On House Republicans overturning science - by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA)

The Republicans yesterday voted to increase pollution in the USA and to accelerate global warming and make weather disasters worse, more frequent and more widespread. This is what Rep Markey had to say about it:

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2011/03/10/174942/markey-flat-earthers/

Around the blogs ...

Atmoz is taking taking bets on when atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide will first reach 400 ppm, going by data from NOAA. Pop on over to register your bet. I took a punt on April 2014, given that industry is gearing up again after the financial crisis. Hopefully I'm wrong and all the renewable alternatives will start to kick in soon. Most other people are betting sometime in 2015 or 2016.

Watching the Deniers has likened 'climategate' to the wheeze of an asthmatic ant and is asking people to come up with a more apt name for this non-event. Why not post your suggestion to his blog, or a similar request made shortly afterwards on ClimateProgress?

Deltoid has some recent posts on McLean and McKitrick complaining (separately) about how they can't seem to get their work published in any reputable science journal. Both seem to be digging themselves into a deeper hole by declaring their incompetence in climate science to the general public, rather than keeping it within the scientific community. DeepClimate has delved further into the McItrick complaint. (Dare I say McItrick can't win a trick?)

WottsUpWithThat continues to do an excellent job of showing up denier posts. In regard to Anthony's efforts to raise a few bucks by selling his mobile UHI detector, there's a warning of some adjustments you might need to make here. Otherwise it might be just another CHI detector (car heat island) or an AHI detector (asphalt heat island) or even an RHFTM detector (reflected heat from the mirror). Before making such purchases, it's advisable to make sure your BS detector is working.

The EPA (USA) has published its response to public comments received on the Proposed Findings in relation to the Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases under the Clean Air Act. Eli Rabett has been picking through the some of the more ignorant comments (submitted by those who should know better), and the EPA responses here and here and here and here and here.

Eli has also noted that the CRU is highlighting the 'defamatory reporting' of a posting on the “Climate Audit” website, managed by Steve McIntyre. McIntyre has caught sight of his tail out of the corner of his eye and can't stop chasing it. Around and around he goes from FOI to Law Domes and back again. There has been nothing new from him for several months. It doesn't stop him from trying to get heard by sending submissions to the UK House of Commons Committee and the Russell Inquiry. His submission to the latter is an attack on the members of the Commission, which I wouldn't have thought would win him any Brownie points. Maybe it's because McIntyre has run out of nits to pick. Is it time to peek behind the curtain?

The anti-science brigade

I've just looked at a site that promotes itself as "Commentary on puzzling things in life, nature, science, weather, climate change, technology, and recent news". Although most of its articles are pseudo-science or political, every so often it posts an article from a top quality scientific journal. Today it posted an article from Science on N₂O emitted to the atmosphere from the oceans.

For some strange reason, even though the website promotes itself as a science and technology site, many of the visitors who comment are blatantly anti-science. With this article only a minority of comments addressed the substance of the paper. The majority were denigrating science. The comments included:

Grant Forcing?

and he needs a big grant to study it

They are losing the battle on CO2 grounds, and are desperate to find some other “greenhouse” gas to keep scaremongering and getting grants. Pathetic.

I’m so tired and over all this hyped up science.

Only the application of more grant money can save us from the oncoming disaster

Just shows how silly some people have become

Methinks they have been partaking too much of this Nitrous Oxide themselves

Science is dead. Why should I believe any of this doomsday propaganda?

They sure are gullible. The risk and drama must be high because the cry for funding is so strong. These guys are kinda stupid.

I think he “May” be looking for grant money so he “Can” fund his research.

What a bogus article. Actually I want to say what a crap article. What crap science. ... I don’t think Science or Nature can be trusted. What about the other publications. Are they all on the take, too?

Yep. Grant Forcing.

Obviously the Gravy Train that runs on the old Grant Rail Road Line is behind all this junk.

Feed-me-back-some-grant-money is more like it.

The sound of science. Coming off the RAILS. And HOW many faeries dance on the head of a pin?

I love this kind of “science”, short on facts and long on “may” and “could” and “might”. ... Science Magazine just keeps sinking to new lower lows.

Whatever next? One can only hope that this truly ridiculous “research” will only add to the growing awareness of the general public that the whole thing is one big multi-governmental con. I thought we’d already passed the point where it could not get any more farcical. Clearly I was wrong.

The only thing that must be killed ASAP is our tax funding of all this CAGW baloney. The sooner the better.

Another howler from their article: "An increase in horizontal respiration rate gradients toward low-oxygen oceanic eastern boundaries could also increase N2O production. Some models predict a deeper thermocline (lower respiration) as a result of global warming; others suggest the opposite (13)." Well, that science is settled. Either way, it requires more funding.

… or maybe they are just desperate scientists trying to extort a grant from the government.

“research” as represented in this paper is a threat to truly protecting the environment – we cant properly allocate research dollars to true problems if everything is disingenuously pitched as a “crisis”

Another problem is identified, more calamities predicted. $billions for additional research must be granted and spent.

Note: This looks to be the first blog article I wrote about Anthony Watts' climate conspiracy blog WUWT. I've now archived the article so you can see for yourself that it hasn't changed in at least five years. Here is a link to the press release in Science Daily, which has links to two papers - in Science and in PNAS.

Sou 10 January 2015 at 8:11 pm AEDT