Global Warming Crusade Hits A Roadblock
Two new developments are turning up the heat on claims long made by global warming alarmists, indicating that their dire warnings of imminent doom for Gaia run contrary to actual scientific data, or were wholly fabricated out of thin air.
First up, new NASA satellite data that shows “the Earth’s atmosphere is allowing far more heat to be released into space than alarmist computer models have predicted” and “indicates far less future global warming will occur than United Nations computer models have predicted.” This from Forbes recount of a new study in the peer-reviewed science journal Remote Sensing:
Study co-author Dr. Roy Spencer, a principal research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and U.S. Science Team Leader for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer flying on NASA’s Aqua satellite, reports that real-world data from NASA’s Terra satellite contradict multiple assumptions fed into alarmist computer models.
“The satellite observations suggest there is much more energy lost to space during and after warming than the climate models show,” Spencer said in a July 26 University of Alabama press release. “There is a huge discrepancy between the data and the forecasts that is especially big over the oceans.”
In addition to finding that far less heat is being trapped than alarmist computer models have predicted, the NASA satellite data show the atmosphere begins shedding heat into space long before United Nations computer models predicted.
The new findings are extremely important and should dramatically alter the global warming debate.
As could this: the scientist whose observations and tales of drowned polar bears helped drive the global warming craze, and was featured in Al Gore’s movie “An Inconvenient Truth,” is under investigation for scientific misconduct, possibly stemming from his article on polar bears. This from HuffPost Green:
Charles Monnett, an Anchorage-based scientist with the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, or BOEMRE, was told July 18 that he was being put on leave, pending results of an investigation into “integrity issues.” But he has not yet been informed by the inspector general’s office of specific charges or questions related to the scientific integrity of his work, said Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
On Thursday, Ruch’s watchdog group plans to file a complaint with the agency on Monnett’s behalf, asserting that Obama administration officials have “actively persecuted” him in violation of policy intended to protect scientists from political interference.
Say what? The Obama administration, which has used global warming hysteria perpetuated by claims like Monnett’s to push sweeping environmental policy reform, has “actively persecuted” one of their favorite darlings instead of protecting him from political interference? Alrighty, then.
Monnett, who has coordinated much of the agency’s research on Arctic wildlife and ecology, has duties that include managing about $50 million worth of studies, according to the complaint, a copy of which was provided to The Associated Press.
Which leads to this from The AP:
According to documents provided by Ruch’s group, which sat in on investigators’ interviews with Monnett, the questioning focused on observations that he and researcher Jeffrey Gleason made in 2004.
At the time, they were conducting an aerial survey of bowhead whales, and saw four dead polar bears floating in the water after a storm. There were other witnesses, according to Ruch, and low-resolution photos show floating white blobs.
Monnett and Gleason detailed their observations in an article published two years later in the journal Polar Biology. In the peer-reviewed article, they said they were reporting, to the best of their knowledge, the first observations of the bears floating dead and presumed drowned while apparently swimming long distances.
Polar bears are considered strong swimmers, they wrote, but long-distance swims may exact a greater metabolic toll than standing or walking on ice in better weather.
They said their observations suggested the bears drowned in rough seas and high winds. They also added that the findings “suggest that drowning-related deaths of polar bears may increase in the future if the observed trend of regression of pack ice and/or longer open water periods continues.”
The article and presentations drew national attention and helped make the polar bear a symbol for the global warming movement….
The complaint said agency officials harassed Gleason and Monnett, and that they received negative comments after the journal article. Gleason took another Interior Department job; he didn’t respond to an email and a BOEMRE spokeswoman said he wouldn’t be available for comment.
In May 2008, the bear was classified as a threatened species, the first with its survival at risk due to global warming.
According to a transcript, provided by Ruch’s group, Ruch asked investigator Eric May, during questioning of Monnett in February, for specifics about the allegations. May replied: “well, scientific misconduct, basically, uh, wrong numbers, uh, miscalculations.”
Monnett said that alleging scientific misconduct “suggests that we did something deliberately to deceive or to, to change it. Um, I sure don’t see any indication of that in what you’re asking me about.”
Which toes the line nicely with standard liberal operating procedure: if you can’t beat them with reality-based facts, invent new ones that better support your argument, defend them to the bitter end, and label anyone who dares disagree as an ignorant, misguided troglodyte; get the mainstream media to pick up the meme; declare victory.
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