Tuesday, March 25, 2014

American Chemical Society's False Position on Climate

Cheryl Hogue, a writer for Chemical and Engineering News, comments in the the March 3 edition on a new report issued by the US National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society [Great Britain] on a new approach to educating the public concerning climate change. The program is financed by Raymond and Beverly Sackler. Wikipedia says Raymond Sackler is a physician, an entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is 94 years old and has pursued a career in psychiatric research and practice, business leadership, and philanthropy. It doesn't say how he made his money. However, Sackler is typical of pseudoscientists, who because he has a medical degree fashions himself as some sort of specialist in environmental matters.
Cheryl doesn't say how we can get a copy of the combined NAS/Royal society report with this new educational approach to the common man, but she does include a picture of a mother polar bear and cub striving to retain equilibrium on an ice flow of reducing size. How heart rending!
While we get nothing out of the supposed NAS Royal/Society report, because there is no reference to it, we do see Cheryl's repetition of the American Chemical Society's position on climate change. She says that in contrast to the NAS/Royal Society report, the ACS recommends specific actions. These include maintaining federal funding for research on climate change and the development of subsidies, taxes, and regulatory incentives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The ACS also calls for an increase in public and private investments in energy technologies including conservation, carbon sequestration and nonfossil fuel energy sources.
May I remind the reader that Cheryl and the ACS are basing their program on a supposition that burning carbon containing fossil fuels has a significant effect on climate. I say supposition, because no attempt has been made to justify the position. It is in the same category of "witches exist" and there is no need to talk about that part.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Dr. Ralph Keeling, Global Warming Charlatan

I previously commented on a USA Today article.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2014/03/18/keeling-curve-mauna-loa-carbon-dioxide-scripps/6576803/
In the article, University of California San Diego Geochemistry Professor Dr. Ralph Keeling was bemoaning the fact that he had a $1 million shortfall in his project of measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations at Mauna Loa in Hawaii, because of the expiration of several of his government grants. Dr. Keeling did not actually say that his measurement program cost $1 million, he merely said he had a shortfall of the million dollars, which implied the total expense is larger.
However I took the million dollars and asked how he possibly could spend that much money on a carbon dioxide measurement program. Since such an expense was inconceivable to me, I called him a charlatan.
On receiving my comment, one of our Political Advisors made a comment of his own. He said he found Dr. Keeling;s annual budget for the Mauna Loa measurement project and presented it to me. After looking at it, I went back to the Political Advisor suggesting that it was a joke or spoof. He subsequently admitted that it is a spoof, but also included a number of personal opinions, such as:
"Just like I think the whole global warming story is.  I can’t believe we have come to this, these people made wild predictions as early as the 90’s that have not come true.  All the fish are supposed to be dead by now, most of Florida underwater, Orange trees in Kansas… and on and on.  But the more their own words prove them wrong the more our government buys into it.  We are a people who have lost their way.  We have been given this great country as a heritage, the greatest opportunity in human history.  Instead of taking us to a great place, we follow pseudo scientists who not only make wild claims about the future, but deny the very existence of God in our world.  They are standing on sinking sand, and the rest of us are getting dragged in with them. At the end of it is a small group of people who plan on making out like a bandit on a world paying Carbon tax.  Many well intentioned folks are buying into the lies, planting trees in the rain forest and  preparing to live life to a lower and lower degree.  They desire to create a world of 3rd rate lives and trade the advance of the human race on its head."

While the alleged research budget for Dr. Keating has been admittedly declared a spoof, I believe it has some substantive value. It fictionalizes how one could spend $1 million on a research project and also presents a challenge to Dr. Keelling to come up with his real budget.
For laughs, I present the spoof version of Dr. Keelling's budget as follows:

Expense Report on the 2012 Mona Loa CO2 Measuring Program:

 4        CO2 detectors @ 250.00/each.                                             $1,000
36      Rechargeable D cell Batteries @ 12.00/each                              432.00
2       Solar recharger for D cell batteries @ 4,000/each                       8,000
2       Tesla Electric Cars (one a charging and one a going) @ $205K    410,000
1       Shipping Cars to Hawaii                                                         25,000
1       Solar Recharger for Cars @ $78,000                                              78,000
27      Electric Car Tows back to Headquarters after breakdown @1,500/ea        40,500
1       Misc Shop work on Tesla Electric Car Fleet in Hawaii                    25,000
2       Shipping Tesla cars back to mainland for repair                         25,000
2       Shipping Tesla cars back to Hawaii                                              25,000
15      1st Class Flights roundtrip San Diego to Hawaii @ $996          14,940
45      Nights in Hotel @ 360/night                                                     16,200
45      Meals in Hawaii @ 120/per diem                                          5,400
1       Shop/Warehouse for operations @ 24,000/year                             24,000
40      Car Rental due to Electric Car malfunctions @ 200/day                   8,000
1       Dr Keelling 'Research Fees' @ 240,000/year                              240,000
30      Hot Research Assistants round trip flights San D-Hawaii @650    19,500
2       Hot Research Grad Assistants @ 24,000 each                              48,000
1       Hot Research Assistant Bikini Clothing Allowance                        2,000
1       Suntan lotion                                                                   28
2       Electric Cars sold for Salvage @ $4,000/each                            (8,000)

Total                                                                                           $1,000,000.00

Challenges on the 2012 Mona Loa CO2 Measuring Program:
This research endeavors to accomplish the measuring of the CO2 levels at Mona Loa one time per month, whilst making the lowest 'CO2 Footprint' with our team.  To this end reliable electric solar power was utilized to power all measuring, metering, and transportation needs for this project.  2 vehicles were purchased to transport our team up the mountain, one would be charging while the other was going.  This was required because we needed full batteries to get up the hill and a full charge takes at least a full day.  Unfortunately, we had many transportation 'issues' mainly due to the batteries not getting us up and down, on 27 separate occasions we had to be towed back to our headquarters, which greatly affected not only our budget but also our time at work.  Also we learned through our research that the steep inclines caused overheating in several components of the electric cars and much damage was caused to the battery and electronic systems of the vehicles.  Since most of these repairs could not be accomplished in Hawaii, we had the cars eventually shipped back to the US for repairs before being returned to duty.  Once repaired, we left the cars parked and rented a conventional gas powered vehicle to go up and down the mountain.  Eventually we sold the electric vehicles locally, the only buyer was a salvage operation.  This valuable research was accomplished by caring human beings that intentionally wanted to minimize and mitigate their personal and team CO2 footprint.  To wit, many conversations were engaged about humans learning to live on fewer breaths per day to further diminish our personal emission of this dangerous gas.

Measuring Results on the 2012 Mona Loa CO2 Measuring Program:
Because of the transportation issues, we experienced a reduction in total actual readings we were able to record.  The measuring equipment may have been damaged in one of the car fires, the readings seemed to be lower than we initially expected, but then who can really trust partially melted equipment.  Then one time we lost our book that had the readings recorded.  So we can't definitively say what the actual readings of CO2 are, but we are sure that CO2 is a dangerous substance and the world should be panicked about its existence.  Further study is needed and our experienced team is available for this important work.  Additionally, we have discovered vast amounts of water vapor in our atmosphere.  This is disturbing and alarming and additional research should be funded to measure the growth of this gas.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

More Charlatans in the Global Warming World

The world is full of charlatans, and Ralph Keeling is among them.
Dr. Keeling is a geochemistry professor at the University of California San Diego. He claims  association with  Scripps Institution of Oceanography, but does not appear on the Scripps Institution of Oceanography organizational chart. He lists himself as the Scripps CO2 Director.
In a USA Today article, Dr. Keeling claims his work on CO2 related to global warming is imperiled by lack of funding to the extent of $1 million. http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2014/03/18/keeling-curve-mauna-loa-carbon-dioxide-scripps/6576803/. 
More specifically, he claims that the program of continually monitoring atmospheric CO2 near the top of Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii, is imperiled because of a $1 million shortfall. Previous funding has been through a bundle of federal grants, typically each lasting three years or so, with several grants running at one time. Calling the process "haphazard," Keeling added that the past year was especially difficult because several grants expired. Hooray!
The USA Today article says that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Earth System Research Lab, also measures carbon dioxide levels at Mauna Loa and other locations. Is there some reason we need two organizations measuring the same thing, especially since no one has yet established any relationship between atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and global warming and why we should be measuring it?
About the million dollars for sampling. I looked up the cost of the sampling device. CO2Meter.com, 2588 John Anderson Dr., Ormond Beach, FL 32176 sells a handheld device for $250. Its determination range is 0 to 2000 ppm. Atmospheric CO2 concentration is presently running about 400 ppm. Keeley can buy 4 of these instruments for $1000. Why does he need the additional $999,000. Is it for labor or lining the pockets of hangers-on who see an opportunity to fleece the public?

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Nothing New on IPCC Claim to Devastating Climate Change

A forthcoming UN report will warn.that climate change will displace hundreds of millions of people by the end of this century, increasing the risk of violent conflict and wiping trillions of dollars off the global economy.
So what's new? The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been saying this for years without any logical basis for their predictions. It's in the same category as fortune-telling.
As an analogy, I can predict that the moon will move out of its orbit and collide with the earth with the complete devastation of mankind, but I have no justification for that prediction. Neither does the IPCC in their prediction of climate change devastation.
We know from archaeological data that there have been climate extremes during the history of the earth, but mankind has been able to live through it. Climate change will continue to exist, and an increase in global warming may occur. This is basically no different than what occurs in short-term weather changes, and the need for preparation to minimize disastrous effects. However, a little common sense is also necessary in deciding the likelihood of disastrous effects coming to pass and how much preparation might be justified. Up to now, the IPCC has ignored those considerations. It merely says something equivalent to we better get ready for the collision of the moon with the earth.