Marshall plan indeed

US-hosted climate talks in Hawaii this week need to focus more on agreeing curbs to greenhouse gas emissions by major polluters, the UN's top climate change official said on Tuesday. Thus starts Planet Arks story.

It ends: He said that they helped a need for a "Climate Change Marshall Plan" to help developing nations. The original US Marshall plan aided Europe's shattered economies after World War Two. "We need something similar on climate," de Boer said.

Methinks, another Marshall Plan is imminent because economies will shatter after resources are used up by spending on "climate change" initiatives otherwise used for solving more pressing problems. Watch and see.

Then again, we could rise to the challenge. Because we always bounce back. We people are powerful beyond our wildest imagination, and no environmental non-event will discourage us.

"Ingenuity is a resource and humans are an asset"

The Junkman makes a point:

George… family unit-sized hunter gather bands have to range over areas of hundreds to hundreds of thousands of acres to forage for their basic needs. Industrialized man manages enormously higher productivity (technology basically means doing heaps more with significantly less) and this is why hunger has not increased despite human population increasing from under 2.5 to over 6 billion people on the planet — all without increasing the net area under cropping — since WWII. Unlike our agrarian past, net economy is not tightly coupled to resource demand and the bulk of GDP has nothing to do with grain harvested or herds managed.

If we were still reliant on say, sperm whale oil to light our lamps, then resource depletion would be a problem but this is not how humanity, technology and development work. Biotechnology (despite George being agin it) is just one technique that will be utilized to increase our resource availability and it is not obvious that we will need to increase land area devoted to agriculture prior to the inevitable end of human population growth.

George… ingenuity is a resource and humans are an asset — your misanthropic nit-wittery notwithstanding.

A reaction to George Monbiot's Population growth is a threat. But it pales against the greed of the rich, January 29, 2008 in The Guardian.

Not 9th, but 8th

In a previous post, I said that 2007 was the 9th warmest year (contrary to what has been said to be the 2nd warmest). The Reference Frame said that there was a mistake, and those who computed have said sorry for the error. 2007 remains that coldest in this century and is the 8th warmests and not the 9th. Reference Frame has disclaimer here.

Computer models -- hah!

I mentioned that Al Gore has a plan in an earlier post. After reading again what he said, it makes me think that computer models he used in the past may not have been reliable (that only more reliable measure of global temperatures is actual measurements). Why will we listen to him now? That's like what Masha said once (must've have been Wimbledon, something like) "credibility written all over him" as her reaction to a linesman who called a ball out -- it helped that the skies were dark and he was wearing sunglasses.

He's in the news again -- Apple shareholder plan opposed.

Was there a Medieval Australia?

We might just get one. Soon.

Greenhouse cuts 'would land us in Middle Ages'
Mark Davis
January 26, 2008

THE Hawke government finance minister Peter Walsh has warned the Rudd Government that cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 would send Australian living standards back to the Middle Ages.

Mr Walsh, who was at the forefront of Labor's conversion to economic rationalism in the 1980s, heads the Lavoisier Group of hardline climate-change sceptics.

In a submission lodged with the Garnaut climate change review, the former West Australian senator disputes the scientific evidence that carbon dioxide emissions are causing rising global temperatures.

He points out that the Romans grew grapes in northern England in the first millennium and the Vikings grew cereals in Greenland in the second millennium.

"Those much warmer periods cannot reasonably be attributed to anthropogenic greenhouse gases," he says. He also says the temperature on Mars has risen in a similar way to that on Earth.
...

Trackback. Next: Medieval Asia?

Why really?

Iain Murray, in a commentary about the US Republicans bashing by the Democrats on the issue of global warming had this to say, in part:

When people say that there’s a hoax about global warming, what do they mean? Do they mean that there is no evidence that temperatures are increasing? Probably not — no one I know disputes that fact, although there are serious question marks over the reliability of the surface temperature measurements. Yet the satellite record is clear that the world is warming.

No, what is objected to is the idea that global warming will be catastrophic unless we do something about it now that involves a complete abandonment of affordable energy and a return to central planning. As Margaret Thatcher, who was the first world leader to express concern about global warming, said, global warming is proving to be “a marvelous excuse for international socialism.” It’s that excuse angle that is the crux of the matter. Things are being exaggerated, as the British High Court found with Al Gore’s film, in the name of this realignment. That’s where conservatives see the penny disappearing in this particular game of three-card monty, and they need to call foul when they see it.

Read all, and the links. I believe this is not just a question of Republicans/Conservatives versus Democrats/Liberals. It is about skeptics vs. alarmists on global warming.

Selfless

Here's intro of Foxnews story on Lorraine Allard. Full report and a link here.

Mother Delays Cancer Treatments So Baby Can Live
Friday, January 25, 2008

Expectant mother Lorraine Allard learned the devastating news that she was in the advanced stages of liver cancer when she was four months pregnant, according to the Daily Mail.

Allard, of St. Olaves in the U.K., had a choice: Delay treatment to save her baby, or terminate the pregnancy to save herself.

She chose the former, waiting until the fetus was viable before scheduling a Caesarean section.

"If I am going to die, my baby is going to live," Allard told her husband, Martyn, according to the Mail.

All we want is energy (that's about everything)

It has been said that scare tactics are being used to force us all to join the consensus on anthropogenic global warming, that could result, if the "consensus folks" have their way, through government control of "how much energy people and business can use from now on". Who knows what they want to control next. With "energy" on their side, that could mean everything else. The only thing going for me, and even if I cannot prove it, is faith that this will not happen when good people do something. And am sure we know who the good are.

Read here.

"... mankind depends mostly on petroleum and coal for its energy, and nothing is going to change that until human creativity, fueled by the extra wealth created by free markets, leads to new energy technology breakthroughs.

Are we “addicted to oil”? Sure, just like we are addicted to food. Try quitting."

Update: Al's got a plan, a real plan. Like clockwork. Don't say I didn't warn you.

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Can we get a consensus on this?

Someone found a correlation between global warming and the political clout of favorite skeptic whipping boy Al. Jason of San Diego.

Tuvalu is still around

Remember Tuvalu? One of the poster children (island) for global warming alarmists? BBC talked about it in 2000 sounding the concern of the Tuvalu government that rising tides due to global warming could wipe out the island. This year BBC again takes a look at Tuvalu. Yep it is still there. The concern for the island is there, although the dreaded first-victim-of-rising-tides due to global warming is now fairy tale.

Sake-Drenched postcards says: The facts are, though, that the sea levels haven't been shown to be rising, at least not anywhere near Tuvalu, and long-term monitoring results have shown them to instead be falling. But Tuvalu does indeed have significant problems - enough for it to one day relocate its people. Most center on the fact that it is of very limited size and resources. It is the rising effects of these issues - and not the rising sea - that now confront Tuvalu.

Read all here.

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two cents' worth

Want your two cents' worth? Invest now in CO2 European Union Allowances.
H/T The Junkman.

EUA spot Prices on 18.01.2008

€ 0.02 € 0.00

EUA Price last 30 days

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One other reason why "we" hate the Americans

Nuff said.
See also why we hate Windows (Go Mac!) here.

Back to Medieval Europe

The European Commission has been very aggressive in legislating carbon taxes on European industries and even suggesting that trade partners of the EU go into carbon trade agreements with EU countries to balance the playing field, so to speak. This is one sure way of going back to Medieval Europe, without the industries that have made Europe what it is today.

Biofuels use = increase in GHG emissions?

A memo from Alex Farrell and Michael O'Hare of the Energy & Resources Group of the University of California Berkeley RE: Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from indirect land use change (LUC)on January 12, 2008 says that greenhouse gas emissions could increase if biofuel crop production increases. While they also say that there could be the possibility that GHG emissions could drop, they also point out that "we do not expect better analysis to change the overall result that land use change will be found to be a very large contributor to the global warming impact of the biofuels evaluated here."

The pdf is here. H/T The Junkman

Truly the hard part

Justine lost today. The hard part is losing to Masha (6-4, 6-0) at the Australian Open.

March for Life

January 22 marks another anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. Pro-life groups will converge in DC for the annual March for Life. Pray for the victims (they are not just the babies, of course).

Have carbon offsets, will travel

Or not. Some say carbon offsets are not enough. We just have to stay home more often. No visits to family. No business trips. No vacations. Ok?

Antarctic, melting still (again?)

Last week, many MSM came out with news that, yet again, the Antarctic is melting. But is it really, indeed, melting? The Junkman says that "It’s quite possible that the reported Antarctic melting is manmade -- but the “man” may be Eric Rignot, as opposed to the term’s broader connotation.
Read the rest here.

Preface
Manmade Antarctic Melting, Indeed
Thursday, January 17, 2008
By Steven Milloy

A new study, much hyped by the media, blames humans for escalating ice loss in Antarctica. The media, however, seems to have no idea as to how truly manmade the supposed ice loss may be.

“Escalating Ice Loss Found in Antarctica; Sheets Melting in an Area Once Thought to Be Unaffected by Global Warming” was the Washington Post’s front-page, above-the-fold headline last Monday (Jan. 14). The headline for the continuation of the article was “Antarctic Ice Loss Could Speed Rise in Ocean Levels.”

If true, it would be quite a worrisome situation given that Antarctica contains enough ice to raise ocean levels by about 60 meters, a deluge that would put every major coastal city in the world deep under water and uproot hundreds of millions, if not billions of people.

NASA scientist Eric Rignot reported in Nature Geoscience (Jan. 13) that increased melting had been detected in the ice sheets of western Antarctica, an area where surface temperatures have remained unchanged.

As warming surface temperatures could not be blamed for the ice loss, Rignot hypothesized that the cause may be the flow of warmer waters from the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that circles much of the continent. “Something must be changing the ocean to trigger such changes,” Rignot told the Post. “We believe it is related to [manmade global warming]”, he added.

Rignot may indeed “believe” that humans are the cause – he is, after all, part of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an organization founded on the belief that humans are causing catastrophic global warming. But the facts belie such beliefs.

The oil industry lobby blame card

I like the passion for the environment of Migs Zubiri. But when he offers the oil-industry-lapdog card for anyone in disagreement with consensus on environmental issues, I think that he should direct his passions to take a look at what the skeptics think. Somehow I feel that while he says he wants debate, he actually does not. Sounds familiar? Well he mentions him. But he is mistaken. He says Al Gore "used it to boost ... popularity, but ... nobody is hitting him." Ha!

It's been said long before:

On July 6th, 2007 at 2:43 pm, BluegrassHindu said:

Here is a neat fact bio-fuel will increase world hunger :) what is the compassionate lefts answer to that ?

Fact : The grain required to fill a 25-gallon SUV gas tank with ethanol will feed one person for a year. The grain needed to fill that same tank every two weeks over a year will feed 26 people.

Eco-warriors, eco-polluters

UK newspaper Telegraph points to a survey made by the Target Group Index that "shows eco-warriors are worst polluters". The "survey of travel habits has revealed that the most environmentally conscious people are also the biggest polluters."

Read on.

Davao People's Park and Kublai

My cousin Davao artist Kublai has put up new creations at the recently opened People's Park in Davao City. H/T Debbie at Davao Diaries (Thanks Debbie for allowing me to link!) here and here.

I've blogged about Kublai here, here, and here. Kublai's artist-in-residence of Ponce Suites in Doña Vicente Village in Davao City.

Forza!

Zits

The past three days have been very difficult for me in the shaving department. I have two acne zits, one near the upper lip, another on my chin. I have had to maneuver my Mach3 turbo around these, thus taking me more time to shave. It's been said that lack of sleep causes acne breakout. Thing is, I have been sleeping enough. Diet, maybe? But diet's been the same.

Think it's global warming? Hah! It is.

Increased Temperature, Sebaceous Glands and Acne:
Human body maintains a temperature of around 98.2 degrees F, it is the ideal temperature for your body. Slight fluctuation in the scale of temperature may occur temporarily during exercise and other activities. Your body works efficiently at 98.2 degrees F. Sebaceous glands and sweat glands are heat sensitive and rapidly produce their secretions. Thus, persistent rise in temperature results in increased activity of sebaceous glands and overproduction of sebum. Overproduction of sebum mixes with dead skin cells and clogs the hair follicles and acne breakouts occurs.

Average temperature has considerably risen since 1940 affecting hundreds of biological and ecological system. The persistent rise in temperature greatly influences on your skin and its disorders.

...

Global warming has affected various aspects of life. All organisms depend upon the ecosystem directly or indirectly. Increased temperature, damaged ozone layer and agriculture changes are all economical factors that profoundly impacts human life. Human skin is the most sensitive and most affected organ by these factors. Various skin disorders such as acne, scars are the result of global warming and climate change.

Read all here.

One year after

Early last year, GWA through the MSM predicted that 2007 will be the hottest year of all time.

Reuters said on January 4, 2007:

LONDON (Reuters) - This year is set to be the hottest on record worldwide due to global warming and the El Nino weather phenomenon, Britain's Meteorological Office said on Thursday.

The Met Office said the combination of factors would likely push average temperatures this year above the record set in 1998. 2006 is set to be the sixth warmest on record globally.

"This new information represents another warning that climate change is happening around the world," said Met Office scientist Katie Hopkins.

BBC started its story on January 4, 2007:

The world is likely to experience the warmest year on record in 2007, the UK's Met Office says.

An extended warming period, resulting from an El Nino weather event in the Pacific Ocean, will probably push up global temperatures, experts forecast.

They say there is a 60% chance that the average surface temperature will match or exceed the current record from 1998.

NYT briefed the world on January 5, 2007:

This year is set to be the hottest on record worldwide because of global warming and El Niño, the periodic hot spell in the tropical Pacific Ocean, Britain's Meteorological Office said. The agency said the combination of those phenomena would probably push average temperatures this year above the record set in 1998. The year 2006 is set to be the sixth warmest on record globally.

But in fact, global temperatures put 2007 as the coldest in the century, and only the 9th hottest since global temperatures have been measured.

H/T: The Reference Frame

Pros and Cons

There is a new website that is up. It is called Climate Debate Daily. It has one column titled:

Calls to action

Essays and research supporting the idea that global warming poses a clear threat to humanity, that it is largely caused by human activity, and that solutions to the problems of climate change lie within human reach.


and another one:

Dissenting voices

Essays and research challenging the view that the world warming that began around 1880 is caused by human activity, that it constitutes a serious threat, or that the vagaries of the earth’s climate are within human control.



One website to rule them all ;-)