The global freeze that has seemingly gripped the entire world except for Winter Olympics site Vancouver has made fashion designers search for warmer garments. And what could be warmer than fur?

In fact, after nearly disappearing during the height of the recession, the warmest material of all–fur–is making a high-profile comeback at the weeklong parade of fashon shows that kicked off Thursday. Designers including Catherine Malandrino, Alexander Wang, Rebecca Taylor, Diane von Furstenberg and Zac Posen have incorporated furs and fleeces, ranging from Himalayan fox and sable to Mongolian lamb and goat, into their lines.

Furs were featured in collars and trim, knitted into sweaters, dyed, or sewn together with fabric or leather, as in an elegant coat that Carolina Herrera showed Monday morning at Manhattan’s Bryant Park.

Can’t wait for PETA’s reaction.

Technorati Tags: Fashion Fur, Global Warming and Other Myths

In addition to questioning the UN IPCC climate change report, more scientists are beginning to doubt that there is anything at all to this whole “global warming” thing.

“The temperature records cannot be relied on as indicators of global change,”
said John Christy, professor of atmospheric science at the University of
Alabama in Huntsville, a former lead author on the IPCC. . . .

The IPCC faces similar criticisms from Ross McKitrick, professor of economics
at the University of Guelph, Canada, who was invited by the panel to review
its last report.

The experience turned him into a strong critic and he has since published a
research paper questioning its methods.

“We concluded, with overwhelming statistical significance, that the IPCC’s
climate data are contaminated with surface effects from industrialisation
and data quality problems. These add up to a large warming bias,” he said.

Also quoted in the article is Terry Mills, professor of applied statistics and econometrics at Loughborough University, whose analysis has found that the “warming trend” espoused by the IPCC and eco-alarmists are “just as likely to be due to random fluctuations as to the impacts of greenhouse gases.”

Most damning of all is the admission by Professor Phil Jones, disgraced director of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit who has “lost” the “hockey stick” data, that there is no “statistically significant” data to support the human-caused warming theory. Excerpts from his interview with the BBC:

BBC: Do you agree that according to the global temperature record used by the IPCC, the rates of global warming from 1860-1880, 1910-1940 and 1975-1998 were identical?

Jones: . . . So, in answer to the question, the warming rates for all 4 periods are similar and not statistically significantly different from each other.

BBC: Do you agree that from 1995 to the present there has been no statistically-significant global warming?

Jones: Yes, but only just. I also calculated the trend for the period 1995 to 2009. This trend (0.12C per decade) is positive, but not significant at the 95% significance level. The positive trend is quite close to the significance level. Achieving statistical significance in scientific terms is much more likely for longer periods, and much less likely for shorter periods.

BBC: How confident are you that warming has taken place and that humans are mainly responsible?

Jones: I’m 100% confident that the climate has warmed. As to the second question, I would go along with IPCC Chapter 9 – there’s evidence that most of the warming since the 1950s is due to human activity.

Professor Jones’ work was a key component of the IPCC report, but now Professor Jones cannot provide the data and subsequent analysis that went into that work, and he is backing away from his position. The UK Daily Mail describes his turnaround this way:

This is an amazing retreat, since if it was both global and warmer, the green movement’s argument that our current position is ‘unprecedented’ would collapse.

Exactly.

The theory of human-induced global warming is based on a house of cards, and it is coming down. As for me, I’m proud to say that I’ve been a vocal skeptic since 2003.

Technorati Tags: Professor John Christy, Professor Ross McKitrick, Professor Terry Mills, Professor Phil Jones, IPCC and Other Liars, Global Warming and Other Myths

The UN climate panel is now admitting that they overstated how much of the Netherlands is below sea level.

A background note by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said a 2007 report wrongly stated that 55 percent of the country was below sea level since the figure included areas above sea level, prone to flooding along rivers. . . .

The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, the original source of the incorrect data, said on February 5 that just 26 percent of the country is below sea level and 29 percent susceptible to river flooding.

While the UN panel claims that this misstatement doesn’t change the “core conclusions” about human induced global warming, those of us with normal reasoning powers know that any study that is filled with as many holes as this one can hardly come to any truly scientific conclusions.

On an unrelated note, Friday’s snowfall in Texas’ Dallas/Ft. Worth area shattered the record for most snow in a 24-hour period that has stood for over 90 years.

Technorati Tags: IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, United Nations, Global Warming and Other Myths

OU student Patrick Marsh is studying meteorology and is a student employee at the NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma. Because of the current unique weather conditions it is likely that snow will soon be on the ground in all 50 states, so he is collecting pictures to document the event:

From Ardmore all the way to Dallas and even in Louisiana, the south is snowed in. For many, it’s a winter wonderland in places that rarely see such weather. But none of it comes close to the mess up north where two blizzards have blown through in a week. . . .

“On Friday afternoon, I’m going to begin asking for photos of the snow,” Marsh said. “Hopefully I’ll get photos from all 50 states, and if I do, I’ll put them into a Google Earth map and make a snow snapshot of America.”

Marsh said Florida is the only state without snow on the ground at this point, but he said two to four inches of snow is forecasted on Friday in some parts of the state. There is currently even snow on some of the mountain tops in Hawaii.

To send Patrick pictures of snow in your area, click and send to snow@forwarn.org.

Update: 49 states had snow on the ground on Friday, with Hawaii being the only state with no snow reported.

Technorati Tags: Global Warming and Other Myths

At least 24 highways have been closed in northern China due to heavy snow and blizzards, just in time to stop people from getting home for Lunar New Year celebrations.

More snow and falling temperatures are on their way, Xinhua added.

Unseasonably cold weather and ice storms across central and southern
China in 2008 killed at least 129 people, caused transport chaos and
cut off power and water for millions as people struggled to get home
for Chinese New Year.

Philadelphia has already experienced the snowiest winter in history, and is bracing for even more snow:

More than 70.3-inches of snow fell in Philadelphia so far this season and it’s not even over. . . .

The last record was only set 14 years ago during the Blizzard of 1996 when 65.5 inches fell — 33 inches of which were dumped during that storm. . . .

We also had more stronger winter storms this season than ever. There are only two other seasons — 1960-61 and 1978 — that had more than one storm with 10 or more inches of accumulation since 1888, says Glenn. Neither of those seasons had storms that broke the 20 inch accumulation mark.

Snowfall in Washington D.C. has blown by the previous record set in 1898:

It’s not often we witness a 100-year-plus record fall. Perhaps it’s fitting it went out in such extreme fashion today. As reported here earlier, National Airport’s preliminary (2 p.m.) snow total of 54.9″ for the 2009-2010 winter thus far puts D.C. above the previous high mark of 54.4″ set way back in 1898-1899.

Meanwhile in the southern hemisphere, 32 people have died due to a heatwave in southern Brasil:

According to the Inmet national weather service, recorded temperatures in Rio were well above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees) — and felt more like above 50 degrees.

“The heatwave in Rio is seen as historic. February right now is the hottest month for the past 50 years,” meteorologist Giovanni Dolif told the O Globo daily. . . .

The heatwave made Rio the hottest place on the planet on Tuesday, save for Ada, a town in eastern Ghana, according to data from the World Meteorological Organization.

If we could only come up with ways to artificially enhance El Nino and the gulf stream to spread some of these temperatures out, maybe we could start taking control of the weather. In the meantime, northerners need to bundle up, southerners need to dress light, and everyone needs to suck it up.

Technorati Tags: China, Brasil, Brazil, Snowpocolypse, Global Warming and Other Myths

The Wall Street Journal has this bit of information about your tax dollars at work:

NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration], part of the Department of Commerce, is going to be providing information to individuals and decision-makers through a new NOAA Climate Service office. “More and more, Americans are witnessing the impacts of climate change in their own backyards, including sea-level rise, longer growing seasons, changes in river flows, increases in heavy downpours, earlier snowmelt and extended ice-free seasons in our waters. People are searching for relevant and timely information about these changes to inform decision-making about virtually all aspects of their lives,” the release says.

Earlier snowmelt? That would be nice.

Indeed, that would be nice. Yet the latest DC forecast that calls for another 10 to 20 inches of snow as New York prepares for another foot. And Philadelphia is expecting this to be the “snowiest winter on record“.

Technorati Tags: Wasting Taxpayer Dollars, Politicization of Science, Global Warming and Other Myths

Memphis awoke to a surprise snowfall this morning. Forecasters predicted warm air would come from the south turning light flurries of early snow into rain. Instead, the warm air stalled and is now predicted to get here mid-afternoon.

In the meantime, our roads are covered with snow and very slick, accidents abound, and the city’s salt trucks were still on the lot well into rush hour.

View from AlphaPatriot’s Back Porch

The Gorebot’s home is quite a ways north of here. I wonder what it looks like?

On the other hand, snow is being trucked into Vancouver for the winter Olympics as the area experiences unseasonably warm temperatures.

Trouble is, with opening ceremonies only five days away, the above-freezing temperatures in Vancouver continue to raise concerns for other sports, particularly snowboarding and freestyle skiing, two events being held on the mountain overlooking the city.

The biggest test comes today, when freestyle moguls training sessions are scheduled to begin.

So much for being able to predict global temperatures with any sort of accuracy what-so-ever.

Meanwhile, meteorologists dealing with the east coast Snowpocolypse are freaking out:

The British Government has determined that the University of East Anglia breached the Freedom of Information Act when it refused to hand over data connected with the (false) claims that temperature trends proved a connection between man and global warming.

The stolen e-mails , revealed on the eve of the Copenhagen summit, showed how the university’s Climatic Research Unit attempted to thwart requests for scientific data and other information, and suggest that senior figures at the university were involved in decisions to refuse the requests. It is not known who stole the e-mails. . . .

In one e-mail, Professor Jones asked a colleague to delete e-mails relating to the 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Unfortunately the Information Commissioner’s Office can’t prosecute because there is only a six month window between the breach and the complaint. This allowed the university to stonewall the investigation long enough to let the statue of limitations pass. Astounding.

HT to Amy Ridenour’s National Center Blog.

Technorati Tags: Climategate, University of East Anglia, Global Warming and Other Myths

In ye olden times, nobles (usually men) used peasants (usually nubile young girls) to warm the sheets before going to bed. The idea has returned to at least one hotel in London, although the connotations aren’t quite as risqué:

Florence Eavis, Holiday Inn spokeswoman told Reuters that the "innovative" bed-warming method was a response to Britain’s recent cold weather and marked the launch of 3,200 new Holiday Inns worldwide.

She could not explain why the beds were not being warmed by hot water bottles or electric-blankets, but admitted the human method was quirky.

The freezing temperatures that have evidently resulted from man-made global warming now leads to “quirky” behavior. Yeah, I get that.

In 2007 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report that contained a dire prediction: that Himalayan glaciers were likely to disappear by 2035. That’s right, the glaciers on which two billion people depend for meltwater to provide fresh water during dry seasons would be toast in 28 years. Perhaps even sooner.

Understandably, some of those two billion people were upset and there were naysayers. But the UN team that issued the report received the Nobel Peace Prize “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.”

Unfortunately, at least that part of the report was a lie:

It emerged last week that the prediction was based not on a consensus among climate change experts but on a media interview with a single Indian glaciologist in 1999. That scientist, Syed Hasnain, has now told The Times that he never made such a specific forecast in his interview with the New Scientist magazine.

“I have not made any prediction on date as I am not an astrologer but I did say they were shrinking fast,” he said. “I have never written 2035 in any of my research papers or reports.” Professor Hasnain works for The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in Delhi, which is headed by Rajendra Pachauri, head of the climate change panel. . . .

“I said that small glaciers in the eastern and central Himalaya are
declining at an alarming rate and in the next 40-50 years they may lose
substantial mass,” he said. “That means they will shrink in area and mass.
To which the journalist has assigned a date and reported it in his own way.”

The IPCC now says that the prediction in the landmark 2007 report was “poorly substantiated” and that it slipped in because “the clear and well-established standards of evidence, required by the IPCC  procedures, were not applied properly.” But hey, everyone makes a mistake, even in highly influential, globally-reviewed reports. What’s the chances that just because standards weren’t followed once, that they were ever missed again? Are UN workers really that sloppy?

Which is why the IPCC stands by every other conclusion and prediction in the report, stating:

This conclusion is robust, appropriate, and entirely
consistent with the underlying science and the broader IPCC assessment.

Sure, some of the facts are wrong. But the conclusion can still be right. After all, this isn’t science, is it?

Exactly, Mr. Bloom. Exactly.

Technorati Tags: UN and Other Flawed Institutions, IPCC, Gore’s Mindless Minions, The Coming Ice Age, Syed Hasnain, Godfrey Bloom, Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, Global Warming and Other Myths