Global Warming Stopped 16 Years Ago
(But The Green Jobs Layoffs Continue Apace!)

That second part first:

Danish wind turbine maker Vestas said the impending expiry of a U.S. tax credit had exacerbated a fall in orders for next year, forcing it to make more than 800 job cuts in the United States and Canada so far this year.

With the Production Tax Credit (PTC) on renewable energy set to expire at the end of the year, Vestas Wind Systems A/S had previously said it could be forced to lay off a total of 1,600 employees in North America if the scheme is not renewed.

Hit the link -- Steven Chu was a big fan of the "economic opportunities" Vesta offered us (for $50 million in your money).

Meanwhile, there's no hiding the decline.

The world stopped getting warmer almost 16 years ago, according to new data released last week.

The figures, which have triggered debate among climate scientists, reveal that from the beginning of 1997 until August 2012, there was no discernible rise in aggregate global temperatures.

This means that the ‘plateau’ or ‘pause’ in global warming has now lasted for about the same time as the previous period when temperatures rose, 1980 to 1996. Before that, temperatures had been stable or declining for about 40 years.

he new data, compiled from more than 3,000 measuring points on land and sea, was issued quietly on the internet, without any media fanfare, and, until today, it has not been reported.

This stands in sharp contrast to the release of the previous figures six months ago, which went only to the end of 2010 – a very warm year.

Ending the data then means it is possible to show a slight warming trend since 1997, but 2011 and the first eight months of 2012 were much cooler, and thus this trend is erased.

Some climate scientists, such as Professor Phil Jones, director of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, last week dismissed the significance of the plateau, saying that 15 or 16 years is too short a period from which to draw conclusions.

Two points: The warming phase was only 16 years long; why was that enough to make very firm ("The science is settled") predictions into the future?

And this is delicious. In previous years Phil Jones has said he would only be "worried" about global non-warming -- that is, "worried" that his models and predictions were wrong -- only if the non-warming trend continued for a period of time.

That period of time? Fifteen years.

Yet he insisted that 15 or 16 years is not a significant period: pauses of such length had always been expected, he said.

Yet in 2009, when the plateau was already becoming apparent and being discussed by scientists, he told a colleague in one of the Climategate emails: ‘Bottom line: the “no upward trend” has to continue for a total of 15 years before we get worried.’

Science (TM). Make a prediction, set a definite set of circumstances which would require you to adjust your prediction... then completely ignore that when it actually arrives.

By the way, if you want tip-top Science coverage, you really must watch MSNBC.

Felix Baumgartner, they inform us, broke the speed of light barrier.

Sweet.

MSNBC should change their slogan from "Lean Forward" to "Engage."

posted by Ace at 03:54 PM

| Access Comments