Extreme Temperatures
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Bizarro Earth

Is the science settled on climate change? Not even close!

David Siegel
Medium.com
Fri, 16 Oct 2015 18:41 UTC
Global Warming
© Time.com
What is your position on the climate-change debate? What would it take to change your mind?

If the answer is It would take a ton of evidence to change my mind, because my understanding is that the science is settled, and we need to get going on this important issue, that's what I thought, too. This is my story.

More than thirty years ago, I became vegan because I believed it was healthier (it's not), and I've stayed vegan because I believe it's better for the environment (it is). I haven't owned a car in ten years. I love animals; I'll gladly fly halfway around the world to take photos of them in their natural habitats.

I'm a Democrat: I think governments play a key role in helping preserve our environment for the future in the most cost-effective way possible.

Over the years, I built a set of assumptions: that Al Gore was right about global warming, that he was the David going up against the industrial Goliath. In 1993, I even wrote a book about it.

Recently, a friend challenged those assumptions. At first, I was annoyed, because I thought the science really was settled. As I started to look at the data and read about climate science, I was surprised, then shocked.

As I learned more, I changed my mind. I now think there probably is no climate crisis and that the focus on CO2 takes funding and attention from critical environmental problems. I'll start by making ten short statements that should challenge your assumptions and then back them up with an essay.
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Bizarro Earth

Are 97% of scientists complete morons?


Real Science
Fri, 16 Oct 2015 18:30 UTC
Atmospheric CO2 has risen by 100 parts per million (one part per ten thousand) over the past century. That is equivalent to packing one extra person into this Bernie "everything will be free" Sanders rally.
Sanders Rally
© Real Science
Experts claim that this one molecule has heated the other 10,000 molecules up by more than one degree centigrade.

In order for one molecule to heat up 10,000 other molecules by 1°C, the effective temperature of that one molecule would have to be 10,000°C - about twice the temperature of the surface of the Sun.

Only a complete moron would believe something so ludicrous, which is why they say 97% of scientists agree on this utter nonsense.
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No Entry

Containing the US-created refugee crisis: Hungary imposes border controls with Slovenia


RT
Sat, 17 Oct 2015 12:59 UTC
Slovenia refugees
© Antonio Bronic / Reuters Refugees walk to cross the border into Croatia, near the town of Sid in Serbia October 12, 2015.
Asylum seekers, who have been prevented from crossing into Hungary, are now flowing into Slovenia. Hungary has responded by saying it will temporarily impose border controls with Slovenia, while Ljubljana said it would deploy its army at the border.

"The government has decided to include the army in helping police," the Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar said on Saturday, following a meeting of Slovenia's national security council. Ljubljana has had to deal with an influx of refugees after Hungary closed its border with Croatia. The first bus with refugees arrived at the Slovenian-Croatian border on Saturday morning.

"The bus is on the border crossing (Gruskovje) and the migrants will now go through a registration process," police spokesman Bojan Kitel told Reuters.

EU member Hungary took a restrictive approach to the refugee crisis that the union is facing this year. Previously it erected a wire fence along the border with non-member Serbia and fellow member Croatia to prevent illegal crossings. The border blockade with Croatia was issued on Friday night, with Budapest [Hungary] explaining that it was protecting Europe, its prosperity, security and Christian values.

Comment: Hungary imposed the same control on its borders with Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia: Access is permitted only with valid passports. Razor wire fence is not planned on the Hungary-Slovenia border, because unlike Croatia and Serbia, Slovenia is a member state of the Schengen Area. Slovenian and Hungarian police are patrolling the border together. This is America's 'thank you' to Europe for its compliance these past 70 years.

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Ice Cube

World is on brink of a new ice age

Nathan Rao
Express
Fri, 16 Oct 2015 21:23 UTC
Image
© The Day After Tomorrow
Crippling blizzards, snowstorms and sub-zero temperatures threaten a yearly dose of Arctic misery for the next fifty years at least - and possibly decades more. Climate experts warn a rare pattern of water cooling in the north Atlantic will trigger a chain reaction of events leading to a "fully-blown ice age".

The [forecasters] say the UK is on alert for a "serious climate situation" with regular winter whiteouts pushing emergency services to the limit. Britain faces an 'all but unprecedented' situation thanks to a cocktail of climatic changes all happening at once to affect the weather.

The northern Atlantic has been cooling steadily over the past few months leading to a colossal area of icy water to form off the UK coast.This is thought to be the result of changes in wind flow and salinity and could lead to lower than average temperatures in Britain all year round. The phenomenon has already raised fears this winter will be un usually brutal with months of sub-zero temperatures and heavy snow on the way.

Long-term accumulative effects could be that parts of northern Europe, including Britain, will cool dramatically. The seemingly small drop in Atlantic temperatures also threatens to nudge the Gulf Stream, which brings warm currents to the UK coasts, off course. The usual flow of air over Europe from the Arctic towards Bermuda and the tropical Azores Islands is also likely to be thrown out of kilter.

Another driver will be a dramatic reduction in solar energy output which has been observed over the past few months.Long-range forecasters say this will add to the mix with the UK at risk of a "fully-blown ice age" before the end of the century.


Comment: Not only Britain, but Europe and North America too - the weather is becoming more and more extreme all over the globe.


Comment: For an overview of article about the extreme weather conditions we're facing see our Extreme Weather topic.

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Snowflake Cold

Powerful El Niño forecasted to bring significant rain to California, increased storminess to eastern U.S.

Jillian MacMath
Accuweather
Thu, 15 Oct 2015 15:14 UTC
el nino 2015
Since the first indication that a powerful El Niño was set to develop, there has been significant speculation about what impacts it would have within the United States.

El Niño is defined by above-normal sea surface temperatures in the eastern and central equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Occurring every two to five years, El Niño's most significant effects on North America occur during the wintertime.

However, the resulting weather varies depending on where the warm water temperatures are centered.

"Confidence continues to grow that this El Niño will be one of the strongest El Niños over the past 50 years," according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Anderson.

Comment: According to this report from the NOAA, the 1997/98 El Niño, was one of the most significant climatic events of the century, and produced extreme weather worldwide. During this El Niño, temperature and precipitation records were broken across the United States. Many areas suffered heavy flooding, and the U.S. experienced a series of severe tornadoes. Elsewhere around the world, El Niño contributed to major droughts and wildfire in Mexico, Indonesia and Brazil; devastating floods in South America; and massive coral bleaching from Panama to Africa to Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

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Arrow Down

Judges plan to outlaw climate change 'denial'

Christopher Booker
The Telegraph, UK
Sun, 11 Oct 2015 15:49 UTC
Arctic
© AlamyPoles apart: in 2013, the year scientists had forecast that the Arctic would be 'ice free’, its thickness increased by a third.
We might think that a semi-secret, international conference of top judges, held in the highest courtroom in Britain, to propose that it should be made illegal for anyone to question the scientific evidence for man-made global warming, was odd enough to be worthy of front-page coverage.

Last week I mentioned that the Prince of Wales had sent a message to this conference calling for the UN's forthcoming climate meeting in Paris to agree on "a Magna Carta for the Earth". But only a series of startling posts by a sharp-eyed Canadian blogger, Donna Laframboise (on Nofrakkingconsensus), have alerted us to what a bizarre event this judicial gathering turned out to be (the organisers even refused to give her the names of those who attended).

Including senior judges and lawyers from across the world, the three-day conference on "Climate Change and the Law" was staged in London's Supreme Court. It was funded, inter alia, by the Supreme Court itself, the UK government and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

As one of the two UN sponsors of its Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, UNEP has been one of the main drivers of alarm over global warming for 40 years. The organiser and chairman of the conference was the Supreme Court judge Lord Carnwath, a fervent believer in man-made climate change, who has worked with the Prince of Wales for more than 20 years, and with UNEP since 2002.
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Snowflake

Four months of heavy snow predicted for UK; worst winter in half-a-century

Nathan Rao
The Express, UK
Tue, 13 Oct 2015 11:52 UTC
Britain should prepare for the worst winter in half-a-century with advanced weather models now predicting months of heavy snowfall, forecasters warned tonight
Image
© Getty Images
Forecasters have issued early warnings to prepare for sub-zero temperatures and blizzard conditions across the entire UK. A perfect storm of ingredients including the most powerful El Nino on record and changes in air pressure over the Arctic threaten horrendous conditions across Britain. A negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation will allow freezing air to pour in from the North Pole. If the cycle continues it will open the gates to the fury of a fully-blown Arctic blast rivalling the record winters of 1962/63 and 1946/47.

Atlantic sea temperatures around the UK have plunged this year meaning any cold weather fronts will be bolstered by the icy waters. Current predictions are also for a negative North Atlantic Oscillation to weaken atmospheric pressure gradient between Iceland and Bermuda. This acts to stifle prevailing westerly winds which in turn forces milder weather southwards over Europe while allowing the cold in from the north.

And a third factor - the Arctic Oscillation - is also threatening to swing into a negative phase bolstering the flow of Arctic air into the UK in a triple-whammy of winter misery. It means heavy and persistent snowfall, Arctic gales and deep snowdrifts threaten to throw the country into chaos from December until MARCH although the earliest snowfall could arrive by early November.

Forecasters are now warning people to prepare for the worst this year with experts fearing thousands could die from the cold. After two mild years they fear the emergency services could be lulled into a false sense of security. Official figures show that even during the winter of 2013/14 which failed to bring any major whiteout, 18,200 excess deaths were recorded. In 2012/13 the Office of National Statistics recorded 31,000 excess deaths with elderly, unwell and vulnerable people hardest hit.


Comment: El Niño has reached strong levels, may eclipse monster El Niño of 1997-1998

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Snowflake Cold

Early-season snow will bring central Germany first taste of winter

Kristina Pydynowski
Accuweather
Tue, 13 Oct 2015 09:08 UTC
Snow will bring central Germany an early taste of winter into Wednesday morning.

After a cool Tuesday unfolded, the stage was set for rain to change to snow at night as a storm system dropped southward and pulled down even colder air into Germany.

The snow will fall in between Berlin and Munich, focusing on the corridor from Trier to Frankfurt to Kassel to the mountains along border of the Czech Republic before tapering off Wednesday morning, mixing back with rain in some cases.
Image
Fritzlar should also see snow, marking the earliest such occurrence in October since Oct. 5, 1994, according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Tyler Roys.

As is typical in early (and late) season snowfall events, amounts and impacts will be dependent on both elevation and snowfall intensity. Snow totals at any given location will be greatest on non-paved surfaces than paved surfaces, which retain more of the sun's warmth and are slower to cool.

The snow is expected to accumulate 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 inches) in the colder highest elevations. While some melting will initially occur on the roads, that amount of snow will eventually lead to slippery and slushy travel.

Comment: Ice Age Cometh: Scientists fear 'Day After Tomorrow' climate change

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Sun

Record-breaking heat to bake Western US; 10-20 degrees above average

Brett Rathbun
Accuweather
Mon, 12 Oct 2015 09:01 UTC
Image
A stretch of higher-than-average temperatures will continue across a large portion of the Western U.S. this week. Temperatures through the weekend will runbetween 10 and 20 degrees Fahrenheit above average for many locations this week. Some cities will challenge record highs.

According to AccuWeather Meteorologist Edward Vallee, "A ridge of high pressure will dominate the West through the week, leading to temperatures 10 to 20 degrees above average." Portions of the West set new record-high temperatures over the weekend.
Image
© Accuweather
Downtown Los Angeles reached 100 F for the third straight day on Sunday, the first time such a streak occurred since 1989. The last time Los Angeles had three straight days of triple-digit heat in October was in 1958.

While the coastal areas are expected to cool slightly during the week, the interior portions of the West will remain very warm.

Temperatures this week will be more typical of late August and early September than the middle of October.
The weather will be ideal for anyone with outdoor activities this week.
Image
Record-high temperatures will be challenged on Tuesday across the Southwest including the cities of Sacramento and Fresno, California; Reno and Las Vegas, Nevada; Phoenix; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Pueblo, Colorado; and Medford, Oregon. Relief from the warmth will occur across the Southwest later in the week.

Comment: See our latest Earth Changes Summary for a snapshot of the wild weather that occurred all over the world in the month of September.

SOTT Earth Changes Summary - September 2015: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs

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Attention

Unusual weather conditions prevail in Kanpur, India


Times of India
Sun, 04 Oct 2015 12:26 UTC
extreme temperatures
© Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images
Many people in the city are becoming sick due to very unusual kind of weather conditions prevailing in the city for the past few days. The difference between day and night temperatures is causing trouble. While the day temperature is staying at three to four degrees above normal, the night temperature has dipped to three degrees below normal.

According to the Met department, no change is expected in the present weather pattern in the coming days because days will remain hot and humid while night hours will be chilly. A weather expert said, "This is a strange weather condition, which is usually not witnessed in the October month as in this period the day temperature slips below 30 degree Celsius, but at present the days are extremely hot.

While the day temperature on Saturday and Friday was 34.8 and 36.6 degree Celsius respectively, it was recorded at 36 degrees on Thursday. The normal day temperature in the first week of October is usually 33 degrees. In the minimum temperature category, normal temperature is 22 degrees, but any value below this mark is considered as low. In the past three nights, the night temperature recorded was 15.7, 19.6 and 20.8 degreed Celsius respectively.

Comment: Elsewhere these extreme temperature differences within a short time period are also being recorded. See also:

Scottish Highland town is coldest and hottest place in the UK - in a single day

Unusual weather phenomenon in Finland, as city area experiences highest and lowest temperatures on same day

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