Climate Extremes – The Saltbush Club

Catastrophic Global Warming: It Must Be Hiding!

By Dr. John Happs

We keep hearing that the planet is under threat because of catastrophic anthropogenic global warming and that our goal must be to limit that warming to 1.5oC or else! Serial alarmist Al Gore told us in 2006, that we had 10 years left before the Earth: “turns into a total frying pan.”

https://www.climatedepot.com/2016/01/04/flashback-2006-algore-we-have-ten-years-left- before-earth-cooks/

This is the same Al Gore who displayed the Dr. Michael Mann fraudulent graph to say the planet is warming dangerously, when it isn’t. https://climateaudit.org/2015/03/15/brandons-ebook-on-the-hockey-stick/

It would appear that we have to put up with even more global warming scare nonsense from the United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, as he drones on about the imaginary climate crisis and how the planet is “in intensive care” and on “life support.”

Maintaining the global warming hysteria, Guterres tells us, with no supporting evidence:

With the planet warming by as much as 1.2 degrees, and where climate disasters have forced 30 million to flee their homes, we are sleepwalking to climate catastrophe.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/03/21/this-is-madness-un-secretary-general-bleating-about-abandoning-climate-goals/

Link to full article here:

Catastrophic Global Warming: It Must Be Hiding!

Climate Alarmism Is a Cult

By Dr. John Happs

The word “cult” comes from the Latin cultus, a noun with meanings ranging from “tilling, cultivation” to “training or education” to “adoration.” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cult

If climate alarmism is based on science, then challenging climate alarmism is also science since that is exactly how science has advanced over the years. However, if climate alarmism is a cult and challenging that cult brings about derision and threats, which it often does, then we know for certain that climate alarmism is a cult and is not based on scientific methodology and facts.

Although there is no general consensus about how a cult is different from any other religious organisation, cult members are exploited by fanatics and/or vested interests within the cult who are given to unsubstantiated ideas. Whether we describe climate alarmism as a cult or religion, the end result is the same even though the members come from diverse backgrounds and may join for different reasons with cult leaders looking for control and profit.

Continue reading: https://papundits.wordpress.com/2023/10/29/climate-alarmism-is-a-cult/

Climate Agencies and Extremes

Thanks to Graham Lloyd, (Letters to the Editor, Weekend Australian 14 Jan), many more people will now be aware of the biases embedded in our climate reporting agencies like BOM and the CSIRO. It is without doubt that they would rather report on ‘extremes’ of weather without much reference to historical records that show such extremes are within the bounds of natural variation.

The bar was set very low when Michael Mann introduced the world to his ‘hockey stick’ in 2007, showing unprecedented warming from 1920, only for it to be exposed as a figment of creative use of statistics, and cherry picking of tree rings in a single tree. When one sees data away from urban development, such as Hachojojima Island just south of Tokyo, there has been little or no change in daily mean maximum temperature since measurements began in 1907, a period of over 100 years.

G M Derrick
QLD

Gas Power Saves Texas From Blackouts, As Wind Power Collapses Again!

By Paul Homewood

From: https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2022/12/26/gas-power-saves-texas-from-blackouts-as-wind-power-collapses-again/

Over the weekend the US declared a Grid Emergency in Texas, as temperatures plummeted.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/us-declares-texas-grid-emergency-180011531.html

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/texas-power-prices-spike-more-165419011.html

The emergency order from the US Energy Department allowed the state’s grid operator to exceed certain air pollution limits to boost generation amid record power demand in the state. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, whose service area includes 90% of electric customers in Texas, requested the emergency order Friday, warning it may need to resort to blackouts. TRANSLATION – fire up more coal and gas plants! Continue reading “Gas Power Saves Texas From Blackouts, As Wind Power Collapses Again!”

Drought Alarmism – Ignorance Or Deliberate Deception?

By Dr. John Happs

The reality is that climate is a hugely variable and hopelessly complicated thing, that it is actually meaningless to attempt to identify anthropogenic climate change through climate events like floods or droughts.” – (Professor Stewart Franks) https://ipa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/archive/Franks_article.pdf

Contrary to available evidence, a number of media outlets and vested-interest groups seem determined to attribute any extreme weather event, including droughts, to human-induced climate change.

Those deceitful individuals who promote climate alarmism for personal gain know full-well that most politicians and members of the public have little scientific understanding and will swallow much of the climate nonsense served up by media reporters who care little for evidence whilst thriving on alarmism. It would appear that the many vested interest groups who promote climate alarm will dismiss any evidence that refutes such alarmism.

The inevitable global occurrence of droughts provides a typical example where media hype promotes the view that any dry spell of any significance is a consequence of the trivial anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions that are adding to the already trivial 400 ppm of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

See also:
“Climate Change – in search of a signal” by – Professor Stewart Franks:
https://ipa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/archive/Franks_article.pdf

Dr. John Happs M.Sc.1st Class; D.Phil. John has an academic background in the geosciences with special interests in climate, and paleoclimate. He has been a science educator at several universities in Australia and overseas and was President of the Western Australian Skeptics for 25 years.

Cold Kills, and Green Energy Does More Harm than Good

The Australian Journal of General Practice (AJGP) promotes climate alarm

By Dr D Weston Allen (MBBS, FRACGP, Grad Dip Phys Med)

The August edition of the AJGP published a dreadful article authored by members of the Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA), linking climate change to increased mortality from extreme weather events, bushfires, infectious diseases, water insecurity and reduced crop yields.^¹ The AJGP editor found the following letter “informative and interesting” but rejected it for publication.

The health impacts of climate change are mixed. Cold weather has more prolonged effects than heat^² and a much greater global mortality.^³ Anthropogenic warming may be saving over a million lives annually.^⁴ Cold-related deaths are projected to exceed heat-related deaths for some decades across most of the globe,^⁵ even without adaptation and based on very improbable future emissions^⁶ and climate models that run too hot.^⁷

The latest scientific Assessment Report of the IPCC admits uncertainty regarding the climate sensitivity to CO₂ and its impact on extreme weather events,^⁸ whose global mortality has dramatically declined^⁹ and normalised cost not increased.^¹⁰

The diurnal temperature range (DTR) impacts health, increasing cardiac mortality by up to 3%,^¹¹ respiratory infections by 1-2%,^¹² childhood asthma by 6%^¹³ and gastroenteritis by 3%^¹⁴ per 1⁰C increase in DTR. By slowing the radiative cooling of Earth’s surface, greenhouse gases increase minimum temperatures more than maximums^¹⁵ and thus reduce DTR and its adverse health impacts.^¹⁶

Global crop yields keep reaching record levels,^¹⁷ partly due to CO₂ promoting growth^¹⁸ and mitigating both heat-stress^¹⁹ and drought.^²⁰ Protein content can be maintained by genotype selection^²¹ and nitrogen fertilization.^²² Global irrigation demand is expected to decline by about 17% by the 2080s due to the beneficial effects of CO₂, shorter growing periods and regional precipitation increases,^²³ thus reducing the net global population at high risk of water stress.^²⁴

Energy policies impact human and planetary health.^²⁵ Promoting diesel to reduce CO₂ emissions actually increased air pollution.^²⁶ Burning wood can be worse than burning coal.^²⁷ Intermittent renewables and the infrastructure required for baseload power are very resource intensive^²⁸ and thus threaten biodiversity.^²⁹ Mining neodymium for wind turbine magnets produces radioactive waste.^³⁰ Nuclear power uses the least land/resources,^³¹ has the lowest life-cycle emissions^³² and fewest human deaths per unit of energy produced.^³³

Objectively evaluating all the evidence is essential. Whereas carbon dioxide is greening the planet and benefitting human health, climate action driven by ideology and vested interests may do far more harm than good.

1 Pendry CGA, Beaton L, Kneebone JA. General practice in the era of planetary health. AJGP 2020; 49 (8): 520-523

2 Braga ALF, Zanobetti A, Schwartz J. The effect of weather on respiratory and cardiovascular deaths in 12 U.S. cities. Environmental Health Perspectives 2002; 110: 859-863.

3 Gasparrini A, Guo Y, Hashizume M, et al. Mortality risk attributable to high and low ambient temperature: a multicountry observational study. The Lancet. 2015: 386 (9991): 369-375. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)62114-0.

4 Bosello F, Roson R, Tol RSJ. Economy-wide Estimates of the Implications of Climate Change: Human Health. Ecological Economics 2006; 58(3): 579-91.

5 Gasparrini A, Guo Y, Sera F, et al. Projections of temperature-related excess mortality under climate change scenarios. The Lancet Planetary Health. 2017: 1 (9): 360-367. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(17)30156-0

6 Hausfather Z, Peters GP. Emissions – the ‘business as usual’ story is misleading. Nature 2020; 577: 618-620 doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-00177-3

7 McKitrick R, Christie J. A test of the tropical 200- to 300-hPa warming rate in climate models. Earth and Space Science 2018; 5: 529-536 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018EA000401

8 Bindoff NL, Stott PA, et al. Detection and Attribution of Climate Change: from Global to Regional. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker TF, Qin D et al. (eds.)] 2013: 871-924. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA

9 Goklany IM. Deaths and death rates due to extreme weather events: 1900-2008. Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons 2009; 14 (4): 102-109.

10 Pielke R. Economic ‘normalisation’ of disaster losses 1998-202: a literature review and assessment. Environmental Hazards 2020; DOI: 10.1080/17477891.2020.1800440

11 Cao J, Cheng Y, Zhao N, Song W, Jiang C, Chen R, Kan H. Diurnal temperature range is a risk factor for coronary heart disease death. Journal of Epidemiology 2009;19: 328-332.

12 Ge WZ, Xu F, Zhao ZH, Zhao JZ, Kan HD. Association between diurnal temperature range and respiratory tract infections. Biomedical and Environmental Sciences 2013; 26: 222-225.

13 Xu Z, Huang C, Su H, Turner LR, Qiao Z, Tong S. Diurnal temperature range and childhood asthma: a time-series study. Environmental Health 2013; 12: https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-069X-12-12

14 Xu Z, Huang C, Turner LR, Su H, Qiao Z, Tong S. Is diurnal temperature range a risk factor for childhood diarrhea? PLoS One 2013; 8(5):e64713. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0064713.

15 Alexander LV, Zhang X, Peterson TC et al. Global observed changes in daily climate extremes of temperature and precipitation. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 2006; 111 (D5): 109-141 https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006290

16 Braganza K, Karoly DJ, Arblaster JM Diurnal temperature range as an index of global climate change during the twentieth century. Geophysical Research Letters 2004: 31 (13): 217-221 doi.org/10.1029/2004GL019998

17 Abbott C. Record-high world grain production for second year in a row. Successful Farming 6/8/2020. https://www.agriculture.com/news/business/record-high-world-grain-production-for-second-year-in-a-row [accessed 24/9/20]

18 Ainsworth EA, Long SP What have we learned from fifteen years of free-air CO₂ enrichment FACE? A meta-analytic review of the responses of photosynthesis, canopy properties and plant production to rising CO₂. New Phytologist 2005; 165:351-372.

19 Gutiérrez del Pozo D, Gutierrez E, Pérez P, et al. Acclimation to future atmospheric CO2 levels increases photochemical efficiency and mitigates photochemistry inhibition by warm temperatures in wheat under field conditions. Physiologia Plantarum 2009; 137 (1):86-100. DOI: 10.1111/j.1399-3054.2009.01256.x

20 Fleisher DH, Timlin DJ, Reddy VR. Elevated carbon dioxide and water stress effects on potato canopy gas exchange, water use and productivity. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 2008; 148:1109-1122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2008.02.007

21 De Costa J, Weerakoon WMW, Chinthaka KGR. et al. Genotypic variation in the response of rice (Oryza sativa) to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide and its physiological basis. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science 2007; 193:117-130. DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-037X.2007.00255.x

22 Sultana H, Armstrong R, Suter H, et al. A short-term study of wheat grain protein response to post-anthesis foliar nitrogen application under elevated CO2 and supplementary irrigation. Journal of Cereal Science 2017; 75:135-137.

23 Konzmann M, Gerten D, Heinke J. Climate impacts on global irrigation requirements under 19 GCMs, simulated with a vegetation and hydrology model. Hydrological Sciences Journal 2013; 58 (1): 88-105.

24 Wiltshire A, et al. The importance of population, climate change and carbon dioxide plant physiological forcing in determining future global water stress. Global Environmental Change. 2013; 23 (5): 1083-1097.

25 ÓhAiseadha C, Quinn G, Connolly R, Connolly M, Soon W. Energy and Climate Policy-An Evaluation of Global Climate Change Expenditure 2011-2018. Energies 2020; (13) 4839. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13184839

26 Jenkins HW. Dieselgate is a political disaster. WSJ 2017; Feb. 14 https://www.wsj.com/articles/dieselgate-is-a-political-disaster-1487116586

27 Sterman JD, Siegel L, Rooney-Varga JN. Does replacing coal with wood lower CO2 emissions? Dynamic life cycle analysis of wood bioenergy. Environmental Research Letters 2018; 13 (1): 1-10

28 Dominish E, Florin N, Teske S. Responsible Minerals Sourcing for Renewable Energy. Report prepared for Earthworks by the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney. 2019 https://www.uts.edu.au/sites/default/files/2019-04/ISFEarthworks_Responsible%20minerals%20sourcing%20for%20renewable%20energy_Report.pdf

29 Sonter L, Dade MC, Watson EM and Valenta RK. Renewable energy production will exacerbate mining threats to biodiversity. Nature Communications 2020; 11:4174-80 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17928-5

30 Parry S. In China, the true cost of Britain’s clean, green wind power experiment: pollution on a disastrous scale. Mail Online 2011. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1350811/In-China-true-cost-Britains-clean-green-wind-power-experiment-Pollution-disastrous-scale.html

31 Cheng VKM and Hammond GP. Life-cycle energy densities and land-take requirements of various power generators: a UK perspective. Journal of the Energy Institute 2017; 90 (2): 201-213 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joei.2016.02.003

32 Pehl M, Arvesen A, Humpenöder F. et al. Understanding future emissions from low-carbon power systems by integration of life-cycle assessment and integrated energy modelling. Nat Energy 2017; 2: 939-945 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-017-0032-9

33 Conca J. How deadly is your kilowatt? We rank the killer energy sources. Forbes 2012 https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2012/06/10/energys-deathprint-a-price-always-paid/#17d1380d709b

No Sign that Extreme Weather Events are Getting Worse

London, 4 June: A new review of the scientific literature on extreme weather events published today by the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) confirms what IPCC assessment reports have concluded: There is little evidence of any significant changes in most indices. Continue reading “No Sign that Extreme Weather Events are Getting Worse”

Are We Really in a New Climate Era?

By Howard Thomas Brady

The Federal Gallery journal has published this article by Dr Brady in its March 2020 edition. Dr Brady says that “politicians on both sides of the climate debate are making statements that are actually false. In good faith they think that certain propositions are correct”, so he needs to show otherwise.

Read the full article: https://saltbushclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/climate-era-brady.pdf [PDF, 311 kB]

Howard Thomas Brady has written the book Mirrors and Mazes: a guide through the climate debate (2016). He has post-graduate degrees in Philosophy, Theology and Antarctic science. He also has a climate website listing various talks and YouTube presentations: http://www.mirrorsandmazes.com.au.