USA heads for next Ice Age

Global Warming eh! Well try telling that to so many inhabitants of numerous states within the USA that we're really heading for run away Global Warming. The next ice age maybe, but Global Warming....no way!!! As things turned out many states within the USA enjoyed, suffered or otherwise experienced a considerably whiter Christmas than they could ever have imagined. For more on this please turn to the following link:

US Freeze.

2008 - A critical review

For various reasons it was not always possible to update this site as often as we would have wanted. However now at the end of yet another year it is possible to take stock of the previous 12 months and arrive at certain obvious conclusions.

The most obvious conclusion is that 2008 was hardly the sort of epoch making example of an environment about to be ravaged by run away global warming. It was true that certain areas did have summer heatwaves, but these were in places and nations well known for such events. On the other hand northern Europe saw a summer that existed in word only. In Britain for example dull,rainy and unseasonably cold conditions provided better evidence for a coming Ice Age rather than a planet about to be consumed by hastening clouds of carbon dioxide.

Above all one thing appeared to stand out quite poignantly. It is that for at least the last five years once winter sets in, it sets in with a vengeance, and although there may be few big freezes or snow falls the ensuing winter unfolds to a pattern of consistently low temperatures that were not a feature of the weather only a decade ago. For example 2008 saw some of the earliest frosts and freezes on record and hardly the sort of weather one would have expected of a planet about to be stricken with catastrophic levels of global warming. There was further evidence for this in the USA where heavy snow falls and very low temperatures brought chaos to many states. Once again this was much more proof for a coming Ice Age than Global Warming, but then where fixations become blinded to a single obsession truth is bound to suffer.

Another inescapable conclusion is that compared with just 12 months ago the notion of Global Warming and Climate Change now occupy far fewer column inches and media exposure than they once did. This is because the so called 'credit cruch' and universal downturn in the global economy have created an understanding diversion of attention from the fantasy that global warming and climate change really represents.

In its way the ecoomic state of the planet at present is a far more serious situation than global climate trends, since the global economy is all that holds us from financial armaggeddon, that if ruptured would create the complete dismantlement of the world we know and have come to rely on.

As for the climate as a whole, 2008 was a totally unremarkable year and suggestive that despite blips and dips there was nothing suggestive of anything catastrophic to come.

If only the same could be said of the economy.

Record Scottish ski season

The Scottish ski industry has just recorded one of its longest and most lucrative seasons on record. Well into April skiers were enjoying record snow coverage the like of which have barely been witnessed for over 50 years. Indeed many had never expected to see the like again as talk of Global Warming had convinced many that the heyday of Scottish skiing was well and truly over. And yet here we are nearly May and people are wondering when these brilliant skiing conditions will persist to.

Once again it shows that despite the doomsayers the weather has not forgotten how to do cold and this winter (in the northern hemisphere) has proved beyond doubt that prognostications of doom lag a long way behind the reality of things.

And it wasn't just Scotland. Parts of the USA experienced incredibly severe snow falls and farther afield snow fell in the Iraqi capital Baghdad for the very first time(see pic below)



Other badly affected regions included India, China and Afghanistan, and as other posts in this site illustrate, snow even fell in the deserts of Arabia where summer temperatures routinely top 50 centigrade. And still there's talk of Global Warming!!! Well the way things are going it will be the next Ice Age that will start to worry people. Just over 25 years ago that was the dominant fear and acres of newsprint were devoted to the inexorable slide towards an icy catastrophe that never materialised. It shows just how fickle are the assumptions on which these fears are based. Meanwhile the weather carries on regardless and seemingly intent on making a mockery of human based predictions.

Britain sees heaviest snow falls for over a hundred years

In the British Isles the first week in April saw some of the coldest conditions for this time of year in over two decades. Some areas also saw their heaviest snow falls in over a century.

But wait a minute? Isn't this supposed to be the era of Global Warming? Well so much for that, because as this latest episode shows quite plainly the weather most definitely has not forgotten how to do cold. Furthermore as this site has continued to insist for a very long time, none of this would be possible if indeed we were really experiencing the true Greenhouse Effect. Remember the Greenhouse Effect? That was the great buzz phrase around a decade ago, until the evidence showed it just wasn't happening. So then there was Global Warming, and now as the evidence for this is becoming ever more slender we have the next alternative buzz phrase 'Climate Change.' Yet as we have stated innumerable times on this site Climate Change is just a statement of the obvious since the Earth's climate has always been changing and establishing just what is a normal climate for the planet is as close to impossible as impossible gets.

Yes the Earth's climate is changing. But it has always changed and will carry on doing so long after the Human Race has faded into oblivion, just like it saw dramatic changes long before the Human Race ever arrived on the planet.

Oh, and by the way the reason, for this cold snap in Britain was simply the result of cold northern air blowing down from the Arctic. No great mystery, just a question of wind direction. This is important to state, because when in the course of the Summer hotter conditions eventually prevail, these will not have been because of shifting clouds of carbon dioxide, but simply because the winds will have changed to a more southerly direction.

A White Easter

Ok, so we just got back from vacation, and what a time it was too. Here we're talking of the weather scene where most of northern Europe was treated to one of its coldest Easter's on record. Britain, Germany, France and many other nations saw heavy snow falls, that brought chaos to roads and travel arrangements in general.

But just one moment!!! Isn't this supposed to be the age of Global Warming when we are meant to be choking under clouds of carbon dioxide? Well it must have been a dream. Either way there was no sings of anything resembling a heatwave and every sign that contrary to popular expectation we are heading towards the next Ice Age. Ok, strike that last comment. But who knows!! After all there's as much evidence to support the idea of a coming Ice Age as to say we are in a catastrophic period of Global Warming.

Inevitably there were those who called attention to the fact that this was the earliest Easter vacation for around a hundred years or so. Quite correct. But even bearing this in mind average temperatures in Britain over this period were at least two to three degrees colder than usual for this time of year. It means of course that those that insist we are heading for catastrophically hot conditions in the near future have a lot of explaining to do.

No sign of Spring

As Britain approached Spring there was no sign the weather showed any signs of turning warmer in what has turned out to be a decidedly chilly, not to say freezing end to the winter. Either way there was no sign of Global Warming, and it was once again business as usual as those disposed to believe in the catastrophe of a super heated planet were left looking a little silly.

Meanwhile the Times of London drew attention to the fact that last years summer in Britain was unusually wetter than even the British Isles is renowned for being. In fact these were just the opposite conditions that the Climate Change models said would apply if the world were really heating up. These postulate drier summers and wetter, windier winters - none of which appears to be happening. And this should be no mystery. The world is not heating up, and as for Climate Change this - as we have said a thousand times before - is no more than a statement of the obvious, as the world's climate is constantly changing and there is no clear idea of what a normal climate really is.

Whatever the case, the error of the Global Warming idea, and its attachment to Human activity becomes more farcical by the day. As mentioned in earlier posts some areas of the world, including China, India and even the deserts of Arabia have experienced some of the harshest winter conditions for many years, and plainly shows that the planet has not forgotten how to do cold when it wants to. And remember none of this would be possible if the world were really under the blanket of choking clouds of carbon dioxide - the original Greenhouse Effect as it was called.

Global warming fading from view.

With regard to the whole Global Warming debate a peculiar trend is beginning to emerge within the press and media and other quasi scientific literature. It is the slow but noticeable discard of the term Global Warming in favour of the more all embracing term Climate Change.

To us this seems like a significant admission of failure on the part of those who erroneously - and despite the evidence to the contrary - have tried to maintain that the world is heating up to a disastrous extent, or any extent at all. Obviously if this were true then you would not have the anomalies of the posts below, with the harshest winter conditions, and snow that falls even in the deserts of Saudi Arabia. Of course there really never was any Global Warming and nor will this ever hasten the demise of the planet, or its people. Somewhere along the line this realisation had to occur to even the most vociferous of Global Warming advocates, and finally this message appears to have penetrated.

So what happens now? Global Warming disappears in favour of Climate Change. Now the argument is focused on anomalies that appear to have developed within the worlds climate. Talk about stating the obvious. The worlds climate has always changed to the extent where it has never been possible to arrive at a clear idea of what constitutes a normal state of global climate.

In fact open minded scientists are always discovering new patterns of climate, operating to cycles of tens, hundreds of even thousands of years, that all prove that the planets climate is in a constant state of flux and has nothing whatever to do with our activities here on Earth. For example one of the most disastrous examples of Climate Change is the one that turned the Sahara Desert from a verdant fertile plain into one of the most arid and inhospitable regions on Earth within a very short time. And this was well before the so called 'carbon imprint' of Humanity could possibly have taken effect, and shows in quite dramatic fashion how this planet has always exhibited the most extreme Climate Change properties dating back many thousands of years before the Industrial Age was ever thought of.

Solar flare connection to recent cold snaps.

As outlined in other posts below certain areas of the world, in particular the USA and northern Europe have recently experienced particularly heavy snow falls that appear to contradict the idea that the world is heating up. Indeed it is the opinion of this site that events here on Earth are a reflection of Solar energy. When for instance Solar flare activity is at a peak temperatures tend to rise and conversely when flare activity declines so do temperatures here on Earth.

With this in mind it is interesting to note that Solar flare activity (see graph below) has recently been of an extremely low, to non existent variety. Hence we have colder conditions. When this graph becomes more animated - as it soon will - then warmer conditions will return. It's as simple as that. In fact no great mystery, and certainly nothing that we as a race have much influence over. Simply put, it's like turning up the fire!!

Heavy snowfalls in the USA

While some were talking of an early Spring and global warming, the weather obviously failed to take heed. Instead some nations were treated to heavy snow falls that proves that we are still a long way from experiencing the nightmare conditions of perpetual heat that some doomsayers believe are already here. If so then how do you explain the heavy snowfalls through many US States, as well as snow chaos that struck parts of Germany, Central Europe and the British Isles where Scotland was especially affected.



Clearly the weather demonstrates that winter in the northern hemisphere is business as usual - cold and snowy just like it always was. Either way no sign of Global Warming.

For more information on the US snow storms please turn to the following link:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/7358637

Snow in the deserts of Arabia

For those who despite the evidence still decide to believe in Global Warming, then take a look at the following video which shows recent snow falls in the deserts of Saudi Arabia - places where temperatures of 50 centigrade are nothing, and yet in these clips we see a winter wonderland.

No we're not heading for Global Warming. Based on these scenes you'd think we were heading for the next ice age.



For more videos from the same source please turn to the folowing link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH2rA2D1_mo

Chinese Freeze

Mention global warming to anyone in China and they'll likely treat you as crazy. China is experiencing one of its most bitter winters on record. Widespread heavy snowfalls have brought chaos across the nation with heavy damage to homes and agriculture. For instance it is estimated that at least 300,00 homes have collapsed under the vast weight of snow and transport interrupted on a scale that is causing damage to the economy. There are also fears that crop damage will bring shortages later in the year with raised vegetable prices that will be shared across the world.

Conditions of extreme cold were also to be found in Vietnam, India and Afghanistan where some estimates believe that up to a 1000 people may have perished in the harsh winter conditions.

So where now for Global Warming? Seems like there's just as much evidence for a coming Ice Age. And one more thing. China is sometimes thought as one of the worst polluters on the planet with heavy smog conditions in the Capital Beijing. So with all that pollution swishing its way around you'd think that China would be a prime candidate for hotter conditions and yet as this winter shows the opposite is happening. It also shows that with regard to Global Warming you can't possibly hope to prove something that isn't happening.

See here for more on the Chinese cold
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/30/wchina130.xml
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/01/30/weather/AS-WEA-China-Snow.php

The Greek Freeze

The Global Warming brigade were wailing into their cornflakes this week as a particularly harsh spell of winter weather hit parts of Europe. For example Greece was hit by heavy blizzards with deep snow drifts that cut off many villages and brought flights to a standstill in the Greek capital Athens. Indeed some areas of Greece saw temperatures as low as -12 degrees Celcius, and renowned holiday beaches that normally throng with summer vistors were deep under snow.

Elsewhere there were also conditions of heavy cold throughout much of Central Europe, and even southern Italy was hit by particularly low temperatures. Meanwhile there were also frigid conditions for the British Isles with some places registering temperatures as low as -10 degrees Celsius.

But why should any of this be remarkable? After all the northern hemisphere is still in winter and cold and icy conditions are only to be expected. Well right. But if one took the theories of Global Warming at face value then these episodes should be impossible: They should not be happening, but they are. In plain language it means that if areas of even the Mediterranean can still get as cold as this then Global Warming just isn't happening. No way Jose!! I mean what are we to believe? That sometimes the heat trapping clouds of carbon dioxide just fade away and make the planet feel a little colder sometimes? If so then where do these clouds blow to?

The reality is that global temperatures in any given area depend very strongly on the wind direction rather than any more sinister explanation. In the northern hemisphere when the wind blows from the north the weather becomes cold. In the case of the recent Greek freeze this was simply the result of winds that plunged down across Russia from the Artic Circle, bringing a deep freeze to most of northern Europe. Similarly the frigid conditions in the British Isles were the result of swirling wind patterns of a predominantly northerly orientation. Either way it confirms a healthy seasonal trend that if Global Warming were really happening would never occur.

Siberia and China forget global warming.

Last week the temperature in Siberia was reported have dropped to minus 58C (-72F), which by anyone's reckoning is pretty cold. But this was supposed to be a world gripped by Global Warming? So how come that Siberia has yet to latch on to this idea?

Oh but wait!! If this isn't Global warming then ... you guessed it!! It has to be good old Climate Change. Except... and its a pretty big except - this is Siberia we're talking about and although the temperature has been pretty cold it's only just a couple of degrees below normal for this time of the year, in a part of the world that has always been renowned for its winter cold. In other words nothing terribly unusual.

But Siberia was not the only place on Earth to forget to adhere to the universally accepted idea of Global Warming. Areas of China for example experienced their worst winter snowfalls for over a decade and it seemed that whatever else was happening the image of a world enshrouded by heat trapping clouds of carbon dioxide was a long way from the stark reality of the actual situation.

Once again it showed that despite the politically hyped rhetoric nature has its own agenda to maintain, and one that we humans interpret or misinterpret to our own interest or ignore at our peril.

A nation divided

The third week of 2008 saw some areas of the British Isles treated to some of their warmest January temperatures on record. In particular the South of England was supposed to have experienced its warmest ever night for this time of the year and the exponents of Global Warming were positively hooping for joy at the anomaly of temperatures that reached 15 centigrade in the English capital London.

But not so fast. Barely two hundred miles farther north conditions of heavy frost prevailed as people made their way to work in the freezing morning cold and to all intents and purposes it seemed that the British Isles were cut in two between very distinct temperature gradients.

But what lay behind this contrast? Was it shifting bands of carbon dioxide? Or was it the inexorable march towards Climate Change in all of its impenetrable complexity?

As always the truth was quite easily demonstrated. As the image below quite aptly shows the differing temperature variations were solely a result of the wind patterns that were dominant at that particular time. For example the south of England was subject to a southerly wind flow that came up from the tropics whereas the north was clearly influenced by the jet stream that came plunging down from the north.

As ever not much of a mystery and certainly not one that might involve those mythical clouds of swirling carbon dioxide.

Easy explanation

Floods in Britain

The early days of the year were characterised by torrential downpours in certain areas that inevitably led to speculation that this was the fabled Climate Change at work?.

But was this really the reason? Were abnormal carbon dioxide levels at play or was this something that could be easily explained in some other way?

As it happens there was a more than adequate answer to this and it did not involve fanciful theories operating without a credible shred of proof.

Quite simply this latest outbreak of inclement weather involved nothing but a bizarre twisting of the jet streams above Britain (see pic below) to produce an elongated wind pattern that shows the jet stream swerving from a northerly flow to a sudden turn over Spain directing warmer air towards the British Isles that resulted in the significant downpours that were witnessed there.

New Year - Same lies.

Happy New Year to you all.

As always at this time of the year its customary to take stock, and inevitably the air is thick with the same lying nonsense. An example of this is the claim that 2007 was the second warmest year ever experienced in the British Isles since accurate records were first kept. Apparently this so called 'fact' bears some official seal of authority, but whoever the people are - and its not immediately clear who lies behind this statement which was widely published in the British press, can't have been standing where I was standing for the whole of last year, or they'd know their so called facts were a load of compost.

My recollection of 2007 - weather wise - was of a largely ordinary year, including a terrible washout of a summer that was both cool, wet and largely unremarkable. This was followed by an autumn and early winter that was cold wet and windy and again no different to dozens of other autumns and winters that have gone before it.

It seemed to me that anyone wishing to fit Britain 2007 into evidence of either Global Warming, or Climate Change would have their work cut out. However this did not account for those who are deliberately inclined to distort, falsify, or otherwise twist the facts of quite an ordinary year to fit the rolling bandwagon of hysteria that is the Global Warming movement.

But why should I be surprised? The whole idea of Global warming and Climate Change is founded on the same distortion of facts and figures that fortunately are now beginning to be exposed and unravelled for the lie that they really are.

What is really worrying is that such a large number of people in the scientific community should sell their intellect towards convincing others that the stability of the planet is under threat from our own activities. It makes me wonder what lies behind this deception, but then there are an ever growing number of conspiracy sites that will give a clue to that one.

As for us we think it's nothing short of scandalous that the general public are ever more swiftly being manipulated to believe that they can do anything to stave off environmental armaggeddon. What arrogant presumption!!! Nature cannot be bargained with. It is entirely dispassionate to our survival or non survival. You cannot debate terms with nature and all this nonsense over carbon trading, carbon footprints, and every other politically correct remedy for the planets ills cannot ignore the fact that nothing we can do - repeat nothing - will ever surmount the unalterable direction of the natural world, with its equally unalterable patterns and rhythms. These are frequently misunderstood or deliberately misinterpreted, but whatever the case there is no getting away from the fact that the world has its own special cycles of weather and our own contribution to these will eventually come to be acknowledged as very small indeed.

In the meantime that will not stop governments everywhere imposing green taxes on the hapless public, and I suppose that herein lies the nub of the matter - that is no great desire for the greater good of the planet , but self centred motives of personal gain that are as old as humanity itself.