This is a big deal politically.
A study funded by the Koch brothers, and led by a global warming skeptic, has confirmed that the planet is warming rapidly and it's because of greenhouse gases emitted by humans.
CALL me a converted skeptic. Three years ago I identified problems in previous climate studies that, in my mind, threw doubt on the very existence of global warming. Last year, following an intensive research effort involving a dozen scientists, I concluded that global warming was real and that the prior estimates of the rate of warming were correct. I’m now going a step further: Humans are almost entirely the cause.
Our results show that the average temperature of the earth’s land has risen by two and a half degrees Fahrenheit over the past 250 years, including an increase of one and a half degrees over the most recent 50 years. Moreover, it appears likely that essentially all of this increase results from the human emission of greenhouse gases.
These findings are stronger than those of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations group that defines the scientific and diplomatic consensus on global warming.
This study isn't important scientifically, because it simply confirms what already has been known by climatologists who haven't drunk the oil industry-funded disinformation happy juice. Everything is fine; no problem; keep on using fossil fuels all you want.
Basically the game is over for global warming deniers.
There's little room for them to play their anti-scientific games when as noted a skeptic as physicist Richard Muller admits that he's been wrong. Kudos to Muller for putting science above his skepticism.
The Guardian has a story about the study, which will be formally released next week. Excerpts:
The Earth's land has warmed by 1.5C over the past 250 years and "humans are almost entirely the cause", according to a scientific study set up to address climate change sceptics' concerns about whether human-induced global warming is occurring.
Prof Richard Muller, a physicist and climate change sceptic who founded the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature (Best) project, said he was surprised by the findings. "We were not expecting this, but as scientists, it is our duty to let the evidence change our minds." He added that he now considers himself a "converted sceptic" and his views had undergone a "total turnaround" in a short space of time.
...Muller said his team's analysis suggested there would be 1.5 degrees of warming over land in the next 50 years, but if China continues its rapid economic growth and its vast use of coal then that same warming could take place in less than 20 years.
"Science is that narrow realm of knowledge that, in principle, is universally accepted," wrote Muller. "I embarked on this analysis to answer questions that, to my mind, had not been answered. I hope that the Berkeley Earth analysis will help settle the scientific debate regarding global warming and its human causes. Then comes the difficult part: agreeing across the political and diplomatic spectrum about what can and should be done."
The game is over for climate change deniers simply because said denial is just that: a rhetorical "game".
The game is over for homo sapiens as a species because: a) homo sapiens is a transitory adaptation that b) will emphatically NOT stop burning fossil fuels until such time as there is either none left or the remainder is not worth the cost of recovery.
Legislation concerning mandatory reduction of greenhouse gases will fail. Every governing body on the planet will affix signatures to documents in climate-controlled enclaves that members flew to in jets and drove to in Mercedes-Benz limousines, know that it is just a dog-and-pony show.
Denial has always been the name of the game.
Posted by: Willie R | July 30, 2012 at 04:04 AM
What choice does the AGW press have but to put lipstick on this pig and get some political mileage out of it? And how better to spin this scientific embarrassment than by playing the “converted skeptic” card Muller kindly dealt them?
But the cat is out of the bag. Michael Mann has come out saying, “…this is all really about Richard Muller’s self-aggrandizement.” David Appell calls the study “foolish.” William Connolly calls it “rubbish.”
Never fear, it’s not too late to play the rhetorical game Willie R highlights. The “converted skeptic” political masquerade it is.
Just one problem… do these sound like the words of a skeptic?
“Let me be clear. My own reading of the literature and study of paleoclimate suggests strongly that carbon dioxide from burning of fossil fuels will prove to be the greatest pollutant of human history. It is likely to have severe and detrimental effects on global climate.” – Richard Muller, 2003
“There is a consensus that global warming is real. …it’s going to get much, much worse.” – Richard Muller, 2008
“If Al Gore reaches more people and convinces the world that global warming is real, even if he does it through exaggeration and distortion – which he does, but he’s very effective at it – then let him fly any plane he wants.” – Richard Muller, 2008
“I was never a skeptic” – Richard Muller, 2011
Skeptic not. Rhetorical game indeed.
Sincerely,
Big Oil
Posted by: DJ | July 30, 2012 at 01:29 PM
“Herr Muller’s conversion piece should clinch it.” This is hilarious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WYup_vNcoEs
Sincerely,
Big Oil
Posted by: DJ | July 30, 2012 at 09:23 PM
DJ, you don't understand the difference between scientific skepticism and anti-scientific skepticism. Muller is a competent scientist. He hasn't doubted the central truths about global warming.
But he's been skeptical about some of the details, including the accuracy of temperature measurements and the role humans play in global warming.
See Muller's own words:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/opinion/the-conversion-of-a-climate-change-skeptic.html?pagewanted=all
Now he's no longer a scientific skeptic. Like a good scientist, he's changed his mind in the face of facts. You and other global warming deniers should do the same.
Like I said, game over. Truth has triumphed. Anti-scientific deniers are standing on a steadily shrinking iceberg of falsity. Soon they will have to join the real world.
Posted by: Brian Hines | July 30, 2012 at 10:32 PM
Blogger B wrote:
"Like I said, game over. Truth has triumphed. Anti-scientific deniers are standing on a steadily shrinking iceberg of falsity. Soon they will have to join the real world."
--So what? As Willie R stated above humans will not stop burning fossil fuels and all legislation created to control this will fail. It's too late anyway. The ball has been set in motion.
Posted by: tucson | July 31, 2012 at 10:23 AM
“Muller is a competent scientist. …he's been (scientifically) skeptical about some of the details…”
Brian, I’m afraid you’re going to need more lipstick than that.
Per Muller’s words in the NYT piece, here are some of those details:
- Hurricane Katrina and intense tornado activity cannot be attributed to global warming.
- Polar bears aren’t dying from receding ice.
- It may be currently no warmer than a thousand years ago (read: Mann’s hockey stick is an illusion).
- Link to global warming of summer 2012 US heat wave is “weaker than tenuous.”
You (often with the help of skepticalscience.com) have been in the alarmist camp with these very arguments for years. You’ve labeled “denier” anyone with Muller’s skepticism regarding them. Glad to see you’re now finally opening your mind to the scientific side of skepticism.
By the way, who does this competent scientist, Muller, credit for increased accuracy of temperature measurements – a concern of his you cite? It’s someone else you’ve previously labeled “denier” – Anthony Watts. Muller said: “lf Watts hadn't done his work, we would not have reliable data today. The fact that he did that means he's a hero; he deserves some sort of international prize." (http://www.bishop-hill.net/blog/2012/4/2/muller-on-watts.html)
Sincerely,
Big Oil
Posted by: DJ | July 31, 2012 at 01:15 PM
The fact remains... no matter how anti-science global warming deniers try to obscure the truth... that...
Global warming is happening.
Faster than the IPCC expected.
Because of human-emitted greenhouse gases.
The consequences are serious.
Muller used to be skeptical about these truths. Now, he isn't. You're fond of obscuring simple truths with irrelevant details. Feel free. The big truths remain.
Global warming deniers have no place to hide. They were wrong before, and they're even wronger before. Game over. Time to deal with reality.
Posted by: Blogger Brian | July 31, 2012 at 03:27 PM
“You’re fond of obscuring the truth with irrelevant details.”
So Mann’s hockey stick is an irrelevant detail? You may want to keep that opinion to yourself.
The summer 2012 heat wave is an irrelevant detail? That’s an interesting position given that you dedicated a post to the “heat wave-global warming link” two short weeks ago.
How about peer review, is that now an irrelevant detail for you too? Didn’t peer review used to be your scientific gold standard, Brian? Given the criticism of Muller’s study that has already hit from the AGW-friendly crowd, what will your reaction be if no journal agrees to publish? Will you abandon Muller, or go shopping for a new shade of lipstick?
Oh, and just for fun check out this fair and balanced apolitical portrayal of Muller by MSNBC/Maddow. See the screen graphics at the 6:00 mark of her interview with him. She doesn’t just label him a former skeptic (as if). The screen text says, “RICHARD MULLER FMR. CLIMATE-CHANGE DENIER” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/#48409332
Sincerely,
Big Oil
Posted by: DJ | July 31, 2012 at 08:48 PM
[Note from Blogger Brian: per usual, global warming denier DJ only tells a bit of the truth. Because I don't allow anonymous untruthful comments about global warming, often I add some factiness to what he posts.
Actually, the person who took the photo of melting street lights says this happened because of a nearby fire coupled with the "unbelievable heat" in Oklahoma. Water rationing is mandatory in Oklahoma City.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/08/02/630211/in-oklahoma-its-so-hot-the-street-lights-are-melting/
Excerpts:
"Oklahoma continues to get scorched by extreme heat and drought. The entire state is now in extreme drought, and more than 70% of the state is in severe drought (or worse), up from 50% just a week ago.
According to Gary McManus of the Oklahoma Climatological Survey, July was the 23rd month out of the last 28 to come in warmer than statewide averages. Bloomberg reports:
More than 64 temperature records were broken in Oklahoma during a scorching July, and additional ones fell across the state Wednesday on the first day of August, according to the National Climatic Data Center.
The National Weather Service reported that Guthrie, about 30 miles north of Oklahoma City, registered 114 degrees to break the statewide record of 113 degrees, set at Meeker in 1896 and tied in Ralston last year.
The Oklahoman reports:
The January through July statewide average of 63.9 degrees was easily the warmest on record for the first seven months of the year at 4.8 degrees above normal.
It’s not only been extremely hot, but very dry. The May through July statewide average rainfall total of 5.99 inches fell 6.25 inches below normal and ranked as the third-driest period on record, McManus said.
Norman and Watonga have each gone 56 consecutive days with less than a tenth of an inch of rain on any one day, according to the Oklahoma Mesonet weather network.
In some areas of Oklahoma, the drought has been like one solid punch. Since October 2010, areas in the western Oklahoma Panhandle have only had 17 to 20 inches of rainfall, McManus said.
Even as residents swelter in the relentless heat, Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe continued his tirade about man-made global warming during a Senate hearing yesterday, saying the science had “collapsed.”
This isn’t the first piece of heat-related irony to hit Inhofe. Last year, the pro-pollution Senator had to cancel his keynote address at the Heartland Institute’s climate denial conference after getting sick from an algae bloom exacerbated by extreme heat and drought. He joked at the time, the “environment strikes back.”
But it’s no joke what we’re doing to the climate and what, as a result, the climate is starting to do to us — and the residents of parched Oklahoma City.]
---------------------
How embarrassing for Think Progress/Climate Progress and AGW alarmist Bill McKibben. Too bad they didn’t employ just a little bit of skepticism.
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=e928fbb4-802a-23ad-43ed-f10460c56be2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=C_Kh7nLplWo
Sincerely,
Big Oil
Posted by: DJ | August 02, 2012 at 08:53 PM
Actually, you and the alarmist Think Progress headline are wrong again, Brian. There’s no water rationing in OKC. They have even/odd street address lawn watering rotation which is quite different and very routine during summer in the Midwest. If they were rationing water the lawns would be brown and the swimming pools empty. http://www.okc.gov/news/2012_08/Oklahoma_City_Implements_Mandatory_Odd_Even_Watering_Program.html
I’m always impressed with the degree to which you’ll defend the indefensible. You’re wrong about how Think Progress presented the picture of melting street lights. They originally posted that photo with alarmist intent supposedly believing the heat wave caused that damage. The author, Stephen Lacey, was even tweeting about it.
The second paragraph in your [Note] is from the “UPDATE” Think Progress posted above the street light photo. That update was posted AFTER folks began to correct Lacey informing him that a dumpster fire caused the melting. But ignorance knows no bounds – so now Think Progress believes the dumpster went up in flames due to 115 F temperatures! Soon, cities all throughout the Great Plains region will begin to spontaneously combust. Theories are being developed as to why Phoenix and Vegas have not yet completely incinerated.
UV-rated plastic doesn’t melt from a 115 F heat wave. Yet this obvious fact didn’t keep alarmists Stephen Lacey at Think Progress, Bill McKibben, and Climate Reality (Al Gore blog) from posting and tweeting the photo in full belief that it does. What’s their new cover story? Dumpsters spontaneously combust on hot days!
Embarrassment heaped upon embarrassment. We’re awash in a sea of idiots.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=C_Kh7nLplWo
Sincerely,
Big Oil
Posted by: DJ | August 03, 2012 at 04:58 PM
Dj, here's the problem I have with the sort of ridiculous "gotcha!" pseudo-scientific crap global warming deniers love to engage in.
They have almost zero facts on their side.
So they resort to personal ad hominem attacks on scientists ("Ooh, Dr. X called global warming denier Y a nasty name, so he must have falsified his theories!") or nit-picking about irrelevant details that have nothing to do with the science of climate change ("Ooh, at first Climate Progress reported that street lights melted because of high temperatures, and now the photographer who took the photo says it was because of a dumpster fire PLUS high temperatures!"
So what? The facts of climate science remain:
The Earth is warming quite rapidly.
Greenhouse gases emitted by humans are the central cause.
The consequences of this warming likely will be catastrophic.
Posted by: Brian Hines | August 03, 2012 at 10:42 PM
Brian – exactly! Why do those who supposedly own the facts feel such urgent need to sensationalize the non-factual? They did exactly what you don’t like – they used “ridiculous ‘gotcha!’ pseudo-scientific crap” in an attempt to shame Inhofe.
An ad-hominem attack is a personal attack in lieu of nothing else to criticize. I am directly criticizing the baseless ignorant thinking of supposed climate experts who went on record believing that street lights melted in 115 F heat and that it was a sure sign of global warming.
How can you not be skeptical of anyone who displays such thinking, who reacts to their own false thinking with opportunist-alarmist flare, and then uses a supposed global-warming induced dumpster fire story to cover for it? Why would anyone with all the facts on their side feel the need to wallow in the shallow end of the pool like this?
Most importantly, why am I asking these questions, Brian, and not you?
Sincerely,
Big Oil
Posted by: DJ | August 04, 2012 at 10:37 AM
DJ, there's absolutely no equivalency between (1) a scientific consensus where 98% of the world's climate scientists agree about the symptoms, causes, and consequences of human-caused global warming, and (2) a few global warming deniers who refuse to accept reality.
Give it up. Your side has lost. My side (the side of truth, reality, and science) has won -- as it should, and usually does, after falsifiers have faded away.
Posted by: Brian Hines | August 04, 2012 at 11:46 AM