Climate Weekly: March 2, 2005

Climate Weekly
March 11, 2005

Climate Weekly is brought to you by The Center for Science and Public Policy (CSPP). CSPP is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy organization.

CSPP relies on scientific experts in many nations and the vast body of peer-reviewed literature to help lawmakers, policy makers, and the media distinguish between scientific findings that are agenda-driven and those that are based on accepted scientific methods and practices. In a timely manner, the Center's Science Watch Team alerts policy makers, the media, and the public to unreliable scientific claims and unjustified alarmism which often lead to public harm. We strive for a fair and balanced examination of science.

Antartic ice sheets are growing
The West Antarctic peninsula only covers one tenth of the south pole’s ice. There are rarely spectacular reports about the much larger parts of the continent. These do not provide a uniform scientific picture. In total, however, the ice masses of the continent, which hold about 70 per cent of the world’s fresh water resources, seem to be
growing. This conclusion was reported at the Earth Observation summit in Brussels in the middle of February by Antarctic researcher Duncan Wingham (University College London)... >>Read More<<

It is Cold that Kills
Hardly a month goes by without predictions that global warming will result in increased rates of disease, infections and deaths. The World Health Organisation (WHO) claims that some 150,000 deaths every year can be attributed to the effects of climate change. These assertions, however, are misleading on two counts.
>>Read More<<

Global warming, The Politicization of science, and Michael Chriton's "State of Fear"
On December 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurred off the coast of Northern Sumatra. The massive temblor, the largest in 40 years, spawned tsunamis that killed more than 150,000 people. The next day, a colleague at a think tank emailed me to ask if I had any opinions about the new Michael Crichton book, State of Fear... >>Read More<<

Hydroelectic power's dirty secret revealed
Contrary to popular belief, hydroelectric power can seriously damage the climate. Proposed changes to the way countries’ climate budgets are calculated aim to take greenhouse gas emissions from hydropower reservoirs into account, but some experts worry that they will not go far enough... >>Read More<<

The Trillion Dollar Scam: Kyoto leaves Oil-for-Food in the dust
One of the busiest guys on Capitol for the next six months will be Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), whom House International Relations Chairman Henry Hyde and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay have put in charge of the new subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight...>>Read More<<

Global Warming cleared on ice shelf collapse rap
The high-profile collapse of some Antarctica’s ice shelves is likely the result of natural current fluctuations, not global warming, says a leading British expert on polar climates...>>Read More<<

Mortality in London: Summer heat vs. Winter Cold
The authors note that "under all realistic scenarios of future climate change, the frequency of heat waves in the UK is projected to increase significantly over coming decades, raising the question of how best to meet the public health threats that more frequent and prolonged periods of hot weather will present." Hence, they provide data on patterns of temperature-related hospital admissions and deaths in Greater London during the mid 1990s to help shed some light on the subject. >>Read More<<

Open Season on Hockey and Peer Review
The recent 2/14 WSJ article (“Global Warring...” by Antonio Regaldo) addresses the debate that most readers of this site are well familiar with: the Mann et al. hockey stick. The WSJ is still asking and trying to answer the basic questions: hockey stick or no hockey stick? But the background premise of the article, stated explicitly and implicitly throughout, is that it was the hockey stick that led to Kyoto and other climate policy. Is it?
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Global Warming or Global Cooling
Almost as soon as the Kyoto Protocol on global warming came into effect on February 15, Kashmir suffered the highest snowfall in three decades with over 150 killed, and Mumbai recorded the lowest temperature in 40 years. Had temperatures been the highest for decades, newspapers would have declared this was proof of global warming. But whenever temperatures drop, the press keeps quiet. >>Read More<<