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All IPCC definitions taken from Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Working Group I Contribution to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Annex I, Glossary, pp. 941-954. Cambridge University Press.

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Comments 75351 to 75400:

  1. CO2 is just a trace gas
    Climate is a complex subject. GHG theory states “greenhouses gases” – water vapor, CO2 and methane (plus some others) - absorb longwave radiation and re-emit radiation both up out of the atmosphere and back down to the earth’s surface. And without this absorption of longwave radiation the earth would be 35°C cooler at its surface. (do I have this correct). If so how would you explain dynamical collisional equilibrium: CO2 emits infrared radiation not only of the same intensity but also of a very similar frequency as the one it absorbs. (this next part is not me, it is from my professor friend who indicates that the term "heating" with regards to vibrational activity of molecule collisions are wrong. Again, these are not my remarks, but seem persuasive. "What Happens when a Greenhouse Gas Absorbs Energy? Once a gas molecule has absorbed radiation from the earth it has a lot more energy. But in the lower 100km of the atmosphere, the absorbed energy is transferred to kinetic energy by collisions between the absorbing molecules and others in the layer. Effectively, it heats up this layer of the atmosphere. This is only half the story and because of seeing only the half story , the conclusion is wrong. What you say is the following : A* + B -> A + B_ In words – the vibrationnaly excited molecule A* interacts with a molecule B , its excited state decays to A and the molecule B increases its kinetic energy to B_ . This is right. But what you forget is that by time symmetry we have also : A + B_ -> A* + B The molecule A interacts with a molecule B_ , its vibrationnal state excites to A* and the molecule B_ decreases its kinetic energy to B. This is btw the process that makes a CO2 laser work . In LTE what is the basic hypothesis in all these posts we can even say more , namely that the rate of both processes is exactly equal and we have an equilibrium that can be written : A* + B A + B_ Please note the difference to the initial A* + B -> A + B_ ! The conclusion that follows is that the number of A* (vibrationnaly excited molecules) is constant . Also another way to say the same thing is that the distribution of the kinetic energy of the B molecules is constant too. Still another independent way to find again the same result because they actually all use same concept of energy equipartition , is to note that the distribution of vibrationnal energy levels is constant for a given temperature (Maxwell Boltzmann law). So it appears that whatever some IR absorbing molecule A* (CO2 , H20 , CH4 etc) does , there is at least one thing it doesn’t and it is to “heat the atmosphere”." Again, not my work, but it was explained to me, although I do not have the skills to verify.
  2. Republican Presidential Candidates vs. Climate Science
    Josh Rosenau of the NCSE has an interesting discussion of the Galileo comments made by Rick Perry. He finds that the primary objections, by the authorities of the day, to Galileo's work were theological (as per his quote by Cardinal Bellamine (Bellamino?)), while acknowledging other natural philosophers of the day disagreed with Galileo. He suggests that the natural philosophers' paradigm of the solar system was in flux at that time rather than a simple, toggle-like switch from geocentrism to heliocentris.
  3. Republican Presidential Candidates vs. Climate Science
    The only reason way people use the Galileo analogy is to try to portay science as a faith. To any informed person, it just shows a profound ignorance of history in general and of the Galileo trial in particular. To add to the NYT piece, even inside the Catholic Church some scientists supported Copernicus and Galileo views, like, for example, Benedetto Castelli, a benedictine friar.
  4. Lessons from Past Climate Predictions: IPCC TAR
    where will you publish the "booklet/..." ??
    Response:

    [dana1981] That depends if I can find a publisher willing to publish it.  If not, we'll probably just publish it on SkS.

  5. Lessons from Past Climate Predictions: IPCC TAR
    Thanks Nicholas and Paul. I'm working on putting the series together into a book/booklet/handbook/something like that, as well. The last entry (for now) will be AR4, and then there will probably be some posts comparing the various predictions we've examined thus far.
  6. Dessler Demolishes Three Crucial 'Skeptic' Myths
    I think 'error bars' and 'uncertainty range' are both pretty widely used by scientists. Two-sigma uncertainty range/error bars are often pretty large though, so I'm not really sure what Camburn is complaining about (I don't think he's sure either, frankly).
  7. Lessons from Past Climate Predictions: IPCC TAR
    Excellent!
  8. Dessler Demolishes Three Crucial 'Skeptic' Myths
    Camburn peppers many of his posts with the term "error bars." Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't what he is referring to commonly called "bands of uncertianty"? Is "error bars" now a commonly accepted term among reputable climate scientists? If it isn't, I suggest that people responding to Camburn not use his perjorative term.
  9. Lessons from Past Climate Predictions: IPCC TAR
    Nicely written - really enjoying this series!
  10. Republican Presidential Candidates vs. Climate Science
    For more on the appropriateness of Perry’s Galileo remark, check out: Divining Perry’s Meaning on Galileo Remark, NY Times, Sep 8, 2011
  11. CO2 is just a trace gas
    Dan @ 67... "The dark side, is that if AGW is wrong, the path to salvation is the most unnecessary and self destructive thing we can possibly do to our economy." You're setting up a false dichotomy. There is nothing to suggest that switching to CO2-free energy sources would do harm to the economy. In fact, quite the opposite is true. The greater likelihood is that the US can be a world leader in new energy and create a great deal of economic activity within our borders that would strengthen our economy. The fact is that, even if AGW were wrong (though it's not), fossil fuel sources can not possibly keep up with increasing global demand for energy. It's a limited resource that is becoming more and more expensive to acquire, process and deliver. Renewable sources of energy are on the opposite track. They are nearly limitless and falling in cost every year. Current estimates are that Solar PV will reach grid parity with coal in about 5 years. The fear people seem to have is that somehow a tax on carbon is going to cause damage to the economy. Nothing could be further from the truth. In actuality a carbon tax is just shifting the point at which we pay for the effects of atmospheric carbon. Estimates are that there is already $20/ton of cost to society for the production of carbon. A tax merely shifts the place where we pay that cost. Ultimately there is little or no economic loss. So, even without AGW there is no damage. The added benefit is that because of the climate effects from increased CO2 in the atmosphere there are tremendous benefits to dealing with the problem now over BAU. Look at a current US weather map today. The entire east coast is covered with exceptionally heavy rains. Those are real dollars of economic damage. And this is resulting from just a 0.8C rise in global temps resulting in 4% more moisture in the air. What happens when we have a 2.0C increase in temp and maybe a 10% increase in moisture? Any economic activity directed toward alleviating that scenario is money well spent. Sorry, I know this has gone off topic. If we want to continue this track there is a better thread here.
  12. Sea level rise is decelerating
    Steve, a path or road is a good metaphor for a trend line. Remission: cancer carries too much other baggage to be a good metaphor, even though mitigation can help reverse the trend. Respite: that would be a good word, but its metaphorical value is not nearly as good as 'pothole'. Suspension: nothing has been suspended. The forces working for sea level rise are still in place; they've simply been temporarily overbalanced by other forces. Reprieve: a reprieve carries with it the sense of finality. Respite is better, but, again, both have little metaphorical sense. Let up: indicates that the force at work has stopped working for a while. Not true. Lull: ugh, not appropriate to a trend line. The idea of a 'pothole' and a road serves the idea of a trend line well, and a road (and the implied driver) is a relevant image where the A in AGW is concerned (we are driving climate change at least partially through our mode of transport). A 'speed bump' further implies an accelerating rate. Potholes make me think of asphalt, too, and asphalt makes me think of oil.
  13. CO2 is just a trace gas
    83, DSL, Another call for the Climastrology thread!
  14. Sea level rise is decelerating
    Over at this site: sealevel.colorado.edu Is the head line: "NASA Satellites Detect Pothole on Road to Higher Seas" And some text: "... every once in a while, sea level rise hits a speed bump." I thought that rising sea level is a negative aspect of "Climate Change" and that we in fact would like to not go there. So the choice of words, "Pothole on Road to", and hitting a "speed bump" are a bit mysterious. Terms like remission, respite, suspension, reprieve, let up, lull etc. weren't considered. Food for thought as to why that is.
    Response:

    [DB] There is already a SkS thread on that; please place any comments on that topic there:  NASA Satellites Detect Pothole on Road to Higher Seas

  15. Conspiracy Dog-whistling about GRL and the New Dessler Paper
    "Hey! Look! Over there! A thingy thing!!" (Hides crappy 'paper' under the desk...)
  16. Arctic icemelt is a natural cycle
    FYI: the Arctic has just hit the trifecta: extent, area, and volume minima. True, this is only according to differing agencies, but none of the agencies is in significant disagreement. The volume drop in particular is alarming, since 2010's drop was sharp enough to seem anomalous to the untrained eye (and perhaps even to a few trained eyes).
  17. CO2 is just a trace gas
    An open thread where things like Dan69's current understanding of GHE can be worked through would be nice. Newbies could use it as a foyer (then to be directed to the appropriate thread). I would like to read Dan's current understanding of AGW all at once (summary form, preferably semi-narrative) instead of this piece by piece kind of deal (unless it only exists in pieces).
  18. CO2 is just a trace gas
    Mark Chu-Carroll over at Good Math/Bad Math often critiques mathematical crankery as espoused by those who set themselves against one or more broadly-accepted phenomena in science; one of his most pointed critiques is that the worst kind of math is no math at all. If I may, I feel the same criticism can be levelled at Dan69 here: when trying to rebut a well-supported conclusion in physical science (e.g. CO2 warms the atmosphere when added by anthropogenic fossil fuel combustion), the worst kind of science is no science at all - an appeal to philosophy of science is of little value in and of itself.
  19. Dessler Demolishes Three Crucial 'Skeptic' Myths
    Dale #37 - as far as I'm aware (though my info may be out of date), the only issue Dessler and Spencer are discussing is the ratio of ocean heat transport to TOA flux change due to clouds (Dessler's 20 to 1 ratio). Spencer claimed it was closer to 2 to 1, but commenters found a number of errors in his calculation. But I hope they can come to an agreement on a range of possible ratios based on the various available data sets. Other than that, Dessler agreed to update his introduction to more accurately reflect Spencer's opinions regarding cloud changes not necessarily causing ENSO, but that won't effect the content of the paper.
  20. Conspiracy Dog-whistling about GRL and the New Dessler Paper
    Ooops, that's what I get for posting at like, 5AM my time.
  21. OA not OK: Booklet available
    Thank you.
  22. Conspiracy Dog-whistling about GRL and the New Dessler Paper
    "IMO the much more likely explanation is because both Prof John Nielsen-Gammon and Prof Andrew Dessler work at Texas A&M University in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and chat from time to time." Dessler wasn't keeping his smack-down of Roy secret, either. As he's said, he tried to educate Roy *before* Roy made a peer-reviewed further fool of himself.
  23. Dikran Marsupial at 23:39 PM on 9 September 2011
    CO2 is just a trace gas
    Dan69 I wrote: "To answer your question directly: (i) CO2 is not the only forcing, so even if CO2 is rising temperatures can still fall in the long term if there is a negative change in other forcings (e.g. solar) that more than compensates for the increase in CO2." you wrote: "You seem to be agreeing with my premise; wherein CO2 levels could be increasing, yet the temperature could be falling." This is a clear case of confirmation bias. I was not agreeing with you at all. All things being otherwise equal, a rise in CO2 will produce a rise in global surface temperatures over a time scale long enough for internal variability not to mask the change. That is basic physics, which has been very well understood for at least sixty years, and is not contested by skeptic scientists such as Pat Michaels or Roy Spencer or Roger Pielke Sr... (in fact is there any skeptic climatologist that is willing to make such a claim anymore?). You are way out on a limb on this one, and don't have the backing of the all but the most extreme scientists on either side of the discussion. It is clear you don't understand the basic physics, I suggest you go and read the sources I suggested and come back wehn you can at least coherently explain the widely accepted theory of the greenhouse effect. If you can do that, and put the philosophy of science to one side, then and only then will you have reclaimed the status of being worth talking to that you have thrown away by your behaviour so far on this thread. It is your choice.
  24. Dikran Marsupial at 23:25 PM on 9 September 2011
    CO2 is just a trace gas
    Dan69wrote: "If I were to hypothesize that CO2 is increasing in the environment, and more CO2 creates better living conditions, how would you falsify this premise?" Like most "skeptics" who pontificate about Popper, you have just demonstrated that you fundamentally don't understand the idea of falsificationism as the above is obviously directly falsifiable. We could conduct an experiment where pehaps we doubled atmospheric CO2 using fossil fueld emissions, if this failed to produce better living conditions (note a follower of Popper wouldn't have left the prediction as vague) then the hypothesis would be fasified. I see this sort of philosophy of science garbage used frequently as a means to refuse to accept well founded scientific theories, and I am sure that the originators of those philospohies of science would be just as appauled by it as I am. For instance David Hume showed that it is not possible to have certain knowledge regarding the real world by any empirical means. Does that mean that scientists should not perform experiments or draw conclusions from the outcome? Of course not. Hume himself said "A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence.", in other words, even though certain knowledge is not possible, you can still guide your actions by weighing the strength of the evidence (this is merely common sense and pretty much what scientists actually do). No wonder I am reaching the point of "whenever I hear the word 'epistomology' I remove the safety from my Browning" [metaphorically speaking of course]; it is rare these days to engage in a proper discusion of philosophy of science or epistomology these days that doesn't end up in frankly BS use to ignore inconvenient truths that are quite obviously on sound foundations to anyone capable of using their common sense in intepreting the bounds on certainty. Perhaps it is just that work with uncertainty (in a statistical sense) that I find it so hard to understand this issue. We can't have certain knowlede; but we have a perfectly good framework for optimal decision making under uncertain knowledge (which is available) "The true logic of this world is the calculus of probabilities." — James Clerk Maxwell Any more discussion of philosophy of science ought to be off-topic.
    Moderator Response:

    [DB] "Any more discussion of philosophy of science ought to be off-topic."

    Agreed.  So let it be written, so let it be done.

  25. CO2 is just a trace gas
    Dan69 @76, it's about time you stopped playing fast and loose with philosophical concepts of which you obviously have no understanding. You yourself introduced to this discussion the Duhem-Quine hypothesis, ie, the thesis that theories cannot be tested in isolation, but only in conjunction with a number of assumptions about initial conditions and the validity of other underlying theories. The immediate conequence of the Quine-Duhem hypothesis is that naive falsificationism is invalid as a scientific methodology. Indeed, Popper recognized this, but his solution, that the determination that a particular theory has been falsified must always be in part a matter of convention leaves something to be desired. But despite your introduction to Duhem-Quine to the discussion, you now insist on just the sort of naive falsificationist tests that it precludes. Either you are deliberately playing a deceptive rhetorical game, or you have introduced concepts you do not properly understand because you have a vague feeling that they support your position when, in fact they do not. That is a rather common tactic among deniers with a certain level of sophistication - to introduce Popper into a discussion as a means of reversing the burden of proof. Likewise it was you who introduced Hume and the "Is-Ought" gap into the discussion. If principled, that would require you to be very careful of the distinction between fact and value. But no, now you wish to introduce as a supposedly scientific hypothesis that is falsifiable the claim that, "If I were to hypothesize that CO2 is increasing in the environment, and more CO2 creates better living conditions, how would you falsify this premise?" "Better", is of course, a value laden term, so that your hypothesis, by the principles you supposedly espouse cannot be a scientific hypothesis; and a singular statement (by Duhem-Quine) cannot be falsified in any event. And just for good measure, you throw in an irrelevant reference to "slippery slope" fallacies. A person who understands concepts uses them to illuminate discussion. In contrast, you are using the concepts of philosophy inconsistently and with the apparent intention to make the discussion obscure. You sully treasures which you do not comprehend.
  26. CO2 is just a trace gas
    76, Dan69, First, your entire post should be deleted because you are dragging this thread off topic and using it as a podium for your personal rants rather than to discuss the subject at hand. Second, your understanding of CO2 is weak and inaccurate. You should be using your time on this site to read and understand, rather than to pontificate about what you don't in any way grasp. Third, all of your nonsense about falsification is a foolish distraction. You can't argue the facts, so you instead want to discuss how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. Fourth, CO2 levels are currently at 390. Doubling the preindustrial level of 285 to 570 will only require another 180 ppm. At 2 ppm per year, this will happen in 90 years, so your math is wrong. That aside, it's also a foolish distraction. First, the effects don't all wait until that happens. It's not like turning off a ticking bomb seconds before it detonates. In fact, the worst of the warming comes earlier, rather than later, due to the logarithmic nature of the beast. Second, the presumption that the increase will only be 2 ppm per year goes along with the presumption that the rest of the world will not pick up pace in economic and social development. That's not a very safe assumption. Lastly, Dan, you do deny everything. You are so lost in what you want to believe that you have no clue whatsoever about what the problems are or we should do, and you contribute nothing to the dialogue except noise. You're like the kid sitting in the corner with his hands over his ears chanting "nah nah nah I'm not listening nah nah nah." Study first. Think second. Participate in the discussion after you've accomplished those two things.
    Response:

    [DB] "Study first.  Think second.  Participate in the discussion after you've accomplished those two things."

    On a personal note, that is the orbit trajectory I followed.  Despite have degrees in the field, it had been well more than a decade since I had done anything professionally related to it.  So when I came back to it, I spent nearly 2 years studying & reading the literature before I posted my first blog comment.

    Not saying this is the ideal path for anyone; for me, even with the educational background in the field, I felt I needed that 1,000 hours or so of reading & studying to get my comprehension levels back up to snuff.  The field had progressed rapidly and had made huge strides in that interim.

    And I was getting old.  :)

  27. CO2 is just a trace gas
    Dan69#76: Let's start here: You state a. "it is my understanding that CO2 slows cooling." and b. "That means the resulting temperature would be due to an underlying factor" There is no logical connection between your premise a and conclusion b. To state the CO2 'slows cooling' is a bit like saying that placing a lampshade over a lamp 'slows darkening' once the light is turned off. That metaphor holds a glimmer of truth, but reveals little about actual mechanisms. Mountains of measurement show the physics of CO2 and radiation; there is no need to use anything but the appropriate language. If you appeal to 'underlying mechanisms,' you must specify what they are and how they work. Then and only then can you hypothesize, deduce and falsify. To state that an undefined 'something more fundamental' might be operating and simultaneously claim 'harmony with science' is a position of absurdity. Your arithmetic is sketchy: Even at a constant 2ppm per year, getting from 390ppm now to 560ppm (doubled pre-industrial level of 280ppm) doesn't take 175 years.
  28. CO2 is just a trace gas
    Moderator, Thank you for answering my question when you state: "To answer your question directly: (i) CO2 is not the only forcing, so even if CO2 is rising temperatures can still fall in the long term if there is a negative change in other forcings (e.g. solar) that more than compensates for the increase in CO2." You seem to be agreeing with my premise; wherein CO2 levels could be increasing, yet the temperature could be falling. To be very clear here, it is my understanding that CO2 slows cooling. That means the resulting temperature would be due to an underlying factor outside the effects of CO2 itself. If the temperature were to be retreating (and not through aerosols, but something more fundamental), CO2 would still be slowing the rate of cooling. There is no change to the physics regarding CO2, so I am in harmony with the science. Deductive Approach: Hypothesis – Theory – Observation – Confirmation. Inductive Approach: Observation – Pattern – Hypothesis – Theory. Inductivist methodology supposes that one can somehow move from a series of singular existential statements to a universal statement. Based on Popper's falsification theory, what part of your hypothesis, i.e. that man introduced CO2 will destroy the environment, can be falsified? If I were to hypothesize that CO2 is increasing in the environment, and more CO2 creates better living conditions, how would you falsify this premise? I detect the slippery slope fallacy coming. (an interesting side question; if we were heading toward an ice age would this community advocate increasing CO2 levels to reverse this trend?) Answering this question will create interesting conflicts of thought. Based on the current 2 ppmv added to the environment, it will take 175+ years to double the CO2 content and potentially realize all the catastrophic results implied. I deny nothing but conclusions. Using ad hominem labels, such as "denier", will not change the narrative.
    Response:

    [DB] "my premise; wherein CO2 levels could be increasing, yet the temperature could be falling"

    All other forcings and feedbacks staying uniform, increasing levels of CO2 will raise temperatures.  Period.  It's physics.

    "There is no change to the physics regarding CO2, so I am in harmony with the science."

    The physics are unchanged, you are just not in harmony with them.

    "I deny nothing but conclusions. Using ad hominem labels, such as "denier", will not change the narrative."

    The "narrative" is unchanged: centuries of physics and research shows adding GHG will warm the climate.  We are adding GHG at a rate 10x that of the PETM and the climate is warming accordingly.

  29. Conspiracy Dog-whistling about GRL and the New Dessler Paper
    jmsully @16, N-G is at Texas A&M. So, of course, is Dessler.
  30. Conspiracy Dog-whistling about GRL and the New Dessler Paper
    Dikran, Dessler is at Texas A&M, N-G is at UTA.
  31. Dessler Demolishes Three Crucial 'Skeptic' Myths
    skywatcher#36: "the blog word of a mining geologist" Just as a nitpick, McIntyre's training is mathematics and economics (both 4 year degrees). He's not a geologist.
  32. Conspiracy Dog-whistling about GRL and the New Dessler Paper
    Outstanding!!! Any imperfections in the peer-review system certainly have not slowed the rapidly rising rates of carbon emissions and warming of the planetary system. Arguing about whose hose to use while watching a hourse burn is a prescription for disaster. Of course, many are missing the real issue and that is Spencer wants us to believe in magic. We are well above the highest CO2 levels in the past 800,000 years and rapidly increasing that carbon. For some reason clouds are going to stop major climate changes this time even though they never did so in those previous 800,000 years.
  33. Conspiracy Dog-whistling about GRL and the New Dessler Paper
    OK, I just had my head chopped off :-). Note to self: check affiliations...
  34. Dikran Marsupial at 17:02 PM on 9 September 2011
    CO2 is just a trace gas
    Ryan L.J. Analogies and models are not intended to be truly accurate, they are necessarily simplifications intended to help convey an idea. GEP Box wrote "All models are wrong, but some are useful". Pedantry regarding the inaccuracies of analogies, or attempts to extend the analogy in ways that do not reflect reality, are a common way in which "skeptics" try to evade discussion of what the analogy is intended to convey and derail a discussion that is heading in a direction they don't like. It is a cheap rhetorical device, I;ve seen it all before, and I am not impressed this time either. The important idea conveyed by the analogy is that forcings affect long term statistical behaviour of a chaotic system, and that this change in statistical properties is predictable, even if the trajectory of the system itself is not. BTW, I got home from work yesterday to find that Mrs Marsupial had written a Java program animating a double pendulum and had worked out the maths for the version with the electromagnet. :o)
  35. Dikran Marsupial at 16:39 PM on 9 September 2011
    Conspiracy Dog-whistling about GRL and the New Dessler Paper
    @Marco,sout If Prof. Nielsen-Gammon is a colleague of Desslers in the same department it is very unlikely that he would have been a reviewer of Dessler's paper. It would be an obvious conflict of evidence and as such it is very unlikely that an editor would have made such a choice.
  36. Dessler Demolishes Three Crucial 'Skeptic' Myths
    Please note (and I'm not posting this to start an argument, but to merely inform if it hadn't been noticed) but Spencer has said on his blog that he and Dessler are working together on a couple of points in Dessler 11. Spencer has updated his 'The Good, The Bad, The Ugly' post with some information about what has come out of those discussions.
  37. Miriam O'Brien (Sou) at 16:08 PM on 9 September 2011
    Conspiracy Dog-whistling about GRL and the New Dessler Paper
    @ Marco #11 - that's one explanation - and very much in keeping with the topic of this article. It's almost certainly wrong. IMO the much more likely explanation is because both Prof John Nielsen-Gammon and Prof Andrew Dessler work at Texas A&M University in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and chat from time to time.
  38. Dessler Demolishes Three Crucial 'Skeptic' Myths
    Camburn, you've not said why you think the blog word of a mining geologist who has been known to fiddle statistics before (see Wegman fiasco, note the sneaky sorting), is worth more than the peer-reviewed evidence of Dessler, presented for us all to see? What makes you think McIntyre even has much of a clue about what he's bloging about, even if we were to disregard his past repeated attempts to muddy the waters of climate science? Or are you just shouting "Squirrel!" in the hope that it will somehow detract from Dessler's demolition of multiple bad climate skeptic papers?
  39. Conspiracy Dog-whistling about GRL and the New Dessler Paper
    Albatross #2: John Nielsen-Gammon's comments to Roger Pielke Sr, i.e. that Dessler easily found the flaws in SB2011, were made before Dessler et al was out. This suggests he already knew the content of Dessler's paper. There are multiple ways that John N-G may have known this, but I am willing to stick my neck out here and propose John N-G was one of the reviewers.
  40. Extreme Flooding In 2010-2011 Lowers Global Sea Level
    The Queensland Australia floods were in south and central QLD, coloured light blue in the graphic above. I'd attribute the water gain across much of central and western Australia to La Nina year rains accumulating in usually dry salt lakes. Lake Eyre being the best example. It has had the largest inflows in more than 20 years.
  41. CO2 is just a trace gas
    Holy Toledo, Dan69: "The AGW (Anthropogenic Global Warming) message is appealing. It promotes the fear of catastrophe with the hope of salvation. It is promoted as the 'right thing to do'. The dark side, is that if AGW is wrong, the path to salvation is the most unnecessary and self destructive thing we can possibly do to our economy." "It" does not "promote" anything. The theory is a physical theory, not a rhetorical strategy. Its presentation to the non-scientific public definitely involves a rhetorical strategy based on fear. You know why? Because it's a deadly situation. If a scientist working on disease found evidence of a virus that could wipe out 10% of the global population, would you expect the scientist to keep her mouth shut and continue to work on whatever she was interested in or was paid to study? Or would you expect her to change the program and begin working on verifying the find and the potential consequences? Would you say that she was "promoting fear" by mentioning the find? I'm wondering, Dan, what evidence would convince you of the seriousness of the problem. Do you rely on someone else for your opinion regarding the seriousness? Or do you understand the situation well enough to provide an argument against the seriousness? And as for "appealing" I can think of little appealing in AGW. It means destruction and disruption on a global scale; only the wealthy are largely protected, and only the wealthy and the opportunists can turn the chaos into profit. Unlike many here, I am highly skeptical of fast development of market solutions in the current mode, particularly when the current mode is in a crisis phase that is only marginally related to the climate crisis. People tend not to make the best long-term decisions when their short-term survival is in question. Of course, I'll still bike to work and work on local solutions, but the history of capitalism is too full of catastrophic failures of vision to give me much hope for the near future.
  42. Dessler Demolishes Three Crucial 'Skeptic' Myths
    "Neither Dessler nor Spencer have put forth evidence that their views bear credibility when examined closely." So Dessler analyzing all of the models rather than the cherry-picked six of Spencer isn't credible evidence in your mind. Next, you'll be touting some future paper that proves models are wrong by cherry-picking *zero* results from a sample. "Why the big fuss over poor papers that can not demonstrate without huge error bars, anything certain at this time?" Spencer's paper had huge error bars? Where did he say that? Can you point to a figure in the paper, please? If you're right, and Spencer's paper *did* calculate huge error bars, why did he state that "hey, this is my latest wooden stake in the heart of global warming"? (OK, he didn't say this this time, he's smart enough to use different phrasing each time he "disprove" physics). You're a one-sided skeptic, which in my personal dictionary equates to ... "denialist".
  43. Dessler Demolishes Three Crucial 'Skeptic' Myths
    Camburn, Look forward to your take down of Dessler (2011) ;) I'll keep any eye open. While you are harvesting, maybe you should think and reflect about what Dr. Nielsen-Gammon said: "Why would anthropogenic CO2 now be the first forcing that doesn’t engage net positive feedbacks?" That all aside, good luck with your harvesting!
  44. Dessler Demolishes Three Crucial 'Skeptic' Myths
    This is the part that puzzles me. Neither Dessler nor Spencer have put forth evidence that their views bear credibility when examined closely. Why the big fuss over poor papers that can not demonstrate without huge error bars, anything certain at this time?
    Response:

    [DB] If you are simply incapable of cogently reading a scientific paper and evaluating its merits, why bother advertising that fact to the world with comments containing no actual analysis of your own?

    Please stick to the science rather than venturing forth unsupported assertions and opinions.

  45. Dessler Demolishes Three Crucial 'Skeptic' Myths
    Well I would say just more evidence of Camburn looking for reassurance rather than answers.
  46. CO2 is just a trace gas
    Dan69, I find appeals to economic catastrophe to be the most laughable reaction to global warming. First, global warming aside, ignoring impending oil shortages coupled with geometrically increasing world development and energy demands are a recipe for sure economic disaster for a country like the U.S. who has enjoyed a century of cheap energy. Second, the actual expense of converting to renewables and more efficient energy use, the same expense that will be needed to prepare for the coming energy crunch, is not anywhere near catastrophic, and will create new jobs and efforts that will help to boost the economy at this point in time. Lastly, every year of ignoring the problem makes it more expensive, and the ultimate expense of ignoring the problem until it is beyond critical could in fact mean economic catastrophe, along with untold and unnecessary human suffering. When I hear people say "economic catastrophe" I am listening to selfish, short sighted people that don't want to make the slightest, tiniest sacrifice to prepare for the future, much like people who graduate from high school and can't be bothered going to college because they can make money and buy a car with a job at the gas station right now.
  47. Dessler Demolishes Three Crucial 'Skeptic' Myths
    Camburn @30, It seems that you are easily Impressed by some R-code and statistical parameters. That blog analysis is about Dessler (2010), not Dessler (2011) which is the primary subject of this post. Note too that people at the blog you linked us to, not being climate scientists, are having trouble understanding what to do with the CERES data and which values to use. Hardly reassuring. It is impolite to ignore people when they ask you questions Camburn (see my post @20). How is your reading of IPCC Chapter 8 coming along?
  48. Dessler Demolishes Three Crucial 'Skeptic' Myths
    I suggest that people read the analysis at this site More stat analysis I normally like to do my own analysis of papers. I am harvesting now and very short on time. The above site provides some very important statistical information.
  49. CO2 is just a trace gas
    "The AGW (Anthropogenic Global Warming) message is appealing. " You must be the only person in whole world who thinks this unpleasant reality is appealing. "the path to salvation is the most unnecessary and self destructive thing we can possibly do to our economy." And this is fear-mongering. Substantiate that. There might be bad ways of dealing with problem, but there are many other ways.
  50. CO2 is just a trace gas
    #67 & #68: Dan, you're way off the mark here. Your 'science friend' was wrong, as 'greenhouse gas theory' is utterly and intimately tied to AGW. The 'A' just means that we are making an extra contribution to the greenhouse effect, through our CO2 emissions. The reason that this causes warming, and the magnitude of the forcing, is explained by the physics of greenhouse gases. Nothing emotive or philosophical there, just physics. Reading through the literature, or perusing the IPCC summary reports will show you that what actually happened is what you describe for much of your 3rd paragraph of post #67. The only ones jumping to conclusions without consulting the full body of evidence are climate skeptics, the most recent example being Roy Spencer, who will happily ignore both observations and palaeoclimate evidence for high climate sensitivity while claiming to overturn the established science. In a physical sense, you can argue that GHGs slow the Earth's cooling rate - without GHGs we'd be about 33C colder. By the same logic, adding GHGs further slows the Earth's 'cooling' rate, warming the planet. But unless you change another forcing by a sufficient magnitude, you won't be actually cooling the Earth while adding GHGs. At present, you'd need a cooling off of the Sun not seen in human history (much larger than Maunder Minimum), or a series of very large volcanic eruptions in order to drive a long-term cooling.

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