Category: Uncategorized

The Fundamental Issue in Climate Science Resolved

The Fundamental Issue in Climate Science Resolved

via Carlin Economics and Science
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It has been a long time in coming, but we can now say with some confidence what the answer is to the most important question in climate science. As is all too well known, the climate alarmists have one fairly uniform answer, which they claim is part of their “consensus.” Climate skeptics, on the other hand, have a very different but less uniform answer. Climate alarmists are “kind” enough to call anyone who disagrees with them “climate deniers” and generally avoid any real discussions with them.

But who is correct? It really matters since the world, mainly the developed world, is spending about $1.5 trillion per year according to one estimate on the assumption that the climate alarmists are correct, even though this has never been shown scientifically. $1.5 trillion per year could buy a lot of happiness and health for people living in the developed world if it were spent for other purposes such as medical care, schools, or essential public services, rather than burdening primarily the lowest income members of the population.

The Climate Alarmists Have Been Uniformly Wrong Although Some Skeptics Missed an Important Detail

Happily, the problem of who is right on the key issue has finally been resolved. The answer is that all alarmists and many but not all skeptics are incorrect according to a recent study. Most skeptics have been on the right track, but some have gotten an important detail a little wrong. Although there is a great deal more to be learned about many aspects of climate science, the fundamental issue has now been resolved: Changes in atmospheric CO2 have no significant effect on global temperatures. As a result, the entire $1.5 trillion per year over many years should be written off as a waste of money and effort because of the insistence of alarmists that action must be taken before valid research was carried out.

Human-caused emissions of CO2 never had much influence on atmospheric CO2 levels, but since changes in atmospheric CO2 levels have no significant effects on global temperatures, it really does not matter how much humans cause to be emitted. Further expenditures in support of reducing human-caused emissions of CO2 are a complete waste. We will be stuck with monumentally expensive, ugly, bird and bat-killing solar and wind farms until they are eventually abandoned and taken down and disposed of at still more cost. The primary victims are those countries that invested most heavily in these technologies, particularly Western Europe and some states in Australia and Canada.

Some climate skeptics have been in error too since they believe that changes in CO2 have minor effects on global temperatures, but not enough to cause the catastrophic temperature changes predicted by the climate alarmists. Although it is not entirely clear why there are actually no significant effects, we can now say that that is the case.

The Time Has Come to End Any Further Expenditures on “Green” Energy

Is it possible that this recent study is wrong? Of course, anything in science can be wrong. But it is unlikely since it has been peer reviewed by over ten very knowledgeable experts, and no major problems have been found after about six months of public availability. The wise course would be to halt any further investments in “green” energy unless an error should be proven in the study which confirms that the “consensus” conclusions are correct after all. There is certainly no reason to spend more money pursuing a previous waste of money, as the alarmists still maintain by ignoring the recent study and many previous studies summarized here.

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March 24, 2017 at 02:22PM

Gov. Brown’s high-speed rail is a fiscal train wreck on life support

Gov. Brown’s high-speed rail is a fiscal train wreck on life support

via Climate Change Dispatch
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Gov. Jerry Brown had a dream: to link Los Angeles and San Francisco by a high-speed bullet train. It would haul passengers 700 miles in two hours and 40 minutes and reduce CO2 emissions. It entailed a proposed cost of $32 billion with an initial $10 billion bond to cover initial costs. And now the […]

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March 24, 2017 at 08:24AM

Human Achievement Hour 2017

Human Achievement Hour 2017

via Current News – Principia Scientific International
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Human Achievement Hour is CEI’s annual celebration of human progress and will be held on Saturday, March 25, 2017, from 8:30 – 9:30PM GMT, or your local time. During Human Achievement Hour, we pay tribute to human innovations that have allowed people around the globe to live better, fuller lives, and defend our basic human right to use energy to improve everyone’s quality of life.

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March 24, 2017 at 07:38AM

More worrying than global warming – report on ‘extreme space weather’ shows risks to Earth

More worrying than global warming – report on ‘extreme space weather’ shows risks to Earth

via Watts Up With That?
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Extreme space weather has a global footprint and the potential to damage critical infrastructure on the ground and in space. A new report from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) calls for bridging knowledge gaps and for better coordination at EU level to reduce the potential impact of space weather events.

The sun shapes the space environment around the Earth. This so-called space weather can affect space assets but also critical infrastructure on the ground, potentially causing service disruptions or infrastructure failures. Numerous space weather events affecting the power grid, aviation, communication, and navigation systems have already been documented.

The impact of severe space weather can cross national borders, which means that a crisis in one country can affect the infrastructure in the neighbouring countries. This raises concerns due to the increasing reliance of society on the services that these infrastructures provide.

New report identifies knowledge gaps

The JRC has investigated the impacts of space weather on critical infrastructure in the EU. A new report identifies the gaps in reducing risks linked to space weather and makes recommendations for policy, industry and science on how to close these gaps.

The report summarises the results of a summit organised in partnership with the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency and the UK Met Office, with the support of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in November 2016. Representatives from European infrastructure operators, insurance, academia, ESA, and European and US government agencies attended the event.

Interdependencies and crisis response

The potential failure of critical infrastructures during extreme space weather can lead to cascading effects impacting other sectors.

New methodologies and tools, as well as a multi-risk governance approach are needed to assess these interdependencies and to enable the coordination of the many different actors that often manage risks in isolation from one other.

A pan-European vulnerability assessment of the power grid should be carried out to identify critical issues and transboundary effects in case of extreme space weather. Infrastructure operators should also assess whether their systems could be indirectly vulnerable to space weather, for instance due to dependencies on timing and positioning information provided by the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).

Better communication between science and industry is also needed to provide relevant and reliable information to operators for decision making.

Space weather forecasting

Early warning and preparedness are essential for limiting the effects of space-weather impacts.

In Europe and the USA, 24/7 space-weather forecasting capabilities are available to support the early warning of government and industry. However, it is important that the consistency of forecasts from different service providers are ensured.

There is a need to enhance forecasting capabilities for regional or local forecasts on the severity and duration of extreme space weather to ensure appropriate response from local operators.

Currently, geomagnetic storm forecasting is hampered by the limited understanding of the magnetic field orientation of Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) before they hit the Earth, and there are still significant knowledge gaps in physical and impact modelling, which affect the early-warning capabilities and preparedness in industry.

The role of the EU

In the EU, the European Programme on Critical Infrastructure Protection provides a policy background for critical infrastructure protection, while the EU disaster risk management policy covers prevention, preparedness and response for all types of disasters.

The Union Civil Protection Mechanism requires EU Member States to prepare a national risk assessment and list the priority risks they are facing. Six countries have included space weather in their risk assessment.

The participants of the summit indicated that there is a need for for improving coordination between the different space weather actors and recommended the establishment of a strategic European decision-making capability to coordinate space-weather risk mitigation and response at pan-European level.

They also advised that the roles and responsibilities of the key players in Europe should be better defined and suggested that coordinated strategic investments for improving the scientific know-how in this area could be explored.

Background

Different types of solar activity can impact the operations of critical infrastructures: Solar flares trigger radio blackouts and affect radar, ground- and space-based communications, as well as the GPS network. Solar radiation storms are a threat to satellite operations, aviation and space flights. Geomagnetic storms, caused by the ejection of magnetised solar plasma which interacts with Earth’s magnetosphere, affect satellite, GPS, aviation, rail transport and power-grid operations.

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JRC Report: http://ift.tt/2oebxwe

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March 24, 2017 at 07:12AM