Climate Science Reaches a Landmark That Chills Global Warming Alarmists

James Taylor, Heartland Institute, 12/28/11

As 2011 comes to a close, climate science celebrates an important landmark. It has now been 33 years, or a third of a century, since sensors aboard NASA and NOAA satellites began measuring temperatures throughout the earth’s lower atmosphere.

For 33 years, we have had precise, objective temperature data that do not require guesswork corrections to compensate for uneven thermometer placement and non-climate surface temperature biases such as expanding urban heat islands and land-use changes. The satellite data, moreover, tell us the earth is warming at a more modest, gradual, and reassuring pace than was foretold by United Nations computer models.

The satellite sensors became operational at a time that is very convenient for those who believe humans are causing a global warming crisis. Global temperatures declined from the mid-1940s through the late 1970s. As a result, the sensors coincidentally began measuring global temperatures at the very beginning of our most recent global warming trend. Had the sensors been in place 33 years earlier, during the 1940s, the overall pace of warming shown by the satellite sensors would be less than half what is shown by the post-1978 temperature data.

Even so, the measured temperature trend is quite modest. John Christy, who along with Roy Spencer oversees the NASA satellite sensor program, reports temperatures have warmed at an average pace of 0.14 degrees Celsius per decade since the satellite sensors became operational. This is merely half the pace predicted by computer models utilized by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). ... [Read the rest.]

Save the Date: First Annual Fellowship Dinner

Friday, April 20, 2012, Fairview Park Marriott, Falls Church, VA

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Wayne Grudem, Research Professor of Theology and Biblical Studies, Phoenix Seminary
Dr. Grudem has served on the Cornwall Alliance’s Board of Advisors from its start in 2005. He has written more than 100 articles and edited and authored numerous books. His most recent, Politics—According to the Bible, includes an outstanding chapter on the theology, ethics, science, and economics of environmental stewardship.

Reception begins at 6:30 p.m., Dinner follows at 7:15 p.m.
For more information, contact us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Cornwall on the Road

Two Cornwall Scholars to Lecture for Education Policy Conference
Cornwall Alliance Senior Fellow Dr. Vishal Mangalwadi, one of the lecturers for Cornwall’s Resisting the Green Dragon DVD series, will speak on “The Book that Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization,” at the Educational Policy Conference of The Constitutional Coalition at the St. Louis Frontenac Hilton, 1335 S. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, MO, January 26–28. Cornwall National Spokesman Dr. E. Calvin Beisner, author of Where Garden Meets Wilderness: Evangelical Entry into the Environmental Debate and Prospects for Growth: A Biblical View of Population, Resources, and the Future (both available from www.ECalvinBeisner.com), will speak on “Preserving Reason and Liberty from the Threat of Post-Normal Science.” This year’s conference theme is “The Republic: Risk and Responsibility, Submission or Sovereignty.”

Three Cornwall Scholars to Lecture for truthXchange Think Tank
Cornwall Alliance Senior Fellow Dr. James A. Wanliss, author of the book Resisting the Green Dragon: Dominion, Not Death, Associate Professor of Physics at Presbyterian College, Clinton, SC, and an Expert Reviewer for Working Group I (Science) for the forthcoming Fifth Assessment Report (5AR) of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, will speak on “Two-ism and Science” for the truthXchange Think Tank “The Beauty of Two: Making a World of Difference,” February 7–10, at New Life Presbyterian Church, 615 W. Citricado Parkway, Escondido, CA. Cornwall National Spokesman Dr. E. Calvin Beisner will speak on “Two-ism and Politics.” Cornwall Senior Fellow Rev. Dr. Peter Jones, Executive Director of truthXchange and Emeritus Professor at Westminster Theological Seminary, Escondido, CA, who gave two lectures for Cornwall’s Resisting the Green Dragon DVD series, will host the conference and speak on “Two-ism and the Doctrine of God.”

Tips for Earth Stewards

Simple things you can do to make the earth more fruitful, beautiful, and safe.

Slugging lines in the Washington D.C. area.

Carpooling has declined in popularity since its inception. As driving has become less expensive, total rides carpooled have dropped from around 20% to 10%. Organized and unorganized carpooling techniques have arisen in a few cities. The most common complaint about carpooling is inflexible scheduling. Benefits include fewer miles driven per car, less maintenance as a consequence, the right to use the H.O.V. lane, reduced tolls, and savings on fuel. Unless driving becomes more expensive again, carpooling will not likely become more common or alleviate emissions—which have declined because of technology, not behavior—or urban traffic congestion. The average annual commute is about 6,000–6,500 miles. Carpooling with only one other person can save half of those miles and their cost in maintenance, fuel, vehicle longevity, and tolls. But there are other blessings to carpooling. The average one-way commute is 24 minutes (30 minutes in large cities), so carpooling can give you almost an hour a day to witness Christ or build friendships.

Fun Facts for the Week

Energy Intensity and GDP Growth (Steven Hayward/The American)
“If GDP growth and energy use are closely tied, it will be even more difficult to meet CO2 emission goals than most have expected. Without huge efficiency savings, a reduction in emissions (say, 80 percent by 2050) is likely to require a similar percentage reduction in world GDP. Because of the huge disparity in real GDP between the developed nations and the developing nations, the majority of this GDP reduction would likely need to come from developed nations. It is difficult to see this happening without economic collapse.”

Extreme Tree Huggers

Members of Earth first in North Carolina clamorously mourn trees, demonstrating their priorities—nature over men, including themselves. Romans 1:25 says, “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

Recent Significant Developments

Science & Ecology

The Ocean Is Not Getting Acidified (Willis Eschenbach/WattsUpWithThat?)
Ocean acidification, better termed neutralization, from carbon dioxide dissolving into the ocean is seen as global warming’s evil twin. However, the amount of rise in pH does not even out-pace natural variation of the ocean. The fear also neglects the effects of numerous buffer agents that can counter large swings in pH, and observed data contradicts predictive models. Neutralization may be highly beneficial for the primary producers of the ocean—more carbon dioxide means more food. More here.

Freeman Dyson: Climate Change Predictions Are “Absurd” (BigThink.com)
In the first video, Freeman Dyson, one of the world’s foremost physicists, explains why he doesn’t worry about climate catastrophe, thinks it’s absurd to predict climate 100 years in advance, and believes it’s more important to prepare to adapt to whatever the climate future holds than to try to control climate. In the second, he responds to those who criticize his position. More here.

Study: 2011 Was Ninth Warmest in 33 Years (United Press International)
Atmospheric scientist John Christy reports that based on his recently ended thirty-three year satellite temperature records 2011 was the 9th warmest year in the period.

Politics & Debate

A Sustainable Depression (Patrick Michaels/The Washington Times)
Why is it that despite frequent decreases of 90% in the total value of many alternative energy companies, not to mention our economy as a whole, we still have increases in the subsidies poured into alternative energy? “Natural-gas-fired electricity now costs about 84 percent less than solar, and it cuts carbon-dioxide emissions compared to conventional coal by 30 percent to 50 percent.”

Green Prophets Miss it Again! (Bishop Harry Jackson/Townhall.com)
Socialist utopists always promise the one thing they can never deliver, a utopia. A “green” utopia is no different. President Obama promised that America would become a “green” economy, but as usual those hurt are the poor.

Law, Regulation, & Litigation

The EPA's Fracking Scare (The Wall Street Journal)
The EPA reports that hydraulic fracturing has contaminated ground water in Wyoming by adding volatile hydrocarbons to the aquifers. However, hydrocarbons were in the water long before hydraulic fracturing was used, and the levels remain safe.

Another Roadblock for the EPA (Kenneth Green/The American)
The EPA’s Cross State Air Pollution regulation has met a deadfall in court, where it has been delayed for further review. The scientific oversights in EPA studies may allow the courts to conclude that prevailing wind currents and their effects on emission distribution do not warrant specific regulation. More here.

Religion & Ethics

Children of the Corn: The Renewable Fuels Disaster (Aaron Smith/The American)
“Deficit hawks, environmentalists, and food processors are celebrating the expiration of the ethanol tax credit. [But removing] the tax credit but keeping the [Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)] is like scraping a little frosting from the ethanol-boondoggle cake. The RFS mandates that at least 37 percent of the 2011–12 corn crop be converted to ethanol and blended with the gasoline that powers our cars. The ethanol mandate is causing corn demand to outstrip supply by more and more each year, creating a vulnerable market in which even the slightest production disturbance will have devastating consequences for the world’s poor. It is time for the federal government to stop requiring cars to burn food.”

Julian Simon v. Newt Gingrich: Only Recycle If It’s Worth It (David Bier/GlobalWarming.org)
Are resources valuable? Yes, they are valued at their market cost. Recycling is only a good idea if it is an economically viable option. “The appropriate rule in such cases [recycling] is that you should conserve and not waste just so far as the benefits of conserving are greater than the costs if you do not conserve… Recycling does not ‘save trees.’ It may keep some particular trees from being cut down. But those trees never would have lived if there were no demand for new paper—no one would have bothered to plant them.”

Economics & Energy

'Beyond Petroleum’ Gives Up on Solar (Paul Chesser/National Legal and Policy Center)
Despite the low-cost manufacturing in China and India, and some generous government grants, BP (British Petroleum, aka "Beyond Petroleum") has announced that it will discontinue its solar business for lack of profitability. Even the Chinese solar companies can’t keep a profit; they’re staking their futures on oil sands.

When Graft Won't Save You, It's Called Green Energy (John Ransom/Townhall)
“The proof of the failure of solar power isn’t in the Solyndra bankruptcy, but in potential [bankruptcies] by industry leaders like First Solar (FSLR), the largest solar company in the world. Since May of 2008 … the company has lost 90 percent of its value…. [T]he number of short-sellers—those investors who are betting the stock will go down—now amounts to about 43 percent of the shares in public hands as of December 15, 2011. In the meantime CEO Robert Gillette exited stage right, with $30 million thank you from the company in October of 2011. But he didn’t leave before First Solar received federal loan guarantees and other consideration to the tune of $3.5 billion.”

Food & Agriculture

Farm and Range Management to Mitigate and Adapt to Climate Change (Delgado et. al/Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change)
Studies by the Non-governmental International Panel on Climate Change demonstrate that forested lands cleared out for agricultural use frequently become carbon sinks, taking up more carbon dioxide than they would have as “natural” systems. Furthermore, the problems predicted by climate alarmists about soil erosion and nutritive deficiencies are problems we have dealt with for decades.

Meet the Critics: George H. Taylor

Recommended Sites and Newsletters

E. Calvin Beisner, Ph.D., Founder and National Spokesman
Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation

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