Much of the world celebrated Earth Day last Sunday. No one did it more enthusiastically than global warming alarmists. Global warming alarmists, like their ideological kin Progressives and Leftists, look at the world differently. More conservative types, like yours truly, don’t exactly view reality through rose-colored glasses. I’m no Pollyanna. I concede we occupy a fallen world. Yet by comparison, the alarmists’ worldview is considerably farther out on the spectrum of woe. Alarmists … [Read more...]
Climate Alarmist Consensus—About to Shatter?
Is this the End of the Beginning, or the Beginning of the End? On November 10, 1942, after British and Commonwealth forces defeated the Germans and Italians at the Second Battle of El Alamein, taking nearly 30,000 prisoners, Winston Churchill told the British Parliament, “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” In The Hinge of Fate, volume 3 of his marvelous 6-volume history of World War II, published eight years later, he … [Read more...]
Congratulations to Jim Bridenstine, New NASA Administrator—It’s about Time!
Seven months ago I wrote about why Congressman Jim Bridenstine (R-OK), nominated to be the new administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was well qualified and, in a saner world, should have been confirmed quickly. Yesterday, at last, the well-deserved confirmation finally happened---albeit along strict party lines---after the vote had been delayed for months. Democrats opposed him because---well, because they're Democrats, and he wasn't nominated by Hillary Clinton. … [Read more...]
Steering clear of climate alarm: climate change alarmists should chill on Earth Day 2018
Sunday, April 22 will mark the 48th anniversary of Earth Day. A lot of concern about the planet’s future was generated back then and a passionate movement was launched that endures to this day. But much has changed since 1970 when the Earth was in a substantial cooling trend. Today, of course, the angst is over a significant warming. The big concern is that, because of “carbon pollution,” the planet will heat up to catastrophic levels causing all sorts of problems like rising sea levels, … [Read more...]
When Rice is Worth Gold: Legalization of Golden Rice in the Fight against Poverty
Golden Rice was declared safe for consumption by Canada recently. This has huge implications for the rest of the world, where Golden Rice can be vital resource in tackling vitamin A deficiency and malnutrition. Genetically modified (GM) crops are engineered to display traits that are otherwise absent or subdued in natural crops. For example, gene modification results in crops that are highly resistant to diseases and more accustomed to extreme weather conditions. Sometimes, these crops also … [Read more...]
Will the Global Economy Be Battered by Car Batteries?
In America and around the world, millions of people think electric vehicles (EVs) are the solution to all kinds of environmental problems---like smog, fine particulate pollution, and global warming. Save the planet! Drive a Leaf (or Volt or Tesla or ... the models multiply). But enormous technical problems face the transition from gasoline- or diesel-powered to battery-powered vehicles. Those problems are all rooted in one issue: energy density (energy stored by volume). Cubic inch for cubic … [Read more...]
A Warming Solution that Just Might Work—But Not as Planned?
Los Angeles has a new solution to climate change: painting streets white. Well, not quite a solution to climate change. What it really addresses is what's called the "urban heat island" (UHI) effect. Cities and towns, with lots of blacktop streets, absorb more energy from sunlight than rural areas, so their ambient air temperatures (especially at night) are warmer. Los Angeles will paint its streets white to reduce its UHI. It might actually work, though with all those black rubber tires … [Read more...]
What Really Brought about the Population Collapse on Easter Island?
For years people around the world, swayed mostly by Jared Diamond's book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, have thought Easter Island---2,300 miles west of the coast of Chile---suffered a population crash because its people used up its resources (chiefly palm trees) faster than they could be renewed. I haven't known what to think, but, though I knew of its inaccuracies on some other subjects, I assumed Diamond's story was likely. Now my friend Dennis Avery has educated me. The … [Read more...]
Maybe ‘exceptional’ weather is just weather
Perhaps the best challenge to the hysterical claims that humans are causing unusual climate change is the demonstration that "exceptional" weather events can be predicted in advance based on their natural occurrence in history. One person who has admirably met this challenge with consistent, convincing demonstrations is meteorologist and forecaster extraordinaire Joe Bastardi. Bastardi – formerly of AccuWeather, now with WeatherBELL Analytics – is the best weather forecaster I have ever … [Read more...]
Who Are the Real Science Deniers? It’s a Given
A little etymology lesson: data derives from the Latin, dare (pronounced DAH-ray), "to give," and means "given." (Back when I took Latin, it was typically the second verb the conjugation of which one learned. The first was amo, "I love," the infinitive form of which is amare.) Data means "given." In the natural sciences, it's supposed to mean what we observe. It's supposed to be quite distinct from what we do with or infer from what we observe. To be data, information should be unadjusted … [Read more...]
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