S. Fred Singer, who died last year, was an emeritus Professor of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia, well-known for his written and spoken clarity. His last book, the Third Edition of Hot Talk, Cold Science: Global Warming’s Unfinished Debate, is the most lucid example of his communication talents. This book is just like Fred, who was always smiling, had a good word for everyone, and was enthusiastic about his work. His attitude reminded me of Minnesota’s Hubert Humphrey, … [Read more...]
Our Climate Numbers Are a Big Old Mess
For years, records from surface thermometers showed a global warming trend beginning in the late 1970s. But temperatures sensed by satellites and weather balloons displayed no concurrent warming. These records have been revised a number of times, and I examined the two major revisions of these three records. They are the surface record from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the satellite-sensed temperatures originally published by University of Alabama's John … [Read more...]
Global Warming: Not so Fast
[Editor's note: This item is a little longer and more technical than most we carry, but reading it carefully can provide a good education in the science of the climate debate. --ECB] For more than 100 years, climate scientists have fully understood that if all else were held constant, an increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) would lead to an increase in the near-surface air temperatures. The problem becomes a lot more complicated in the real world when we consider … [Read more...]
More Ice Than Ever
Despite a warming Southern Ocean, the amount of ice surrounding Antarctica is now at the highest level ever measured for this time of the year, since satellites first began to monitor it almost thirty years ago. This represents a continuation of the record set last winter (our summer). Thanks to the miracles of modern technology, we can also look at the departure from the average for ice mass in a given month. At present, the coverage of ice surrounding Antarctica is almost exactly two million … [Read more...]
