20
They forgot to mention BYO liquor,ice cubes supplied
00
looks like a BBC/ABC/Guardian/CAGW exercise:
18 Dec: Guardian: The Guardian lays claim to Antarctica – in pictures
Journalists Alok Jha and Laurence Topham have landed in Antarctica with the 2013 Australasian Antarctic Expedition
Documentary filmmaker Laurence Topham lines up a shot from the bows. Photograph: Alok Jha/Guardian…
http://www.theguardian.com/science/antarctica-live/gallery/2013/dec/18/guardian-antarctica-pictures
Guardian: Laurence Topham, documentary filmmaker
In 2007 he worked for Current TV, where he edited over 50 short-form documentaries for terrestrial broadcast…
http://www.theguardian.com/open-weekend/laurence-topham
Guardian: Science: Antarctica live (MASSIVE COVERAGE, NO HINT ABOUT THE SHIP’S CURRENT PREDICAMENT!)http://www.theguardian.com/science/antarctica-live
26 Dec: BBC: Andrew Luck-Baker: Science continues for trapped Australasian Antarctic expedition
Science reporter Andrew Luck-Baker is on board the Russian research vessel Shokalskiy, covering the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 2013 for the BBC World Service programme Discovery…
Tantalisingly, a low band of grey sky to the Northeast suggests clear water lies not so many kilometres away. The grey colour is light reflected from open water. The early Antarctic explorers named this colour phenomenon “water sky” and used it to navigate their route through the treacherous pack ice…
In addition to the Russian crew of 22, the expedition team consists of 18 professional scientists from Australia and New Zealand, and 22 volunteer science assistants. They are members of the public, ranging in age from their 20s to their 70s. They paid to join the scientific adventure…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25519059
25 Nov: ABC Lateline: $1.5 million Australian expedition to Antarctica
Professor Chris Turney from the University of NSW is mounting the largest Australian science expeditions to the Antarctic with an 85-person team to try to answer questions about how climate change in the frozen continent might be already shifting weather patterns in Australia.
ABC’s MARGOT O’NEILL: The research stakes are high. Antarctica is one of the great engines driving the world’s oceans, winds and weather, especially in Australia. But there’s ominous signs of climate change.
CHRIS TURNEY: The Southern Hemisphere westerly winds encircle Antarctica, and over the last 20 or 30 years or so, they’ve been pushing further south. Now – so actually in a way it’s almost like Antarctica’s withdrawing itself from the rest of the world…
EMMA ALBERICI: And tomorrow night, in the second part of this special report, could the British Antarctic explorer Robert Scott have lived? We look at how Professor Turney discovered that choosing the right team can be a matter of life and death.
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2013/s3898858.htm
20
25 Dec: UK Daily Mail: Tamara Cohen: £30million for wind turbines that don’t work when it’s windy: Cost is £25million higher than last year and paid for by household bills
National Grid is unable to cope with extra power produced
At the start of September, around 40 wind farm firms were paid £2.4million
Another windy weekend in August saw £3.1million handed over
Wind farms have been paid a record £30million this year to stand idle in bad weather…
John Constable, of the Renewable Energy Foundation charity, which compiled the figures from official data, said: ‘The scale and pricing of wind power constraints in 2013 clearly shows that the full system cost of wind power is much higher than government is willing to admit.
‘Unfortunately, there are no cheap solutions, and, ironically, paying wind farms not to produce energy may actually be cheaper than building more grid.
‘At some point government will have to face the fact that wind power is simply too expensive to provide more than a minor share of UK electricity.’…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2529297/Title-goes-here.html
40
Yes, but it shouldn’t stop there. The decision makers and leaders of the wind farm disaster should be made accountable. A jail term would suffice but I know it won’t happen. Why? Because it’s not recognized as a scam by the public, yet we all know it is.
51
Sweet Joanne Nova 🙂 Merry Christmas to you and all the best from Denmark!
K.R. Frank Lansner
10
A cat-in-a-box physics experiment.
(Warning: another cat video)
10
Is this the antithesis to Schrodinger’s Cat?
Oh BTW, I go away for a bit and see not one pussy joke the entire thread, Mrs Slocombe would be disappointed.
-[But the moderators are not] -Fly
10
Merry Christmas, Fly.
10
ABC has a whole science page, with multiple Chris Turney reports. the ship is on its second trip in a matter of weeks:
ABC Science: Destination Antarctica
Over the six week journey we will study the oceanography, climatology and biology of the region, including the birdlife, mammals and seafloor flora and fauna, and see how one change influences another…
The focus of the first leg will be on the New Zealand sub-Antarctic islands where we will undertake a major science program, below, on and above the surface: looking at the wildlife and taking advantage of some of the most southerly living trees in the world to extract hundreds of years of climate data.
We’ll then return to Invercargill on 7 December, change over some of the team, and head south to Macquarie Island at 54°S — affectionately known as Macca — where we’ll be based for two days. While here, we’ll investigate the shore bed as well as decipher records of change from the peat bogs over the last 3000 years to better understand recent change in this most sensitive of all environments.
From Macquarie Island we’ll push further south towards Commonwealth Bay in Antarctica, which is the site of Mawson’s original base…
http://www.abc.net.au/science/photos/2013/11/26/3917772.htm
Commonwealth Bank had a comp for the first of the two trips!
Commonwealth Bank: Antarctic Competition – FAQs
The trip will be from the 26 November to the 8 December 2013.
The Australasian Antarctic Expedition will leave Invercargill, New Zealand on the 27 November and will return on the 7 December 2013…
https://www.commbank.com.au/personal/youth-students/antarctic-comp-faqs.html
00
remember this one i posted on the “Reddit” thread:
20 Dec: Guardian: Tan Copsey: Communicating climate change
(Tan Copsey is research manager for the BBC Media Action project Climate Asia.)
In our morning discussion group, we used BBC Media Action’s Climate Change Communication Toolkit, which includes Climate Communication Cards to stimulate discussion of how to reach diverse audiences, ranging from farmers in Kenya to voters in the United States…
This content is produced and controlled by Connect4Climate.
http://www.theguardian.com/connect4climate-partner-zone/communicating-climate-change
which linked to these BBC pages:
BBC Climate Asia: Communication Toolkit
A guide to communicating climate change
‘Communicating Climate Change: What You Can Do’ presents a framework for designing an effective communications strategy, including practical guidance, tips and activities. The guide is based on a bottom-up and collaborative approach, enabling you to work with audiences and partners to develop your strategy together…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaaction/climateasiadataportal/article/developstrategy#paneltab-0
BBC ClimateAsia: Communication Cards
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/mediaaction/pdf/climateasia/commsguide/ClimateAsia_CommCards_Web.pdf
surely ABC & BBC are both CAGW players, which cannot be acceptable for taxpayer-funded corporations. what Guardian & other commercial MSM do is their own business.
PLUS, in the interest of ACCURACY, it is time MSM is forced to use “CARBON DIOXIDE” every time they write about or mention “CARBON DIOXIDE”. IT IS NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE MSM USES THE WORD “CARBON” INSTEAD.
DITTO MAN-MADE GLOBAL WARMING. IT IS NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE MSM – ESPECIALLY TAXPAYER-FUNDED MSM – USES THE WORDS “CLIMATE CHANGE” INSTEAD.
the MSM’s use of these terms is pure propaganda & precludes any possibility of a sensible debate on the topic.
10
Merry Christmas Jo and Co. Hey it appears your “Mischief” is a cousin of our “Pancakes”.
00
‘Finishing first, and therefore this year’s winner, is Dana Nuccitelli. Being a connoisseur of strange, exotic and fabled creatures, I like Dana immensely because he’s a pure prat, a thinking man’s prat as well as a moustachioed pipe-smoking woman’s prat, a complete thoroughbred prat prancing around like a ballet dancer doing seemingly impossible grand jets through the media sphere clad in nothing more than green hose and a beautiful miniature yellow codpiece with silvery tinselly bits carefully streaming back out between his legs like the tail of a flatulence-propelled Halley’s comet.’
Pure Genius…….
http://thepointman.wordpress.com/2013/12/20/climate-prat-of-2013-we-have-a-winnah/
32
Indeed.Reading that made me laugh,as much as this link from Judith Curry latest blog discussion did http://www.legalcheek.com/2013/12/the-something-must-be-done-act-2014/ although I have a few candidates of my own that I’d love to nominate. Maybe Jo would consider doing one of these here next year?
11
I’ve missed Christmas so let me wish Jo and all who agree with the views she holds a very happy New Year.
I received my good New Year news today when I read in “The Australian” the following extracted report:
“RESOURCES, infrastructure and road projects worth $400 billion have been given the green light as the Abbott government demolishes objections from the Greens and moves to reverse a predicted fall in mining investment that could drag down the economy for two years.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt has taken decisions on 125 projects in the Coalition’s first three months in office, including approving 29 major projects, which the government estimates are worth $400bn. The decisions – the latest of which was Clive Palmer’s giant Waratah Coal/China First coalmine and railway line to the Abbot Point coal port – could spark a new wave of development.
Mr Hunt also has approved the $1.4bn Abbot Point coal terminal expansion, which paves the way for the creation of the world’s biggest coal export port.
But the approvals – particularly coalmine approvals in the Galilee Basin and the expansion of the Abbot Point coal port – have sparked allegations of “development at any cost” from the Greens and environment groups.
Queensland Greens senator Larissa Waters has described the approval as a “terrible Christmas present for the planet” and has raised concerns about its impact on underground water aquifers as well as its impact on combating climate change.
The Abbot Point expansion has been attacked as “criminal” by environmental groups that are calling for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to use its powers to protect the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef.
Mr Hunt said the government was sticking to high environmental standards.
He also has fast-tracked another 46 projects to avoid delays, after inheriting 371 unassessed projects from the previous Labor government, with 22 dating back to 2008.
“We have made real steps in unblocking the pipeline while also putting in place some of the strictest environmental conditions in Australian history,” Mr Hunt told The Australian.
“It’s possible to have high environmental standards and genuine decision-making. The previous government was unable to say yes and unable to say no.”
Mr Hunt also has determined that a further 30 projects require no further assessment and 16 require no further assessment as long as certain requirements are met. Another 50 projects have been “assessed and progressed” under the water trigger.”
If the Green Eco-socialists and their commo comrades are against it then it must be good.
Read the rest here:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/coalition-projects-surge-hits-400bn/story-fn59niix-1226790338185#
You won’t find any mention on the ABC’s Online News.
30
On that issue I don’t really think Coalmines in the Galilee basin are a smart idea,over all. I’d like to see the exact details on the ” environmental conditions”they have to meet. If the Galilee Basin is anything like the Darling Downs I’d say hands off.Maybe someone could fill me in on the details in more length,as I have concerns on this issue..
00
Hot pussy.
00
And these people call themselves ‘climate scientists‘.
No picture could better symbolize and communicate the intellectual bankruptcy and disillusionment of a faithful group who refuse to believe they have been led astray.
This has to be deeply embarrassing, if not outright humiliating.
The metaphor just couldn’t be more fitting: desperate true believers of global warming/accelerating polar ice melt now find themselves trapped by thousands of square kilometers of summertime sea ice that wasn’t supposed to be there.
UPDATEvia ABC24, 7.15am: Chinese ship stopped -unable to reach them.
The search for global warming continues …
20
The search for intelligence on Earth continues as well. So far, none of either has been found. There are those evil deniers who give an impression of intelligence but I am now sure that is just an illusion. We must return to our home planet and report that the Earth is hopelessly in the grip of an intellectual winter even more severe than the one now shaping up in their Arctic region. The Mggoph-eslly council will be glad that we can avoid the future expense of monitoring Earth for signs of intelligent life.
Set the course for home and make it so, number 1! 😉
00
Moderation should be easy. I am very moderate. 🙂
00
Study shows fracking saves water resources.
But, of course, facts don’t matter to leftist anti-fossil-fuel zealots. All they want is to shut down fossil fuels, irrespective of whether or not there are workable alternatives available at a competitive cost. Nuclear power is the only such alternative, but of course they are opposed to that too. These naive juveniles and obsessive zealots don’t have a policy, they have a wish. Their ‘wish’ is costing us a fortune.
And this slideshow debunks the lies and exaggerations of leftist anti-fracking zealots, especially the deception they are perpetuating about gas coming out of a kitchen tap and catching fire. This myth has been perpetuated in many videos on the subject of fracking. It demonstrates that a lot of ‘activism’ simply involves smart predators fabricating scare stories in order to make money out of people who are stupid enough to believe their scare … just like a certain ‘carbon billionaire’ we are all familiar with.
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handjive –
CNN: Chinese icebreaker stalled en route to stranded ship
Due to bad weather and ice conditions, the Xue Long may take another two days to get to the trapped research vessel with 74 passengers and crew members on board, Wang said.
“Right now we are waiting for winds to blow ice away so we can move closer,” he said. “The current ice condition is exceeding our capabilities to break through further.”…
The captain acknowledged his ship may need help from two other icebreakers headed to the area if conditions deteriorate…
The expedition to gauge the effects of climate change on the region began November 27. The second, and current leg of the trip, started December 8 and was scheduled to conclude with a return to New Zealand on January 4.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/27/world/antarctica-ship-stuck/
i have heard numerous news headlines on abc RN & local & fairfax news on 4BC – none mentioning this story at all. am just now realising nicky phillips & colin cosier who wrote the SMH story i posted earlier are Fairfax reporters on board. cosier also works for ABC. sky news from the start have made this a dull news ticker about a russian vessel, & have had nothing in the news menu until yesterday. THE TRIP WAS ORGANISED BY UNI OF NSW, IT HAS BBC, GUARDIAN, FAIRFAX/ABC REPORTERS ON BOARD, IT’S ATTRACTED WORLDWIDE ATTENTION (FORGET INACCURACIES IN THE REPORTING) AND THIS STORY ISN’T THE #1 STORY IN AUSTRALIA!
LinkedIn: Colin Cosier
Current:
Producer, ABC News 24 at Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Video Journalist, The Sydney Morning Herald at Fairfax Media
Video Journalist at Freelance
http://au.linkedin.com/in/colincosier
LinkedIn: Nicky Phillips
Science editor at Fairfax Media
http://au.linkedin.com/pub/nicky-phillips/49/696/964
all MSM saying the ship has been trapped since Christmas Day, when i have read often it got trapped on Monday 23rd Dec:
27 Dec: NPR Blog: VIDEO: Rescuers Are Drawing Near To Ship Stuck In Antarctic
“There’s a lot of relief amongst the team and there’s lots of happy faces,” expedition leader Chris Turney said Friday in a fresh video posted from the deck of the MV Akademik Shokalskiy — an expedition vessel that’s been trapped by Antarctic Sea ice since Monday…
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/12/27/257538107/video-rescuers-are-drawing-near-to-ship-stuck-in-antarctic
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Hi Pat. Season’s Greetings!
Thanks for the links.
Reading one of your relevant links (abc), note this quote:
“The situation in Commonwealth Bay offers a unique opportunity to investigate what impact expaning sea ice cover has on seawater properties, ocean circulation, and wildlife in the Antarctic.
Because the breaching of the iceberg in Commonwealth Bay is precisely known and the change was so abrupt and extreme, our work should provide new insights into what impact expanding sea ice may have elsewhere around Antarctica if current trends continue.”
.
The result of expanding sea-ice is ignorant people getting stuck!
I’ll put $20 on man made global warming being the cause.
.
Bruce of Newcastle has commented at notrickszone link;
“The only sideways acknowledgement is that the voyage is in honour of Douglas Mawson, the Australian Antactic explorer of 100 years ago.
A couple times the interviewees have slipped up by mentioning how Mawson didn’t have these problems with pack ice in high summer back in 1913. Fancy that! “
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ALL MSM ARE PUSHING THE MAWSON ANGLE, YET ALL THE PRE-TRIP MEDIA WAS ABOUT “CLIMATE CHANGE”:
6 Dec: SMH: Fairfax Media trip to Antarctica to see the effects of climate change
But global warming is an important story, and the trip will give Fairfax Media a rare opportunity to visit the continent most acutely affected by global warming. Antarctica is climate change ground zero. The data that scientists gather will play a crucial role in future climate models…
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/blogs/66-degrees-south/fairfax-media-trip-to-antarctica-to-see-the-effects-of-climate-change-20131206-2ywfj.html
just like ABC, Guardian, here is the Fairfax page for the Expeditiion, again with no update since the ship got stuck:
SMH: 66 Degrees South
Science Editor Nicky Phillips and video journalist Colin Cosier are spending four weeks in Antarctica
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/blogs/66-degrees-south/fairfax-media-trip-to-antarctica-to-see-the-effects-of-climate-change-20131206-2ywfj.html
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Pt 2 of BBC’s piece posted earlier. audio available until 1 Jan.
already talking about being trapped by sea ice:
much talk about the “conundrum” of the sea ice expanding which might be indication we may see greater sea level rise than predicted.
26 mins: 24 Dec: VIDEO: BBC: The Return to Mawson’s Antarctica – Part Two
Alok Jha (Guardian) and Andrew Luck-Baker (BBC) continue to follow the scientists on the ongoing Australasian Antarctic Expedition 2013. Ice, the oceans and climate change are the themes this week as one of the expedition scientists makes a troubling finding…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p01n9gcv/Discovery_The_Return_to_Mawsons_Antarctica_Part_Two/
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Listening to the linked audio,Pat,it seems they only open their mouths to change feet!
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Wishing a happy and prosperous 2014 to all of you climate change realists and better mental health in 2014 to all of you anti-fossil-fuel zealots.
It is great that you, Jo, have taken in an animal in need. I have five … so far. All have been taken off the streets and spared miserable lives. In the window of a Liberal politician’s electorate office I once noticed an RSPCA poster saying something like ‘There is nothing more rewarding than the love of a cat.’ So, there are some good politicians out there after all.
Sadly, we live in a society with a burgeoning underclass. I don’t say this in a derogatory sense, but as a matter of fact. The welfare, education, youth, immigration, policing and justice policies of successive governments are creating a larger and larger underbelly of angry, disadvantaged people who have no hope in life and whose only power is to cause harm to others by engaging in lawlessness and anti-social behaviour. These people pick easy targets for venting their anxiety and hatred and, more often than not those easy targets are animals. I remember as a child an aunt telling me that ‘only cowards hurt animals’. I asked her why, to which she replied ‘Because the animal cannot defend itself.’ But I noticed a pause before her answer and that her tone of voice sounded uncertain. I suspected that she knew the saying but not its meaning. At that young age I did not question it further, but the saying stayed with me as did the feeling that something about the explanation given for it did not sound quite right. As I grew older and began to understand people I began to understand the flaw in what my aunt had said, namely, that it did not explain WHY people would want to hurt animals.
As I grew older still and wondered why people (namely, leftists) seemed intent on destroying everything decent in our society – they did not want something new, they just wanted to destroy what we have – I began to understand how people who are unhappy with themselves and their lives, people who have developed a belief in their victimhood and are often consumed with self-loathing, take malicious pleasure from destroying things of value to others, just like a common vandal. As social animals we measure our sense of self-worth relative to everyone else. Most people who are unhappy with the conclusion they arrive at will wish harm upon those who are ‘better’ than they are, while some will be so consumed with anxiety about themselves that they will actively try to harm those whom they envy. Many of these people will become politically active and will be drawn to the Left, because, subconsciously, leftist politics serves their unstated desire to vandalise everything of value to those whom they envy (Ayn Rand called ours ‘The Age of Envy’). But it won’t have escaped your attention that the Left comprises not only those who hate themselves but also those from the opposite end of the self-esteem scale – that is, those who love themselves and have convinced themselves that they are superior to ‘ordinary’ people. This, too, can be easily explained, but it will have to wait for another time.
To get back on topic, in the preceding paragraph you will find the answer as to why people wish to harm animals and why it is only cowards who do it. Many people who are angry at the world because of their anxiety about their own sense of low self-worth will look for every opportunity to cause harm others. They know that when they hurt an animal they indirectly cause deep hurt to people, and they know that, unlike when they cause direct harm to people, they will most likely not face any consequences for having done it. Their motive is not to hurt the animal – although hurting it does release some of their rage. Their psychological motivation is to hurt people. It is the coward’s way of hurting people.
So, Jo, in a long-winded and roundabout way, what I am saying is to remember what is out there and take care to keep Mischief in an enclosure, safe from the world our politicians have created.
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Meanwhile, in the Arctic –
❄ Ice Free by 2011: ✗ Fail ✗
❄ Ice Free by 2012: ✗ Fail ✗
❄ Ice Free by 2013: ✗ Fail ✗
❄ Ice Free by 2014 …
December, 2013:
An unusually cool summer in the Arctic has led to almost 50 percent more sea ice covering the polar region this fall than the year before.
Scientists say that about 90 percent of the increase is due to growth of multiyear ice, which is thick enough to last through more than one summer without melting.
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listen from 37:20 into the 55 min program, don’t know how long this will be available:
27 Dec: BBC Newshour: Kiribati, mentions first climate change refugee turned down by NZ.
says here is island’s President – has to cut off because wrong tape comes up.
moves instead on to Antarctica & BBC’s Andrew Luck-Baker in Antarctica. says they’re trapped. plays report from a couple of days previous.
Luck-Baker: surveying ice edge East Antarctica. if all this ice melts, sea level would ris, e by 53(?) metres –
***but to be frank, i don’t want to talk about climate change & sea level rise and whatnot…i just want to describe what the place looks like… stunning, etc.
next item: back to Kiribati story:
(Quote from Island’s President)
THEN to Robert McLeman (associate professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario, author of book, Climate and Human Migration) :
McLeman: Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh City etc to be uninhabitable.
most will relocate within China, but middle class will migrate externally.
BBC: with tens or possibly hundreds of millions on the move…should people living of higher ground be fearful.
McLeman: if we look at big migrant-receiving countries, Canada, US, UK, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand…we could accommodate this within our existing migration programs…
BBC: strong misgivings in UK about migration.
McLeman: that’s a good point. we have rapidly aging populations so, in 30-40 years, we need young labour migrants just to maintain our social economic well-being. should plan ahead and do it in systematic fashion.
BBC: is it your suspicion that, even if we took concerted effort now to stop global warming to try to reverse or control warming, it’s probably too late, & there will have to be significant migrations, blah blah.
McLeman: u r absolutely right, even if we curtailed greenhouse gas emissions tomorrow, we’re locked into a certain amount of change in the global environment…
so we do have to deal with the root causes, which is the greenhouse gas emissions in the first place.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01nbn7j
more McLeman:
23 Dec: GeorgiaStraight: Daniel Tseghay: Is Canada prepared for climate refugees?
“In Bangladesh, the estimate is that 30 to 50 million people will be displaced by rising sea level by 2050,’’ Mohammad Zaman, the executive director of the Vancouver-based Society for Bangladesh Climate Justice (SBCJ), says in a phone interview with the Georgia Straight.
“The crisis has already started,’’ the social-sector specialist continues, pointing out that people are being displaced every day. On October 24, Zaman—who works as a consultant for the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank—and his organization held an event at the University of British Columbia’s Liu Institute for Global Issues to address the issue facing Bangladesh, situating it within the global phenomenon of climate migration…
“If you’re looking 50 years from now, that’s when the real impacts of sea-level rise start to manifest,’’ Robert McLeman, professor of geography at Wilfrid Laurier University, says during a phone interview with the Straight. “That’s when food supplies start to become under threat because of all these changes we’re making to climate systems.’’
McLeman is the author of the just-published Climate and Human Migration: Past Experiences, Future Challenges (Cambridge University Press). “We’ll get these large populations in places like Vietnam, coastal China, and Bangladesh, where you’d have tens of millions of people living within a few metres of sea level, and that’s where we’ll see very large-scale displacement.’’…
A 2009 report by the International Organization for Migration estimates that there will be between 200 million and 1 billion migrants due to climate change by 2050…
http://www.straight.com/news/553886/canada-prepared-climate-refugees
Wilfrid Laurier Uni: Robert McLeman
Academic Background
BA (Geography) 1989 – The University of Western Ontario
MSc (Environmental Management) 1995 – University of Hong Kong
PhD (Geography) 2005 – University of Guelph
Biography
Dr. McLeman specializes in research on the human dimensions of environmental change, with particular attention to the relationship between environment and human migration; rural adaptation to climatic variability and change; and, fostering citizen participation in environmental science. A former Canadian foreign service officer, Dr. McLeman previously worked at Canadian diplomatic missions in Belgrade, Hong Kong, New Delhi, Seattle and Vienna. In recent years, he has advised government agencies in Canada, the US, and Europe on issues related to climate change, labour migration, and security. An award-winning teacher, Dr. McLeman uses a range of media, methods and real-world examples to introduce students to the the systematic study of human-environment relations. Click here to read his blog
http://www.wlu.ca/homepage.php?grp_id=13195&f_id=35
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timely! MSM picking up story that began in Halifax Chronicle Herald on 12 Dec, which has already been covered by some MSM:
27 Dec: Huffington Post: Message In A Bottle Found In Arctic Glacier Ultimately Reveals Global Warming In Region (PHOTO)
More than half a century ago, on July 10, 1959, American glaciologist and explorer Paul T. Walker was working in a remote region of the Canadian Arctic, the Los Angeles Times reports. In a quirky stroke of genius, Walker left a handwritten note to any scientists who might come behind him, and he stuck the message in a bottle under a pile of rocks.
“To Whom it May Concern: This and a similar cairn 21.3 feet to the west were set on July 10, 1959,” the note states. “The distance from this cairn to the glacier edge about 4 ft. from the rock floor is 168.3 feet.”…
Dr. Warwick F. Vincent, director of the Center for Northern Studies at Laval University in Quebec City, revealed the find earlier in December and said reading the famous names of Walker and his colleague Albert Crary gave him goosebumps.
Vincent, a biologist, and his colleague Denis Sarrazin found the note over the summer in a very remote area near the edge of a glacier, he told GrindTV Outdoor.
“It’s a story about climate change, but it is also a story about the incredibly brave and strong men who worked in this extreme high Arctic environment in the 1950s—back before GPS and sat phone technology,” Vincent told the outlet. “This is the most remote part of North America, and the coldest coastal zone (average temperature -18C). This also makes the evidence of substantial glacial retreat of great interest.”.
The pair carried out Walker’s wish, measuring the distance to the glacier in question, just as Walker had done decades earlier. Vincent and Sarrazin’s measurement revealed that the glacier had retreated 233 feet since 1954…
Given the fact that there is still such noticeable loss in glacial ice, this special message should be heeded by scientists around the world, Vincent added.
“Paul Walker’s message from the past is a wake-up call to how fast our global climate is already changing, and it signals much larger changes in the future that may affect us all,” he said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/27/message-in-a-bottle-global-warming-glacier-arctic_n_4509358.html?utm_hp_ref=green
12 Dec: HalifaxChronicleHerald, Canada: Selena Ross: 54-year-old message in bottle helps chronicle death of glacier
The 1.2-metre gap between the cairn and the glacier in 1959 has widened to 101.5 metres today because the glacier has shrunk, said Vincent…
He got in touch with Ohio State University, where Walker worked, and promised to send a copy of the Laval work to their archives.
Ian Howat, a glaciologist at Ohio State, said Wednesday he was surprised to hear about the message in a bottle and wanted to ask some older colleagues if they remember any historical connection with Walker.
“I’m sure folks here would be interested in seeing it,” Howat said.
***He won’t get his wish very easily, except in photo form. Vincent and Denis Sarrazin, who found the bottle, left it in the cairn with the letter inside.
But they added their own note, asking the next person who finds it to measure the distance to the glacier and report back to Quebec City.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/canada/1173466-54-year-old-message-in-bottle-helps-chronicle-death-of-glacier
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I have a question I hope I can get some sensible responses to: I see claims about a UN plan/directive/policy called Agenda 21 which has amongst other things the move away from private property and requiring people to live in certain places and total control over farming type activities. Does anyone know if this is true or not? When I started seeing stuff like this it was touted as being a conspiricist theory. Now I’m seeing discussions about Agenda 21 in much more mainstream writings. Can someone clarify this for me?
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Agenda 21 is a real UN program: http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/Agenda21.pdf
I will leave it up to you to read the document and decide what is or not included and what it means for the world.
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Gee Thanks. 350 pages of mind numbingly turgid , high sounding, UN obscurantist prose. If I ever get to the end do you think I may have missed the point ?
Has Lord Monckton done any careful blow by blow exposé on it by any chance ?
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My bad. I sent you to the source so you would be able to make an unbiased, informed decision as to the document. Perhaps someone else can provide a short cut and an opinion for you.
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Sheri, Thanks for that very helpful reference to the source. That was a comment on the document , not on your very kindly provided reference to it. I am steadily reading through it, though I fear that doing so may co-opt me to the UN way of thinking by hypnosis.
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Understood. I’m sure you can stand strong against the whiles of the UN hypnotists!
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Google is your friend.
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Retired now, it may be possible that you just today turned on your computer or it could be that you are playing us?
You’ve not heard of Agenda 21?
Try Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agenda_21 (you’ve heard of Wikipedia right?)
Where you will also find a link to the full document : http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?documentid=52
Sorry if this reply wasn’t “reasonable” read up you are way behind.
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You may want to Google the Wildlands Project as well. There’s a number of in-depth links of the subject on Youtube.
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It is absolutely true, nothing less than a master plan for control of the world by the UN. If this bothers you — and it should — start communicating your objections to those who represent you in government. I’ve no idea where you live but wherever it is, get active about fighting Agenda-21.
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What is the basis for objecting to such a wonderfully altruistic sounding document Roy ?
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The letters U and N.
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OK I get it. I was hoping for something a little less subtle though, that might actually engage with the believers in unified, top down, unelected , authoritarian running of the World.
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My biggest issue ray it that it’s hard to get people to take you seriously on this subject,most of them regard you as a “conspiracy theorist” to name one of the more polite terms,in spite of the fact that the document is available on-line in full. The seem to think that because the NGO’s of the U.N say that it’s “voluntary” and not binding that they can opt out of it at any time.
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Retired now, a few links to ponder.
Here is VP Joe Biden, April 5 2013- ‘a new world order’ (first 10 seconds)
At a local level:
The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) is an outfit founded in 1990 whose mission is to carry the UN’s sustainable development agenda down to the local level. See if your council is signed up under members.
The UN is even dictating standards on your food: HACCP Certification- Food Safety Management
John O’Sullivan: Science Meets UN Agenda 21, Eugenics and Population Control
The Green Agenda
.
Good luck. Lotsa reading over the season’s break when you crack open that can ‘o’ worms.
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***Greens senator-elect for Victoria, Janet Rice, is on board too. please explain why all the relevant facts are not being reported by our MSM:
27 Dec: Guardian: Alok Jha: Antarctic mission on ice as rescue ship is forced back
The Guardian’s man on the icebound vessel reports on the freezing conditions as the expedition waits for assistance
Chris Fogwill, a glaciologist at the University of New South Wales and a co-leader of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE): “We need a westerly wind to release the pressure on the pack ice in the area, or we need two icebreakers.”…
The expedition leader had reassured us earlier that this kind of venture always allowed for this kind of contingency. It would, he said, be a couple of weeks before we were reduced to dehydrated food…
The Russian-controlled Shokalskiy became trapped in heavy ice on Tuesday, when it was travelling east around Commonwealth Bay to the Mertz glacier. Strong south-easterly winds pushed the ice floes in the area towards the Antarctic coastline, forming a dense mass around the Shokalskiy. At the time, the ship was only two miles from the open water. Since then, two days of blizzards have built the ice pack around the ship further – and the edge of the ice sheet, and the open water beyond, is now between 13 and 18 nautical miles from the ship.
“It’s a bulbous shape and we’re right in the middle of it,” said Fogwill. “The nature of Antarctica is very different to the rest of the world – everything is at a bigger scale. Storms are ever present, the rate at which they shift is very unpredictable because there is so much ocean around. At the edge of the continent you have strong weather systems and the speed at which things can happen is astronomical. It’s so far outside our normal frame of reference.”…
The Xue Long discovered that the ice at the edge of the pack was much thicker than it expected – around three to four metres thick in places – and the going was slow. It reported travelling at just between 0.1 to 3 knots due to the density of the ice it encountered. Technical issues with its engines meant L’Astrolabe did not enter the ice field at all. “We know the ice conditions around us are extremely difficult and the ice is under a lot of pressure,” said Greg Mortimer, a co-leader of the AAE, aboard the Shokalskiy.
If the Xue Long had reached the Shokalskiy, it would have likely cut a ring in the ice around our ship so that our captain could manoeuvre it into the newly opened channel behind the Xue Long. “It’s quite an elaborate operation and one that takes some time,” said Mortimer…
***Speaking before the Xue Long had turned around, Janet Rice, the Green party senator-elect for Victoria, Australia, who has been on board the ship since it left New Zealand, said: “I understand why people might be concerned, but the feeling today on board the ship is like a summer holiday when the weather is bad, when you’re stuck inside reading books and playing Scrabble. We’ve been assured that we’re in no danger and it’s just a matter of waiting.”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/27/antarctic-mission-icebreaker-delay-rescue
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Expedition spokesman in various MSM is Alvin Stone, ex-Fairfas!
Australian Reseach Council’s (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science
(Photo) Alvin Stone
Media and Communications Manager
ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science
University of New South Wales
Alvin worked as an editor with Fairfax Community News and then News Local for over a decade before moving across to media communications. As a media communicator he has worked for WWF-Australia and most recently Primary Communication, a boutique agency specialising in corporate clients in the energy, transport, IT and not-for-profit sectors.
http://www.climatescience.org.au/staff/profile/astone
The Snow Dragon icebreaker came within 11 kilometres of the Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy, which has been stuck since Christmas Eve, but had to retreat after the ice became too thick, said expedition spokesman Alvin Stone…
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4291246-icebreaker-fails-to-reach-ship-trapped-in-antarctic-ice/
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for the record. am hoping someone at WUWT might give an opinion about this story eventually. it seems a bit extraordinary to me, but who knows. both early explorers have died:
lots of debate in the comments about the distances quoted by CBC:
16 Dec: CBC: 1959 message in a bottle a clue to glacier melt
PHOTO CAPTION: In 1959, an American geologist built a rock cairn 1.2 metres away from this glacier. This summer, the cairn was 101.5 metres away
Comment by KevinMcKinney: I emailed Dr. Vincent about the distance from the cairn to glacier question yesterday. This morning he very kindly responded. Apparently, the researchers who were there also find the note ambiguous, and are trying to get Dr. Walker’s field notebook to resolve the question with certainty.
Comment by QuebeCityOliver
@AnonymousGorf
Like the numbers in the text being totally wrong. Let’s hope CBC corrects it after this morning’s interview on Québec AM.
Comment by Happy Canadian
The measurement was written to detail the edge of glacier was 168.3 ft from the edge of the cairn, and that the glacier overhung the rock floor by about 4 feet.
So, to Canadianize these: 51.3 meters from the cairn to the glacier edge, that was about 1.2 meters above the rock floor.
Now it is 101.2 meters, a shrinkage of 50 meters in 54 years. Much less than the 100 meters in this story.
Comment by MortimerSnerd
As I read that note the distance to the glacier in 1959 was 168.3 ft. not 1.2m. The edge of the glacier was ~4ft (1.2m) from the rock floor (whatever that means). It is now 101.5m or 333 ft, roughly double not roughly 80 times.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/1959-message-in-a-bottle-a-clue-to-glacier-melt-1.2465597
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL 30, NO. 20, 2031, doi:10.1029/2003GL017931, 2003
Break-up of the largest Arctic ice shelf and associated loss of an
epishelf lake
Derek R. Mueller and Warwick F. Vincent, Martin O. Jeffries
published 18 October 2003.
http://www.cen.ulaval.ca/warwickvincent/pdffiles/175.pdf
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Awwww – love the picture of Mischief – what is it with cats and Christmas trees..? Our son/daughter-in-law’s cat also loves to get right in the middle and peer out, with that ‘Hey, how cute am I’ look…
Still – bought her a hilarious Christmas pressie – its a (carboard) DJ deck where the ‘record’ is a circular scratch pad – so as she scratches it looks like she’s DJ-ing..!
Missed saying Happy Christmas – so all best wishes for 2014, Jo, and all your contributors – could this be the year we all lay the ‘Great Lie’ to rest..?
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HNY to all, including those separated by time.
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If you don’t mean by space Gee Aye, what can you possibly mean by time , time travel not yet being achievable ?
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HI Jo,What an intellectual bunch we are.You post a picture of your pussy in a tree and we screw (sorry) it round into a discussion on master plans for control of the world,the destruction of every thing decent in society,world wide conflict and foot in mouth disease.Kinda like seeing a mongrel behind every bush.With the ever increasing levels of correctness our freedom for discussion gets less every day. Nice pussy though!
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