Climate Change Weekly #90
Almost every type of extreme weather event has become less frequent and less severe in recent years as our planet continues its modest warming in the wake of the Little Ice Age. While global warming activists attempt to spin a narrative of ever-worsening weather, the objective facts tell a completely different story.
New data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show the past 12 months set a record for the fewest tornadoes in recorded history. On a related note, a new record for the longest stretch of consecutive days without a tornado death occurred during 2012 and 2013.
Hurricane inactivity is also setting all-time records. The United States is undergoing its longest stretch in recorded history without a major hurricane strike, with each passing day extending the unprecedented lack of severe hurricanes, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data.
Pretty much all other extreme weather events are becoming less frequent and less severe, also. Soil moisture is in long-term improvement at nearly all sites in the Global Soil Moisture Data Bank. Droughts are less frequent and less severe than in prior, colder centuries. The number of wildfires is in long-term decline despite a recent change in wildfire policy that no longer actively suppresses wildfires. Just about any way you measure it, extreme weather events are becoming quite rare.
Major hurricanes struck the U.S. Northeast on a fairly regular basis during the first half of the twentieth century when temperatures were cooler. Now, as our planet warms, hurricanes of any sort almost never strike the U.S. Northeast. As a result, when even a minor hurricane like Sandy strikes the Northeast, it is a seemingly unheard-of weather event. We can thank global warming for the fact that even a small hurricane like Sandy is a rare event in the U.S. Northeast. The same applies for tornadoes, droughts, etc.
SOURCE: Forbes.com
IN THIS ISSUE
Happer and Schmitt debunk CO2 alarmism in WSJ … Thermometer readings show no long-term U.S. temperature increase … Peer-reviewed study shows minimal future ice loss in Greenland … Carbon dioxide has nearly exhausted its heat-trapping potential … Alarmists turn on Revkin after extreme weather tweet
HAPPER AND SCHMITT DEBUNK CO2 ALARMISM IN WSJ COLUMN
Princeton University physics professor William Happer and NASA astronaut/geologist Harrison Schmitt debunked global warming alarmism and explained some of the powerful benefits of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels in a May 8 Wall Street Journal article. Happer and Schmitt documented how plant life is being stifled by relatively low current carbon dioxide levels and how more atmospheric carbon dioxide will benefit the biosphere.
“We know that carbon dioxide has been a much larger fraction of the earth’s atmosphere than it is today, and the geological record shows that life flourished on land and in the oceans during those times. The incredible list of supposed horrors that increasing carbon dioxide will bring the world is pure belief disguised as science,” the scientists wrote.
SOURCE: Wall Street Journal
THERMOMETER READINGS SHOW NO LONG-TERM U.S. TEMPERATURE INCREASE
The average thermometer readings from all stations in the U.S. Historical Climatology Network show no warming in the United States for more than a century. Government agency reports of a warming U.S. climate rely entirely on manipulations of the raw temperature data. The raw data show government agencies continually revise temperature readings from the earlier decades lower to make current temperatures seem contextually warmer.
SOURCE: Real Science
PEER-REVIEWED STUDY SHOWS MINIMAL FUTURE ICE LOSS IN GREENLAND
Melting ice from Greenland will likely contribute between 2 cm and 5 cm (less than 2 inches) to global sea level rise during the next 200 years, scientists report in the peer-reviewed journal Nature. The study shows Greenland ice melt will be only a small fraction of that predicted by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and global warming alarmists. The scientists report the topography of Greenland will discourage the discharge of ice melt even if temperatures finally begin rising at the pace projected by IPCC.
SOURCE: EurekAlert!
CARBON DIOXIDE HAS NEARLY EXHAUSTED ITS HEAT-TRAPPING POTENTIAL
The heat-trapping effectiveness of carbon dioxide molecules diminishes as more carbon dioxide is added to the atmosphere. Guest columnist Ed Hoskins explains on meteorologist Anthony Watts’ blog why this is the case. Hoskins also documents how current atmospheric carbon dioxide levels already trap 95 percent of the heat potentially trapped by carbon dioxide.
SOURCE: Watts Up With That?
ALARMISTS TURN ON REVKIN AFTER EXTREME WEATHER TWEET
Prominent global warming alarmists are turning on science writer Andrew Revkin after Revkin used his Twitter account to point out the record lack of recent tornadoes. Revkin asked in a May 3 tweet whether alarmists, who claimed a fairly active early 2011 tornado season was caused by global warming, would similarly connect the record lack of tornadoes during the past 12 months to global warming. Prominent alarmists such as controversial Climategate figure Michael Mann blasted Revkin for asking the question.
SOURCE: Twitter