Category Archives: climate change

"Blah Blah Climate Change Blah Blah"

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As has been pointed out in the open thread this morning’s edition of Today went pretty big on a Cambridge academic planning to study the language and culture of the Inughuit. By using the magic words “climate change” and “global warming”, not only has Dr Stephen Leonard secured funding for a year-long gig in Greenland, he also earned himself a couple of slots on Radio 4’s flagship news programme talking to both James Naughtie and science correspondent Victoria Gill (@1hr 07.25). Gill’s segment reminded me of something:

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Another Twitter Genius

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One more from Twitter:

Piotr M. Kaczynski works for the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), a think tank which claims “high standards of academic excellence” through “quality research”. Roughly a third of its funding comes from EU institutions and national governments, and one of its main research areas is climate change (it gave a number of presentations at Copenhagen).

And one of its leading “thinkers” believes that the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile were caused by climate change.

But remember, it’s the sceptics who need educating.

Update. Piotr responds in the comments – unconvincingly but (and please note) very politely.

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OMG Global Warming!!!

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BBC environment correspondent Richard Black, quoted by Robin Horbury yesterday:

I’m not surprised at the level of UK scepticism as the main impacts of climate change are decades away and in other places. The problem is poor science awareness. We need to improve science education so people properly understand climate science.

So it’s the sceptics who need educating is it?

http://twitter.com/alexporter82/statuses/9733582968
http://twitter.com/Meggyyyyy/statuses/9733330327
http://twitter.com/JamesG29803/statuses/9731734871
http://twitter.com/shine2u/statuses/9742357989
http://twitter.com/A_n_gel/statuses/9743615199
http://twitter.com/RexRayFan/statuses/9752321618
http://twitter.com/justthemo/statuses/9746625752
http://twitter.com/MichelleMichie/status/9746011386
http://twitter.com/Penguinchic1/statuses/9770095174
http://twitter.com/IshaSG/statuses/9768322179
http://twitter.com/Bibhuti_Bhusan/status/9765934744
http://twitter.com/iamanushka/statuses/9765786835
http://twitter.com/rjscheiwillerr/statuses/9765581299
http://twitter.com/hdnyc/statuses/9765292555
http://twitter.com/senoritamayra/statuses/9764404410
http://twitter.com/bineshbharath/statuses/9752728734
http://twitter.com/VitoFun/status/9740331086
http://twitter.com/camillabraine/statuses/9750411050
http://twitter.com/EllissaP/status/9749480794

There’s lots, lots more like that. At least they’re not uneducated idiots like those sceptics.

Update 17.30. Let’s not overlook the fact that it’s probably all about oil too.

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Excuses

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In Roger Harrabin’s latest article about what he calls the “hue and cry” surrounding the Rajendra Pachauri “manhunt” (not betraying your feelings much there, Roger) the BBC’s environment analyst says that he’s been having difficulty getting in touch with one of the co-chairs of the IPCC working group which oversaw the inclusion of the discredited Himalayan glacier info:

Professor Parry has repeatedly refused to answer my questions about the genesis of the errors, and his out-of-office assistant now says he is travelling for a month.

A lame excuse by Parry, and the fact that Harrabin mentions it suggests he’s not convinced.

When Andrew Montford of Bishop Hill fame tried to find out some fairly straightforward information about the BBC’s involvement in Harrabin’s Cambridge Media and Environment Programme, here’s how the BBC explained its tardy response to his FOI request:

I am writing to advise that unfortunately we are not in a position to provide you with a response to your requests for information made under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This is due to the fact that Roger Harrabin has been abroad and then on leave for much of the last six weeks and is now tied up with pressing stories.

Well, it’s just so difficult keeping in touch these days isn’t it?

UPDATE. It’s unrelated to the above post but I can’t resist sharing this headline: Hackers Steal Millions in Carbon Credits

The madness of it all in six words.

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Harrabin’s Black and White World

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The indefatigable Richard North has a dismissive take on the BBC’s latest article about Pachauri and Glaciergate. His point that the Beeb’s bias comes as much from what it leaves out could also apply to the most recent of Roger Harrabin’s Notes.

For the second “note” running (see previous one here) Harrabin has expressed his anguished concern over recent developments in America. He says that Scott Brown’s election “certainly puts the nail in the coffin of Democrat hopes for a full climate bill this year” but once again fails to point out that some Democrat politicians oppose such legislation too. He states that the “fossil fuel industry is poised with banknotes at the ready” to take advantage of the recent Supreme Court ruling on political advertising, but neglects, as ever, to mention the huge sums of money swirling around the warmist lobby, much of it provided courtesy of Western taxpayers. And there’s certainly no mention of the money that flows into Pachauri-linked enterprises, some of it thanks directly to the false claims about Himalayan glaciers. Harrabin takes at face value the spin that the inclusion of this material in the IPCC report was just an unfortunate “inexplicable blunder”; heaven forbid that a BBC environment correspondent would dare to suggest that there could be a link between dodgy climate research and financial gain by leading warmists.

As with the BBC line that Obama’s woes are down to Fox News, Harrabin apportions similar blame for the problems facing the warmist cause:

Part of the answer lies with the media – particularly right-wing newspapers…

Mr Cameron has re-branded his party as “vote-blue-get-green”, but many of his back-benchers rank climate change as a very low priority. A couple of his Cabinet members are likely to be outright climate sceptics, and more may be driven that way if right wing newspapers continue chasing stories about the IPCC’s failings.

[Note to Harrabin – check BBC style re “right-wing newspapers” or “right wing newspapers”]

That last line seems to imply a lack of interest on Harrabin’s part in “chasing stories about the IPCC’s failings” – ie they’re the realm of the right-wing press. It’s worth remembering that some of the Conservative-supporting newspapers have often been slow to run stories critical of the AGW orthodoxy.

For Harrabin it’s all about good versus evil, with the scientists (incorruptible truth-seekers, noble of intent), the Democrats, and the NGOs on one side and the evil fossil fuel lobby, the Republicans, and the right-wing media on the other. It’s biased, simplistic and wrong, but it’s the sort of world-view that helps people like Harrabin get through the day.

Update. Andrew Neil goes where Harrabin fears to tread.

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Book of Revelation

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BBC environment correspondent David Shukman has a book out in April: “Reporting Live From the End of the World“. A suitably alarmist double meaning in the title there, but I guess it’s more catchy than “Reporting Live From a Temporarily Low Reservoir (Rain Sure To Follow)”.

In his tips to schoolchildren on how best to report on the environment Shukman offers this advice: “If it’s about rubbish, get yourself right in the middle of it.” Like this:


At least he knows exactly what will happen to all the unsold copies of his book.

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James Cove Update

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On Monday I blogged about some of the ‘global warming is going to kill the ski industry’ stories produced by the BBC over recent years. Many of those news items came from the BBC’s long-time ‘man in the Alps’ James Cove who, I pointed out, had just started his own online ski news venture. For some reason I was in an uncharacteristically generous mood because I offered Cove my best wishes for his new PlanetSki website.

I’m feeling less generous today.

Cove spent a decade producing global warming scare stories for the BBC, but in December on his PlanetSki blog he said, “the snow level has been pretty similar on average throughout the last decade” and quoted a 73-year-old mountain guide who said, “Overall things really haven’t changed that much.” That’s not the impression Cove was creating with his articles for the BBC. He knew what his editors wanted and gave it to them. It’s what hacks do.

Now I see that Cove’s PlanetSki website is facing accusations of plagiarism. A writer for another ski website, PisteHors, has noted the similarity between an article of his about Corsica and one written by Cove in August 2009 for PlanetSki (the Internet Archive shows that the PisteHors article first appeared in June 2006 and was last updated in April 2008). Cove even embellished his version with invented quotations:

PisteHors:
The snow is usually very good above 1800 meters and can be found down to 1400 meters depending on the conditions. Skiing is possible from December through to April but you can only rely on snow after mid-January. There are currently three downhill ski areas on the island and always talk of projects of creating a real ski resort in the style of the Southern Alps.

James Cove:
The snow is usually very good above 1800 meters and can be found down to 1400 meters depending on the conditions.
“Skiing is possible from December through to April but you can only rely on snow after mid-January,” says a spokeswoman from the island’s tourist office.
“There are currently three downhill ski areas on the island and always talk of projects of creating a real ski resort in the style of the Southern Alps.”

PisteHors:
In 1934 the worst avalanche of this century occurred on the slopes of Castagniccia at only 700 meters altitude, sweeping through the village of Ortiporio and killing 37 people.

James Cove:
In 1934 the worst avalanche of this century occurred on the slopes of Castagniccia at only 700 meters altitude, sweeping through the village of Ortiporio and killing 37 people

PisteHors:
The regional ski committee has a long standing plan to develop a ski station in the bowl at La Lattiniccia on the road pass close to Corte The proposal is for 30km of pistes between 1550 and 2400 meters altitude with the possibility of doubling the area in the future. The total cost of development is estimated at 12.5 million € including necessary artificial snow cover. Presumably a large part of this money would come from European funds. Whether this project will ever be realised remains to be seen.

James Cove:
Corsica has several small ski stations and one, near Corte in the centre of the island, has ambitious plans.
The regional ski committee has a 12m euro plan to develop the bowl at La Lattiniccia.
The proposal is for 30km of pistes between 1550 and 2400 meters altitude with the possibility of doubling the area in the future.
It would however need funding from the EU for the project to go ahead but, so far, that is not forthcoming.

PisteHors:
Before you get ideas of snow, sex and sun in the isle of savage beauty you should be aware that Corsica is basically a 2,500 meter high rock surrounded by huge expanses of ocean. As such it catches every weather system as it tracks across Europe. Off piste skiers and freeriders need to carry an altimeter, maps and compass and know how to use them.

James Cove:
Corsica is basically a 2,500m rock surrounded by huge expanses of ocean. As such it catches every weather system as it tracks across Europe.
Off piste skiers and freeriders need to carry an altimeter, maps and compass and know how to use them.

PisteHors:
In the winter violent storms are somewhat less frequent but the constant wind drives the snow into potential slab avalanches. Powder is rare due to the wide daily temperature variations which leads to its rapid transformation. This stabilized snow-pack is favourable to extreme skiing.

James Cove:
In the winter constant wind drives the snow into potential slab avalanches. Powder is rare due to the wide daily temperature variations that leads to its rapid transformation. This stabilized snow-pack is however good for off piste skiing as it makes the snowpack safer.

With that level of journalistic integrity is it any wonder Cove’s alarmist articles for the BBC were so unconvincing?

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