The man-made global warming movement has officially shifted from runaway global warming fears over to extreme weather fears. This strategic shift has been in the works for years as global average temperatures have stalled by up to 16 years. First there was a transition from “global warming” to “climate change” and now to “global climate disruption.” Some have suggested “global weirding” others have suggested a “new normal.”
At the opening of the 18 annual United Nations climate summit being held in Doha, Qatar, UN climate chief Christiana Figueres, urged governments around the world to “do something about” extreme weather. “We have had severe climate and weather events all over the world and everyone is beginning to understand that is exactly the future we are going to be looking about if they don't do something about it,” Figures explained at the opening of the annual UN climate summit.
Global warming proponents claimed that 2012 was a 'new normal' in climate with “unprecedented” weather events. Former Vice President Al Gore summed up this view when he wrote: “Every night on the news now, practically, is like a nature hike through the book of Revelations.
Sen Boxer (D-Calif), the chair of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee declared: “Hurricane Sandy has shown us all what the scientists sitting right in this room said the day I got the gavel, & they told us exactly what would happen and it's all happening.”
But the latest peer-reviewed studies, data and analyses undermine claims that the weather is more “extreme” or “unprecedented.” On every key measure, claims of extreme weather in our current climate fail to hold up to scrutiny.
Deaths due to extreme weather are radically declining, global tropical cyclone activity is near historic lows, the frequency of major U.S. hurricanes has declined, tornadoes have dramatically declined since the 1950s, droughts are not historically unusual nor caused by mankind, there is no evidence we are currently having unusual weather.
- Tornadoes: Climatologist: 'There has been a downward trend in strong (F3) to violent (F5) tornadoes in U.S. since 1950s' -- 'Warming causes fewer strong tornadoes, not more'
- Drought: Study: Drought Trends, Estimates Possibly Overstated Due To Inaccurate Science – Journal Nature study 'suggests that there has been little change in drought over the past 60 years'
- Floods: Prof. Pielke Jr. : 'Are US Floods Increasing? The Answer is Still No' -- 'A new paper out today shows flooding has not increased in U.S. over records of 85 to 127 years' –
- Extremes: Climatologist Dr. John Christy in testimony to Congress: 'Extreme events, like the recent U.S. drought, will continue to occur, with or without human causation' -- 'These recent U.S. 'extremes' were exceeded in previous decades' -- 'The expression of 'worse than we thought' climate change as documented in [James] Hansen's OpEd does not stand up to scrutiny'
- Hurricanes: Prof. Roger Pielke Jr.: 'Remarkably, the U.S. is currently experiencing the longest-ever recorded period with no strikes of a Category 3 or stronger hurricane'
Professor of Environmental Studies Dr. Roger Pielke Jr. of the University of Colorado, summed up the latest science on weather extremes. : “There is no evidence that disasters are getting worse because of climate change,” he wrote. “There's really no evidence that we're in the midst of an extreme weather era - whether man has influenced climate or not,” Pielke added.
Sandy, the 'new normal'?
Pielke Jr. also explained the data does not support linking Hurricane Sandy to man-made global warming. “Sandy was terrible, but we're currently in a relative hurricane 'drought',” he explained..
The scientific data does not support claims that Sandy was a “new normal.” See: Hurricane Facts: 'According to NOAA, they have been on decline in US since the beginning of records in 19th century. The worst decade for major (category 3,4,5) hurricanes was 1940s'
Scientist Martin Hoerling of NOAA on Sandy: 'As to underlying causes, neither the frequency of tropical or extratropical cyclones over N. Atlantic are projected to appreciably change due to climate change'
NOAA scientist Martin Hoerling debunks notion that warmer than average ocean temps made Sandy stronger: 'The unusually warm waters off Eastern Seaboard were however in areas where the background temperature is like 60 degrees Fahrenheit. So adding a few degrees Fahrenheit at that cool water temperature doesn't matter too much for the intensity of a hurricane'
125 International Scientists Rebuke UN for Climate Claims in Open Letter: 'Global warming that has not occurred cannot have caused extreme weather of past few years': 'Climate changes naturally all the time, sometimes dramatically. The hypothesis that our emissions of CO2 have caused, or will cause, dangerous warming is not supported by the evidence. The incidence and severity of extreme weather has not increased'
These scientific facts have not deterred climate activists from using Sandy and other storms to bolster their claims. Gore now claims that “All weather events now affected by global warming.”
In the 1970's, extreme weather was also blamed on humans – during the man-made global cooling scare. See: 1975: Newsweek Explained How Global Cooling Causes Extreme Droughts, Floods, Dry Spells And Heatwaves -- Global cooling 'causes an increase in extremes of local weather such as droughts, floods, extended dry spells, long freezes, delayed monsoons and even local temperature increases – all of which have a direct impact on food supplies'
During World War II, some blamed the war for causing extreme weather. See: Flashback 1941: War Caused Weather Extremes And Global Weirding! 'The ancient belief that years of war tend to bring abnormal vagaries In the weather' -- 1941: 'There have been remarkable extremes of weather since the war began, and these have continued all through the year. The spring was one of the bleakest on record, and summer began in the same way. The first 10 days of June yielded 131 hours of sunshine, which is the ordinary 'allowance' for January. Then a drought and heat of an unusual character occurred suddenly, with temps up to 94 degrees in London'
In 2012, some climate campaigners are warning the global warming activists to lay off extreme weather claims. See: Keith Kloor: 'Extreme weather and disasters has become crack cocaine to the climate community. Many of them are now hooked': 'And they come crashing down once the heat breaks and global warming disappears from the headlines'
In 2006, NASA's global warming scientist James Hansen warned against using storms as a selling point to man-made global warming. See: Flashback 2006: Hansen warns: 'We don't want the public to hang their hat on a recent storm, recent hurricanes for example, because those will fluctuate from year to year'
The website Real Science pointed out that pleasant sunny days in the Spring are now being defined as “extreme weather.” See: The New Extreme: 'NOAA counts the mild U.S. weather in March & August as 'extreme weather' . “A mild day in winter is extreme, as is a cool day in summer,” the website explained.
The promoters of man-made climate fears have essentially declared that man-made climate change will cause many bad weather events to happen. And since bad weather events always happen, there is no shortage of “proof' of their predictions. They can always claim every bad weather event as evidence of their correctness.
There is no way anyone can falsify the global warming claims now because any weather event that happens “proves” their case, despite the fact that the current weather is neither historically unprecedented, nor unusual.
For more details on how so-called “extreme weather” does not prove that humans are destroying the climate, please see the full 35-page Climate Depot report.
