Tag Archives: Weatherbell

It’s all global warming, of course

Been a pleasant two weeks at the rancho, with highs in the low nineties and night-time lows in the mid-sixties. Even had some rain. Yep. Coolest start to a July since, oh, I don’t know, but there were others prior to the global warming boondoggle that’s become a billion-dollar science research industry courtesy of the feds.

Naturally, the cool has to be caused by the warming, and it’s supposedly something to do with melting Arctic Ice, according to Weather Underground. Everything is, you know. Cold, hot, rain, snow, drought. It’s Global Warming all the time. WeatherBell meteorologist Joe Bastardi explains why, in this case, as in many others, it’s pure bull. And, alas, he predicts we’ll soon be warming back up to our usual July-August stretch of 100-degree days.

UPDATE:  Local meteorologist Bob Rose says it’s the coolest start to July since 1967. I knew there had to be a precedent that had zip to do with AGW.

Those Death Valley temps could be phony

…because the site of the official thermometer is not in accordance with NOAA’s own guidelines.

The guidelines state that such “temperature instruments should be 5 1/2 feet above a grassy surface 100 feet or more from a heat source and away from structures that can affect ventilation.”

Instead, in the federal agency’s own official photograph of the Death Valley thermometer, it appears to be sited on concrete (it obviously is not grass) and within a few feet of a building.

“And yet still the hype is turning into tripe about the 134 at Death Valley…The instrument can be accurate, but if the site is not maintained or the environment changes around it, its more than likely to read warmer!”

Of course it plays in really nicely with the federal hue and cry about global warming, i.e. climate change, i.e. we have to regulate CO2 (read, choke the economy by raising the price of electricity) to save the planet, etc. Which even some climate “scientists” ignore.

Via WeatherBell meterologist Joe D’Aleo.

UPDATE:  More on the thermometer siting scandal (and it sure as hell is a scandal) from climate blogger Watts Up With That.

How to Lie With Statistics: Climate Change addendum

According to the U.S. Senate’s “Update On The Latest Climate Change Science,” 98 percent of scientists “agree” that global warming is occuring and that humans are the cause.

In fact, according to WeatherBell’s chief meteorologist Joe Bastardi, the “update” should be an addendum to the classic book “How To Lie With Statistics.”

Bastardi says the 98 percent should be 97.4 and it’s based on the responses of “0.75% of [10,272 earth scientists] polled, just 77 to 79 scientists, certainly a minute fraction of [the world’s] 5.8 million scientists.”

Such incredible mendacity by the U.S. Senate should not really be a surprise, of course, as our politicians lie about everything else, so why not this subject as well? It is odd that they can’t correctly round 97.4 but they were probably in a rush to go pick up their latest bribe from the climate-change lobby—the folks who will be spending our tax money to, um, “change” the climate.

Meanwhile the American Meteorological Society (whose AMS seal you will often see flash on the screen as your local forecaster begins his thing) recently issued a similar pronouncement, that CO2 is driving the climate, and purporting to have the backing of its 11,000 members in saying so.

On the contrary, Bastardi, a society member, asserts, there are many society dissenters whose views that the sun and the oceans should have at least equal standing as climate drivers are being ignored. Thus, don’t be surprised to hear that your local forecaster (whose knowledge of climate science is minimal) supports CO2 as the source of “climate change.”

What we have here is the science version of the Military Industrial Complex, which everyone has heard of. In which the military and defense industries work to promote tax-supported development of more and more weapons which has the effect of promoting more wars.

In the science version, the government is corrupting science to promote a political agenda. Academic scientists (which are most scientists) cannot keep their jobs, much less be promoted, without research, which cannot be done without money and most of it comes from the feds. Want funding? Get on the CO2 political bandwagon. Don’t and you will suffer.

Writes Bastardi: “The AMS has advocacy of public policy as one of its primary goals. When I was a councilor in the 2000s I argued that the society ought to advocate good science and not policy. There are already many organizations dealing with policy. [B]ut the society is catering to its many academics who have never had such a windfall of grant money.”

And what a windfall: “It has been estimated $10 Billion [tax] dollars has gone to fund this one sided science. The US government shells out $7B of your tax dollars each year to its agencies to study and develop policy about global warming.”

Right now, all of this is supporting the views of Obysmal and the Democrats. If Romney is elected, it will be supporting the views of Republicans. How convenient for the politicians (regardless of party) whose proposed “solutions” involve many more taxes, less oil development leading to higher gasoline prices and gradually eliminating coal which will mean higher electricity prices, and as a corollary to these changes, fewer travel options.

For us, the hapless taxpayers, that is. For themselves, well, the pols often exclude themselves from the laws they pass by providing themselves either outright exemptions or else subsidies of one kind or another.

They are our “servants” in name only. We are, increasingly, theirs and nothing illustrates it better than their lying about climate change.

More federal bull: Hottest July on record

First of all the federal RECORD only goes back to 1895. Some record. But there’s more doubt than that for this political ploy to raise taxes (and quash production of electricity by destroying coal) to “combat climate change.”

WeatherBell meteorologist Joe Bastardi:

“NOAA put out what many of us say is a false statement on July being the Hottest on record. The first thing to point out is we have many more thermometer sites than we did in the 1930s and if we just used the same sites, IT WAS BELOW THE RECORD!

“The second thing is that most of these sites are not regulated with the kind of vigilance they need, and many of them are in areas where they have a tendency to read higher ( site location.. for instance, near a parking lot or an air conditioning outlet).

“The third is the affect of a more built up nation, more concrete. A station in the middle of nowhere 75 years ago may be in the heart of a city now. Las Vegas, a classic example. In the 1940s the airport was in the middle of nowhere relative to now. Land in Vegas sometime, you will see what I mean.

“Finally one has to ask, well if it got that hot back then, why cant it get hot now? And in addition why has it been so long—actually it hasnt, the summers in the 50s were as warm…52,53,54 and 10,11,12 look very much alike…except [those]  in the 50s were actually warmer altogether.”

Via WeatherBell where there’s charts and more on this subject.

UPDATE:  July was not even the hottest on record by NOAA’s own—apparently unconsulted—data.

Greenland Icecap Melt: Media B.S.

The latest example of media ignorance (there are so many) is the reporting of a NASA sat finding that, due to an unusually warm summer, Greenland’s icecap has undergone some melting. The media, ever in search of another “proof” of AGW blew up the melting to “massive” proportions.

WeatherBell’s Dr. Dewpoint (Joe D’Aleo) points out that the “warmth” has been in the 34 degree (F) range and the icecap is two miles thick. “…a 34F day or two is not going to make it vanish overnight. You can see the webcam [above] today [Aug. 1] shows the ice and snow at the summit is intact.”

Enjoy the weather, it’s the only weather you’ve got

Somehow, in all my other distractions, I managed to miss Joe Bastardi’s February departure from Accuweather. Part of it was letting my Pro subscription lapse last summer when I had to get a new credit card and forgot to update my account. When they finally got around to asking for the update, I decided to let it go.

Bastardi was fun to read (and to listen to his brief video forecasts) but his focus wandered and I could have a hard time understanding him. I also got a little tired (despite agreeing with him) of his anti-AGW rants. But I always figured I could resume my sub if I got to missing him.

Then I got busy with the three (yes!) books I’m writing, and my spring trip to Israel. Only noticed the other day that old JB had gone missing because I always liked to hear his latest hurricane forecast and we’re coming up on the active part of that season right now.

Well, turns out he’s the new chief meteor of a start-up called Weatherbell, frequently appears on Fox, does guest shots on WUWT, and still Tweets (though how he can compress his natural verbosity into a Tweet is beyond me). My only question is does he still end his forecasts with the famous (and funny) line that’s the title of this post? Or does Accuweather claim to own it? I may have to subscribe to his new gig to find out.