Global warming threat ended by "Earth Hour" powering down

Dr. Ivan Varminof of NASA's Earth Atmospheric Science Institute announced today that satellite data shows the Earth's atmosphere has entered a new phase, and global warming is at an end. Varminof said recent data since the "Earth Hour" observances on March 29th has actually indicates a trend towards renewed global cooling.

"The data indicates a .001% drop in the global temperature," he said. Even more encouraging, "The trend seemed to have accelerated with each day since the `Earth Hour.' Like a roller coaster going over a hill."

His colleague at the Institute, Dr. Grantry Seaver, was not quite as optimistic - yet. "Clearly this will need more study. Lots more study. The implications of which will clearly have a tremendous effect on public policy and scientific research. We may not even find the correct answer to the proper atmospheric carbon calibration after billions of dollars in research."

Varminof even raised a concern about his research. "If the three-day trend continues, we may be facing a new ice age in very short order. We will need to continue our research, with a substantial public commitment, to whether we will need high-carbon emitting mass transit expenditures to balance the cooling trend."

Dr. Ayn Emtody of the President's council of scientific advisers suggests a new "carbon emission trading system" if the trend towards global cooling becomes accepted. The new system would require corporations to reach carbon-emitting standards, the amount set by an industry grouping quota. Heavy industry would have higher quotas to reach. Corporations not reaching their goal would be required to send an equivalent amount of money to the US Treasury to be burned in a giant fire pit, resulting in enough carbon emissions to offset the cooling temperatures.

"Of course" Emtody said, "since Treasury has nobody on the staff right now, we have plenty of time to study the exact amount of cash that would need to be burned to warm the Earth. Right now it's just a guess, but another one or two stimulus packages ought to do it. We'll know the correct amount after a rather substantial public investment in cash-to-carbon emission research and technology."

NASA scientist boss cool to global warming

Most fans of global warming love James Hansen, the NASA scientist pushing the idea that global warming is man-made. But has anyone asked Hansen's boss what he thinks?

The retired scientist formerly in charge of key NASA climate programs has come out as a sceptic.

Dr John Theon, who supervised James Hansen - the activist-scientist who helped give the manmade global warming hypothesis centre prominent media attention - repents at length in a published letter. Theon wrote to the Minority Office at the Environment and Public Works Committee on January 15, 2009, and excerpts were published by skeptic Senator Inhofe's office here last night.

"As Chief of several of NASA Headquarters’ programs (1982-94), an SES position, I was responsible for all weather and climate research in the entire agency, including the research work by James Hansen, Roy Spencer, Joanne Simpson, and several hundred other scientists at NASA field centers, in academia, and in the private sector who worked on climate research," Theon wrote. "I appreciate the opportunity to add my name to those who disagree that global warming is man made.”

Theon takes aim at the models, and implicitly criticises Hansen for revising to the data set:

“My own belief concerning anthropogenic climate change is that the models do not realistically simulate the climate system because there are many very important sub-grid scale processes that the models either replicate poorly or completely omit. Furthermore, some scientists have manipulated the observed data to justify their model results. In doing so, they neither explain what they have modified in the observations, nor explain how they did it.

"They have resisted making their work transparent so that it can be replicated independently by other scientists. This is clearly contrary to how science should be done. Thus there is no rational justification for using climate model forecasts to determine public policy.”

I know, just another scientist joining the thousands of others that cannot possibly know what they're talking about because anthropogenic climate change is settled science, right?

The EPW Minority office has published Theon's correspondence in full, including his resume. In a 37-year career at NASA, his titles included Chief of the Atmospheric Dynamics, Radiation, & Hydrology Branch followed by a stint as Chief of the Climate Processes Research Program at NASA HQ.

I'm really looking forward to the day when Obama fulfills his campaign pledge to get the politics out of science.