No crime in speaking freely

[Under today’s witty Herald headline No denying global scorning Rodney Hide reveals a deft touch with a satirical whimsy. – RT]

I have to admit to a bad week. It started Monday. It was cold and I thought: “Huh, where’s global warming?”

Once the thought started, it ran away on me. I couldn’t get it out of my head. I tried to use Crimestop and not let myself even start to think heretical thoughts. I repeated over and over: “Global warming is happening. The science is settled. The Government says so.”

But the doubt had been planted – probably by Big Oil. Tuesday’s Herald column by Dr Jarrod Gilbert of Canterbury University seemed directed at me: “There is no greater crime being perpetrated on future generations than that committed by those who deny climate change.”

He knows! He knows! What do I do?

We are not only banned from questioning global warming – we mustn’t even think of doubting it.

I read on: “One way in which everyday crime can be discouraged is to ensure that ‘capable guardians’ are around to deter criminal activity. When it comes to climate change, the capable guardians are educated members of the public who counteract the deniers.”

I sought the most educated person I know. The first thing he said was: “It’s bloody cold, mate.” I freaked out and screamed: “Be quiet! Who knows who could be listening?” I had been thinking it. He was saying it. Out loud. In public.

My mate said no one was going to tell him what to think. He rabbited on about the hockey stick, the satellite record, the “pause”, 1984, Newspeak.

I left him to it. Too smart for his own good.

On Wednesday I had Radio New Zealand on all day. That helped.

I saw a police officer on Thursday but I think I got away with it. He didn’t spot what I was thinking.

By Friday I was cured. I watched Al Gore’s movie. I put up a poster of Leonardo DiCaprio.

Burning fossil fuels is killing the planet. We are going to drown. The polar bears are starving. The glaciers are melting. Greed has unbalanced the Earth. Corporations are bad.

It’s criminal to think what I had been thinking. Thank goodness for educated people.

 

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9 Thoughts on “No crime in speaking freely

  1. Simon on 31/07/2016 at 7:49 pm said:

    Rodney forgot to mention that 2016 YTD is the warmest year in recorded history in both NZ and the world; by a considerable margin.

  2. Andy on 31/07/2016 at 7:57 pm said:

    Our friend Herr Thomas of Hot Topic writes: (with respect to the Tonkin and Taylor peer review) and I respond inline (assuming my response at HT will not get published)

    Andy, Coal Action Network, and many others have publicly commented on the questionable choice of including deniers of climate science in a process of peer review of a science-driven report. This is the people’s democratic right. Luckily we do not live in China or Turkey or Russia among others, where the critique of government officials can be bad for your longevity…

    Indeed, in an open democracy like NZ, only politically correct views that support the State View will be published

    Do you suggest in earnest that the panel’s actual work was impeded or interfered with by Coal Action Network? Do you suggest that the review panelists did not undertake their work properly? If you believe this then you better produce some sound evidence to back this up as otherwise all you do is produce slanderous innuendo.

    Short answer, yes. Long answer, no, but the council and others were very careful not to get involved in community process. CAN decided to ignore that so we can reasonably blame CAN for all bad decision making

    You say the report had no statistical input of any worth? How on Earth can you say this?!? The work published by the IPCC and the science papers that underpin this and on which the T&T report is based are heavily informed by statistical analysis of climate data. In fact, statistics is central to about all climate science endeavors. And it was clearly NOT the brief of the peer review to re-hash climate science or undertake somehow a statistical re-analysis of IPCC publications!

    I have prepared a report along with others to his effect.

    Get with it Andy. AGW is a globally accepted by the science community and SLR is a globally accepted reality.

    and therefore the worst case scenario is 100% certain?

    We now need to move forward towards negotiating how society will deal with and handle the massive losses to property and amenity that are coming our way because of it. This process will indeed be very painful for many. It will carry on for generations. And thanks to your motley foolish fellowship of deniers and fossil fuel industry shills, the pain and suffering for our children’s and great grand children’s generations will be significantly worse than if we had acted decisively and globally just 30 short years ago as suggested by science already then. Your party in all this will earn the curse of all curses for what you have done with your activism.

    I feel the pinpricks from the ” curse of all curses ” as I write, but I’m pretty sure not all the coastal residents who want a fair deal feel the same.

  3. Richard Treadgold on 31/07/2016 at 8:26 pm said:

    Simon,

    Rodney forgot to mention that 2016 YTD is the warmest year in recorded history

    If seven months can be called a year, so can a week or a day. But it’s a ridiculous notion. Never mind the margin, it just isn’t a year. Still, prove it if you can. Then explain what’s making it so very, very warm.

  4. Rodney Hide on 31/07/2016 at 8:51 pm said:

    Simon

    I’m sorry. Please don’t report me.

    Rodney

  5. Andy on 31/07/2016 at 8:56 pm said:

    Can I please request that Rodney and I get sent to the same gulag? Please let us have a little fun in our darkest hours

  6. Richard C (NZ) on 01/08/2016 at 10:39 am said:

    Simon

    >”Rodney forgot to mention that 2016 YTD is the warmest year in recorded history in both NZ and the world; by a considerable margin.”

    And you Simon, forgot to mention that the El Nino influence — that you’ve been milking for all it is worth — is diminishing i.e. June “YTD” is about as good as it gets for you.

    ******************************************************************************************
    Record Warm 2016? What a Difference One Month Makes

    July 1st, 2016 by Roy W. Spencer, Ph. D.

    With the rapid cooling now occurring in the global average tropospheric temperature, my previous prediction of a record warm year in the satellite data for 2016 looks…well…premature.

    Here’s an update of what the average temperature trend would have to be in the next 6 months for 2016 to tie 1998 as record warmest year in the 38 year satellite record:

    UAH YTD http://www.drroyspencer.com/wp-content/uploads/UAH-v6-LT-with-2016-projection-1.jpg

    Basically, as long as the anomalies stay below the June value of 0.34 deg. C, 2016 won’t be a record warm year.

    If only I had kept my mouth shut nine days ago….

    http://www.drroyspencer.com/2016/07/record-warm-2016-what-a-difference-one-month-makes/

  7. Richard C (NZ) on 01/08/2016 at 11:13 am said:

    [Spancer UAHv6] >”Basically, as long as the anomalies stay below the June value of 0.34 deg. C, 2016 won’t be a record warm year.”

    July update not out from UAH but MTD July 29 gives an indication of bit of a blip so the warmies can breathe easy (even crow) for another month at least:

    ********************************************************************************************
    ‘July 2016 Projected Temperature Anomalies from NCEP/NCAR Data’

    By Walter Dnes / July 31, 2016

    At time of posting, all 5 monthly data sets were available through June 2016. The NCEP/NCAR re-analysis data runs 2 days behind real-time. Therefore, real data through July 29th is used, and the 30th and 31st are assumed to have the same anomaly as the 29th.

    The July projections for HadCRUT4 and GISS and NCEI and UAH are higher than the June projections were. This is due to the fact that global NCEP/NCAR anomaly rose from +0.369 in June to +0.409 in July.

    The UAH-specific NCEP/NCAR anomaly (83.75°N to 83.75°S) went from +0.369 in June to +0.412 in July. The RSS-specific anomaly (81.25°N to 68.75°S) was down slightly, going from +0.436 in June to +0.407 in July. July will be the 12th consecutive month that has seen a record high monthly value set for the global anomaly (90°N to 90°S) for that calendar month. NCEP/NCAR re-analysis data goes back to the beginning of 1948.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/07/31/july-2016-projected-temperature-anomalies-from-ncepncar-data/

  8. Richard C (NZ) on 02/08/2016 at 7:46 pm said:

    >”July update not out from UAH but MTD July 29 gives an indication of bit of a blip so the warmies can breathe easy (even crow) for another month at least:”

    July update out now but no reason for the warmies to crow:

    UAH Global Temperature Update for July, 2016

    July Temperature Recovers Slightly from Previous Free-Fall – From Dr. Roy Spencer:

    The Version 6.0 global average lower tropospheric temperature (LT) anomaly for July 2016 is +0.39 deg. C, up a little from the June, 2016 value +0.34 deg. C (click for full size version):

    [see graphs and data]

    The July pause in cooling as La Nina approaches also happened during the 1997-98 El Nino. I’ve examined a daily time series of satellite data for 2016, and this behavior is due to intra-monthly variations in temperature, probably mostly driven by episodic deep convective activity in the tropics. Depending upon how the calendar months line up with the resulting peaks and troughs in temperature, the result is a rather irregular monthly temperature time series. It can be viewed not so much as a variation in radiative cooling to outer space, but a variation in convective heating of the troposphere.

    To see how we are now progressing toward a record warm year in the satellite data, the following chart shows the average rate of cooling for the rest of 2016 that would be required to tie 1998 as warmest year in the 38-year satellite record:

    [see graph]

    Given the behavior of previous El Ninos as they transitioned to La Nina, at this point I would say that it is unlikely that the temperatures will remain above that projection for the rest of the year, and so it is unlikely that 2016 will be a record warm year in the satellite data. Only time will tell.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/08/01/uah-global-temperature-update-for-july-2016/

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