Current

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Um...

Posted by Devil's Kitchen at 10/30/2008 07:20:00 AM

An interesting article comes via Tom Nelson...
Antarctic flights could help reveal what drives climate change

But... er... I thought that we already knew what drives climate change? It's CO2 emissions from human activity, isn't it? I mean, we have a consensus, right? The science is settled...?

Now, just wait a cotton-pickin' minute: are you telling me that the scientists don't actually know the whole story and that climate may be a fuck sight more complicated than they're painting it?

Well, who'd'a thunk it?

On a more serious note, these people are investigating a particular aspect of past climate, rather than the future one.
According to the University of Texas, Antarctic ice cores have revealed aspects of the Earth's climate dating back 800,000 years.

About 1 million years ago, research shows, the Earth's climate changed in a way that caused ice ages to come and go more rapidly than before. Scientists have long wondered what caused the shift.

Well, I would guess that the Earth got warmer, but what do I know? But, whatever it was, I think that we can agree another ice age would be A Bad Thing for human civilisation in general.

And this brings us on to another aspect of this global warming thing (assuming that it's actually happening): given that the Medieval Warm Period—when the northern hemisphere (we have little data from the south) was about 1°C warmer than it is now—was a time of then unprecedented wealth expansion, why would a similar rise in the present day be so disastrous?

Labels: , , , ,


Posted by Devil's Kitchen at 10/30/2008 07:20:00 AM


16 Blogger Comments:

Blogger Shaun said...

I was talking to one of my clients yesterday who, coincidentally, is a UKIPer. I remarked that it has snowed lightly where I live in Newhaven that morning and he told me that it hadn't snowed in October since 1938.

I tutted and said "Global warming. Terrible, innit..."

10/30/2008 08:24:00 AM  
Anonymous snivelling coward said...

Give them time, they'll claim that global warming sorry Anthropologically Created Claptrap causes snowfall in October.

10/30/2008 09:09:00 AM  
Blogger The Secret Person said...

shaun - that's why they renamed it climate change, now whatever the weather, unless it identical to previous years, it is conclusive evidence that we need to be taxed more.

Devil - surely you know there was no Mediaeval Warm Period. It said so on the hockey stick graph!

10/30/2008 09:21:00 AM  
Blogger haddock said...

I notice in the linked article that the plane chosen to fly for hours on end over very hostile terrain.... is a re-engined DC-3.
The DC-3 is being grounded by the EU as being too dangerous for passenger flights.

10/30/2008 09:42:00 AM  
Blogger Letters From A Tory said...

The Medieval warm period may well have been a time of unprecedented wealth expansion, but without thousands of coal power stations.

10/30/2008 09:58:00 AM  
Blogger FlipC said...

As we talking science I've got to be pedantic - we're currently in an ice age which has lasted around 2-3m years; this is an interglacial.

What that means is that these ice-core records don't even date outside the current ice age. We're all just comparing our interglacial to previous interglacial periods.

Oh and just to put things in perspective the Eemian Stage 130k years ago was on average warmer then current temperatures but could swing by as much as 14 degrees in only a few decades; sadly we had no scientists at the time trying to blame these swings on the amount of man-made cooking fires.

10/30/2008 10:44:00 AM  
Blogger Dave said...

1. People believe what they want to believe, otherwise- explain the fascination with horoscopes, the Roman Catholic Church etc.
Facts don't come into it. They believe and that's enough for them.

The AGW lobby have the ear of government and as such have a vested interest in keeping the propaganda coming. Facts don't come into it and that's enough for them.

I'm of the opinion that the Industrial Reveolution prevented or kept the Ice Age at bay and now that the furnaces are all shut down it will will return. I also observe that the "record temperatures" are measured at Heathrow Airport where all the jet engines heat up the air.
I believe this and therefore it's a fact.

10/30/2008 12:21:00 PM  
Anonymous dizzyblonde said...

And the theory I believe and therefore regard as a fact is that there is a deep vein of puritanism in many people which leads them to want the flesh to be mortified every now and then, either by covering people up or stopping them dancing or eating or drinking, or wanting to impoverish and miserify them by forbidding them to keep warm, have baths, travel, defend themselves or speak their minds, even in private. Not that they would recognise the concept of privacy.

10/30/2008 12:57:00 PM  
Anonymous No more woolly jumpers, ever said...

Settled science: on this basis I had presumed all climate change investigations had ceased and all university departments, laboratories and research establishments looking into this matter had closed down. There is also no need for expensive reports either as they are henceforth pointless; we know everything we need to know. The Beeb tells us so and the Government have plans for all taxes required.

Yet... could it be this Climate Change malarkey is still paying someone's wages?

But I do know that there is a good reason why previous warm periods (if they existed, which we are encouraged to believe never did happen and the climate was stable for millions of years before we invented CO2 emissions) don't count.

Back then there weren't bandwagons and trends and lefties and greenies and agencies with agendas, so there couldn't have been a crisis, could there?

10/30/2008 01:02:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Duuuuh me thinked it wuz da sun dat doed it....

But then I'm not a scientist....

I just think what I'm told to think.... I think....

10/30/2008 06:28:00 PM  
Anonymous cookie said...

letters from a tory wrote:

'The Medieval warm period may well have been a time of unprecedented wealth expansion, but without thousands of coal power stations.'

...and also used lots of water and wind power! You're right - conclusive proof that high levels of economic growth are related to 'alternative' energy sources. With such an obvious truth staring us in the face, it makes you wonder why burning fossil fuels ever became the dominant source of energy production. Those greedy capitalists or early proto-socialists no doubt. One thing is for sure, it wasn't us Green Tories - our hands are clean!

10/30/2008 07:52:00 PM  
Blogger El Draque said...

I recall decades ago reading that the "Ice Ages" were actually warmer worldwide than now; the northern area was colder, due to local effects like winds or ocean currents.
In short - nobody knows enough to make a sensible policy decision.
"Precautionary principle" in this case should be - don't fix it until you know what's broke - if anything.

10/30/2008 08:13:00 PM  
Anonymous whoops said...

yep, it really IS the sun what does it, that's why mars' ice caps have been receding all the while ours have, and no doubt will start to grow again in tune with ours too...

10/30/2008 09:07:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Boston (MA) - Scientists at MIT have recorded a nearly simultaneous world-wide increase in methane levels. This is the first increase in ten years, and what baffles science is that this data contradicts theories stating man is the primary source of increase for this greenhouse gas.

http://www.tgdaily.com/html_tmp/content-view-39973-113-text.html

10/30/2008 10:09:00 PM  
Anonymous cookie said...

A truly extraordinary article:

http://ecoworld.com/features/2008/10/30/climate-science-is-it-currently-designed-to-answer-questions/

10/30/2008 11:42:00 PM  
Blogger Milan said...

I think there are several significant errors and misrepresentations in this post.

I have written a response on my own site.

11/07/2008 02:55:00 AM  

Post a Comment

Links to this post:

Create a Link

<< Home

Testimonials

  • "The best British political/libertarian blog on the web. Consistently excellent but not for the squeamish."—Christopher Snowdon
  • "[He] runs the infamous and fantastically sweary Devil’s Kitchen blog, and because he’s one of the naughtiest geeks (second only to the incredibly, incredibly naughty Guido Fawkes) he’s right at the top of the evil dork hierarchy."—Charlotte Gore
  • "I met the Devil's Kitchen the other night. What a charming young man he is, and considerably modest too..."—Peter Briffa
  • "The Devil's Kitchen exposes hypocrisy everywhere, no holds barred."—Wrinkled Weasel
  • "People can still be controversial and influential whilst retaining integrity—Devil's Kitchen springs to mind—and attract frequent but intelligent comment."—Steve Shark, at B&D
  • "Sometimes too much, sometimes wrong, sometimes just too much but always worth a read. Not so much a blog as a force of nature."—The Nameless Libertarian
  • "The Devil's Kitchen—a terrifying blog that covers an astonishing range of subjects with an informed passion and a rage against the machine that leaves me in awe..."—Polaris
  • "He rants like no one else in the blogosphere. But it's ranting in an eloquent, if sweary, kind of way. Eton taught him a lot."—Iain Dale
  • "But for all that, he is a brilliant writer—incisive, fisker- extraordinaire and with an over developed sense of humour... And he can back up his sometimes extraordinary views with some good old fashioned intellectual rigour... I'm promoting him on my blogroll to a daily read."—Iain Dale
  • "... an intelligent guy and a brilliant writer..."—A Very British Dude
  • "... the glorious Devil's Kitchen blog—it's not for the squeamish or easily offended..."—Samizdata
  • "... a very, smart article... takes a pretty firm libertarian line on the matter."—Samizdata
  • "By the way, DK seems to be on fucking good form at the moment."—Brian Mickelthwait
  • "Perhaps the best paragraph ever written in the history of human creation. It's our Devil on fine form."—Vindico
  • "Devil's Kitchen is the big name on the free-market libertarian strand of the British blogosphere... Profane rants are the immediate stand-out feature of DK's blog, but the ranting is backed up by some formidable argument on a wide range of issues particularly relating to British and European parliamentary politics, economics, and civil liberties."—Question That
  • "... an excellent, intelligent UK political blog which includes a great deal of swearing."—Dr Aubrey Blumsohn
  • "I like the Devil's Kitchen. I think it's one of the best written and funniest blogs in the business."—Conservative Party Reptile
  • "The. Top. UK. Blogger."—My Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy
  • "For sheer intelligence, erudition and fun, Iain Dale's Diary, Cranmer and Devil's Kitchen are so far ahead of the rest I don't see how they can figure in a top ten. They are the Beatles, Stones and Who of the blog world; the Astair, Bogart and Marlon Brando of the blog world; the Gerswin, Porter and Novello of the blog world; the Dot Cotton, Pat Butcher, Bette Lynch of the blog world..."—Wrinkled Weasel
  • "It's the blogging equivalent of someone eating Ostrich Vindaloo, washed down by ten bottles of Jamaican hot pepper sauce and then proceeding to breathe very close to your face while talking about how lovely our politicians are... But there's much more to his writing than four letter words."—Tom Tyler
  • "God bless the Devil's Kitchen... Colourful as his invective is, I cannot fault his accuracy."—Tom Paine
  • "The Devil's Kitchen is a life-affirming, life-enhancing blog ... This particular post will also lead you to some of the best soldiers in the army of swearbloggers of which he is Field Marshal."—The Last Ditch
  • "... underneath all the ranting and swearing [DK]'s a very intelligent and thoughtful writer whom many people ... take seriously, despite disagreeing with much of what he says."—Not Saussure
  • "... the most foul-mouthed of bloggers, Devils Kitchen, was always likely to provoke (sometimes disgust, but more often admiration)."—The Times Online
  • "The always entertaining Mr Devil's Kitchen..."—The Times's Comment Central
  • "Frankly, this is ranting of the very highest calibre."—The Nameless Libertarian
  • "I don't mean it literally, or even metaphorically. I just find that his atheism aside, I agree with everything the Devil (of Kitchen fame...) says. I particularly enjoy his well crafted and sharp swearing, especially when addressed at self righteous lefties..."—The Tin Drummer
  • "Spot on accurate and delightful in its simplicity, Devil's Kitchen is one of the reasons that we're not ready to write off EUroweenie-land just yet. At least not until we get done evacuating the ones with brains."—Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
  • "This hugely entertaining, articulate, witty Scottish commentator is also one of the most foul-mouthed bloggers around. Gird up your loins and have a look. Essential reading."—Doctor Crippen
  • "The Devil's Kitchen is one of the foremost blogs in the UK. The DK is bawdy, foul-mouthed, tasteless, vulgar, offensive and frequently goes beyond all boundaries of taste and decency. So why on earth does Dr Crippen read the DK? Because he reduces me to a state of quivering, helpless laughter."—Doctor Crippen's Grand Rounds
  • "DK is a take-no-prisoners sort of libertarian. His blog is renowned for its propensity for foul-mouthed invective, which can be both amusing and tiresome by turns. Nevertheless, he is usually lucid, often scintillating and sometimes illuminating."—Dr Syn
  • "If you enjoy a superior anti-Left rant, albeit one with a heavy dash of cursing, you could do worse than visit the Devil's Kitchen. The Devil is an astute observer of the evils of NuLabour, that's for sure. I for one stand converted to the Devil and all his works."—Istanbul Tory
  • "... a sick individual."—Peter Briffa
  • "This fellow is sharp as a tack, funny as hell, and—when something pisses him off—meaner than a badger with a case of the bullhead clap."—Green Hell
  • "Foul-mouthed eloquence of the highest standard. In bad taste, offensive, immoderate and slanderous. F***ing brilliant!—Guest, No2ID Forum
  • "a powerfully written right-of-center blog..."—Mangan's Miscellany
  • "I tend to enjoy Devil's Kitchen not only because I disagree with him quite a lot of the time but because I actually have to use my brain to articulate why."—Rhetorically Speaking
  • "This blog is currently slamming. Politics certainly ain't all my own. But style and prose is tight, fierce, provocative. And funny. OK, I am a child—swear words still crack a laugh."—Qwan
  • "hedonistic, abrasive but usually good-natured..."—The G-Gnome
  • "10,000 words per hour blogging output... prolific or obsessive compulsive I have yet to decide..."—Europhobia
  • "a more favoured blog from the sensible Right..."—Great Britain...
  • "Devils Kitchen, a right thinking man indeed..."—EU Serf
  • "an excellent blog..."—Rottweiler Puppy
  • "Anyone can cuss. But to curse in an imaginative fashion takes work."—Liftport Staff Blog
  • "The Devil's Kitchen: really very funny political blog."—Ink & Incapability
  • "I've been laffing fit to burst at the unashamed sweariness of the Devil's Kitchen ~ certainly my favourite place recently."—SoupDragon
  • "You can't beat the writing and general I-may-not-know-about-being-polite-but-I-know-what-I-like attitude."—SoupDragon
  • "Best. Fisking. Ever. I'm still laughing."—LC Wes, Imperial Mohel
  • "Art."—Bob
  • "It made me laugh out loud, and laugh so hard—and I don't even get all the references... I hope his politics don't offend you, but he is very funny."—Furious, WoT Forum
  • "DK himself is unashamedly right-wing, vitriolic and foul mouthed, liberally scattering his posts with four-letter-words... Not to be read if you're easily offended, but highly entertaining and very much tongue in cheek..."—Everything Is Electric
  • "This blog is absolutely wasted here and should be on the front page of one of the broadsheets..."—Commenter at The Kitchen
  • "[This Labour government] is the most mendacious, dishonest, endemically corrupt, power-hungry, incompetent, illiberal fucking shower of shits that has ruled this country..."—DK

Blogroll

Campaign Links

All: Daily Reads (in no particular order)

Politics (in no particular order)

Climate Change (in no particular order)

General & Humour (in no particular order)

Mac,Design Tech & IT (in no particular order)