The dynamic duo are back, the climate change tag team of Richard Black and Roger Harrabin return for, hopefully, one performance only.
Black is harrumphing loudly, in the Guardian, about Quentin Lett’s asking ‘What is the Point of the Met. Office?’
This is heresy and a damnable breach of BBC protocol. Damnit!
Harrabin joins in and expresses his displeasure with a sneering tweet…
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#Climate sceptics have demanded “their” programme. They just got it. Radio 4. 09.00.@QuentinLetts_ on@metoffice.@ECIU_UK@CarbonBrief
roger harrabin Harrabin must have a short memory having himself asked a similar question….
The trouble is that we simply don’t know how much to trust the Met Office.
How often does it get the weather right and wrong. And we don’t know how it compares with other, independent forecasters.
Can we rely on them if we are planning a garden party at the weekend? Or want to know if we should take a brolly with us tomorrow? Or planning a holiday next week?
In a few year’s time hopefully we’ll all have a better idea of whom to trust. By then the Met Office might have recovered enough confidence to share with us its winter prediction of whether to buy a plane ticket or a toboggan.
Hope the tag team doesn’t fall out over that one. Harrabin is not shy when it comes to a punch up with those who disagree with him such as Delingpole or was it Booker? ….
“I’m not sure whether I should shake your hand. I want to punch you.” He sounded jolly cross indeed – and ranted that I was utterly irresponsible and had disseminated lots of lies – though he later apologized to me saying he was jet-lagged and had confused me with Christopher Booker. Hmm.
Black tries to dismiss the claims of those on the programme as rubbish…
Mr Stringer is allowed to claim without challenge that there is “no scientific evidence” linking the 2013/4 winter floods, to climate change, which is untrue; it’s not a simple link, but it does exist. [Possibly only in his own little head]
Unfortunately it’s Black who is being ‘untrue’ as even the Met. Office [ah, I’ve found a use for it…rubbishing old Blackie] says there was no link between the floods and climate change…
Prime Minister climate change opinion not backed up by science, says Met Office
Nicola Maxey from the Met Office said the Prime Minister failed to draw the crucial distinction between weather and climate change.
“What happened at the end of December and at the beginning of January is weather,” she said.
“Climate change happens on a global scale, and weather happens at a local scale. Climate scientists have been saying that for quite a while.
“It’s impossible to say that these storms are more intense because of climate change.”
She added: “In real terms we had a low depression over the Atlantic which deepened, which caused the swell, and that combined with the spring tide caused the coastal waves.”or….em…
Paul Davis, chief meteorologist for the Met Office said that very strong winds much of the UK experienced which was caused by jet stream.
“December has been the windiest spell since 1969, but unprecedented perhaps not. It probably feels unusual because the last few winters have been fairly settled and cold and we haven’t had the story conditions that just experienced.”or…em….
Direct from the Met. Office: There’s currently no evidence to suggest that the UK is increasing in storminess
Perhaps Roger Harrabin could request a piece of music to introduce him every time he graces the airwaves.
Rather than “Bring me sunshine” could I suggest “Three wheels on my wagon”, as that would seem to be much more appropriate to the alarmists’ cause at the moment!
60022Mallard
“Three wheels on my wagon” ?. Sorry that piece belongs to manonaclaphamomnibus.
Paul Homewood confirms that at the end of April, the Met Office’s 3-month forecast failed to accurately predict the miserable May-July
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2015/08/05/cold-summer-in-uk-continues/
MET OFFICE SUMMARY – TEMPERATURE:
For May-June-July above-average temperatures are most probable but uncertainty is large.
Overall, the probability that the UK-mean temperature for May-June-July will fall into the coldest of our five categories is between 15% and 20% and the probability that it will fall into the warmest of our five categories is 25% (the 1981-2010 probability for each of these categories is 20%).”
As a general observation, over the last month I have noticed a distinct inclination of AliBaba weather presenters to ‘talk up the weather’ ie cool = cold, heavy rain = showers etc, They then point out the hot weather in the Mediterranean, Cyprus, the South coast of France etc.
Well, I am not on the continent I am down in Wales and its been wet and bloody cold.
Over the past few years, the mid-range and long-range forecasts have performed even worse than by pure statistical chance. Tossing a coin is more accurate than the Met office. The Met office forecasts are based on meteological models which include the alarmist hypothesis of CAGW. No wonder they are consistently wrong.
Can I strongly commend you click on the link and then the further one to “Scottish sceptic”
His comments re choice of scale on the graphs by the Met Office are very interesting.
Accentuating the positive and trying to tone down the negative?
It would help the Tory party if Boris Johnson became leader as soon as possible, as he said about the brother of the future Labour Leader, Piers Corbyn, a “learned astrophysicist” and “the man who beats the Met Office at its own game”.
I have seen an analysis of Weather forecasters that show that Weatheraction has the best 40 day weather forecast for Britain.
But although Astronomy can now predict Climate Change by calculating the length of the Solar Cycle. Astronomers cannot predict the wild activity on the Sun, that Piers uses in his forecasts. But only the average activity over one Solar Cycle. The Astronomers I know only understand half of Corbyn’s trade secrets. The secret element of his forecasts seem to be based on correlations with Weather going back to the 18th Century, as well as the position of the Moon in the past. But one thing is certain, Piers cannot predict when a Solar coronal hole will appear.
But I am sure that Bob Ward is very pleased that with Roger Harrabin, the BBC has an ignorant moron without any scientific qualifications, and therefore there is no need to worry about him violating the BBC policy of ignorance through censorship.
I listened to What’s The Point of the Met. Office?, I wonder if Black did?
The programme was clearly light-hearted in tone, a bit of gentle teasing that the Met. Office itself joined in with.
Black complains that climate change was described as being ‘controversial’ yet Lett’s first mention of that word is in describing the views of a ‘skeptic’.
Clearly Black thinks that NO dissenting voices should be heard at all, not even to pose a question.
‘No dissent on climate change’ is official BBC policy; ’28Gate’ quite literally confirmed that.
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2015/08/07/the-spectator-discover-harrabins-bias/
Going well still, then