Richard Lindzen Gives Consice Summary of Critique of Global Warming

[JimBowie1958]

Lindzen totally pwns the alarmists – Telegraph Blogs

Stated briefly, I will simply try to clarify what the debate over climate change is really about. It most certainly is not about whether climate is changing: it always is. It is not about whether CO2 is increasing: it clearly is. It is not about whether the increase in CO2, by itself, will lead to some warming: it should. The debate is simply over the matter of how much warming the increase in CO2 can lead to, and the connection of such warming to the innumerable claimed catastrophes. The evidence is that the increase in CO2 will lead to very little warming, and that the connection of this minimal warming (or even significant warming) to the purported catastrophes is also minimal. The arguments on which the catastrophic claims are made are extremely weak – and commonly acknowledged as such. They are sometimes overtly dishonest.

His full speech is given here:
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02148/RSL-HouseOfCommons_2148505a.pdf

 

[IanC]

great lecture. it points to all the holes in CAGW theory that have NOT been filled in during the last 20 years even though billions have been spent to figure it out.

 

[Old Rocks]

Lindzen also testified before Congress as to the harmlessness of tobacco. He also proposed the 'Iris' hypothesis which has been completely falsified.

Whatever his hypothesis are, the evidence is already in that the consequences of the warming that we are seeing are far more serious than even the 'Alarmists' predicted. From the Arctic Ice, East Arctic Shelf Clathrates, to the increase in severity and number of extreme weather events, we are seeing consequences we were not expecting for another 40 to 80 years.

 

[IanC]

Lindzen also testified before Congress as to the harmlessness of tobacco. He also proposed the 'Iris' hypothesis which has been completely falsified.

Whatever his hypothesis are, the evidence is already in that the consequences of the warming that we are seeing are far more serious than even the 'Alarmists' predicted. From the Arctic Ice, East Arctic Shelf Clathrates, to the increase in severity and number of extreme weather events, we are seeing consequences we were not expecting for another 40 to 80 years.

do you have atranscipt of Lindzen saying tobacco was harmless? no, I thought not. I can easily believe that he stated that the actual evidence against tobacco is much weaker than people think it is, especially second hand smoke. or that many of the hyperbolic conclusions against tobacco are wildly overstated and unsupported by what evidence there is. I dont think presenting the actual science instead of the propaganda can be twisted into saying that he said tobacco was harmless.

in much the same fashion Lindzen has pointed out the weak case CAGW alarmists have presented (which is getting weaker daily) and why the actual science of 1C/doubling of CO2 should be separated from the fiction of 3X feedbacks. etc

 

[Cuyo]

Oh noes, the whole world except American Republicans has been pwned! By the irrefutable Richard Lindzen!

What do we do? Rhett, to whom shall we turn?

 

[IanC]

Oh noes, the whole world except American Republicans has been pwned! By the irrefutable Richard Lindzen!

What do we do? Rhett, to whom shall we turn?

your logic is backasswards. it is not that Lindzen is irrefutable, but that CAGW is refutable.

 

[PredFan]

According to the global waming sycophants, our scientists are frauds and their scientists are true professionals. Even though their scientists were caught altering data, supressing opposing views, and planningthe supression of evidence contrary to the AGW religion.

 

[waltky]

Photographic evidence global warming melting Antarctic ice shelf...

Satellite documents thinning ice shelf
Apr 5, 2012* - A European satellite has observed a rapid retreat of one of Antarctica's ice shelves, which is half the size it was 10 years ago, the European Space Agency said Thursday.

The agency's Envisat satellite shows part of the Larsen Ice Shelf, which lies on a peninsula south of Chile, has decreased from 3,463 square kilometers (1,337 square miles) in March 2002 to 1,670 square kilometers (645 square miles) today, a change the European Space Agency blames on warmer temperatures.

"Ice shelves are sensitive to atmospheric warming and to changes in ocean currents and temperatures," Helmut Rott from the University of Innsbruck said in an statement from the space agency. "The northern Antarctic Peninsula has been subject to atmospheric warming of about 2.5 degrees Celsius (36.5 degrees Fahrenheit) over the last 50 years -- a much stronger warming trend than on global average, causing retreat and disintegration of ice shelves."

Satellite images from 2002, left, and 2012 reveal the disintegration of the Antarctic ice shelf.

The waning is happening on the Larsen B ice shelf, one of three shelves that make up the Larsen Ice Shelf. Larsen A disintegrated in January 1995. Larsen C has so far been stable, the space agency said, though satellites have observed some recent thinning and melting. Larsen B measured 11,512 square kilometers in January 1995. It went down to 6,664 square kilometers in February 2002 after several parts broke off, and a month later Larsen B was down to 3,463 square kilometers. The space agency says the satellite's observations confirm the vulnerability of the ice shelves to climatic warming.

Source

 

[IanC]

the ice sheets flow (slowly) into the sea. sooner or later the tongue of ice breaks off, and that is when we get these tales of doom. even though the ice has always broken off. West Antarctica peninsula has warmed up somewhat while the main continent has not. this has probably been caused by the change in ocean currents.

 

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd likes to ride around when it gets hot an look at all the 'scenery'...

U.N. Warns ‘Door’ is ‘About to Close’ on Halting 2-degree Celsius Rise in Global Temperature
May 25, 2012 – A two-week United Nations gathering in Bonn, Germany focusing on climate change ended on Friday with a warning that global warming will continue to be a threat without a legally binding international treaty to cut greenhouse gas emissions -- and unless rich nations donate billions of dollars to the cause.

Christina Figueres, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, on Friday repeated a warning issued earlier in the week by the International Energy Agency (of which the United States is a member) that said “the door to avoiding a maximum 2 degrees Celsius global temperature rise is about to close.” The U.N. announced the “progress” made at the Bonn meeting -- held in advance of the next major U.N. climate change summit in November in Doha – that could help halt the global temperature increase. That progress includes producing a legally binding climate change treaty to replace the non-binding Kyoto Protocol treaty, which expires at the end of the year and was not signed by the United States when it was produced in 1997. The “Doha Amendment” would be adopted in 2015 and take effect in 2020.

In a rare consensus in Bonn, the 180 participating countries, including the United States, agreed to establish a working group to craft the new treaty, but no one was named to head the group. A U.N. press release also touted the Green Climate Fund, which was established to transfer money from rich countries to poor nations to help them “in the urgent task of building their own sustainable and climate-resilient futures.” The goal is for donor countries, including the United States, to contribute $100 billion to the fund by 2020. Figueres also called on governments to work on climate change issues ahead of the Doha meeting. "Ministers can also take every opportunity with their governments and each other to resolve the outstanding high-level political issues that will deliver the next, successful step, in Doha," Figueres said. Not everyone agrees on the “progress” Figueres described, however. According to The Guardian, India and China want to stall the treaty process.

Also, only countries in the European Union apparently are in favor of extending the Kyoto Protocol. Canada and Japan have backed out and the United States never signed onto the original treaty. The Guardian reported that Tove Maria Ryding, coordinator for climate policy at Greenpeace International, was frustrated by events in Bonn. “Here in Bonn we've clearly seen that the climate crisis is not caused by lack of options and solutions, but lack of political action,” Ryding said. “It’s absurd to watch governments sit and point fingers and fight like little kids while the scientists explain about the terrifying impacts of climate change and the fact that we have all the technology we need to solve the problem while creating new green jobs."

Source

 

[Bfgrn]

Lindzen also testified before Congress as to the harmlessness of tobacco. He also proposed the 'Iris' hypothesis which has been completely falsified.

Whatever his hypothesis are, the evidence is already in that the consequences of the warming that we are seeing are far more serious than even the 'Alarmists' predicted. From the Arctic Ice, East Arctic Shelf Clathrates, to the increase in severity and number of extreme weather events, we are seeing consequences we were not expecting for another 40 to 80 years.

do you have atranscipt of Lindzen saying tobacco was harmless? no, I thought not. I can easily believe that he stated that the actual evidence against tobacco is much weaker than people think it is, especially second hand smoke. or that many of the hyperbolic conclusions against tobacco are wildly overstated and unsupported by what evidence there is. I dont think presenting the actual science instead of the propaganda can be twisted into saying that he said tobacco was harmless.

in much the same fashion Lindzen has pointed out the weak case CAGW alarmists have presented (which is getting weaker daily) and why the actual science of 1C/doubling of CO2 should be separated from the fiction of 3X feedbacks. etc

Lindzen clearly relishes the role of naysayer. He'll even expound on how weakly lung cancer is linked to cigarette smoking. He speaks in full, impeccably logical paragraphs, and he punctuates his measured cadences with thoughtful drags on a cigarette.

"The Truth About Global Warming: The Forecasts Of Doom Are Mostly Guesswork, Richard Lindzen Argues--And He Has Bush's Ear", Newsweek, July 23, 2001.

 

[JimBowie1958]

Uncle Ferd likes to ride around when it gets hot an look at all the 'scenery'...

U.N. Warns ‘Door’ is ‘About to Close’ on Halting 2-degree Celsius Rise in Global Temperature
May 25, 2012 – A two-week United Nations gathering in Bonn, Germany focusing on climate change ended on Friday with a warning that global warming will continue to be a threat without a legally binding international treaty to cut greenhouse gas emissions -- and unless rich nations donate billions of dollars to the cause.

Christina Figueres, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, on Friday repeated a warning issued earlier in the week by the International Energy Agency (of which the United States is a member) that said “the door to avoiding a maximum 2 degrees Celsius global temperature rise is about to close.” The U.N. announced the “progress” made at the Bonn meeting -- held in advance of the next major U.N. climate change summit in November in Doha – that could help halt the global temperature increase. That progress includes producing a legally binding climate change treaty to replace the non-binding Kyoto Protocol treaty, which expires at the end of the year and was not signed by the United States when it was produced in 1997. The “Doha Amendment” would be adopted in 2015 and take effect in 2020.

In a rare consensus in Bonn, the 180 participating countries, including the United States, agreed to establish a working group to craft the new treaty, but no one was named to head the group. A U.N. press release also touted the Green Climate Fund, which was established to transfer money from rich countries to poor nations to help them “in the urgent task of building their own sustainable and climate-resilient futures.” The goal is for donor countries, including the United States, to contribute $100 billion to the fund by 2020. Figueres also called on governments to work on climate change issues ahead of the Doha meeting. "Ministers can also take every opportunity with their governments and each other to resolve the outstanding high-level political issues that will deliver the next, successful step, in Doha," Figueres said. Not everyone agrees on the “progress” Figueres described, however. According to The Guardian, India and China want to stall the treaty process.

Also, only countries in the European Union apparently are in favor of extending the Kyoto Protocol. Canada and Japan have backed out and the United States never signed onto the original treaty. The Guardian reported that Tove Maria Ryding, coordinator for climate policy at Greenpeace International, was frustrated by events in Bonn. “Here in Bonn we've clearly seen that the climate crisis is not caused by lack of options and solutions, but lack of political action,” Ryding said. “It’s absurd to watch governments sit and point fingers and fight like little kids while the scientists explain about the terrifying impacts of climate change and the fact that we have all the technology we need to solve the problem while creating new green jobs."

Source

But wait, didnt the Warmistas say that we only had seven years left to respond to this crisis back in 1993?

So time has been up for at least twelve years. Why bother?

 

[IanC]

Lindzen also testified before Congress as to the harmlessness of tobacco. He also proposed the 'Iris' hypothesis which has been completely falsified.

Whatever his hypothesis are, the evidence is already in that the consequences of the warming that we are seeing are far more serious than even the 'Alarmists' predicted. From the Arctic Ice, East Arctic Shelf Clathrates, to the increase in severity and number of extreme weather events, we are seeing consequences we were not expecting for another 40 to 80 years.

do you have atranscipt of Lindzen saying tobacco was harmless? no, I thought not. I can easily believe that he stated that the actual evidence against tobacco is much weaker than people think it is, especially second hand smoke. or that many of the hyperbolic conclusions against tobacco are wildly overstated and unsupported by what evidence there is. I dont think presenting the actual science instead of the propaganda can be twisted into saying that he said tobacco was harmless.

in much the same fashion Lindzen has pointed out the weak case CAGW alarmists have presented (which is getting weaker daily) and why the actual science of 1C/doubling of CO2 should be separated from the fiction of 3X feedbacks. etc

Lindzen clearly relishes the role of naysayer. He'll even expound on how weakly lung cancer is linked to cigarette smoking. He speaks in full, impeccably logical paragraphs, and he punctuates his measured cadences with thoughtful drags on a cigarette.

"The Truth About Global Warming: The Forecasts Of Doom Are Mostly Guesswork, Richard Lindzen Argues--And He Has Bush's Ear", Newsweek, July 23, 2001.

are you for or against lindzen?

from the link-

Lindzen is not a complete skeptic. He acknowledges that the earth is getting warmer, and that human activity might have something to do with it. Over the past century, cars and factories have released carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the air, trapping the sun's energy and warming the atmosphere. The key question is, how warm will it get? Lindzen doesn't think scientists have a very good handle at all on how the earth's atmosphere will respond to increased levels of carbon dioxide. He doesn't think much of the half-dozen or so gigantic computer programs, or models, that simulate what the earth's climate will be like 100 years from now--and form the basis of all the predictions of doom. Whereas most models predict a warming of 3 or 4 degrees centigrade in the next 100 years, Lindzen's calculations show less than 1 degree, a figure that makes Kyoto seem downright hysterical. Most climate scientists, it's fair to say, disagree. They stick by their models, despite the flaws. "It's easy for Lindzen to criticize," says one. "But he's a theorist, not a modeler. He points out errors, but he's not the one who necessarily has to correct them." Annoying as he may be, his defiance serves as a reminder that climate scientists, despite their newfound relevance to policy and public renown, are still grappling with huge gaps in their knowledge.

Lindzen may raise his colleagues' hackles by criticizing their science, but when it comes to politics, he strikes a chord. Last week the Independent, the British newspaper, summarized the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations-sponsored group: "Global warming is happening now, caused by human actions, and threatens the Earth with disaster, the world's leading atmospheric scientists insisted yesterday." This is news to Lindzen, who literally is one of those scientists. He was coauthor of the IPCC report, but did not participate in writing the widely cited "summary for policymakers." "The 'consensus of scientists' is a very weird thing," he says. "The summary is written by 14 of the hundreds of scientists that contributed. Is that a consensus? I don't think so." Many scientists agree that the IPCC, in its zeal to build the case for doing something about global warming, plays fast and loose with the science, glossing over uncertainty and pushing its conclusions too far.

he sounds pretty reasonable to me.

 

[Old Rocks]

Arctic Methane Emergency Group - AMEG - Home

 

[Old Rocks]

the ice sheets flow (slowly) into the sea. sooner or later the tongue of ice breaks off, and that is when we get these tales of doom. even though the ice has always broken off. West Antarctica peninsula has warmed up somewhat while the main continent has not. this has probably been caused by the change in ocean currents.

:: SCRIPPS OCEANOGRAPHY NEWS : : Increased Antarctic Ice Loss by Warm Ocean Currents ::

In the last decade or so we have seen some inland glaciers accelerate and thin dramatically when an ice shelf completely disappears," said Fricker, an associate professor in Scripps' Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics. "In this study we also see that glaciers are losing mass to the ocean even while the ice shelves are still there, but getting thinner. This suggests that ice loss is very sensitive to quite small changes in the ocean circulation around Antarctica."

The ice loss has not been minor, and is accelerating. The sea ice freezes and goes away every year, but the loss of the ice shelves causes loss of continental ice loss.