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Last updated on July 2nd, 2017 at 09:01 am
Column, July:
Last month Australians endured our coldest June since 1950. Imagine that; all those trillions of tonnes of evil carbon we’ve horked up into the atmosphere over six decades of rampant industrialisation, and we’re still getting the same icy weather we got during the Cold War.
Not that June should be presented as evidence that global warming isn’t happening, or that we’re causing it. Relying on such a tiny sample would be unscientific and wrong …
The SMH’s Marian Wilkinson, February:
Australia had its hottest January on record, in line with a pattern that has seen the country’s average temperature rise over the past five decades under the impact of global warming.
Summer 05-06 was Perth’s wettest in forty years. I thought global warming doomed us to death on a dry dirt ball wandering through space…
Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2008 02 01 at 06:22 AM • permalink
The Sun is to blame. Stop the Sun shining. We must mobilise the UN.
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 02 01 at 06:28 AM • permalink
- How can you heartless people be carrying on about a bit of warmening when, as we speak, the Fitzroy River is out of control and drowning the coral.
Get your priorities right! The rain must be stopped and the rivers must be brought under control before the world heritage treasure is destroyed forever.
#5 gotta agree with you there Nic. Here in SE Queensland the first fortnight of January was all below average temperatures , rain, rain and more rain (with patches of drizzle thrown in for good measure).
Still it was fun to walk along the foreshore and see all the miserable looking tourists huddling beneath waterfront cafe verandas.
Posted by eeniemeenie on 2008 02 01 at 07:09 AM • permalink
You’ve got to be kidding. The hottest January on record? Where in australia? The first two weeks were reasonably warm in Canberra but we then had very cool days with nights that almost needed the heating turned back on. And i didn’t notice weather reports on heat waves in other parts of the country.
- #11 mehaul: The TV announcers have been claiming that the Fitzroy is killing the coral because it is “loaded with farm chemicals”.
One hopes that the reporters have been taking samples from the river to determine the actual concentrations of the farm chemicals. We know how important it is to have accuracy in reporting on environmental matters.
We’re getting freezing rain and sleet right now. Al Gore must be nearby.
Posted by rightwingprof on 2008 02 01 at 08:16 AM • permalink
#16 Skeeter. One can only rely on the media doing their very best. The local ABC will employ the cream of their personnel, the most objective, the intellectually challenged, and motivated staff to consider the reality of the chemical % of farm chemicals coming from up stream.
I sailed into Yeppoon 2 years ago from outside the shipping channel and the reefs and local islands went out some 120klms before we hit the Marina. Where exactly are the reefs that will be effected.
Is this public servants creating jobs for themselves?
Meanwhile: CYCLONE GENE
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 02 01 at 08:48 AM • permalink
- My air conditioner broke down and now its hot. I blame George chimpyMchallibush and John HoWARd, erm, no just George will do now.
/lefty off.Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 02 01 at 08:52 AM • permalink
Since Tim has resumed posting, it’s possible to be O/T again!
Good advice from Vinnie at the Jawa Report concerning the importance of keeping your eye on the ball in the U.S. election.
#24 Retread: I am in total agreement that “gridlock in government is often a good thing.” Sometimes, gridlock means that, for a brief, shining moment, the American taxpayer is prevented from being hosed.
And although there is much to fret about in the upcoming presidential election, let us not forget to count our blessings, and to congratulate ourselves on at least one narrow escape.
#25 hi Kae – hope you’re having a good night. I loved all the rain, it’s the stickiness since I have a problem with.
Posted by eeniemeenie on 2008 02 01 at 09:58 AM • permalink
I’m not sure McCain as President would bring gridlock….he’ll what he needs to so that the media likes him….
Of course if Republicans take back the house and senate…….there might be gridlock with a President McCain…..
Posted by Old Tanker on 2008 02 01 at 10:00 AM • permalink
Yes, Look at all that heat stuck in atmosphere.
In Jan 2000, global mean temp was a whole .15C warmer than the GISS base period of 1951-1980. In July 2004 it was .21C warmer than the base period.
Using Jan 2000, that’s a maximum heat retention of .15C over 34 years. Or an average net accumulation of .004C per year, assuming there weren’t any bigger dips before 1997.
Of course there were several dips (see page 38). 1992 was .15C cooler than the base. That’s an average heat retention of -.006C per year.
Speaking of weather, we’re getting HAMMERED in Michigan right now with a heck of a snowstorm. I went to hockey this morning and only 4 people showed up……4 PEOPLE!!!!! anyone that knows about hockey players and winter is that they go hand in hand. We have enough snow to make hockey players stay home.
Posted by Old Tanker on 2008 02 01 at 10:05 AM • permalink
I’d prefer Mitt over McCain, simply because he’s not a Congressman.
It should be in the Constitution that the only way a person who has been in the legislative branch can become part of the executive is by appointment or as Vice President. The executive is supposed to be a check on the legislative, not an extension of it.
How’s the snow your way? Looks like the further East you go in Michigan the less snow there is. We’ve gotten 6 inches since 3:00 this morning and it’s coming down an inch an hour right now.
Posted by Old Tanker on 2008 02 01 at 10:09 AM • permalink
#34 eeeeurgh- coming on top of his vile slander of paddy mcguinness just makes it more repulsive. the sun was right- he is the lizard of oz
Posted by eeniemeenie on 2008 02 01 at 10:29 AM • permalink
We had about 8” of global warmening last Sunday here, turned the roads into something awful come Monday, Of course, come Wednesday, we had some global cooling mosey in (the temps went from 20-25 F to 40 F), and a lot of that snow is gone now.
Of course, this is the second time in two months that happened. And I didn’t mention the several weeks of global warmening without snow, when the temps stayed below freezing, and on occasion hit 0 F.
And all around us, in the mountains? Snow. Nothing but snow.
I wish Mother Gaia™ would make up Her mind, I do.
Unless Lord Goreacle™ is buzzing the inland Pacific Northwest in a chartered 747, laughing like a maniac, until we buy some carbon credits from his company. Whereupon I’ll just throw some more wood on the fire.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 02 01 at 10:32 AM • permalink
O/T, but BUAWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 02 01 at 10:38 AM • permalink
Here in Southwest Ohio, we’ve had a fairly mild winter, in between periods of single digit temps, sleet and snow. January, in particular, has been warmer than usual. Looks like we’ll have Australia’s global warming for you this year. But, look, come this July when it gets really hot, we expect some reciprocal action, okay?
#34. Keating may be a shit, but on this occasion he’s right. Suharto did haul Indonesia away from the cliff of communism, saved us from having a Soviet/Cuban base right on our doorstep, kept the Islamists in check, and was basically as good a neighbour as we could have expected. And you can’t deny that the media have had it in for him because they were barracking for Fretilin.
- I read the rest of that article and found that it went on to say temps were up in western NSW – way out west. Daytime temps in Sydney were actually spot on average but slightly warmer at night and temps up here on the beautiful north coast (NSW’s greenland, hippie heaven) were slightly down on average because of the shit weather we’ve been having.
All up? Obviously evidence of global warming apparently.
You reckon the BOM might see some more funding coming their way if they push the climate change message hard enough?
For the past 40 years, we have been spending roughly 2 per cent of gross domestic product on defence – about $20 billion a year in today’s dollars. The figure would be more like seven to eight times that, about $150 billion today, if Indonesia had become a fractured, politically stricken state.
Um, can anyone please explain? If Indonesia had descended into a howling ball of chaos, why would we have to spend mammothly on defence? PNG is a howling ball of chaos, and I don’t remember anyone screaming for more frigates/planes/troops/nukes.
Posted by mr creosote on 2008 02 01 at 05:15 PM • permalink
I checked the BOM site which produces a monthly climate summary and couldn’t find one for January (unless i’m missing it in some obvious place). It is only 2 February so that’s not surprising. So i’m wondering where Wilkinson got her info from to claim January was the warmest on record in Oz. BOM is the authoritative source on this issue.
The only summary I found was for December 07 which had mean temperatures as below average for Australia overall and significantly below average for some parts of the country. She must have missed that one.
Okay – should look harder. There is no National summary on the BOM site (http://www.bom.gov.au) for January but they do have state summaries. While generally there seems to have been above average temperatures in January in NSW, ACT, Vic, WA and SA, I can’t find any reference in any of them to being the highest on record. On the victorian summary it says that some sites recorded their highest January temperatures.
So again I’m not sure how she has turned this info into the warmest January on record for Australia.
“Relying on such a tiny sample would be unscientific and wrong …”
That’s what we keep trying to tell you Chickenlittleists, but you refuse to listen.
Posted by Dave Surls on 2008 02 02 at 12:31 AM • permalink
- “Australia had its hottest January on record, in line with a pattern that has seen the country’s average temperature rise over the past five decades under the impact of global warming”.
Maybe, you can’t argue with the experts, but to my knowledge there has been no loss of life or property as a result.
While no mention is made of human fingerprints, of course the readers by now can be trusted to make the implied connection and feel suitably ashamed and fearful.
The isolated examples highlighted do not seem particularly extreme.
Pooncarie is not a listed BoM site, but nearby Griffith airport is and the max. temperature ever recorded there was 46.0℃ on 23 Jan 2001.
Onslow’s previous record was 48.3 on 3 Feb 1959, but nearby Mardie (104 km) recorded its highest of 50.5℃ on 19 Feb 1998.
Over the past “five decades” in Australia, recording sites have closed, others opened and existing stations moved. There are more inland and outback sites than there were 50 years ago and city sites have become surrounded by more and more concrete and asphalt.
The temperature records of China and USSR/Russia are scant and unreliable, not to mention southern Asia, Africa and South America.
In short, the global surface temperatures as recorded, on which “The Science” has depended, is a ‘dogs breakfast’ and IMHO not worth a ‘pinch of shit’.
The only temperatures which should be taken half seriously are the satellite measurements (RSS&UAH).
#51 your very important point demands a response rebresca. As I see it one has to first of all have a clear political point of view. Not a bit of everything. Then one must decide if one side kills x then is that better than the other side killing y. In this case Suharto killed x to defend y. I don’t buy the indifference. Same in Chile, Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam. And same in developing left wing nations like Venuzuela. It’s easy and warranted to feel the pain of those who died in the suppresion of left wing politics. But I don’t think the long term existence of a left wing government warrants the tears of what the cost was. Tough but necessary. I don’t hear the left wing bleating of those wringing their hankies regarding the daily ongoing subterfuge of those living in communist worlds. It’s this planets biggest embarrassment and no one is acknowledging it.
Maybe one swallow doesn’t make a summer, but one hot day makes climate armageddon (from the New Book of Weather Proverbs, or, Mother Gore’s Almanacke)