CLIMATE CHANGE WEEKLY #112

POLAR ICE CAPS ARE GLOBAL WARMING DENIERS

Southern Hemisphere polar ice extent set new records this week, combining with fairly average Northern Hemisphere polar ice extent to set the final stages of a year marked by above-average global polar ice extent. Polar ice caps, apparently, are global warming deniers, attacking the science of alarmist global warming predictions.

Average Southern Hemisphere polar sea ice extent during November 2013 was nearly 1 million square kilometers above the long-term average.

When polar ice happens to be below average in a given year, global warming alarmists cite the annual departure from the long-term mean as proof of a human-induced global warming crisis. During years like 2013, when polar ice extent is above the long-term average, global warming alarmists are largely silent on the topic.

Importantly, even if the years with below-average polar ice extent began to form a meaningful trend, this in itself would not constitute a global warming crisis. Polar ice retreat would merely reflect warming temperatures, even if the warming is modest and benign. During recent years when global polar ice extent has been below normal, it has been Northern Hemisphere polar ice 'floating in the Arctic Ocean' driving the global trend. When floating sea ice melts, it does nothing to raise global sea levels.

Southern Hemisphere polar ice, resting primarily on the Antarctic continent, has been consistently expanding during the 30-plus years since NASA/NOAA satellites first began precisely measuring polar ice extent.

SOURCES: Cryosphere Today and Not a Lot of People Know That

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IN THIS ISSUE

Pew poll: Climate change a low foreign policy priority; Lukewarmist Curry supports Nebraska study on natural climate cycles, Newly published paper predicts a new Little Ice Age Japan pulls back from CO2 reduction pledge; Global rice production sets record, other crops also strong; This is why they no longer call it 'global warming' Alarmist Gelbspan sanitizes his Web site to hide false claims

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PEW POLL: CLIMATE CHANGE A LOW FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITY

The American public strongly disagrees with the Obama administration making global warming issues a top foreign policy priority, a new Pew Research Center poll shows. Only 37 percent of Americans say dealing with global climate change should be a top U.S. foreign policy priority, reflecting the lowest concern about climate change since Pew began conducting the poll in 1997. Even among Democrats, only 57 percent say dealing with climate change should be a top priority, Pew reports.

SOURCE: Pew Research Center

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LUKEWARMIST CURRY SUPPORTS NEBRASKA STUDY ON NATURAL CYCLES

Lukewarmist climate scientist Judith Curry supported the Nebraska legislature allocating a modest $44,000 to fund a study of how natural climate cycles impact drought in the Cornhusker State. Alarmist scientists have tried to rally opposition to the funding, claiming any climate study should focus on alleged human influence on the climate. “Ok, I’m mystified. … Exactly what is the problem with Nebraska lawmakers wanting to support research from its state land-grant university to help them understand the natural variability of drought? Presumably they want to understand what the state might be facing over the next few decades in terms of drought. It is very difficult to make an argument that this variability over the next few decades will be dominated by AGW,” observed Curry, professor and chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

SOURCE: Climate Etc.

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NEWLY PUBLISHED PAPER PREDICTS A NEW LITTLE ICE AGE

Russian physicist Habibullo Abdussamatov published a new paper examining recent quiet solar activity and predicting a new Little Ice Age will begin within the next few decades. Abdussamatov documents an ongoing decline in recent solar output. Should the decline continue, Earth may experience climate conditions not seen since the depths of the Little Ice Age brought famine, plague, extreme weather events, crop failures, and an increase in human misery several centuries ago.

SOURCE: Science and Public Policy Institute

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GLOBAL RICE PRODUCTION SETS RECORD, OTHER CROPS ALSO STRONG

Global rice production set a new record in 2013, while production was also strong for global corn, wheat, and other crops. The bountiful 2013 harvest continues a long-term trend of dramatically increasing gross crop production, as well as crop production per acre, as the planet continues its modest warming.

SOURCE: Washington Times

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THIS IS WHY THEY NO LONGER CALL IT 'GLOBAL WARMING'

More than 1,000 low temperature records were set in the United States this week, bringing several snowfall records, as well. Temperatures dropped below zero degrees Fahrenheit throughout much of the Western United States during the latter part of the week.

SOURCE: Climate Depot

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ALARMIST GELBSPAN SANITIZES HIS WEB SITE TO HIDE FALSE CLAIMS

Global warming activist Ross Gelbspan sanitized his Web site of incriminating evidence after global warming realist Russell Cook caught Gelbspan falsely claiming industry was intimidating news networks into failing to report connections between extreme weather events and global warming. Cook, however, caught the incriminating evidence in several screen captures of Gelbspan's Web site before Gelbspan tried to make the evidence disappear.

SOURCE: Watts Up With That?