By P Gosselin on 25, March 2013
The lethal “100-year, record-smashing” spring cold and snow spreading across Europe over the past month has for the most part been avoided like the plague by Germany’s mainstream media. The silence over the record cold and frost, which has killed thousands and cost billions, has been ear-ringing.
Yet some leading dailies are breaking ranks, and have begun to examine the phenomenon critically and openly.
For example veteran journalist at German flagship daily Die Welt today has stunned the rest of the German mainstream media with a piece titled Scientists warn of ice age.
German flagship daily reports that “scientists warning of ice age.”
Kulke writes that recently a growing number of scientific publications have been appearing in leading journals, and that they have been challenging the simplistic “one dimensional CO2 explanation” for climate change and showing that even the unlikely “doubling of atmospheric CO2 concentration by 2050 would not have dramatic effects.”
Kulke writes:
Yet, papers with such content, even though they have passed the peer-review process, do not make any headlines. But they have been becoming much more frequent recently.”
Increasingly it seems more and more scientists are now seeing huge opportunity in overturning one of the most ballyhooed scientific hypotheses of modern time, funding be damned.
In the Die Welt piece, Kulke asks if the record cold and snow over much of the northern hemisphere “is just a coincidence”. The odds are increasing that it is not, and that it’s not for nothing that a growing number of scientists are becoming friendly to other explanations and that the body of evidence supporting a combination of explanations is taking shape quickly. Kulke writes that it is therefore no surprise that 2 Russian scientists have recently joined the ever more thunderous chorus of alternative explanations on what drives climate. He writes:
It’s probably no coincidence that ever louder scientific opinions warning of an imminent ice period are coming also from Russia. Vladimir Baschkin and Rauf Galiulin have recently recognized the ice age possibility in a study. Both biogeochemists, a discipline that also includes the study of the Earth’s atmosphere, have written a study for the Research Institute Vniigaz of the Gazprom concern, an address of course that cannot be said is free of lobbyists. However, their arguments are underpinned by findings that are gaining more and more acceptance from independent science: solar activity is weakening considerably to an extent that was last seen several hundred years ago, the Little Ice Age, according to scientists.”
Kulke writes that not only is the CO2 science for explaining climate change one-dimensional, but that also only looking at changes in solar irradiance is completely inadequate. The sun’s fluctuating magnetic activity and its impact on the Earth’s atmosphere, direct and indirect, though not well understood, are proving to have a far greater influence on the Earth’s climate than many are willing to admit. This is all being backed up by leading research institutes such as CERN in Geneva and the Danish National Space Institute of Denmark.
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PS: Searching for “Vladimir Baschkin and Rauf Galiulin” sadly may not yield any results. Try searching under “Wladimir Baschkin und Rauf Galiulin”
Snow fell on London again today as forecasters said the freezing conditions had caused today to be on track to be the coldest March day we’ve had in 27 years.
The south of England has been the worst hit today, and commuters and other travellers have had to contend with ice and snow.
Blizzards were reported on the M40 in Warwickshire and there were several accidents during the rush hour. Strong winds added to drivers’ problems with falling trees blocking some roads. On the trains, the conditions led to delays in Sussex and Hampshire.
Forecasters warned of snow spreading to nearly every area of Britain, with almost 4inexpected in the worst-hit areas.
The last time the UK experienced such a cold March day was on March 1 1986. In contrast, this time two years ago the country was basking in balmy temperatures of up to 17C (63F).
In Sussex, police said there had been “a number” of crashes caused by the snowy conditions as they warned motorists to take extra care on the roads.
With more snow showers expected throughout the week, bookmakers have slashed the odds for a white Easter.
“Today has been a very cold day and it’s going to be a bitterly cold night,” , Laura Caldwell, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, said.
“South-eastern England is seeing the worst of the weather along with the Channel Islands and should see 2cm to 5cm of snow. “Elsewhere, there will be scattered snow showers across much of the UK. It will be very frosty overnight but tomorrow will be a brighter day so will feel less bitterly cold.
“The South East of England will be the coldest overnight at minus 6 to minus 7C, and will remain the coldest tomorrow at around 2 to 3C. The warmest place will be the north-west of Scotland at 5 to 6C.
“It’s not going to get warm any time soon.”
One lane of the M48 Severn Bridge was closed and falling trees blocked some Welsh roads. Some of the roads where driving conditions were at their worst today included the A46 in Nottinghamshire, the A14 in Suffolk and the A353 in Dorset. Fallen trees blocked roads in Newquay in Cornwall and in Lynton in Devon.
An RAC spokesman said it was on a red alert situation with its call centre teams and patrols dealing with 30% more breakdowns than on a normal Monday in March.
Flurries of snow fell on parts of the capital this morning but the snow was not expected to be heavy in London, with up to 1cm forecast to fall. But outside London in Kent, Sussex and southern Hampshire the snow is forecast to be heavier, with up to 10cm in the worst affected areas.
Bookmakers have slashed the odds for a white Easter.
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UK’s coldest spring since 1963 claims 5,000 lives: Pensioners worst affected and experts say final toll could be ‘horrendous’
2,000 extra deaths registered in just the first two weeks of March. And for February, 3,057 extra deaths registered in England and Wales. Campaigners warn weather could prove deadly for thousands more
By PADRAIC FLANAGAN
PUBLISHED: 19:37 EST, 23 March 2013 | UPDATED: 12:10 EST, 24 March 2013
Freezing Britain’s unusually harsh winter could have cost thousands of pensioners their lives.
This month is on track to be the coldest March for 50 years – and as the bitter Arctic conditions caused blackouts and traffic chaos yesterday, experts warned of an ‘horrendous’ death toll among the elderly.
About 2,000 extra deaths were registered in just the first two weeks of March compared with the average for the same period over the past five years.
Whiteout: Blizzards caused huge snow drifts leaving these cars nearly completely covered in Hadfield, Derbyshire
Blizzards: The Peak District was one of the worst affected areas as blizzards swept the UK overnight
And for February, 3,057 extra deaths were registered in England and Wales compared with the five-year average for the month. Campaigners at Age UK, which says 26,000 people die needlessly in winter every year, said the current weather could prove deadly for thousands more.
Director general Michelle Mitchell said: ‘“Colder, harsher winters tend to lead to an increase in life-threatening conditions such as heart attacks and strokes which in turn leads to a high rate of excess winter deaths.”
What a difference a year makes: As Britain endures its coldest March since 1963, just 12 months ago we were basking in sunniest March since 1929. ‘For every one degree drop in average temperature, there are around 8,000 extra deaths.’
The Office for National Statistics said the extra death rate ‘could be to do with the prolonged period of cold weather we’ve been experiencing.’ But it cautioned that it was too early to make an absolute link. The March figures are still provisional.
Malcolm Booth, chief executive of the National Federation of Occupational Pensioners, said that last month almost 700 of his members had died, compared with 250 last year.
‘If our membership is a representative sample that was replicated across the general population, then we could be looking at a horrendous number when all the figures are in,’ he said.
Snow the Welsh town of Llangollen which was cut off by road except for four wheel drive vehicles
Trapped: A car is buried in a snow drift in the Craigant Hills near Belfast, Northern Ireland Tight squeeze: A motorist drives slowly past another vehicle that has been trapped in snow near Belfast
‘An increase in fuel costs and the extended winter means that more people are going to suffer, and more will be unable to afford to eat and heat their homes. It’s a scary prospect.’ It is not just pensioners who are at risk. The body of a 27-year-old man who went missing while walking home from a night out was found in deep snow in farmland near Burnley, Lancashire, yesterday afternoon. Police said the man would not be named until all family members had been informed.
Read more:
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All this as the US is seeing snow from Colorado across St. Louis to Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, DC, Philadelphia and New York City. Alarmists will try and tell you the snow is from global arming which means more moisture or lack of arctic ice even though it has been on a near normal track since October. However, they also claimed the warm spring in recent years and early cherry blossoms were proof positive that we are controlling the environment. They will concoct another story to try and save face but sorry guys the jig is up. no warming for 17 years. No changes in extreme weather, no hot spot in the tropical high atmosphere, increased antarctic ice...I could go on. I have a list of 30 such theory failures that falsify the AGW theory. In the late 1950s, about the same phase of the 60year cycles, we moved into an active snowy March era that lasted well into the 1960s. We will report after the storm this week.
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - America can boast only 500 green jobs in solar electric power generation, but 886,000 green jobs in government - many for passage of environmental laws, enforcement of environmental regulations, and administration of environmental programs, according to the new count of green jobs for 2011 released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics this week.
The new report shows that the number of green jobs in the economy grew from 3.2 million in 2010, the first year of data collected, to 3.4 million in 2011. That’s an increase of one-tenth of a percent of the nation’s jobs, from 2.5% to 2.6%.
Andrea Brooks assembles batteries for Ford electric and hybrid vehicles at the Ford Rawsonville Assembly Plant in Ypsilanti, Mich. She’s one of 3.4 million green workers in the U.S.
BLS is responsible for the federal definition of green jobs under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, signed into law by President George W. Bush. The Act incorporated the Green Jobs Act as Title X, sponsored by then-Rep. Hilda Solis, a California Democrat. Solis became secretary of Labor in 2009, and was charged with implementing her legislation.
Now that Solis has resigned, and the budget sequester is in place, BLS is discontinuing the survey, saving $8 million.
President Barack Obama called for the creation of 5 million green jobs over the next decade in his 2008 campaign. Most recently, in his State of the Union Address, the president reiterated his support, saying “Four years ago, other countries dominated the clean-energy market and the jobs that came with it. We’ve begun to change that.”
The Obama administration then proceeded to give out grants and guaranteed loans for green-energy projects to try to make his dream into reality. Alternative energy grants, loans, and tax breaks cost the economy about $12 billion in 2012.
When people hear of green jobs, they think workers are making wind and solar power, and electric cars and batteries. But few Americans are employed in these sectors.
In addition to the 500 jobs in solar electric power generation, biomass and geothermal electric generation each accounted for 1,000 jobs, and wind electric power generation employed 3,000 Americans. These are all dwarfed by nuclear power, at 44,000, even though nuclear power is no favorite of environmentalists.
In contrast, the number of jobs in oil and gas extraction increased from 159,000 in 2010 to 172,000 in 2011.
The largest increase in green jobs came from the construction industry, which added 102,000 jobs, mostly through relabeling. As more construction materials are categorized as energy efficient, the jobs of those who install them turn green.
For instance, BLS counts construction workers who install energy efficient windows as having green jobs, but not those who put in regular windows. Plumbers who install “Lo-Flo” toilets have green jobs, but not plumbers who put in regular fixtures.
The largest number of green jobs, 886,000, or 26% of total, are in the federal, state, and local governments. This is a decline of 15,000 from 2010, when government was responsible for 28% of green jobs. It takes a quarter of the green jobs work force to pass green jobs laws, write the regulations, and enforce them.
For instance, Gregory Friedman, inspector general of the Energy Department, has a green job and a staff of green employees. Last month he wrote a report describing the misuse of a $150 million grant awarded to LG Chem, a South Korean-owned battery manufacturer in Holland, Mich. LG Chem was supposed to create 440 green jobs and make enough batteries to run 60,000 electric cars by December 2013.
But LG Chem’s employees weren’t green. According to Friedman, “we confirmed that employees spent time volunteering at local non-profit organizations, playing games and watching movies during regular working hours.” LG Chem, meanwhile, sold to U.S. firms batteries made in South Korea. That’s money from Uncle Sam for green jobs in Asia.
Even the Pentagon is trying to go green. It’s spending $510 million over three years to develop new biofuels for ships and tanks. Biofuels cost $27 per gallon, rather than $3.80 per gallon for conventional fuel. With the Pentagon facing a $43 billion sequester this year, in addition to previous cuts of $260 billion over five years, this is not the time for a $510 million experimental program.
The abundance of cheap natural gas in the U.S. is driving out carbon-free options: solar, wind, and nuclear. But is it the right solution to our environmental problems? NRG Energy CEO David Crane talks with energy reporter Russell Gold at WSJ’s ECO:nomics conference.
The rationale is that oil is produced abroad, and so fueling ships with home-made biofuels will increase America’s security. But with new U.S. and Canadian production of oil and gas from shale, we’re no longer as dependent on imports from unfriendly nations.
Such spending might increase numbers of green jobs, but it makes America weaker, rather than stronger, because these fuels are more expensive. Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey filed amendments to eliminate the military’s spending on biofuels, but they were rejected on Wednesday.
A July 2012 Memorandum of Understanding between the Defense Department and the Interior Department detail plans for off-shore wind energy use and solar and geothermal energy creation on military installations and other federal lands.
Rather than produce alternative energy on military bases, why not lease land on the bases to oil companies to produce supplies of oil and gas? Military bases are near the Monterey shale play in California, the Barnett play and Eagle Ford shale in Texas. The government would get revenues from leases - perhaps enough to pay for the biofuels.
By doing away with the jobs survey, BLS is avoiding further embarrassment to the administration, as well as saving $8 million. Too bad the mandates and subsidies for green energy can’t disappear at the same time.
Diana Furchtgott-Roth, a former chief economist of the U.S. Department of Labor, is a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute.http://www.marketwatch.com/story/green-jobs-havent-lived-up-to-obamas-promise-2013-03-22?link=home_carouselhttp://www.marketwatch.com/story/green-jobs-havent-lived-up-to-obamas-promise-2013-03-22?link=home_carousel