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The glacier on Germany's Zuspitz mountain is covered up in summer Photo: DPA

Germans lose fear of climate change after long, hard winter

Published: 27 Mar 10 13:17 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/sci-tech/20100327-26163.html

Germans are losing their fear of climate change, according to a survey, with just 42 percent worried about global warming.

It seems the long and chilly winter has taken its toll on climate change sensibilities despite the fact that weather has nothing to do with climate.

The latest figure is a clear drop from the 62 percent of Germans who said they were scared of such changes just in autumn 2006.

The new survey, carried out by polling company Infratest for Der Spiegel magazine, showed a quarter of those questioned thought Germany would profit from climate change rather than be badly affected by it.

Many people have little faith in the information and prognosis of climate researchers with a third questioned in the survey not giving them much credence. This is thought to be largely due to mistakes and exaggerations recently discovered in a report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change, the IPCC.

Germany’s Leibniz Community, an umbrella organisation including many climate research institutes, broke ranks by calling for the resignation of IPCC head Rajendra Pachauri.

Climate research has been put, “in a difficult situation,” said Ernst Rietschel president of the Leibniz Community. He said sceptics have been given an easy target by the IPCC and said Pachauri should take on the responsibility and resign.

Last summer the glacier on Germany’s highest mountain, the Zugspitz in Bavaria, was covered over with plastic sheeting to try to protect it from warm rain which threatened to accelerate its melting.

The Local (news@thelocal.de)

What do you think? Leave your comment below.


Your comments about this article:

#1
15:55 March 27, 2010 by Hebbellover
jmjdk...give it a rest! The German people are in a demographic decline, in a decade or two there won't be any more germans to worry about global warming.
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#2
16:23 March 27, 2010 by dbert4
@Hebbellover - Oh "peschvogel" you bugger, trying to be clever aren't? Since you didn't mis-spell any words this time, you almost fooled us. Schade
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#3
16:51 March 27, 2010 by Prufrock2010
If the German public does not understand the difference between climate change and weather patterns, they are as stupid as the American right wing. I didn't realize that Fox News was so popular here.
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#4
16:58 March 27, 2010 by Johnny Cash
I guess the people who are displaced by climate change will do what the Vikings did during the medieval warming period and go farming in Greenland for a couple of hundred years.
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#5
18:49 March 27, 2010 by vonSchwerin
Has Jim Inhofe been speaking to the Germans? I thought the Germans were smarter than the Americans when it can to such issues.
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#6
20:39 March 27, 2010 by Logic Guy
Well, it's not so easy to know for sure if the Environment has been altered by greenhouse gases. However, clearly there are benefits to being self-sufficient, such as what Denmark has achieved.

They have actually created more than 30,000 new jobs, as a result of being energy efficient.

Another fact, nations all over the world are losing land.

Just this week, an island that had been disputed by Pakistan and India, for hundreds of years, fianally disappeared.

Rising sea levels literally consumed it.
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#7
21:36 March 27, 2010 by dbert4
@Logic Guy - So global warming can also solve problems! Now if the waters of the red sea would only cover the middle-east!
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#8
01:49 March 28, 2010 by peschvogel
Logic Guy (oxymoron)

Denmark is self sufficent Oh really No oil or gas is needed from outside its borders? What a load of crap...Kop needs commodities for its people. Kop could sell those Danish women like they do in the add prior to the ever so successful "Climate Change" convention. Thats was a joke.

Look, rising sea levels have been rising n Bangladesh for years and your focused on claiming an island in Pakistan & India. Thump. That was the sound of my hand hitting your face. Look, you ignorant bafoon, claiming islands is not it my man. Its about Bangledesh. Besides, there is "no" scientific evidence the earth is getting warmer (e.g. grad + oder -). Actually, all of that Al Gore and Euro trash promotions is for the EU superstate projekt which nobody believes anymore. (Read, please read thoroghly before shooting your mouth off, the article). The world is getting "Colder".

Climate change is falsch, just another reason for your European govts and EU superstate failure to raise money from its ignorant people watching commercials of monkeys falling out of trees and Polar bears falling off ice bergs. Polar bears have been known to swim hundreds of miles, so this is nothing new either. Give me a freaking break...
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#9
05:11 March 28, 2010 by piper1
"logicguy"... Tuvalu in the middle of Pacific is no more than 2 metres above sea level.

It has not "dissapeared"

When Tuvalu is inundated, then there would be a red flag

Now.... Read the article about your supposidly island that dissapeared in Pakisatan.. again.... SLOWLY.. perhaps you might understand that it is in a tidal delta and has been happening over millenia.

It just "dissapeared" convieniently while this debate was on...

Typical cherrypicking to suit your so called argument.

You my friend have been brainwashed.
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#10
05:18 March 28, 2010 by peschvogel
Piper1:

"Logicguy", funny he calls himself when the opposite is true, has bought into the EU superstate of the Euro and Global Warming. Typisch with his comment that states no factual data, just an "island"...Must be that wonderful education he got for free...
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#11
06:09 March 28, 2010 by Eagle1
Oh, my silly gullable German friends. Al Gore and the radical left have pulled the wool over your eyes once again. The joke is on you.
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#12
10:05 March 28, 2010 by Bryan Conner
Climate change is real...it changes several times each year. Now Global warming also has happened in the past. If it had not occurred, we would still be in the ice age.

In the late 70's, we were supposedly headed for an ice age.

The current "Climate Change/Global Warming" deal is simply a scare tactic being used to generate money. Follow the money trail. Al Gore stands to profit a huge amount if governments buy into the global warming crap. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/6491195/Al-Gore-could-become-worlds-first-carbon-billionaire.html

Think about the swine flu scare of last year. Where is the impending Pandemic that we were assured would happen? The news media, led by the American media, has learned that if the customer is scared or angry, they will buy more papers and listen or watch more.....and more advertising dollars are earned.
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#13
11:25 March 28, 2010 by punkspop
I'm beginning to believe this entire argument is moot. It is most likely too late to change anything. The Earth, no matter who/what/why, will shake us off and it will be as if we never existed. George Carlin said it best, " The planet... the planet... the planet isn't going anywhere. WE ARE!"
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#14
12:43 March 28, 2010 by twisted
Oh my God, The Republicans must be exporting their right wing idiots to Germany and elsewhere. Global Warming is real and any one who does not recognize that fact must have the same brain activity as a dead sheep (I believe this is a requirement to be a Tea Bagger in the U.S.). Glaciers melting, island disappearing (please note spelling), holes in the ozone layer. Come on, get real or better yet, get informed.
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#15
14:02 March 28, 2010 by dbert4
Was there any doubt?
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#16
15:48 March 28, 2010 by lajfa
Hey "twisted" , why did the IPCC and every other environmental agency change their wording from Global Warming to Climate Change? Why would you compromise on the truth?

I guess you missed the latest about the Ozone Hole(s?). The one over the southern hemisphere is closing, and therefor worsen GW by not letting GHGs escape?!?!

http://blog.cleantechies.com/2010/01/26/closing-hole-in-ozone-layer-to-increase-global-warming/

It's like a teenage girl calling a dress slutty on someone else, but has to have it because it's sooo cool [no pun intended].
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#17
16:01 March 28, 2010 by Freedom_Beats_Socialism
I wish my friends in Germany would aufwachen. I'm not giving up my freedom because of lying, cheating, academic socialist agitprop. Slaves only want full bellies, not freedom, and cave in to the soothing propaganda that disguises control.

Climate change is a historical fact. Just ask the Vikings frozen out of Greenland.

Solar and wind do not have the energy density, take up much land and look ugly, and require mining lots of materials.

Water vapor traps quite a bit of heat. What about ocean evaporation?
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#18
16:33 March 28, 2010 by Talonx
Yet another board on the local inundated with people who pretend to know what their talking about! Hurray! Let me play, let me play. Let's see, oh, I got it. Here goes nothing . . .

Everybody knows that winter occurs simultaneously in the southern and northern hemisphere, all this talk about droughts in the southern hemisphere are a scare tactic from the left to divert us from the truth of the falsity of climate change!! Additionally, the nonsense being spewed by thermometers in the arctice about a significantly more mild winter than normal are nonsense, because thermometers are paid off by hollywood. Also, there's nothing abnormal about snow in Texas, they prayed for it, and being an especially godly state, they got what they asked for, it's really that simple.

May Jesus bless Glenn Beck and Ronald Reagan (even though Reagan, according to Glenn's religion must go to hell because he was not a Mormon).
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#19
17:34 March 28, 2010 by HJ Marseille
Thank goodness the Deutschvolk are waking from their slumber. I was beginning to think all us were watermelons, red on the inside green on the outside.
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#20
19:16 March 28, 2010 by peschvogel
Somebody, anybody prove to me that the earth's temperature is getting warmer and only post with scientific fact. Your EU, liberal drivel and philosophical nonsense is nothing compared to "facts". Let me see the facts? Show me the real evidence? And now what, Niel Armstrong never landed on the moon and it was all "fixed" in a hollywood studio. You Germans make me laugh. Your just jealous that thru brain drain, all your great "German" minds are leaving Germany.

Fact: The earth is going through a "cooling cycle"...Ungloublisch..aber Typisch..
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#21
19:35 March 28, 2010 by Talonx
Peschvogel, facts can be find at IPCC's websight, facts with more weight than anything you've said. Laughable, that you would compare climate change to conspiracy theories about the US not landing on the moon. A conspiracy theory can be identified in numerous ways. Some of the features that conspiracy theories share have to do with plausability of size. For instance too many people would have had to have been in on faking the moonlanding, ditto for faking climate change data. Another feature concerns that established facts of the contrary claim, there is no evidence of a staged landing, and there is no evidence of faked climate change data. If you had read anything of substance on the IPCC you would have found that any of the miscalculations made did not in anyway alter the general profile of climate change as understood and predicted by scientists.
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#22
20:28 March 28, 2010 by dbert4
"Everybody knows that winter occurs simultaneously in the southern and northern hemisphere"

Here is an example of the normal American LACK of intelligence. No, winter doesn't occur "simultaneously" the season's are reversed.

Any question now about how George Bush became a president?
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#23
22:01 March 28, 2010 by Eugene Workermen
It seems the German's are falling for the Global Warming lies just as they fell for Hitler's lies! Once you have National Socialism, you will always have it, better wise-up. Next, they will side with Iran and deny the holocaust!
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#24
22:01 March 28, 2010 by robertg222
Global warming is a scam made up by lying scientist as revealed by climategate.

The sentence "the fact that weather has nothing to do with climate" is another lie from the AGW scam artist. Climate is defined by the summation or average of weather events. So if fact weather is climate.
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#25
22:17 March 28, 2010 by baynative
"the fact that weather has nothing to do with climate"

Really? No wonder many people can witness one traffic accident and each be the star witness for different attorneys.

How is it those who fervently believe in evolution as a natural law of progression and change, are the first to panic, point fingers, and scream "The sky is falling" at even a hint change might exist? I doubt the Alps were formed by committee. The environmental impact report would never be approved.
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#26
22:19 March 28, 2010 by Michael67
Damn Gene you beat me to it Ha ha.....Some Germans are sheep..Don't worry we Americans will save you from yourselves, again! Sooner rather than later I'm sure..Oh say hi to little hitler from iran for me while your at it...

Btw does it really bother you that much that we as Americans (from all walks of life) have come so far in such a short time? Emulate us don't denigrate us...You might learn something from us if you didn't spend so much time being jealous of us.. Oh and your welcome for the graciousness you have shown us after we beat your ass in WW2 and rebuilt your country courtesy of the stupid American taxpayer.. Not to mention protecting you from the Russians .....your welcome!
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#27
22:33 March 28, 2010 by austoronto
Because Germany has such a rich science heritage, I have been baffled for years that the people latched on to the global warming theory.
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#28
22:36 March 28, 2010 by URsoTolerant
Hmmm, let's see, which side is more into name calling than discussing the issues?

dbert4, what are you referring to? GWB's lack of eloquence? His academic record? He is not eloquent. Does that make one stupid? His academic record? Higher scores than Gore and Obama (well, what we can find of Obama's). Does that make THEM stupid? And have you listened to Obama when he doesn't have a teleprompter? Not only not eloquent, but embarrassing.

BTW, weather has everything to do with climate. Weather is what determines climate. And a point glossed over, even if there is global warming - not climate change - does man contribute to it? It doesn't matter how many people, or who, believe man contributes to global warming... there is no proof. And that is the current scientific fact. Point to all the indicators you like. None of them prove man is the cause.

You miss the point. There is climate change. Always has been. Always will be. If you are truly concerned then turn your attention to how people can cope with a planet that is warmer then present, and a planet that is much colder than present.

And as a previous poster noted, if you believe in evolution, then you should embrace the changes, especially if they are brought about by man, as nothing is more natural than man. Note I did not say that man is more natural than anything else.
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#29
22:44 March 28, 2010 by vidgamenerd
"It seems the long and chilly winter has taken its toll on climate change sensibilities despite the fact that weather has nothing to do with climate.'

Wow!!! Really???? And it seems construction has nothing to do with building either....You Dolt!!! Here again is another example of Liberal Bias and lack of education in the media....Notice not even a byline with the author of the articles' name.Ever wonder about the motivation of some people who have to force their opinion of something rather than give basic facts??? Just the very first sentence here should cause everyone reading this article to do just that...And maybe ...just maybe some copy editor somewhere will grow a pair and about opening statements like that one" You stupid hack.Go back and rewrite the WHOLE article because you started with a statement that so contradicts its self that even a 9 year old child could pick up on it.(my 15 year old son pointed that one out.)There is a coming World Revolution!! it want to not be force fed your crappy opinions,policies,news,and more. We can make our own choices about what we teach our kids,listen to as news,and our politicians.Just so you know ...The climate has been changing on a daily basis since the planet formed. to say that we can affect the global weather patterns to any extent is laughable.to claim so is basically asserting that we have created "The Jetsons' Weather Machine",and that is not the case Chicken Little.To the author of this article..change your ways before you lose a job writing news articles and gain one saying"would you like fries with that?"...just saying
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#30
22:47 March 28, 2010 by shakazulu
I love it when the global warming scientologists huff and puff about science and history. Hey Mr. Logic Guy, Pakistan has only existed for about 60 years.

You should know that. It doesn't even pre-date L. Ron Hubbard.
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#31
22:56 March 28, 2010 by Matthew Von Mattov
Some dumbkopf averred: "weather has nothing to do with climate"...

Stop Your Nonsense! Weather has Almost Everything to do with Climate!

Climate IS ---> Weather Averaged Over Time!

AND let us never forget ... that but 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years ago,

the Global Alarmists Weather Prognostications of the then following year(s),

have NOT come to pass!

Why?

A) Because their Weather/Climate Models have been proven to be a bunch of Wurst!

B) Which means that they STILL don't know of what they speak!

C) Which means that they should shut their ignorant-at-best lips!

D) Which means that any intelligent human should Ignore them.. !

Count Matthew Von Mattov IVth hath sprechen!

+++
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#32
23:05 March 28, 2010 by docster777
"despite the fact that weather has nothing to do with climate"

REALLY??? Wow, thanks for setting me straight.

Signed, another idiot right winger
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#33
23:12 March 28, 2010 by Talonx
dbert4, you quoted me earlier, but I don't think you read everything I wrote...

As for the rest, it's a shame their are so many fools in the world. Climate change is a reality. Climate depends not only on weather patterns and sunlight, but as well the chemical composition of the planet and its atmosphere. Mankind has fundamentally altered the chemical composition of the atomosphere in an extremely short amount of geological time. We can expect that climate will also alter as a result of rapidly and drastically altered levels of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. It is true that climate change will always happen, but generally speaking drastic climate change does not occur in under 200 years, but rather over much longer periods of geologic time (think millions of years), time enough to evolve alongside climate alterations. The climate change we are experiencing now will not allow for this. Surely mankind will survive it, but nothing else will (in fact a massive extinction event is already underway as a result of mankind). These are all facts, you can find them in things called books. Unfortunately you will have to learn how to read in order to extract said facts.
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#34
23:23 March 28, 2010 by Matthew Von Mattov
+++

IPCC? ha ha ha ha ha ha!

36,000 (THOUSAND) UK PHYSICISTS are on very recent record

for casting very serious doubt upon the science AND findings of IPCC!

PUPPETS! (You know who you are) GATHER!

READ UND WEEP

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmsctech/memo/climatedata/uc3902.htm

+++
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#35
23:25 March 28, 2010 by peschvogel
Talonx: Again, no facts, just dribble..I want to see statistical facts, not your opinion which holds zero weight in the world of integrity. Typisch...

Eugene workerman: You rock! Too funny...You are my hero. Kick those Germans around some. In this downturn, make them think all is wrong in the world. Just be careful getting on the train with the windows and doors bolted.

@vidgamenerd: I wouldnt let my kids smoke the funny stuff but hey, they are your kin, not mine.
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#36
23:30 March 28, 2010 by Al Phresceaux
If glaciers didn't melt (recede), how many feet of ice would be covering Germany right now? Of course "climate change" is real; but it is an ongoing process of nature and unless you can prove that humans came from another planet, they are part of nature too. So, even if humans were causing it, it's a natural process and should be left alone. Que sera, sera.
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#37
23:32 March 28, 2010 by Logic Guy
Well, discussions here on this site would be much more useful, if people wouldn't become so emotional. Anger and name calling ruins any chance for intellectualism.

For the record, I never said that Global Warming is real.

Take another look at what I said.

The truth is, Denmark really is the most efficeint country in the world. Check any reliable source. Every nation could learn and gain from what the Danes have accomplished.
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#38
23:46 March 28, 2010 by mickeyc
You are not currently logged in.

dbert4 said:

"Here is an example of the normal American LACK of intelligence. No, winter doesn't occur "simultaneously" the season's are reversed.

Any question now about how George Bush became a president?"

You might want to look up "sarcasm" in the dictionary. The writer was being humorous.

Your response suggests there might be the odd American that is smarter than you.

Hope the snobbery keeps you warm at night.
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#39
23:48 March 28, 2010 by Matthew Von Mattov
+++

OK.. let's show some science.

What do ManMade-Only Global Warming Alarmists avoid showing you?

What do ManMade-Only Global Warming Alarmists rarely mention?

What do ManMade-Only GWA"s never Quantify?

Answer: --

ACTUAL LONG TE|RM HISTORICAL ABRUPT CLIMATIC VARIATION DATA

Here's 17,000 scientifically demoed years of wildly varying Earth Temp...

http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=441&cid=19073&ct=61&article=9986

+++
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#40
00:02 March 29, 2010 by JohnFLob
"It seems the long and chilly winter has taken its toll on climate change sensibilities despite the fact that weather has nothing to do with climate."

You can not accurately divorce weather from climate. Without either you can not have the other. What is climate but an historical summary of weather for regions and/or the world over extended time frames. Therefore if we experience several seasons during which weather data, such as temperature, are measurable lower or higher they will influence the climatic records. If unusual weather phenomenon are confined to a relatively localized area it may not significantly affect the climate. However, unusual weather over wide regions such a continents and hemispheres will have an influence on historical datas record history(ies) used to "define" the climate.
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#41
00:24 March 29, 2010 by R Dahl
More than 60 prominent German scientists have publicly declared their dissent from man-made global warming fears in an Open Letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Here's a short quote from the letter."A real comprehensive study, whose value would have been absolutely essential, would have shown, even before the IPCC was founded, that humans have had no measurable effect on global warming through CO2 emissions. Instead the temperature fluctuations have been within normal ranges and are due to natural cycles. See full letter translated from German to English at

http://climaterealists.com/index.php?id=3815
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#42
00:47 March 29, 2010 by Cincinnatus
For shame !!!!!

The ¦quot;reporter¦quot; on this article STATES: ¦quot;It seems the long and chilly winter has taken its toll on climate change sensibilities despite the fact that weather has nothing to do with climate.¦quot;

I understand the first part of the sentence; but I find it most curious that your reporter actually makes the absolute statement that ¦quot;despite the fact that weather has nothing to do with climate.¦quot; First of all, a ¦quot;reporter¦quot; reports on what others have said or done, they do not inject themselves into the story. Furthermore, what does the reporter think does comprise ¦quot;climate?¦quot; Climate consists of the various data points from the elements of ¦quot;weather¦quot; for a particular segment of time, associated with a particular area.

Just because your reporter is an active proponent of the left-wing propaganda called ¦quot;Anthropogenic Global Warming¦quot;, does not give him an excuse for making an unsupported, and un-sourced declaration to advance his point of view.
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#43
00:56 March 29, 2010 by OldAmerican
I guess I'm just a dumb, old American for not being able to follow the notion that there's no connection between climate and weather. If "weather has nothing to do with climate," Prufrock2010 (http://urlg.in/3t5), please tell me why the word "weather" is used to define the word "climate."

Dictionary.com: climate: "the composite or generally prevailing weather conditions of a region, as temperature, air pressure, humidity, precipitation, sunshine, cloudiness, and winds, throughout the year, averaged over a series of years."

Dictionary.com: weather: "the state of the atmosphere with respect to wind, temperature, cloudiness, moisture, pressure, etc."

(Got sidetracked by six hours of telephone calls or this would have been up long ago.)
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#44
01:10 March 29, 2010 by Matthew Von Mattov
+++

re: The current false-Alarmist-notion of the month:

"Weather's got nothing to do w/Climate":

As the Weather did Not live up to their Alarmist Forecasts,

the Alarmist-Puppet-Meisters fed their puppets a Royal LIE:

"Don't Look at the Weather! Don't! Think "Climate!"

The added Alarmist convolution is:

We, the Honest Ones, have been talking Climate for years!

We Argued, "Climate on Earth has been Changing Since the Get-Go!"

But did the Alarmists listen? Did they even flinch?

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Our truths fell on deaf ears because all they really want

is to Tax Carbon which is, The Building Block of All LIfe!

Now that they've got serious egg on their faces,

they're lying like mad in an attempt to save their scrawny necks..

+++
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#45
01:24 March 29, 2010 by peschvogel
And what have the precious Danes contributed to society besides Lego and Brigette Nielson?
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#46
01:29 March 29, 2010 by bugger
Leave it to the left to politicize the f-ing weather, they tell the "big lie".
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#47
01:33 March 29, 2010 by buckrol
Nice to see people are recognizing this scam for what it is.

Check out this hilarious parody called "Global Disastrification:" http://www.funnyconservatives.com/?p=89
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#48
01:34 March 29, 2010 by Prufrock2010
OldAmerican:

From one old American to another, what I actually wrote was: "If the German public does not understand the difference between climate change and weather patterns, they are as stupid as the American right wing."

By the very definition you have cited you prove my point -- "averaged over a series of years." This does not mean a snowy winter in Washington or an El Niño in California. It means a significant period of time whereby to establish the significance of weather patterns.

From the contributions in this forum by the rabid Glen Beck crowd and right-wing conspiracy theorists, I am concerned that Darwin's theory of evolution may not be accurate, as there is little evidence of an evolved life form on this thread. Hey, it's your planet to destroy. If you really want to roll the dice, go for it. I won't live that long and really couldn't give a rat's ass how you meet the demise of your hastening. Double down.
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#49
01:44 March 29, 2010 by Matthew Von Mattov
+++

"By the very definition you have cited you prove my point -- "averaged over a series of years." This does not mean a snowy winter in Washington or an El Niño in California. It means a significant period of time whereby to establish the significance of weather patterns"

In other words, Climate IS directly connected with Weather.

Anyone who's been led to think that "weather has nothing to do with climate",

has been fed a falsity; a bold-faced LIE.

___
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#50
01:44 March 29, 2010 by anthilltiger
whers all the real men in Germany? sounds like you all ar in the sdausage fest togther.. we shall send American women to kick your Kraut..its sad to look at a once proude strong contry turn to smashed potatoe..
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#51
01:47 March 29, 2010 by peschvogel
@Prufrock2010: You need to stay with the facts. Not sure where or what type of education you have but you need to cite statistics and facts. Stop telling people how to live. State some facts before confabulating and spreading fear or favor all over these comments sections. I am getting sick of your lies...
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#52
01:57 March 29, 2010 by Knowthetruth
The REAL Inconvenient TRUTH about Climate Change.

FACT:

If you remove The Little Ice Age (A period of unusually COLD climatic conditions) from climate data from the past 1,000 years, Global Warming DOES NOT EXIST.

Fact is, the global mean temperature 1,000 years ago is within 0.1C of the global mean temperature today.

The whole Global Warming MYTH absolutely relies on the starting data of caluclations being 1850, which is the last year of The Little Ice Age. It relies on comparing todays climate with Ice Age conditions.

Remove the Ice Age and instead of Global Warming what you have is a climate that's been stable for the past 1,000 years.
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#53
02:02 March 29, 2010 by anthilltiger
YOU have no facts! Fact is you follow the masses. You¦#39;re like a turkey running in the streets during a rainstorm. You look to the sky and drown in your own stupidity. Your unconscious dribble is nothing more than talking points that you have read from the Multinationals. People want to believe they are superior to the elements. Those who believe in this global warming farce actually believe they are superior to the nature. Your all small insignificant elements..
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#54
02:04 March 29, 2010 by Prufrock2010
Matthew von Mattov:

Of COURSE climate is connected to weather. Weather is a snapshot; climate is a measurable pattern of weather over a significant period of time. Is climate affected by man-made carbon emissions? Maybe. Maybe not. More likely maybe. Ask Sarah Palin. She believes men and dinosaurs walked the earth together.

Peschvogel:

There is a plethora of information available even to you that will either persuade or dissuade you as to the effects of climate change. Examine it at your leisure. Continue polluting at your peril. I couldn't care less. I have no dog in this hunt. Your children might. I couldn't care less about them, either, as there is obviously no lifeguard in your gene pool.
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#55
02:21 March 29, 2010 by mucus
Climate used to have everything to do with weather when climate change advocates said climate change (a.k.a. global warming) caused Hurricane Katrina, was going to result in many more hurricanes, etc. But then the weather predicted by climate change advocates didn't happen -- e.g. there were fewer hurricanes than expected the year after Katrina. Since it didn't go their way now weather has nothing to do with climate change. Obviously the climate change advocates want it both ways. Quite Disingenuous.

There also are climate change advocates who say weather has everything to do with climate and these cold spells prove that humans are causing climate change, as does warm weather, as do hurricanes, as does the absence of hurricanes. Why .... everything that happens "proves" humans are changing climate.

When did "global warming" become "climate change"? When records showed the Earth hasn't warmed since 1998. Time for a new name .... ? Time for non-biased records? Time for the raw data to be released?

I've examined the issue at length, and as a Ph D scientist I would say the data is too uncertain to say whether humans are having a major impact on climate. So I disbelieve the people who say it is -- the data doesn't support their position. Their position is possible, but so is the opposite, that humans aren't a major factor. In fact both are equally possible.
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#56
02:24 March 29, 2010 by tforeman
I love these comments. It's heartwarming to know that the leftists in Germany are as narrow-minded and stuck on stupid as ours are.

-- from California
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#57
02:32 March 29, 2010 by Prufrock2010
Mucus:

I believe that the indisputable record is that the last ten years has been the warmest decade in recorded history. But then I could be wrong. And as I said, I don't care. I just went through the worst German winter in my experience, as many of us did. That doesn't mean that climate change is a myth, however. Merely that Europe had a particularly horrible winter.

Now I must leave this scintillating faux-Fox Noise blog to prepare for a day of work to earn the money to pay the banks before they all go under, per peschvogel's dire prediction.
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#58
02:41 March 29, 2010 by Matthew Von Mattov
+++

mucus asked:

"When records showed the Earth hasn't warmed since 1998. Time for a new name?"

Yes.. Global Cooling!

Global Warming Alarmists are not allowed to employ the word "Cooling"..

Even when an ice age cometh, they say, "Global Warming has abated for a spell";

AS IF. .Global Warming shall always be the Status Quo..

Speaking of PhD's who oppose the pseudo-science of the GW Alarmists,

as well as the constant phony allegations of

"there's an overwhelming consensus FOR Global Warming", comma

Not only have almost 10,000 American PhD's publicly denounced "Global Warming",

but there has Never been a consensus of this planet's scientists on this issue:

http://www.petitionproject.org/

More Important.. Consensus is never ever science.. !

Proof de Consensus is the Logical Fallacy known as Argumentum ad Populum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argumentum_ad_populum

+++
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#59
02:45 March 29, 2010 by Prufrock2010
It it's not a problem, Matthew, why are you so worked up about it? Iit's your ass, bro.
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#60
03:22 March 29, 2010 by GG3
The German papers are just like the American left leaning papers. They sneak a lie into a factual article as if it were a fact. "DESPITE THE FACT THAT WEATHER HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CLIMATE" This is pure hooey and the author is not even qualified to compare the two, but it is inserted as a fact. Please give me a break. It seems as if the Americans are not the only ones who have to deal with lying agenda driven "journalists".
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#61
03:33 March 29, 2010 by Tertius
You GW nuts have been completely hoodwinked and you still don't get it do you. Well, here's a clue. Notice the 1st "fact" given is this: "the fact that weather has nothing to do with climate."

Now ask yourself this. For how many years now have we heard that GW will cause more hurricanes, more intense hurricanes, drouts, more powerful storms, etc? See, warming was supposed to cause more intense, severe weather. But that was when they had the data to support GW. Since then, the so called data have been exposed as lies and GW is now Climate Change. As a result, they now tell us that weather does not equal climate. In other words, don't believe what you can see and feel, "believe us."

Sadly, many of you still do. And judging by the tone/content of many of these posts, you do so in order to maintain a sense of superiority over those stupid Americans. Grow up people. Think for yourselves and do so for noble reasons - not just so you can claim that you are more environmentally sensitive and sophisticated than the Americans.
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#62
03:35 March 29, 2010 by andrez83
What do Terrorism and Global Warming have in common?

Both, whether real or not, are used to give more power to the government and take ever more freedom away from us (on both sides of the Atlantic).

And yes, big business benefits too. After all, big business and big government are good bed fellows!

No, I am not an anarchist. I just believe in the virtues of limited government.

My hope for my beloved new homeland, the United States, is that she is one day returned to the confines of the American Constitution.
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#63
04:15 March 29, 2010 by greatmag
Prufrock you are a crazy Luddite. Conservative know the difference between climate change and man made climate change. The climate is changing. It has done so since the earth formed an atmosphere. It has been warming and cooling for eons without mans help and will continue to do so regardless of what we do to try to prevent it, This man made global warming hysteria is designed to take away two things. Our money and our freedom. I won't give either of them without a fight. How much money ar e you making from this scam?
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#64
04:20 March 29, 2010 by Knowthetruth
02:32 March 29, 2010 by Prufrock2010

I believe that the indisputable record is that the last ten years has been the warmest decade in recorded history. But then I could be wrong.

Well Prufrock, that all depends on how history is recorded.

If you are talking about recorded weather temperatures from around the planet then that data doesn't even go back 500 years.

However, if you go off of the geologic record then you would find we are very near the COLDEST climate of the past 500 million years.

The global mean temperature today is less than 15C. The normal global mean temperature over the past 500 million years is closer to 22C.

The only reason the planet is so cold right now is because we are less than 10,000 years removed from the last major ice age, and only 160 years removed from The Little Ice Age.

The normal climate for earth is MUCH hotter than it is now.

Now, I suggest you read up on the Paleocene­Eocene Thermal Maximum. It was a period of massive global warming and CO2 increases that far exceed the global temperatures we have today. Temperatures at the polar regions were above freezing, and no polar ice caps existed. CO2 levels increased at a massive rate, despite the complete absence of humans, much less industrialisation.

There is nothing at all unusual about our current climate. It's completely normal warming after the end of an ice age. In fact, the single requirement for an ice age to end is global warming. Without global warming, the planet would be perpetually locked in an ice age.

I'll make it simple for you.

If you are going to discuss climate change on any serious level, make sure you have a climatic sample size of more than 0.0000003% of geologic history, which is all the past 150 years is compared to the 4.5 billion years this planet has been around.

If all you're doing is comparing data from 1850 (The Little Ice Age) to now then all you are doing is comparing an unusually cold climate to a more normal one.
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#65
05:00 March 29, 2010 by peschvogel
Prufrock2010:

You need to state "facts" and stick with teh "truth" when your mouth opens. Not "conspiracy" theories nor "philosophy" but facts. Please give me facts. Stop your chicken little, preaching The Sky is Falling, The Sky is Falling. Facts, statistics. Not dribble and bunk.

Typisch Deustche...
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#66
05:02 March 29, 2010 by dan eck
People that criticize Fox News have never actually watched Fox News, they merely regurgitate what has been feed to them with the Kool-aid and are incapable of critical thinking.
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#67
05:14 March 29, 2010 by SgtNFury
Oh my God, The Obamacrats must be exporting their extreme left wing brain-damaged idiots to Germany and elsewhere. Anthropocentric Global Warming is bogus and anyone who does not recognize that fact must have the same brain activity as a roadkilled Communist opossum (I believe this is a requirement to be a Democrat in the U.S.). Glaciers melting (not!), islands disappearing (not!), holes in the ozone layer (old news by about 2 or 3 decades...NOT due to warming, but flourocarbon aerosols...reduced and the holes shrinking!). Come on, get real or better yet, get informed. Drill here. Drill now. Burn coal. Save the Planet! Nuke the whales!
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#68
05:25 March 29, 2010 by Caper29b
Germans losing their fear of global warming? If I was France, I'd be scared right now. LOL!
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#69
05:40 March 29, 2010 by MarcJeric
a) There was first in the 1970's the global cooling scam (see e.g. Newsweek April 28, 1975 on the internet); the government-paid scientists (90% of them are rejects of private enterprise) recommended to fight the new ice age by sending our war planes to cover the polar ice with soot in order to increase solar heat and prevent crushing of New York skyscrapers by the new glaciers;

b) When that did not work we had the global warming hoax in the 1990's, proclaimed by mainly the same government-paid scientists ; to prevent the massive heating, fires, flooding of coastal cities, disappearance of Florida, California, and Caribbean islands, massive hurricanes, global famine, and other catastrophic events we should nationalize ...

c) After 11 years of considerable cooling we are now faced with the climate change flimflam where whatever happens with our climate we should nationalize .... To prevent this catastrophe the best vehicle presumably is international agreements enforced by the United Nations world government.

d) In order to hide this conspiracy against freedom we now have to deal with the cap & trade power grab; its purpose is to nationalize oil & gas industry, coal mines, electric utilities, transportation industry ­ and, of course, to increase taxes.

e) The Environmental Protection Agency has declared CO2 a dangerous pollutant and intends to regulate it in case the Congress fails to act on the cap & trade bill. Now we have it ­ the principle of life on earth is a pollutant!

As for the influence of carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas: on a normal day the atmosphere contains 20,000 ppm (parts per million) of water vapor and about 300 ppm of carbon dioxide. The government-paid scientists say that an increase of 100 ppm of CO2 over the next 50 years will result in a catastrophic warming. The thermal absorptivity of water vapor is 4 times larger than that of carbon dioxide; it follows that this projected CO2 increase will increase the overall thermal absorptivity of the mixture by about 1/8 of one percent. The production of methane from livestock flatulence and the swamps (or as the environmentalists call those "wetlands") vastly surpasses the influence of CO2.

There is the Global Warming Petition Project (see Internet) where 31,478 US independent scientists declared that there is no anthropogenic (human-caused) global warming; of these 9,029 are scientists with PhD degrees. Our environmentalists tried to sabotage this effort by submitting phony names with phony degrees - and then claimed the whole effort by the Petition scientists was a fraud. It took us 3 years and a lot of private money to verify the credentials of all the signatories and clean up the Petition of those saboteurs. The battle should be fought and won on the firm scientific basis.
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#70
06:18 March 29, 2010 by JJH
(despite the fact that weather has nothing to do with climate. )

Desperate attempt by the reporter to justify his own beliefs.
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#71
06:47 March 29, 2010 by Randy_Devil
Obama's love for the downtrodden heats up the planet's atmosphere by 5.8 degrees Fahrenheit, while his loathing of George W. Bush cools it down by the same amount. That's why the scientists have been unable to detect any significant variations in average global temperatures.
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#72
06:56 March 29, 2010 by Drdarby
Germans smarter than Americans??? Thank you for my laugh for the day. Germans and the rest of thier Eurotrash lot are a bunch of socialist mind numb idiots. The men are men only because of the genitilia.

Only the Eurotrash arrongance remains of a zone who has done nothing for the world in hundreds of years. Global warming idiots beleiving propaganda like always. No wonder Hitler had an easy time of you
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#73
09:21 March 29, 2010 by piepsi
I feel SO embarrassed when I read your comments, people. Infratest has asked some thousands of Germans and they might have hit a nest of morons, yes. But your comments here have already topped that stupidity. Stop acting like babies. That's retarded.
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#74
09:46 March 29, 2010 by Talonx
You ever notice that when you you look at opponents of climate change, you see that a massive amount of them are not people who study the climate. Someone talked about physicists earlier, for instance. I've also seen geologists cited before. When I want to know about the way the sun works or what forces affect the behaviour of an atom I'll ask a physicist. If I want to know about such things I don't go to a neurologist do I?

As for use of 'climate change' over 'global warming' it depends on who you talk to but since the start of this stuff alot of empiricists have insisted on 'climate change' as a term.

The Paleocene­/Eocene Thermal Maximum occured over millions and millions of years, this round of climate change is happening in under 500. There is a big difference.

Excluding the mini-ice age does not eradicate the extreme and rapid upward trend of rate of climate change.

This year, arctic temperatures were above average during the whole of winter. Due in large part to the thermals provided by, for example, the Gulf Stream operating in a drastically altered way. The Gulf Stream did not provide for the engine which churns and creates winds and fronts which normally protect regions south of the arctic from arctic wind. As a result North America and Eurasia recieved a particularly nasty winter, due to climate change. Southern Hemisphere had a pretty nasty summer as well, look it up and actually ask a weather/climate scientists.
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#75
10:07 March 29, 2010 by RCG
"It seems the long and chilly winter has taken its toll on climate change sensibilities despite the fact that weather has nothing to do with climate. "

Weather has nothing to do with climate is the bold assertion. That's good news. Then we don't have to worry about climate change.

If weather and climate are independent entities then climate change will never be reflected in weather. No matter how much warmer or colder the climate, weather will continue as it always has. Weather as we experience it every day is what is important to our well-being. So who cares about climate change. It has no effect on weather.
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#76
10:30 March 29, 2010 by jollyroger
climate change has only ever been about a group of far-left, mainly america or americanized anarchist scum wanting to strip the western world of our wealth, and give it to the third world in carbon credits. well try again, because we are awake to your true intentions, you bunch of fuzzy-headed dopes. p.s. if climate change has no effect on weather patterns, what the hell are you complaining ABOUT!
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#77
10:37 March 29, 2010 by Hipnosis
20:39-

Is this the island that was consumed ny the sea. It had nothing to do with global warming.

http://www.australianclimatemadness.com/?p=3538
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#78
10:44 March 29, 2010 by RCG
"...despite the fact that weather has nothing to do with climate."

The writer who made this ludicrous claim tries to be politically correct but fails. The politically correct position on weather and climate is this: Hot days are a reflection of CLIMATE (and count). Cold days are a reflection of WEATHER (and don't count).

As has been pointed out correctly in earlier comments, climate is weather averaged over an extended period of time and the two are therefore most definitely related.
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#79
11:17 March 29, 2010 by hoosierdaddy22304
We in the USA apologize for Al Gore, who invented the InterNet. Had he not done that, a lot of power plants would not be spewing filth like mad rap singers, not to mention the pollution caused in the manufacture of all those computers that would not have been built without an InterNet to EnterTain people. So yes, there is global warming, and Al Gore caused it.
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#80
14:11 March 29, 2010 by Prufrock2010
Reading this thread is like parachuting into a meeting of the Flat Earth Society sponsored by Fox News. Good luck to all of you poor benighted fools who think the climate change debate is a left wing conspiracy. The hubris of the ignorant is truly amazing to behold. You deserve whatever is coming your way. Adios, amigos.
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#81
14:12 March 29, 2010 by Chisum
I'm sorry my German friends. Once more you have shown your inability to think in a logical manner. Once again the drums beat and the Germans goose step to the cause. This time it is Al Gore and the IPCC beating the drum. Covering a glacier with plastic!! How stupid can you get! And.... I see that your socialist health care program is being attacked .....BECAUSE?......it cost money!
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#82
14:21 March 29, 2010 by AndreaC
Do you know what I find oh so funny, is that Gore went from being worth about 2 million to over 100 million since he left office in the US. After one of his speeches about global warming sea levels rising, he left for California and bought a house on the beach. Have you seen his houseboat that he purchased it is over 100 ft long! When he had that hour where they asked everyone across the globe to turn off their electricity to show support for GLOBAL warming, none of this houses turned off their lights, the one in Tennessee blazed the brightest of all even had its floodlights on for all to see! He has a fleet of vehicles, but I am talking about large SUV and limos, not hybrid cars at all!

When Gore is giving a speech somewhere it has been noted over time that leaves his cars running throughout his entire speech in order to ensure that they will be nice and cool when he exits the building and returns to his gas-guzzling vehicles.

I could go on and on, but Gore bores me, I am finished with him and politicians like him. Do as I say, not as I do.
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#83
14:37 March 29, 2010 by Chisum
"When I want to know about the way the sun works or what forces affect the behaviour of an atom I'll ask a physicist." by Talonx

Seems to me the sun might have a wee bit to do heat. Solar physicist must know something about the source of the earth's heat. Now Mr Gore is a specialist in....??
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#84
14:48 March 29, 2010 by res0
There is a lot of bad science protecting the heavily financed swindle called "climate change". Climate change used to be called "global warming" until last winter when Nature changed all that. After all, how can you say "X number of people froze to death as the result of global warming" with a straight face, but I've witnessed news reporters say this very thing.

Bangladesh and some low lying island off the coast of India have been mis-used in some of the comments as proof of climate change (or Global warming) because of the high water as if the oceans are rising. Try this experiment. Go to your bathroom and turn on the water and observe with your own eyes that the level of the water will be the same at one end of the tub from the other. The same with the oceans. So if the Indian Ocean is rising enough to cover an island that was never covered before, then the Rhine River aught to be backing up and the Netherlands would have to add a few more meters to their dikes. Simply, the Indian Ocean is connected to the Pacific ocean which is connected to the Atlantic Ocean, etc. etc. etc.

Now the ancient and near history of Bangladesh is that it is and has been in an annual flood plain. It floods. It floods every year. It's a seasonal thing. It was more devastated in the year 1948 than any year since.

As for Al Gore, even Bill Clinton makes jokes about him, as in his recent joke that Al Gore has declared that Spring is proof of global warming.

Before you allow a network of evil scientists who work for Al Gore turn your world upside down, consider that if he succeeds in doing what he intends to do, and create laws to protect his investment, you will not be able to turn it around.
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#85
14:48 March 29, 2010 by kimdi01
What amazes me is that there are so many believers in the "Global Warming" shell game, especially since so many of the "leaders' of this movement have admitted that they "massaged" the numbers to make it look as if they were telling the truth. The main leader of the movement is none other than Al Gore and he is in the movement, not to make the world a better place for everyone but rather to make the world a "better place for his bank acocunts." His purpose in life is to make money for himself and he is doing that in great numbers because there are so many lemmings that want to follow him.

I'm not saying we should destroy the world just because we are able to do so, but rather to live responsibly. We don't need laws and taxes to do this and we don't need self made guru's to tell us how we should live. It gets cold in the winter and hot in the summer if you live north of the equator. That is a fact of life and a fact of proven science. Make do with that and don't pollute and don't make the pompous and phony Al Gore's of the world richer. See those peopel for what they are. Not saviors of the world but rather rich, and getting richer off your backs, phony people that can make an argument for everything in the world that happens is a result of the "global warming" myth.
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#86
15:28 March 29, 2010 by BobAmerican
Well, well. The Germans are joining the rest of the world and rejecting the man-made global warming hoax. Now if we can just get the politicians to get on board!
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#87
16:16 March 29, 2010 by binxterdoodles
I couldn't get past the image of the people covering a glacier in plastic sheeting. Made my day.
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#88
16:30 March 29, 2010 by Duude
But it'll be different next winter. HA HA HA. Bunch of dolts.
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#89
16:31 March 29, 2010 by hanblecheya
Anyone with even the flimsiest grasp of logic can see the trivial contribution of CO2 relative to other heat trapping constituents. In addition, there's the historical record, you know, the ice block that was named 'Greenland' . Only the self anointed idiot savants of the left are stupid enough to know the 'truth' of global warming without actually knowing how to spell science.
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#90
16:47 March 29, 2010 by xenodox
Prufrock, please note that the opponents of the AGW theory have not had to falsify data to support their position, and the supporters of it have, massively and openly.

That right there should make any rational person AT LEAST skeptical; the fact that faking the climate data seems to be ok with you, tells me and everyone else on this board that you are a troll.
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#91
16:58 March 29, 2010 by DonMcK
I live in Canada, and our winters are bitterly cold for much too long. I love spring and summer in Canada.

For a decade, I was hoping that Global Warming would speed up so we can have warmer and shorter winters. Does that make me an evil person?

I know there are a lot of politicians saying that warmer weather will be devastating for some people, but I live in a place that is much too cold 4 months every year, and if my winters are shorter, this should be good for us.
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#92
17:03 March 29, 2010 by Stefan Mayer
Is it really a "fact" that "weather has nothing to do with climate?" This would come as a surprise to all competent climatologists. Climate is nothing but cumulative weather. At bottom, the great driver of the world's climate is the sun. The great moderators are the oceans and cloud systems. CO2, at fewer than one part per two thousand, has practically nothing to do with it.

Global temperatures since 1998 have not increased at all. Even Arctic sea ice, which hit a minimum in 2007 due to unusual wind patterns, is returning to normal levels. See the satellite-based images on the nsdic website.

One or two years could be anomalous worldwide, and local anomalies are always to be expected. However, after a dozen years of relative stability or even cooling, it's clear to all but the clinically insane that AlGore's hysterics have been a scam.
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#93
17:04 March 29, 2010 by someone with a brain
What a bunch of kool-aid drinkers on here! And the funniest line in the article: "despite the fact that weather has nothing to do with climate"

yet the very definition of climate is: the composite or generally prevailing weather conditions of a region, as temperature, air pressure, humidity, precipitation, sunshine, cloudiness, and winds, throughout the year, averaged over a series of years.

Could this article be more biased? I'm thinking, NOT!
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#94
17:09 March 29, 2010 by JungleCogs
It seems to me that the burden of proof of AGW falls on those who believe it; to date, they have been unable to, unless they falsify their data.
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#95
17:14 March 29, 2010 by AlanBecker
Fellow Americans,

Logging onto a German news site and bashing Germans or Germany is neither cool nor constructive. Being a loudmouth about protecting Germany from the Russians, or whatever, is not cool. Sadly, our country hasn't done anything exceptional for the world in almost thirty years and their is nothing to suggest we ever will again.

These postings, other than the unnecessary bashing, are the same tired old arguments for-or-against the existence of man-made climate change. Man-made climate change is an idea that is fading as a result of the climategate scandals, the unwillingness of many countries to participate in CO2 reduction, and the urgency of a failing global economy. Certainly a colder-than-usual winter didn't help the cause either, and you can point out all you want about the difference between climate and weather; nobody cares.

There has probably been more CO2 discharged into the atmosphere vi exhale by people arguing about this nonsense than from many other sources of greenhouse gas.
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#96
17:24 March 29, 2010 by bettyeye
Wake up and smell the fraud!

Global warming was about POWER and making a group of people very wealthy!

FOLLOW THE MONEY!

Dr Pachauri as chairman of the IPCC ­ has helped TERI

to win a substantial share of a $500,000 grant from one of

America¦#39;s leading charities, along with a share in a three million

euro research study funded by the EU.
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#97
17:34 March 29, 2010 by Prufrock2010
xenodox:

If the opponents of the climate change theory are correct, why all the hysteria here? What's the big deal? If they are wrong, it is unlikely that you'll see the effects in your lifetime. Your descendants will, but who cares? I'll be gone and so will you. What difference does it make what happens to the planet once you no longer occupy it? Enjoy your self-interest while you can. Eventually nature will provide the definitive answer to this debate. As I said, I have no dog in this hunt and really couldn't care less what happens to a species that is too stupid to prevent its own extinction when it is within its power to do so. Those who think this is a left-wing or right-wing debate are delusional.
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#98
17:48 March 29, 2010 by sansantiago
My experience with Germans are limited to 3 vistis to Germany and having two sister-in-laws who are German. However, I have noticed a habit of following the general rule rather than challenging the rule. So I have to agree that sometimes these ladies act like zombies and repeat the pedestirian talking points. Very little long term thought or application of ideas to intellectual applications such as science or math. It doesn't make sense to me since so many Germans I have met in Germany were great in these areas? I gues they want to live in "la la" land.
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#99
18:00 March 29, 2010 by Talonx
I think I'm about done with the Local, I used to pass it along to others, but with this level of ignorance on the boards I'm always afraid to.

In one board on weather and climate (weather over thousands of years), posters have successfully called Germans inherently 'Ignorant' and 'credulous' (e.g. the poster Chisum). Accused scientists of enacting a global conspiracy to falsify climate data (see pretty much anybody the has 'American' or 'US' in part of there name). Finally, attempted to link Al Gore with absolutely have facet of life that they wish to criticise (see note in last sentence).

Chisum, yes the sun does have a sh#t ton to do with temperature on the planet, but our atmosphere contributes equally (as can see but temperature fluctuations on the moon). And most solar physicists don't study the sun's affects on a planet but rather how the sun works. Further, most physicists aren't even solar physicists, but rather theoretical and paricle physicists.
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#100
18:16 March 29, 2010 by peschvogel
@sansantiago:

Blame it on the malaise and denial provided by the welfare state. As long as they vote for a certain politician, they will get a monthly check to stay at home and for their car and not work. This "Bismarkian" state is over. No more money. Time to get real Germans and start thinking "real".
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#101
18:41 March 29, 2010 by barrycooper
There are many advantages to being educated, but one clear disadvantage is it enables you to make large errors with confidence. Common sense is knowing what you know, and knowing what you don't know. Being "educated" is knowing what you know, but NOT knowing what you don't know. Given this, the two blend with distressing frequency, and when untempered with humility are virtually uncorrectable.

Here is the reality: the predictions made with such confidence ten years ago were wrong. Given that they were formatted as scientific hypotheses, we can, using the scientific method, conclude that the models upon which those predictions were based, were also wrong.

This whole project depends on very limited measurements. We have real time CO2 readings from one place on the planet, since the 1950's, and dependable real time temperature data going back only to the late 1980's, with the advent of satellites.

To this are added as facts what are in fact CONJECTURES: the data output of computer programs.

To elevate this clownishness to science what are needed are testable hypotheses, whose outputs occur in relatively short time domains, such as 3-4 years.

We know that CO2 acts as a greenhouse gas primarily in the Stratosphere. In the troposphere, it is almost completely irrelevant in any concentration, relative to water vapor, which is there the overwhelmingly most important greenhouse gas.

Now, we can measure temperatures in the Stratosphere with very high confidence levels, and do it real time. The conjecture offered to us by the Global Warming people is that CO2 accumulations in the stratosphere will affect water vapor accumulations in the troposphere, which is how they build their disasters.

On this measure, the Global Warming cultists are wrong. Stratospheric temperatures appear to be DROPPING, not increasing. If real scientists were involved in this--by real, I mean honest, unpoliticized scientists--then this would have been broadcast near and far as good news.

That it wasn't--particularly in tandem with other revelations of professional incompetence--shows clearly we are dealing with politics, and that the veneer of "science" serves only to provide credibility to schemes otherwise unconcerned with facts.
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#102
19:14 March 29, 2010 by buckrol
The globe has been cooling for 11 years. Even if it was warming the evidence that it's man-caused is paper thin. There is historical evidence of 300,000 ppm CO2 in the atmosphere, and the existence of ice glaciers at the same time.

Check out this hilarious parody called "Global Disastrification:" http://www.funnyconservatives.com/?p=89
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#103
19:15 March 29, 2010 by biker steve
I know that all Germans think that all Americans are idiots. We removed all doubt in the last presidential election. The earth may or may not be warming. We, the human race, are extremely conceited to think that we could change global climate even if we wanted to do so. Al Gore makes Bernie Madoff look like an amateur con man.
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#104
19:16 March 29, 2010 by pascualetx
When you have to resort to changing the definition of centuries old meanings to win your argument, you have lost the debate. Climate is a synonym for weather. Look it up in any dictionary. I know it, you know it, everyone knows it. You are only kidding your self if you think otherwise. Bottom line, colder weather equals a colder climate.
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#105
19:23 March 29, 2010 by Force9
¦quot;despite the fact that weather has nothing to do with climate.¦quot;

What? Isn¦#39;t climate just a long term average of the daily weather? How can one have nothing to do with the other? If one has nothing to do with the other than could I claim Saudi Arabia has a cold climate? What would the author of this news report refer to in order to disprove such a claim?

Can the daily weather continue to get colder year after year at the same time the climate is getting warmer? Apparently yes so we are told.
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#106
19:29 March 29, 2010 by dbert4
@Prufrock2010 - Don't let this collection of low grade semi-illiterate military and former low grade semi-illiterate military (now low grade semi-illiterate contractors) get to you. They're only repeating what they hear on Fox News.
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#107
19:51 March 29, 2010 by peschvogel
Blame it on Dieter Bohlen.
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#108
19:57 March 29, 2010 by barrycooper
#108: I define "low grade" as Argumentum Ad Hominem unbuttressed by a single coherent fact or use of reason.

How do you define it? Someone saying something you feel isn't right, but are utterly and completely unable to grasp, let alone contest, let alone refute.

Surely since you do not define yourself as a low grade military moron, you are capable of understanding that when propaganda is successful, its targets do not view themselves as having been indoctrinated, so much as being RIGHT, when everyone else is wrong.

And it sends them into profound cognitive dissonance when they get off the ranch and realize that not everyone thinks like them.

Hate, then, is of course the natural reaction. Pick me any atrocity of the 20th century, and I will show you that basic mechanism, which you are here demonstrating well.
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#109
20:06 March 29, 2010 by RealitySandwich
Children, children, and from all the name calling that's what appears to be logged on here. Here are some facts to chew on;

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1250872/Climategate-U-turn-Astonishment-scientist-centre-global-warming-email-row-admits-data-organised.html

This is the "Climate Change" scientist admitting that there hasn't been any warming since 1995 and that warming has happened before but not due to man-made changes.

And this is not from Fox News or CNN.
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#110
20:31 March 29, 2010 by Urinal Gum
The article doesn't say anything about how many Germans believe in global warming. It talks about how many Germans are "afraid" of global warming. You can be absolutely certain global warming exists and not be afraid of it.

Either way, I don't think opinion polls should be used in place of scientific research.

/now get rid of that car: http://www.urinalgum.com/?p=300
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#111
20:44 March 29, 2010 by bugger
Saying that "weather has nothing to do with climate" is like saying alcohol has nothing to do with drunkenness. It's simply another talking point being propounded by the global warming cultists who are trying to deny the evidence in front of people's eyes--evidence that supports people's growing awareness that anthropogenic global warming is an enormous hoax.
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#112
20:50 March 29, 2010 by Matthew Von Mattov
+++

excellent point no. 111..

..and for that fine fellow (is he a climatologist?)

who demands only Climatologists should speak:

At the U.N. Global Warming conference in Poznan, Poland {Dec '08}

650 of the world's top climatologists stood up and said man-made global warming is a media generated myth without basis.

Said climatologist Dr. David Gee, Chairman of the International Geological Congress, "For how many years must the planet cool before we begin to understand that the planet is not warming?"

Why would such obviously smart guy say such a ridiculous thing?

But it turns out he's right.

The earth's temperature peaked in 1998. It's been falling ever since; it dropped dramatically in 2007 and got worse in 2008, when temperatures touched 1980 levels.

Meanwhile, the University of Illinois' Arctic Climate Research Center released conclusive satellite photos showing that Arctic ice is back to 1979 levels. What's more, measurements of Antarctic ice now show that its accumulation is up 5 percent since 1980.

+++
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#113
21:15 March 29, 2010 by barfootsnowboards
Prufrock2010

¦quot;they are as stupid as the American right wing.¦quot;

Dbert4

¦quot;Here is an example of the normal American LACK of intelligence.¦quot;

Ah, I see that in Germany they have since replaced the flags & armbands with a red backdrop and black swastica with the green back drop and a tree.

It seems the ¦quot;master race¦quot; now follows different colors……

Carefull when throwing stones, especially considering your country in question has history (within the last century) of lack of judgement when it comes to following leaders, and their ideals. After starting two world wars, claiming hundreds of millions of lives and losing both, your country and it's people may want to take pause before taking a holier than thou stance on anything, which includes the hyped up global warming fraud.
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#114
21:34 March 29, 2010 by mickeyc
dbert4:

It is interesting to note that you haven't replied to comments gently pointing out your literacy is underwhelming. You still seem to find time to throw aggressive comments at anyone whose beliefs you don't like.

This behavior is identical to the right wing Fox watchers you criticize: lack of literacy, rigid beliefs and complete intolerance for the beliefs of others.

The science backing global warming is an embarrassment to the scientific community. This does not mean that they are wrong but it does mean the science has to be redone.

Meanwhile we have very real environmental problems in the world which are being ignored. The air in India should not have to be breathed by anyone yet a huge proportion of the worlds population lives there. The rivers in China can literally run red from pollution.
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#115
22:14 March 29, 2010 by dbert4
@mickeyc - So apparently the only "pollution" that you're concerned about is what occurs in other countries? A kind of let THEM deal with THEIR pollution scenario! You don't want to have to step out of your, "Yukon" or "Expedition" right?

You name two place which a large reason for their pollution is that they're producing lots of cheap sheit for you to buy at Walmart.
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#116
23:48 March 29, 2010 by peschvogel
Europe's Worst Pollution Pocket Found Above Western Germany

From Deustche Welle

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Western Germany is a center of industry home to Germany's steel and coal industries, the area between Amsterdam and Frankfurt is the most polluted in Europe, scientists said. German researchers in Bremen based their findings on new, unique satellite data.

Schade...
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#117
00:19 March 30, 2010 by Beachrider
Carbon-loading is going on, no one doubts that. The air and the oceans clearly show that they are both absorbing higher-levels of carbon-compounds. The oxygen levels of the ocean are clearly dropping. People can argue about what-it-means, though. They will argue about what-should-we-do about it, too.

Does carbon-loading imply that we caused it. I don't know and don't care. It is ONLY important to discuss what it will do to our existence. We don't need to sell panic, but we do need to research the question. People that deny the need to research need to stop talking.

The probes to Mars have shown that Mars is clearly in a long-term-warming trend. People have used that to 'prove' that global-warming can be coming from anything. Fine, all we care about is doing the research its affect on human existence.

George Carlin was right. We are the ones that adapt. The earth will take care of itself.
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#118
00:42 March 30, 2010 by aslanleon
As a German-American, it's good to see that those we left behind in the Heimat are finally catching up with us. Welcome aboard. In ten years, we'll all be back to complaining about the weather rather than fearing the climate.

I'd like to report an odd coincidence. In an hour, I'm going to Pugsley, a local bar. The sign in code they asked me to repeat was 'to Pugsley.' Is this an omen? Should I buy a lottery ticket or something?
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#119
02:42 March 30, 2010 by ebystrom
It seems to me that historically, Europeans have gone from tribal barbarians to monarchy of kings and feudal system to tyranny of church and state to temporary enlightenment and freedom to tyranny of socialism, marxism and naziism to temporary freedom of democracy and finally back to tyranny of socialism.

It seems like Europeans prefer to live in slavery to overlords. They never live in freedom for any significant period of time, and seek masters to dictate to them, like UN climate scientists and EU dictators.
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#120
03:03 March 30, 2010 by agsb
Obama still thinks healthcare and carbon are more important than jobs.
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#121
03:10 March 30, 2010 by ebystrom
When people in the US said, after the record breaking snow and cold of this past winter, especially the excessive snow in Washington DC, where's the global warming? the alarmists assured us weather has nothing to do with climate.

Then, they changed their minds and told us the snow proves climate change, because it's an unusual weather pattern. The heavy rains that followed a few weeks later were also proof of climate change, according to Al Gore, who also thinks the earth's internal temperature is millions of degrees.

Whenever we get our next heat wave in the summer, they're going to tell us that's global warming. They continue to predict worldwide disastrous weather events due to climate change, and when it's cold, say, that's weather, not climate.

they're a bunch of liars and frauds with a political agenda of government control of you and me.
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#122
03:43 March 30, 2010 by OldAmerican
I'll try to write slowly so that you _might_ have a chance of keeping up me, Prufrock2010 (http://urlg.in/3ty). I have come nowhere close to stating what my position on anthropogenic global warming is. My position is immaterial to the point I was making.

All I've done (so far) is point out how stupid it was for the columnist to say "weather has nothing to do with climate." Average, schmaverage, it doesn't matter _what_ the relationship is: Weather _does_ have something to do with climate.

And now for something completely different: my second point. "My god is better than your god." "My god is better than your God." That's all that's going on with so-called climate scientists of every stripe. Science, schmience.

I've tired of comments (from non-Americans in particular) generalizing that Americans are dumb. Yes, there _are_ more dumb (or dim) Americans than there are dumb Brits, dumb French, dumb Germans, dumb Italians, dumb Swiss, etc. There are also more smart (or bright) Americans than there are smart Brits, smart French, smart Germans, smart Italians, smart Swiss, etc. Are _you_ sufficiently intelligent to figure out how that can be?

Quit jumping to conclusions, boys and girls.

PS. I could just as well have _called_ myself OldConservative, OldLogician, OldMathematician, or OldPhysicist. Remove the cap's and the space between each word pair and you get what I am, all four . . . and more. To make a rhyme. Does my rhyming make me an old poet as well? No. It. Does. Not. However, I just as well have _called_ myself OldPoet. (My guess is that this final point I'm trying to make will be too subtle for almost anyone commenting here to grasp. Ah, well, it gives me something to do to pass the time. [Anyone who's serious about or seriously interested in climate change is wasting time here. Get out and _do_ something. I would if I could.])
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#123
03:45 March 30, 2010 by ebystrom
"Global warming" and "climate change" theory implies an oxymoron, "global climate". Climate is regional; colder at the poles, hotter at the equator, with a range in between. It also varies from east to west, depending on regional weather patterns.

If global temperature mean warms a little or cools a little over cycles of decades or longer, who can say which is the correct, static, mean global temperature we need to try to achieve? And how can we control the weather, so that we achieve a static climate?

By a carbon tax?
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#124
10:33 March 30, 2010 by mickrussom
Did the scLIEentists use an ALGORErithm to come up with this crap.

And what about the temperature and CO2 levels of the cretaceous?

Why focusing on CO2 and AGW is silly.

- The greatest contributors of warming/cooling are ocean surface flux, heat flux, humidity and clouds. Also one must consider light input and planet wide albedo as well as magnetosphere strength. CO2 has a very low overall impact. Insulators (such as CO2) have a non-linear diminishing return in terms of efficacy. The more CO2 that is put up, the less insulating effect it will have per unit.

- Modern CO2 level is as at 400ppm.

- Precambrian CO2 was 4500 ppm, Oxygen @ 12.5%, temp +7C modern.

- Ordovician CO2 was 4200 ppm, Oxygen @ 12.5%, temp +2C modern level.

- Carboniferous CO2 was 800ppm (over double today), yet it has a nice Oxygen level at 32.5%. Also, temperatures were the same or slightly lower than today's temp.

- Jurassic CO2 1950ppm, 26% O2 and ~ 3C above modern. (That's about 5x today's CO2, more oxygen, similar temps).

- Cretaceous CO2, 1700ppm, O2 @ 30%, temps about 4C higher. This is the realm of the greatest biodiversity the world has ever seen. Lots of oxygen, lots of CO2 but no man-made AGW. Imagine living in an atmosphere with this much oxygen - Olympic records would certainly fall. Lots of CO2 around to feed plants and create biodiversity.

- Neogene to modern. Where we are today. Most of the atmospheric oxygen loss (about 8% of the total) occurs before industrialization. It must also be noted the AGW scientific activists use the last 800,000 years and not the entire neogene period to show trends.

- At no point, even with many times the current CO2, did the greenhouse effect run away like it has on Venus.

It seems to me that people should consider planting trees that produce a lot of O2 out of normal CO2 respiration. That would help albedo and do more for the world than any attempt to prevent CO2 changes. Build nuclear power plants (lots of them) and try to get to fusion as soon as possible. Then pollution (everything BUT CO2, which is plant food) can finally slow down. Things like MTBE, metals (mercury, cadmium, arsenic, etc), PDBE, BPA, etc, etc. CO2 is the last thing to worry about .
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#125
14:58 March 30, 2010 by Matthew Von Mattov
+++

Pay Close Attention! Now!

Here's Photo-Proof! ... http://i.imgur.com/r3mrS.jpg

Case Closed!

Next Global Question Needing Answers?

PS - Carbon Dioxide is not only our essential friend

for the Flora that we all need for Food and Oxygen, comma,

CO2 followed - rather than preceded - historical warming!

+++
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#126
16:03 March 30, 2010 by Tobsen
It's interesting to see, how this discussion turned into a competition of who can state his opinion in a more polemic way.

Anyways, let me comment on the actual article:

All it really tells us, is that quite a big proportion of the German population is short-sighted and easily influenced by temporary conditions.

Formerly, 62% believed in climate change. It just took one cold winter to change their minds.

You'll see, if we have a hot summer, they will all be lamenting about climate change again.

In Peschvogel's words: Typisch! But I'd like to add that to my mind this applies to about any nation or culture in the world; not just the Germans.

Anyways, enjoy your idle discussion of whether climate change is real or not. Just one more thing: If there is no climate change, wouldn't it still be a good idea to search for alternative materials, energy sources and means of transportation?
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#127
17:24 March 30, 2010 by Matthew Von Mattov
+++

PLUS.. No One Denies the FACT that CLIMATE CHANGES... !

Not even Germans whom the author of that article alleges are "Climate Deniers"

That Non-Applicable "Climate Denier" should be relegated to Hate Crime status..

+++
Report abuse »
#128
10:51 March 31, 2010 by Talonx
Oldamerican, actually, according to PISA scores, per capita there are still more idiots in the US than any of the countries you named.
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