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Continuing cover-up and Dodging of the Science

The Guardian ClimateGate ‘Debate’ held at the RIBA London on 14 July*, organized by the Guardian and chaired by George Monbiot in full biased form was significant not for its predicted gross imbalance in debate but more for evident disquiet over the matter from card-carrying Guardian readers** and the continuing utter scientific bankruptcy of the Global Warmers.

ClimateGate “Debate” (Link now ended)

Monbiot started with his standard pejorative references to Climate Change Deniers (as in Holocaust Deniers) and then presentations proceeded with ‘Warmers’ including Monbiot outnumbering by 4 to 2 the more objective (Realist) speakers who had to endure somewhat negative introductions lest some of the audience pay them too much attention.

There were the expected wishy-washy meanderings and praise of whitewash by George Monbiot, Prof Trevor Davies pro-vice chancellor of the University of East Anglia, Prof Bob Watson former head of IPCC, and Fred Pearce environment apologist, which seemed to amount to insistence that fraud isn’t fraud if you only select rather than change data!

One can only wonder if the Guardian take the same view of tax fraud when a banker or politician only declares 25% of his income stream for tax purposes?! [“With regret we note their somewhat non-transparent procedures”, they would doubtless rage.]
However probably the largest applause was gained by Steve Mcintyre of the well respected site Climate Audit who has worked so relentlessly to expose false science; and by blogger & independent researcher Doug Keenan who steadfastly maintained the position that CRU scientists had engaged in scientific FRAUD – in the face of veiled threats from the chair.

Questions were limited to 20 seconds each - making it very difficult to develop proper debate. Nevertheless some probing such as by Johnathan Leake of Sunday Times revealed more and more the weakness and biased cover-up nature of the so called ‘independent’ inquiries’ into the sorry affair.

In a question I challenged the concept Climate Change Denier and asked that surely the key issue that must be addressed is the total failure of the IPCC predictions and the lack of any evidence that CO2 drives weather or climate while WeatherAction using solar-lunar understandings can explain the rise of temperatures in decades up to 2002, the cooling since and predict extreme events.

Responses avoided anything about extreme events despite the IPCC’s much vaunted claim to exist to defend the world from dangerous climate-change driven extreme weather events!

Instead they made the demonstrably false claim that ‘Oh yes the sun is important but only man’s CO2 can explain recent Climate Change’. Prof Trevor Davies to give him credit did say “Denialists” was not his term.

Prof Bob Watson (Chief scientific adviser Defra!) took first prize for the most brazen nonsense with his claim that “You only have to look at Mars, Earth and Venus. Mars has least CO2 and is coldest and Venus has most and is hottest”. I interrupted along the lines “No please, that is such rubbish” to the distress of Monbiot. With scientific advice of this caliber who needs to learn anything in school?

One could equally say - Look at the field mouse, the grey squirrel and the black rhino; the lightest in colour is the lightest in weight and the darkest is the heaviest, proving that the darkness of an animal dictates its weight. Afterwards I suggested to Monbiot that the nearness of Venus to the sun could be something to do with it.

Of course within Watson’s claim - designed for the ignorant – lies the fundamental misunderstanding of the Physics of infra-red absorbing-emitting (IRA-E) gases (mis-named Greenhouse gases).

ANY atmosphere on any planet will have a large gravity induced temperature gradient (known as ‘lapse rate’ - colder higher up) and a tiny amount of IRA-E gas will cause the outer layers rather than surface to be at the radiation equilibrium temperature needed to match the general incoming radiation energy inflow; hence the lower atmosphere lower down and the surface will be warmer than without any IRA-E gas (eg CO2, water vapour). The problem however is non-equilibrium feedback processes in the real atmosphere such as day-night temperature fluctuations which upset the quasi-static model, IR effects on the lapse rate and surface cooling due to plant transpiration which increases with CO2.

The observed facts are ZERO (or maybe negative) effect of CO2 increases in the present Earth atmosphere (and atmosphere for the last 600 million years) and the predicted Hotspot in the upper atmosphere above the equator which should come under the CO2 theory with more CO2 is in fact observed as a Coldspot!

[NB While making these remarks it should be noted there are some who - accepting the observed FACTS - dispute attributed properties of IR radiation and IRA-E gases themselves.]

Whatever the full explanation we have to get real. ALL the observed failed predictions and facts of climate change in the last decades, centuries, millennia, and millions of years refute the CO2 theory. Watson puts ideology and one failed theory before observation and fact. That approach is not science and must be destroyed.

Monbiot was also asked later why he persists with use of the pejorative phrase ‘Climate Change Deniers’ when no-one denies that climate changes anyway. His reply was that he only means man-made climate change. This sleight of hand, not understood by the public of course, enables him to continue the pejorative labeling of those who question anything - rather than actually debate the implications of observed facts.

UPDATE: See also The Guardian's 'climategate' debate in full with Audio link - The entire recording of the Guardian's 'climategate' debate, presented by George Monbiot

UPDATED: See also 'Climategate' debate: less meltdown, more well-mannered argument by Damian Carrington, The Guardian - Video Link - Polemical and partisan characterises the climate debate online - but at last night's Guardian debate there was courteousness and a distinct warmth in the air.