The US Environmental Protection Agency publishes information in graphical form (see below) purporting to show a steady increase in records relating to heat waves as having occurred from 1960 to present. But the untold story is what happened during earlier portions of the 20th Century that preceded that date. EPA's graphs mislead the reader into believing that a calamitous rise in temperature may be about to unfold. It is untrue. Of the 50 all-time high temperature records for the individual … [Read more...]
Electric Cars Are Not Ready for Showtime
It seems that no one can ever do quite enough to satisfy the demands of professional complainers. Not even Elon Musk, a world-famous promoter of electric vehicles. He was met rudely by protesters at the grand opening of his Tesla assembly plant, just outside Berlin, during recent ceremonies: "...it [the plant] has faced opposition and some environmental activists blocked the factory’s entrance while displaying banners flagging its high water use…” All said and done, it should … [Read more...]
Endangered Species Act: Turning Species Extirpation on its Head
The Endangered Species Act, first enacted by Congress in 1973, has since become a poster child for bureaucratic ineptitude. By 2021 it had fully redeemed from the impending extinction only 3% of the hundreds of endangered species initially added to the list. Our national symbol, the again flourishing bald eagle, is an outstanding exception. The birds are commonly seen soaring above our rivers and lakes wherever the fishing is good. But whooping cranes are holding onto existence by the skin … [Read more...]
United States Not Big Bad Plastics Polluter
In a report just released, the National Academy of Sciences takes America to task as being “the country” most responsible for polluting its rivers and estuaries with plastic waste that eventually winds up floating on the surface of the oceans. But the basis for the suspect claim needs to be carefully examined. Prior reports on the same issue estimate, on a country by country basis, the flux of packaging materials: plastic bottles, shopping bags, single-use eating and drinking … [Read more...]
Mainstream Media Ignores Good News, Cries “Wolf” Over Climate Change
On a given morning the individual who happens to subscribe to a local newspaper likely may wake up over coffee greeted by a headline reading “Global Warming (or Climate Change, or Climate Crisis) Is Causing Increasing Deaths,” with latest estimates reaching into the multi-millions. Is this otherwise implausible statement credible? It may seem entirely plausible in the eyes of “the woke” segment of 21st Century US society. Recently the Heartland Institute’s Dr. H. Sterling Burnett examined … [Read more...]
Get Ready for Noisy Summer Nights — Compliments of ‘Mother Nature’
If it isn’t some new virus, or swarms of killer hornets newly arrived from Southeast Asia, it has to be another dread event to grab the attention of the mainstream media. National Public Radio recently reported on the soon-to-be re-arriving, and vociferous, 17-year cicadas, last seen and heard from in 2003. Sincere thanks to the NPR photo department for providing readers with a candid view of a live sample of the nocturnal insect that is more commonly seen in the form of an empty … [Read more...]
Does Climate Change Cause More and Bigger Wildfires?
I've been looking into the subject of wildfires and their alleged connection with climate change. In mid-February I looked at Wikipedia's account of the “Camp Fire” that occurred in November 2018 in Paradise, California. Wikipedia, not known for its even-handedness when it comes to matters political, slips in the possibility of climate-change having played a role in that destructive and deadly fire. It identifies a broken power line owned by Pacific Gas and Electric as the igniter and … [Read more...]
Are Schools and Media to Blame for Children’s Climate-change Neuroses?
The Independent reported March 3 that “a growing number of children are being affected by eco-anxiety—concern about ecological disasters.” Question: Do you suppose there is any connection between what school children are being taught in the classroom and may see on broadcast “news” all over the world—if they take time to pay attention—and their states of mind? Neither a typical school teacher, nor the average news reporter, is sufficiently grounded in the arcane discipline of climate … [Read more...]
Sea Level Up at Almost All US Coasts—So What?
"The sea level rose at nearly all U.S. coastline measurement stations in 2019, leaving scientists to warn that the likelihood that heavy flooding will strike is becoming more likely." So wrote Sandy Fitzgerald in Newsmax February 3. But never fear. The facts and some solid reasoning will show that that outcome is unlikely, even as a worst case. This narrative has long served as an ace in the hole for the climate alarmists. What Ms. Fitzgerald failed to tell her readers is that … [Read more...]
T-Shirt Time in Antarctica?
So suggested a headline in Bloomberg News early last month. What to make of this? For one thing Bloomberg News can no longer be regarded as a sterling source for news after its owner has thrust himself into the 2020 Presidential race. Still the information in the piece needs some careful examination. Right out of the gate please notice that the site where the temperature record was broken is not the same as that where the photograph was taken dating to 2008. In material fact, the … [Read more...]
