AP: 'Global Warming Is Accelerating. Time Is Close to Running Out'

AP: 'Global Warming Is Accelerating. Time Is Close to Running Out'

By Noel Sheppard (Bio | Archive)
December 14, 2008 - 20:48 ET

Despite the nation experiencing its tenth straight year of temperatures cooler than 1998's peak, and much of New England experiencing its worst ice storm in decades (video embedded right), the Associated Press on Sunday published one of the most hysterical articles concerning global warming I've ever seen.

In writer Seth Borenstein's view, climate change is "a ticking time bomb that President-elect Barack Obama can't avoid."

"Global warming is accelerating. Time is close to running out, and Obama knows it."

Where's Rod Serling?

For those that can stand it, here are some of Borenstein's disgraceful lowlights:

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When Bill Clinton took office in 1993, global warming was a slow-moving environmental problem that was easy to ignore. Now it is a ticking time bomb that President-elect Barack Obama can't avoid.
Since Clinton's inauguration, summer Arctic sea ice has lost the equivalent of Alaska, California and Texas. The 10 hottest years on record have occurred since Clinton's second inauguration. Global warming is accelerating. Time is close to running out, and Obama knows it. [...]
U.S. emissions have increased by 20 percent since 1992. China has more than doubled its carbon dioxide pollution in that time. World carbon dioxide emissions have grown faster than scientists' worst-case scenarios. Methane, the next most potent greenhouse gas, suddenly is on the rise again and scientists fear that vast amounts of the trapped gas will escape from thawing Arctic permafrost.
The amount of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere has already pushed past what some scientists say is the safe level. [...]
Scientists fear that what's happening with Arctic ice melt will be amplified so that ominous sea level rise will occur sooner than they expected. They predict Arctic waters could be ice-free in summers, perhaps by 2013, decades earlier than they thought only a few years ago.

What kind of media outlet would publish this hysterical nonsense with much of the nation in the grips of extremely harsh winter conditions? Does the AP have any idea?

It snowed in Houston Wednesday tying a record for the earliest appearance of the white stuff in the city's history.

There were rare snowfalls in Southern Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi Thursday.

They're expecting possible record-breaking cold in the Pacific Northwest.

Record cold in Montana.

Record cold in Denver.

Supposed to snow in the San Francisco Bay Area Monday.

And the AP thinks we're running out of time to solve global warming.

With Democrats in control of Congress, and about to take over the White House, I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry.

Actually, given how cold it is outside, I think I'll opt for the former as my tears would be icicles.

*****Update: University of Oklahoma's David Deming responds to Borenstein's piece (with permission):

How can this guy call himself a "science reporter?"

He is perhaps the worst propagandist in all the media, and that's stating something.

In his latest screed, he screams: "global warming is accelerating"

How then does he explain the fact that the mean global temperature (as measured by satellite) is the same as it was in 1980?

How can global warming be "accelerating" when the last two years have seen dramatic cooling? Is this guy totally removed from all reality?????

He completely ignores any evidence contrary to his personal beliefs, and twists everything to meet his preconceived notions.

How can anyone so ignorant be a reporter for AP? Seriously?

Beats me, Professor.

—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.

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Send me some global warming!

December 14, 2008 - 20:55 ET by kch50428

It's 1 below zero with 20 - 40 mph winds. Global Warming is a load of CRAP!

You have to remember that

December 14, 2008 - 21:02 ET by motherbelt

You have to remember that bitter cold is caused by global warming too! (Neat how that works out, huh?)

The synoposis for the movie "The Day After Tomorrow" said Global warming triggers a new ice age

So now it's "climate change." You know, the climate has been the same for a gazillion years; now it's changing.

Doesn't matter if it's getting warmer or colder; it's "changing."

\BTW....didn't Ted Danson say in the 70's or 80's that in 10 years the oceans would be dead?

And in the 70's we were headed for an ice age. So see, it really has changed...but that's not good either.

I need more duct tape!

yeah, thermal haline aside....

December 14, 2008 - 21:21 ET by clinging to my guns and my religion

can we say "eliptical orbit"? al gore is a fraud, and now has his hand in an even bigger fraud's "green" pocket.

"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." Edmund Burke

'While skeptics are

December 15, 2008 - 11:57 ET by Tailgunner

'While skeptics are already using it [cooler 2008 temperatures] as evidence of some kind of cooling trend, it actually illustrates how fast the world is warming.

Global cooling is proof of global warming.

This is not an opinion piece, either. This is presented as a serious and objective news report.

AP is corrupt and exists solely to lie and deceive on behalf of liberals and their socialist agenda.

LIBERALS LIE, ALL THE TIME, ABOUT EVERYTHING.

" \BTW....didn't Ted

December 14, 2008 - 23:52 ET by ckc1227

"
\BTW....didn't Ted Danson say in the 70's or 80's that in 10 years the oceans would be dead?"

And didn't Gore say the oceans were gonna rise 20 feet, just before he bought some ocean front property, lol.

Biggest....scam.....evah!

"Libs never let you down. You don't have to talk to one very long before the stupid comes out."

AP refuses to respond to criticism

December 14, 2008 - 22:56 ET by bpjam

Anybody else notice how virtually impossible it is to actually contact anybody at AP?? They don't make email addresses for any of their reporters public and the only place you can provide any feedback, correction or complaint about any story they do anywhere in the world is a single 'feedback' form.

They have dozens or hundreds (who the hell knows in that secretive cult) of reporters all over the world and they operate in a universe where information only goes one way. Unless their reporters are trying to reach you, you'll never speak to them and there is no way for them to be corrected, amended or rebuked for being factually, intellectually, ideologically or journalistically wrong.

They are the epitome of the MSM. They are a secretive bunch who issue the 'news' but cannot be held accountant, cannot be questioned about their 'facts' and cannot be bothered by those pesky people out there who are expected to consume their bile without comment and regurgitate their conventional wisdom on all issues.

The AP is a cult. They operate in secrecy, they are ideologically driven, they refuse all contact or contradiction from the outside world and the believe all the rest of us are the crazy ones. Rev. Moon would be ashamed (actually, he was a far better newsman than anything the AP ever put out there).

At 10:06 p.m. in southeast

December 14, 2008 - 23:08 ET by TheBigB

At 10:06 p.m. in southeast South Dakota, temperature of -5, wind chill of -37. Just for giggles, I put a couple of ice trays out on my front step and I had ice in about 8 minutes.

Artillery lends dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl.

borenstein writes:

December 14, 2008 - 21:00 ET by clinging to my guns and my religion

"ironically, 2008 is on pace to be a slightly cooler year in a steadily rising temperature trend line. while skeptics are already using it as evidence of some kind of cooling trend, it actually illustrates how fast the world is warming." what, what, what kind of double-talk is that? are we the last sane people left on the planet? lots and lots of rapid head-shaking.....

"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." Edmund Burke

BRRR!

December 14, 2008 - 21:03 ET by nkviking75

Here in northern Iowa the temp fell 30 degrees in about 3 1/2 hours after an early high of 40 (balmy by local December standards). We're heading for a low of -5 to -10. By itself, this does not disprove global warming. But compile all the anecdotal evidence for an intellectually honest person, and that person would have to have doubts about GW.

Welcome to the era of unity, you racist!

Same here in SE MN nk...

December 14, 2008 - 21:23 ET by JPR1

Happens every year. I've always called it weather. Keeps life interesting. Around 11am I was tempted to get the hoses out and quick wash the truck.

Better than northern MN where the same conditions sometimes occur in July.

"The 10 hottest years on

December 14, 2008 - 21:17 ET by robert108

"The 10 hottest years on record have occurred since Clinton's second inauguration. "

Actually, the hottest year on record is 1934. Whoops!

"Actually, the hottest year

December 14, 2008 - 22:18 ET by meteor79

"Actually, the hottest year on record is 1934. Whoops!"

You're confusing US temperatures with global temperatures. Whoops! (Globally, the 10 hottest years on record have, in fact, occurred since Clinton's second inauguration.)

Is that like how October was

December 14, 2008 - 22:55 ET by MrSnuggles

Is that like how October was the hottest on record GLOBALLY when in fact it WASNT? How often have "scientists" copied and pasted the temps from month to month to make them look higher than they really are? The fact is, temps are lower now than they were 10 years ago. In my neck of the woods, we have seen snow and ice the past 3 years when in the 7 or so years before that we rarely saw any snow that stuck around for more than a few hours. RARELY.

meteor79,

December 15, 2008 - 10:38 ET by larry on LI

could you please define the term 'global temperature

meteor79,

December 15, 2008 - 10:38 ET by larry on LI

could you please define the term 'global temperature

Small problem with the world temperature record

December 15, 2008 - 10:41 ET by PopularTech

The Graph of Temperature vs. Number of Stations (Ross McKitrick, Ph.D. Professor of Environmental Economics)
- GHCN Air Temperature Station Locations 1950-1996 (Animation) (University of Delaware)
- Historical Station Distribution (Climate Audit)

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is Not Pollution

The sleet and freezing rain contradict you

December 15, 2008 - 11:04 ET by Unsane

Then you can explain the sleet and freezing rain I encountered last week in a portion of a state (TX) where both are quite rare.

And IF in fact the last 10 years have been the hottest EVER, that doesn't say much for the powers of Man, does it? After all, the Kyoto Protocol has been ratified by many a country. By YOUR OWN CLAIM (dubious at best), then the Left's favorite cure for global warming has been a BUST.

Besides, maybe you can explain the following weather phenonema to me as well.

1) Why did it snow in Baghdad in January 2008 for the first time in decades?

2) It snowed in Cape Town in the winter of 2007 (IIRC, it was quite recent). Quite a rare event. How did this happen?

3) It snowed in Buenos Aires in the winter of 2007 for the first time in 89 years. How could that have happened?

4) For Christmas 2004, it snowed quite a bit in areas south and east of San Antonio. San Antonio itself rarely if ever sees snow. How could that have happened?

5) Time for some astronomy: Mars has an atmosphere that mostly consists of CO2, yet the temps there are routinely the same as those that occur on a summer day on Antarctica. Yet Venus has an atmosphere that mostly consists of water vapor (which also partly explains why it appears so brightly in the evening/morning sky), yet the surface temps are hot enough to render lead into liquid. The mean surface temp on Venus is 800 degrees Fahrenheit. If CO2 was the locus of all the world's global warming and evil, why isn't the opposite true? Why is Mars not 800 degrees Fahrenheit and Venus a paradise, or at least a LOT cooler?

"THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING!!! A WAR ON FREEWILL IS COMING!!!" - Nevermore, "Bittersweet Feast", from This Godless Endeavor (2005)

Re: 1) - 4) Maybe you could

December 15, 2008 - 15:06 ET by meteor79

Re: 1) - 4) Maybe you could take a meteorology course and learn about how clouds and precipitation form. Then, look up the difference between weather and climate figure out how relevant these events are when considering long term climate trends.

Re: 5) Completely illogical. You might want to retake that astronomy course... Some things to think about:

- Mars has an atmosphere that is much less dense than Earth and Venus.

- Mars is further from the sun than Venus.

- The Venus atmosphere is > 95% CO2 (not mostly water vapor).

Please file for Chapter 7 Intellectual Bankruptcy

December 15, 2008 - 16:17 ET by Unsane

Re: your "answer" to 1-4: Congratulations. You started out proving your intellectual bankruptcy by insulting me right off the bat. You didn't answer the question. The long term climate trends behind which you and the rest of the guilt-ridden GW religionists hide would serve to eliminate such phenomena. But they HAVEN'T, and AREN'T. Now, since you are God's - or His Majesty The Holy Shahinshah's - gift to meterology, you can try to actually confront those questions.

Also I find it quite amusing that virtually any other singular weather event (like a particular hurricane) is supposed to be absolutely indicative of global warming. Yet I come up with some phenomena that have occurred over some years and I get the whine about how they aren't indicative of long term climate trends...yet more proof of the dishonesty of those who so ache to destroy the American economy as a sacrifice upon the altar of environmentalism.

Re: your response to #5: instead of insulting the intelligence of people you do not know, perhaps you can focus on answering the question. Yes, Mars DOES have an atmosphere more tenuous than Earth or Venus. But IT IS mostly CO2. The way the GW Religionists like yourself talk, why, Mars should be TROPICAL. It shouldn't even have ice caps, right?

Mars may be further from the sun than Venus, but that is but ONE factor. Check Mercury. It is the CLOSEST to the sun, but temps hit 300 degrees on its "day" side, and quickly cools off to about -200 degrees or so on its nighttime side...due to the lack of an atmosphere as a moderator.

The Venus atmosphere is MOSTLY WATER VAPOR. How else do you explain the fact that it is so swathed by clouds, that the Magellan probe had to be sent there to RADAR-MAP the place?

"THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING!!! A WAR ON FREEWILL IS COMING!!!" - Nevermore, "Bittersweet Feast", from This Godless Endeavor (2005)

"The Venus atmosphere is

December 15, 2008 - 22:32 ET by meteor79

"The Venus atmosphere is MOSTLY WATER VAPOR. How else do you explain the
fact that it is so swathed by clouds, that the Magellan probe had to be
sent there to RADAR-MAP the place?"

No, the Venus atmosphere is not mostly water vapor. The clouds are composed of sulfuric acid.

I turn to an almanac for a referee

December 15, 2008 - 22:50 ET by Unsane

Let's end this squabble:

From the 2009 World Almanac: The Venusian atmosphere is very thick and toxic. It is composed primarily of 96.5% carbon dioxide, 3.5% nitrogen, trace concentrations of sulfur dioxide, argon, water, carbon monoxide, helium, and neon. In addition, it exerts an atmospheric pressure 90 times Earth's normal sea-level pressure. The planet is covered with a dense, white, cloudy atmosphere that conceals whatever is below it. These clouds are believed (italics courtesy of Unsane) to contain sulfuric acid, meaning that when it rains on Venus, it may rain sulfuric acid. Due to the thickness of the atmosphere and resulting extreme greenhouse effect (hmmmm...the thickness of the atmosphere and THE RESULTING extreme greenhouse effect....), the temperature is essentially the same, day or night; the planet has an average surface temperature of 867 degrees Fahrenheit making it the hottest planet in the solar system. Winds of about 200 mph in the clouds my account for the transfer of heat into the night side despite the low rotation speed of the planet (its day is longer than its year; Unsane). However, at the surface, winds are very slow.

"THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING!!! A WAR ON FREEWILL IS COMING!!!" - Nevermore, "Bittersweet Feast", from This Godless Endeavor (2005)

Methane? Suddenly on the rise? MIT has a different take.

December 14, 2008 - 21:17 ET by Gary Hall

Methane? Suddenly on the rise? MIT has a different take!

- Methane, the next most potent greenhouse gas, suddenly is on the rise again and scientists fear that vast amounts of the trapped gas will escape from thawing Arctic permafrost.

Well, after not increasing during the decade of global warming alarmism - something did occur, perhaps. Perhaps we should listen to the scientists (my bold):

MIT scientists baffled by global warming theory, contradicts scientific data

Methane accounts for roughly one-fifth of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, though its effect is 25x greater than that of carbon dioxide. Its impact on global warming comes from the reflection of the sun's light back to the Earth (like a greenhouse). Methane is typically broken down in the atmosphere by the free radical hydroxyl (OH), a naturally occuring process. This atmospheric cleanser has been shown to adjust itself up and down periodically, and is believed to account for the lack of increases in methane levels in Earth's atmosphere over the past ten years despite notable simultaneous increases by man.

[..]

One thing does seem very clear, however; science is only beginning to get a handle on the big picture of global warming. Findings like these tell us it's too early to know for sure if man's impact is affecting things at the political cry of "alarming rates." We may simply be going through another natural cycle of warmer and colder times - one that's been observed through a scientific analysis of the Earth to be naturally occuring for hundreds of thousands of years.

Got to go light the fire. (;~> gary

P.S. The update on the link is quite interesting, as well.

UPDATE: October 31, 2008, 05:52am:
Several comments suggest a massive 2007 Siberian permafrost melt accounts for the observed increases in atmospheric methane. If Siberia were responsible for the increases, that would still be a northern hemisphere event and would require normal atmospheric cycling of about a year to reach southern hemisphere monitoring stations. These increases were nearly simultaneous and world-wide.

Your post does not reflect,

December 14, 2008 - 22:27 ET by meteor79

Your post does not reflect, in any way, MIT's "take" on recently observed rises in methane.

Check out Comfortably Dumb...

Oh my, it looks like all the

December 14, 2008 - 23:07 ET by PeskyDane

Oh my, it looks like all the smart people are ignoring you. That just leaves me. Never the less, I'll point out the obvious. First, you linked - not to a scientific journal - but to a blogger with whose opinion you agree, and - wait for it - tried to use THAT to support your position. So, already you have me wondering if mom knows you're up this late using her computer. Now here's the kicker - your source uses... a blogger on Daily KOS to support his position? To quote the fellas at Mission Control as Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper watched that bag of tools float away, "You've got to be @!$%ing me."

Since when did deniers

December 15, 2008 - 01:00 ET by meteor79

Since when did deniers start citing the peer-reviewed literature? Here is the MIT press release, and here is the abstract of the article the press release refers to (need subscription for entire article). You be the judge. Where does either imply that MIT's take is: "Findings like these tell us it's too early to know for sure if
man's impact is affecting things at the political cry of alarming
rates."?

...At about the same time

December 15, 2008 - 02:00 ET by NL207

...At about the same time cheap alarmists like you began exaggerating the impact that humans are having on global climate.

Lets look at what the abstract actually says, emphasis mine:

"Following almost a decade with little change in global atmospheric methane mole fraction, we present measurements from the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) and the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) networks that show renewed growth starting near the beginning of 2007. Remarkably, a similar growth rate is found at all monitoring locations from this time until the latest measurements. We use these data, along with an inverse method applied to a simple model of atmospheric chemistry and transport, to investigate the possible drivers of the rise. Specifically, the relative roles of an increase in emission rate or a decrease in concentration of the hydroxyl radical, the largest methane sink, are examined. We conclude that: 1) if the annual mean hydroxyl radical concentration did not change, a substantial increase in emissions was required simultaneously in both hemispheres between 2006 and 2007; 2) if a small drop in the hydroxyl radical concentration occurred, consistent with AGAGE methyl chloroform measurements, the emission increase is more strongly biased to the Northern Hemisphere."

Methane concentrations suddenly increase after a decade of little change. The abstarct identifies no source for the emissions and presents a hand-waving argument to suggest a human component, in short, inconclusive bullshit. The only demonstrable fact this paper introduces is a sudden change in the concentration of atmospheric methane starting in early 2007.

"The only demonstrable fact

December 15, 2008 - 08:35 ET by meteor79

"The only demonstrable fact this paper introduces is a sudden change in
the concentration of atmospheric methane starting in early 2007."

... which was the entire point of the paper. In the press release (and article), the authors make it clear they don't know the source of the methane emissions. They simply provide possible explanations. Did you notice how they use the word "if"?

"... which was the entire

December 15, 2008 - 19:04 ET by NL207

"... which was the entire point of the paper."

Then you would agree with my opinion that providing unsubstantiated suppositions in the abstract which cannot be factually supported from the body of the paper was an inappropriate exercise in academic discipline? Had I been a reviewer of that paper I would have rejected it for publication until that abstract had been reduced to a summary of facts demonstrated or referenced in its body.

meteor... Which one is

December 15, 2008 - 19:11 ET by Clear thinker

meteor...

Which one is you...Eco-Hippies Cry Over Dead Tree

Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/

Here we go again the Computer Illiterate calling us Deniers

December 15, 2008 - 10:05 ET by PopularTech

Funny how your quote backs up what we already said.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is Not Pollution

The real motivation; critical thinking

December 15, 2008 - 11:11 ET by Unsane

Since when did deniers start citing the peer-reviewed literature? If I am a denier, you are a religionist who is out to destroy science. The day that science becomes dogmatic as you so ache for it to be, science is dead. But you can care less about science. What you REALLY want is to completely dismantle and strangle the world's largest, most dynamic and advanced economy because of your personal guilt.

And this whole nonsense, this OBSESSIVE DEVOTION to "peer-reviewed literature" is quite telling. The people who constantly fall back on "peer-reviewed literature" are those who cannot critically think, so they surrender that power to someone else. Nothing like having someone else think FOR you, I guess.

"THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING!!! A WAR ON FREEWILL IS COMING!!!" - Nevermore, "Bittersweet Feast", from This Godless Endeavor (2005)

HERETIC

December 15, 2008 - 07:50 ET by AJB

AlGore is going to be on the Truth Squad come January 21st and he WILL fly over in his bazillion dollar plane, unload his ten mega-SUV entourage vehicles and squish you like a bug for presenting your supposedly truthful FACTS. He will then change you 2 bazillion 'carbon credits' which (conveniently) you can purchase from his company that sells 'carbon credits'. You will pay through the nose for life. All, dressed in his super-hero costume, will then announce over the Internet that only HE invented that he has foiled yet another evil-thinking-meanie and then jet up for yet another adventure in SUPER ALGORE-MAN SAVING THE PLANET AND SELLING THE CARBON CREDITS.

I can sum things up

December 14, 2008 - 21:28 ET by BobAnthony

About Global Warming...

THE BIGGEST CONSPIRACY THEORY THAT HAS EXISTED TO DATE!

For the record, I am NOT RECOGNIZING BARRACK HUSSEIN OBAMA ODINGA AS
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES! I would like to become part of a
secession front!

Freezing rain and sleet notwithstanding...

December 14, 2008 - 21:29 ET by Unsane

Yeah. Global warming. Just under a week ago I saw freezing rain and sleet. THIS in south TX, where such phenomena are RARE.

Wouldn't global warming make such events rare further north?

Yeah, I know. I'll stop applying so much common sense...

"THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING!!! A WAR ON FREEWILL IS COMING!!!" - Nevermore, "Bittersweet Feast", from This Godless Endeavor (2005)

Ecoreligion

December 14, 2008 - 21:30 ET by Brau

Not surprising, really. This whole "green" trend exists as nothing more than fanatical religion. The truth is available to anyone who takes 15 minutes to research the facts, but zealots never have a desire to do that. Having been raised in this era of eco-religion they will support their chosen belief to their dying breath, believing like all other religious followers, their belief is right. So negative is their personal outlook that they see the world around them spiraling into an abyss of hellfire and will spout any ill based drivel that supports their apocalyptic phobias. Sadly, most of these dogmatists would probably laugh at East Indians who believe cows are sacred, but in an ironic twist the sacred cow was declared such to thwart a very real threat: being hunted to extinction by man.

OMG! The sky is falling, again.

December 14, 2008 - 21:31 ET by pocomoco

The GW hoaxers must be running out of funding.

poco... Worry not...they

December 14, 2008 - 22:06 ET by bigtimer

poco...

Worry not...they will replenish themselves soon enough with the new congress coming in...and some RINOs on our side will aide and abet...with McC leading they way, and of course the global warmist buddy Snowe, we can't forget Collins...

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

If Global Warming is

December 14, 2008 - 21:35 ET by Clear thinker

If Global Warming is advancing and time is running out...

Never mind, the whole premise is a joke and a scam. These people are idiots.

Just like these idiots... Eco-Hippies Cry Over Dead Tree

Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/

Global warming

December 14, 2008 - 21:37 ET by paulnashtn

"The 10 hottest years on record have occurred since Clinton's second inauguration."

This, early on in the peice, should let anyone know that the writer is full of it. This is a blatant lie

VOTE REPUBLICAN

Ah,good ole global warming...

December 14, 2008 - 21:58 ET by writerone

must be the reason it snowed in Texas, Louisiana and Mississppi last week.

And they (AP and editors) wonder why newspaper readership is down.

Mad Hatter

December 14, 2008 - 22:02 ET by Copperhead Ridge

Everytime I read a global warming story I'm reminded of the conversation between Alice and the Mad Hatter in "Alice in Wonderland."

"You can always take more than nothing."

I had a conversation this morning with a liberal insisting that this nation achieve "energy independence." I asked him if he would support nuclear power, and he replied, "no way."

These are not rational people. The same applies with the global warming alarmists.

When historians -- the ones who emerge after this next round of dark ages -- write about the decline and fall of the United States, they will call our current era "The Age of American Fantasy." We overblow the silly problems and refuse to make real solutions to the problems that are lethal.

Just keep the printing presses rolling.

?

December 14, 2008 - 22:05 ET by spiff

I am at a loss for words.

Liberalism is a mental disorder.
– Michael Savage

If really is true that "time

December 14, 2008 - 22:07 ET by Smartypants

If really is true that "time is running out," as this hysterical zealot proclaims, then what could we possibly do that would make any difference? Just for the sake of argument, what if global warming is happening as these idiots say and it is largely human caused? The idea that these people believe we could so quickly reverse something which has supposedly been decades in the making is positively hilarious! Any measures that would be sufficient to reverse this would be so drastic that the planet would certainly be plunged into a depression. Any form of mild resolution would be useless. This is not something that would be solved with the usage of high efficiency light bulbs. We would have to cease most manufacturing and automobile traffic; severe limits on electricity usage would have to be implemented; life as we know it in the country and on the planet overall would have to completely change. The amount of destruction and devastation from increased worldwide poverty would be enormous. Illness and deaths would certainly skyrocket around the globe; starvation would be rampant (much more so than it is presently), etc. These people live in a fairytale land where actions have no ramifications whatsoever as long as your intentions are good. We all know what the road to hell is paved with, don't we?

If liberals ever sat down

December 14, 2008 - 23:03 ET by MrSnuggles

If liberals ever sat down and took all of their beliefs to their logical conclusions, they wouldn't be liberals.

Freedom

December 14, 2008 - 22:09 ET by Lakewood Bob

Thomas Jefferson acknowledged that if people expected to be ignorant and free, they expected something that never was and never will be! People like Borenstein, Gore, and those who voted for Obama are examples of this ignorance. God will determine the weather, and man can do nothing about it!

Seth Borenstein is an

December 14, 2008 - 22:19 ET by Apache

Seth Borenstein is an idiot. No research was done for that article. Journalism is dead. They all want to do commentary with no expertise and just punctuate it with quotes from other people. Who would quote Gore for half an article on anything? Unleash Goret upon us and you can bet Obama will only be a one term president if he even makes it past his Chicago problems.

Perhaps it could be warm tomorrow

December 14, 2008 - 22:58 ET by dbo

They predict Arctic waters could be ice-free in summers, perhaps by 2013, decades earlier than they thought only a few years ago

Great scientific statement that one. Who's they? Yeah, they could be...perhaps. The propagandist writer has confirmed that the "believers" computer models are not worth the toilet paper they are written on.

The author or this garbage

December 14, 2008 - 23:05 ET by MrSnuggles

The author or this garbage is correct, time IS running out. Running out for them to use this nonsense to push a tyrannical socialist government that will control ever aspect of our daily lives, because people are coming to realize that what they are selling us simply does not jive with reality on the ground.

Another thing that really bothers me is that they always compare the temps NOW to the temps between 1961 and 1990 or sometimes earlier than 90. Yet, wasn't the 60s and 70s a period where they were warning us of global cooling because the temps were actually quite a bit below normal? So how is it fair to compare today to a time when temps were down? Its like taking our economy and comparing it only to the depression and no other time period.

It's going to get more scary.

December 14, 2008 - 23:24 ET by pbthinker

News organizations, especially ones like AP, that have national circulation, have a responsibility to print the truth. There is much, in this story, that is demonstrably false and untrue. If we can not depend on the media to tell us the truth what are they there for. It seems that they are there to be a propaganda wing, for the Democrats, and a collection agency for advertising.

I recently refused to renew my subscription, to the Palm Beach Post, because of their disingenuous coverage on this particular topic. I think it's time for Senator Inhofe to put the pressure on teh AP to show the "facts" they used to put this story out.

The American press is purposely only putting out one side of this story, while the European press is starting to look skeptically at this hoax. If the truth doesn't come out, the Democrats will be doing cap and trade within the next year and we'll be paying through the nose for all our fuel. Then, these same Democrats, will be blowing it all trying to fill in the gaps on their Ponzi Scheme called Social Security.

Election 2008-God's way of showing us that elections count.

I've said this a million

December 14, 2008 - 23:29 ET by Gary P Jackson

I've said this a million times, but it bears repeating.

We need to let all of the Al Qaeda terrorists at Gitmo go free. Now I know they are dangerous, but hear me out!

Replace the terrorists with the REAL problem in this nation....LIBERALS!

Ship every liberal down to Gitmo. Algore should be the first.

Liberals are FAR more dangerous than anything else on earth.

This also looks like a great place to post this:

(some bad language)

http://www.cracked.c...

Rosie O'Donnell Competition

December 14, 2008 - 23:32 ET by dbo

Seth Borenstein may be stupid but I don't think he can compete with the statement made by the science advisor to German chancellor Merkel, Prof Hans Joachim Scellnhuber.

“Everyone
talks about the financial crisis, as virtual values melt away. We, however, care about real values
like Greenland ice. When that melts away, it cannot be replaced”

NEOCOMs and Uncle Joe

December 14, 2008 - 23:38 ET by zachlind

Environmentalism, home of the NEOCOM (New Age Communist). Sometimes it looks like an orthodox religion and sometimes it looks like a revolution right out of 1917. Uncle Joe would be proud.

Next up for a bailout?

December 15, 2008 - 00:18 ET by Scandiman

Looks like the AP is trying to engender fear to entice the moron masses who voted for Obama to cough up more tax revenue to solve this "new crisis". What they don't realize is that many American, in my opinion, already have crisis fatigue.

They can cry wolf about this all they want but I just don't give a crap anymore. Radical environmentalists should come under the same separation of powers as church and state if they keep insisting on this type of evangelism!

\BTW....didn't Ted Danson

December 15, 2008 - 02:36 ET by Intellectual Honesty

\BTW....didn't Ted Danson say in the 70's or 80's that in 10 years the oceans would be dead?

Reminds me of the old joke:

Doctor: "I've seen the test results and I have some good news and some bad news."

Patient: "What's the bad news?"

Doctor: "You have only 24 hours to live."

Patient: "What's the good news?"

Doctor: "I forgot to call you yesterday."

Change

December 15, 2008 - 05:12 ET by Dragonsbreath

you can believe in.... Right?

It just shows what change the one was talking about.

GLOBAL WARMING HOAX

December 15, 2008 - 06:04 ET by Worried

It's 4:00 am (12-15-08) and it's 8 degrees below zero in Denver. So I just sent an email to AP to tell them global warming has hit us big time and they need to call Al Gore. I also told them I didn't know what we would do if it weren't for liberal elitists like them telling the people what they think we should know.

I have to get ready for work now. The roads will be slicker than Willie out there! Have a good day.

Yep

December 15, 2008 - 07:03 ET by MOONSTRUCK

Global warming is kicking me in the butt this morning too! minus 5 in Duluth, MN this morning. Estimated 20 BELOW tomorrow. That's without the wind chill!! I know this is Minnesnowta, and is supposed to be this way. Blizzard yesterday and this morning, closing pretty much the whole town. But give me a frikkin' break on the whole global warming. The temps are cylical period, dot com.

The kool-aid drinkers in this country amaze me on a daily basis!! What a bunch of saps and suckas.

Merry Christmas!

The 10 hottest years on

December 15, 2008 - 07:05 ET by Jack Bauer

The 10 hottest years on record have occurred since Clinton's second inauguration.

But that's just a provable falsehood. IT IS NOT TRUE.

And wasn't that NASA liar Hansen humiliating forced to acknowledge that publicly, only recently|?

If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same...
Yours is the earth and all that's in it...

Global Warming

December 15, 2008 - 09:01 ET by pitter43

Global warming is a farce that Al Gore saw and ran with trying to make himself relevant again. He can't stand not being in the limelight so he choose this nutty idea to get back into it. It he believed in it, would he live in such an extravagant house and take private jets everywhere he goes?

Pitter, Yes, he would.

December 15, 2008 - 09:24 ET by Hunter12

Pitter, Yes, he would. Aren't you listen? "You" have to sacrifice to solve the global warming crisis. Not Al. This nutty idea has turned Al into a billionare. He doesn't care that it's a scam and it will make taxes and power bills unaffordable to low-income families. He'll be rich, rich, rich. Plus, he'll get to hang out with movie stars.

"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill

Al Gore is the Ultimate Hypocrite

December 15, 2008 - 09:50 ET by PopularTech

Al Gore Takes Private Jet (Video) (7min)

Gore home's energy use: 20 times average (WorldNetDaily)
Al Gore's residence uses considerably more energy than the average American home = True (Snopes)
Gore’s personal electricity consumption up 10%, despite "energy-efficient" home renovations (Tennesse Center for Policy Research)

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is Not Pollution

Are those "Repower America"

December 15, 2008 - 09:19 ET by Hunter12

Are those "Repower America" commercials showing everywhere across the country? I'm not knocking the wind turbines and such as a source of power, but I'd like to see those turbines hooked up to a factory that could reproduce a duplicate set of towers, generators, and rotor blades. That good old boy in the commercial has his electric pickup truck to go tooling around the wind farm in. Let's see a second factory hooked to that same wind farm that can produce that truck from the tires up and then we can talk about eliminating the coal fired plants and the other 'dirty' energy that were actual used to manufacture those green technological innovations. I like the wind farm idea for supplemental power and to help wean us from the need for fossil fuel consumption, but until dependable sources of power become available, we are not going to loose our need for coal, gas, and oil-fired power plants. Would any of these 'greenies' let grandma's heart-lung machine operation be solely dependent on a stiff breeze out of Canada? Sadly, I know the answer to that question.

"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill

Wind Power is a Scam

December 15, 2008 - 09:42 ET by PopularTech

Wind power is the biggest eco-scam ever. Not only is it not market competitive with all other major sources of electric generation (coal, natural gas and nuclear), they cannot replace existing generating plants because they only operate 30% of the time!

Windmills for Suckers (PDF) (Executive Intelligence Review)

Loss of Wind Causes Texas Power Grid Emergency (Reuters)

Danish Wind Turbine Rips Itself Apart (Video)

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is Not Pollution

AP Ignores Global Cooling

December 15, 2008 - 09:44 ET by PopularTech

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is Not Pollution

Did I say "Global

December 15, 2008 - 09:55 ET by Hunter12

Did I say "Global Warming"? I meant "Climate Change". Please keep that money rolling in. Tipper wants diamond earrings for Christmas, the big ones like TO has. Do you know how much those cost? Please ignore history and the cycles of that big yellow thing in the sky. It's all our fault. Send money.

"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill

Awesome Post!

December 15, 2008 - 12:33 ET by Scandiman

Great Post, Pop Tech!

Time is running out for what?

December 15, 2008 - 09:51 ET by needle

"And the AP thinks we're running out of time to solve global warming."

Maybe the AP thinks the AP is running out of time to hype global warming and instigate Al Gore’s cockamamie nostrums, which should be good for many more asinine news stories.

Impunitas semper ad deteriora invitat.

There is a limited window

December 15, 2008 - 09:59 ET by Hunter12

There is a limited window to claim something was done about GW, so the kooks can take credit for the coming cool down. "See, we did fix it."

"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill

Global cooling??

December 15, 2008 - 10:14 ET by meteor79

Poptech, you might want to check out the most recent satellite derived temperature data...

Notice, despite a recent dip (understandable given La Nina and min in solar cycle), average global temperatures are right along the upward trend line. Global cooling is a denier fantasy.

Since 1998? Global Cooling is obvious

December 15, 2008 - 10:37 ET by PopularTech

Global Cooling since 1998

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is Not Pollution

Meteoron

December 15, 2008 - 10:42 ET by Semperright

Global cooling is a denier fantasy

Reality is a GW supporters fantasy. I would have thought you would support some warming as it is probably cold down there in your mom's basement. Maybe you could put a stocking cap on over the tin foil.

Semper Fi

Freedom is not free, but the U.S. Marine Corps will pay most of your share.
Ned Dolan

I wonder what the

December 15, 2008 - 11:13 ET by Hunter12

I wonder what the "baseline" dataset at your satellite web site looks like. Here is a side-by-side comparison of last years ice to this years ice (the pink stuff) from satellite images. Cherry-pick your spots and ignore the overall expansion and you can make a graph look like whatever you want. Notice the reduction of the open water around the arctic ice cap this year. If you compare Decembers, the Bering Straits are all pink this year. This data is from the University of Illinois.

"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill

meteor79, More cosmic rays, more clouds REFLECTING more heat

December 15, 2008 - 14:21 ET by upcountrywater

from the earth...

This is the best link you have 'ever posted.

heres mine an s-word to you AGW guys

today's s** word.

The following only applies to anyone who UNDERSTANDS and enjoys SCIENCE...Hint: science changes, and operates, in real time.

cosmic rays 1of 4

TEST after the video.. Why was there ZERO hurricanes in the Atlantic this 2007-2008 season that NEVER REACHED #5????

FREEDOM

(D)

YOUR fantasy

December 15, 2008 - 14:26 ET by Unsane

Science turned into a dogma that CANNOT ever be questioned under any circumstances whatsoever (lest you be labeled a "denier" or worse) is YOUR fantasy. It is too bad for you that I will continue to question you and those of your ilk.

By the way, how come you haven't answered my questions posted earlier? Afraid?

"THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING!!! A WAR ON FREEWILL IS COMING!!!" - Nevermore, "Bittersweet Feast", from This Godless Endeavor (2005)

Why don't you mention what

December 16, 2008 - 00:11 ET by NL207

Why don't you mention what that graph shows: If I read the temperature scale correctly, it is in degrees C relative to some nominal and it shows over 3 decades, about .33 degrees warming, does it not? That would be about .11 degree per decade is it not?

I seem to recall a prediction made by the alarmists from the IPCC and that horse's ass, Gavin Schmidt, that we would see global warming of not less than 0.14 and not greater than 0.64 degrees per decade for the next century. Yet the satellite data you present is stark proof that prediction is a load of horse glop and its purveyors are charlatans. The actual results for the last three decades are 20% less than their minimum prediction. --> THEY ARE WRONG and their "science" is flawed.

"Why don't you mention what

December 16, 2008 - 00:37 ET by meteor79

"Why don't you mention what that graph shows:"

I showed the graph to simply illustrate a continued upward trend in global temperatures. I think you could even agree that global cooling is not occurring...

There has been no upward trend since 1998

December 16, 2008 - 08:58 ET by PopularTech

Global Cooling since 1998

This is clearly seen even on your graph.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is Not Pollution

"There has been no upward

December 16, 2008 - 10:50 ET by meteor79

"There has been no upward trend since 1998..."

You are either cherry-picking... (what happens if you choose 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, etc.?)

or you have a very odd way of defining warming/cooling trends; perhaps you would like to clarify.

By your logic, until we see a year hotter than 1998, global cooling is occurring. When the 1998 record is broken, global warming will have resumed. Correct? Then, when temperatures start declining, global cooling will start again. Correct?

Cherry Picking from 1975?

December 16, 2008 - 12:51 ET by PopularTech

The age of global cooling? Interesting just like the Alarmist like to cherry pick from the end of the LIA.

Thanks for proving my point.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is Not Pollution

Meteor

December 16, 2008 - 13:05 ET by cocodrie

You sure are clinging to your global warming obsession.

I suggest you research how many titanic survivors were found clinging to anvils

So, when would be an

December 16, 2008 - 13:27 ET by meteor79

So, when would be an appropriate starting point for a temperature trend analysis?

meteor79, Sorry you missed my post above

December 16, 2008 - 13:23 ET by upcountrywater

Come back when there is a #5 hurricane..

to gloat

Come back when it's 115 F in Omaha..

to gloat

Apologize to us when a COLD record is broken, ok

the S** word for today, spotless again.

FREEDOM

(D)

But what about the rest of us?

December 15, 2008 - 17:05 ET by thebutlerdidit

What about people like me? Frankly, I just don't give a rat's rear. I hate science, it bores me to death. If we are running out of time, then, so be it. I refuse to run around like Chicken Little, either way. If we go up in flames tomorrow, or the whole planet turns into a huge block of ice, then it was meant to be. So, some of us, just really, really don't care, and are sick of people trying to make life a misery, every single cotton pickin' day. I plan on getting up and doing the same thing every day until I can no longer do this, whatever the reason, and I refuse to be depressed or scared to death doing it.

if global waming is so bad

December 15, 2008 - 22:23 ET by smoto66

if global waming is so bad why hasnt the un asked china and india to at least adapt us emission laws on their cars bejing has smog worse the califonia! our cars emit practicly no emisions they are the cleanest in the world. china has no epa and would be exempt from kiyoto this is a joke if the planet was indeed dying why is asia not expected to help fix it they live here to

Sir Walter Scott said it

December 15, 2008 - 23:43 ET by msh1973

Sir Walter Scott said it best; "Oh! What a tangled web we weave," you remember the rest...

msh

December 15, 2008 - 23:50 ET by Noel Sheppard

msh,

Hmmm. Sounds familiar. Keep going. :-) ns

"The sky is falling. The

December 16, 2008 - 00:44 ET by Clear thinker

"The sky is falling. The sky is falling."

Noel, I think that's the next line.

Global Warming Horse Poop!

Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/

Unfortunately, we all are

February 2, 2009 - 07:49 ET by joeAnne

Unfortunately, we all are aware of this awful thing that is going on to our planet. The idea is that we should have done something about this problems some time ago when our actions would have been useful. Now, everything is too late.

______

amortization

Unfortunately...

February 2, 2009 - 13:40 ET by Unsane

Unfortunately for you, Earth is much bigger and much more dynamic than even people give it credit for. Therefore there is very little we little people can do to save or destroy the planet.

"THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING!!! THE HOLOCAUST OF THOUGHT IS DAWNING!!!" - Nevermore, "Bittersweet Feast", from This Godless Endeavor (2005)