factbat.com

This is an article from earlier in the year of 2008, which I have chosen to cut and paste here because it is of particular relevance in the current theatre of absurdity being employed by the leaders and wannabe's of this nation. I assume this person, Steven Goddard, won't mind me giving him some free time on my site and some kudos as well. This article does much to prove that I am absolutely correct in my indictment of Al "Back Door" Gore and his idiotic claims.

One thing that must be noted however, is the fact that the NSIDC is attempting to compare apples and oranges on their graph. The solid light blue (correction: "grey" 01/02/08) line they are comparing to the broken and blue lines, is for a 21 year average. One cannot expect to compare a 21 year average against a single year and pretend they have simplified anything...which is, of course, the only reason for creating graphs from data; to encourage cognizant realization by relating the information to easily comparable shapes and colors. This graph attempts to confuse the viewer by hiding the fact that during the summer of a few of those 21 years the (edit) Earth's sea and polar ice contents were much closer to the proposed  low than they were in 2008.

At the end of this article is a disclaimer which informs the reader that the author of this article is not affilitated with any energy industry, nor is he affilitated with any university. Well, that is quite a glowing recommendation for the author in my book. The last thing on my long list of requirements for considering an authors dissemination of the facts, and theoretical claims possibly legitimate, is their ability to have ingested the many volumes of ignorant and irreverent data being purveyed by the average "educational" institution. And certainly questionable is any persons connection to the hideous and maniacal current power structure which is attempting to sell a world of slavery and destruction in a palatable "broadcast" format.

Critically important as well is the fact that the polar ice sheets and open sea ice continue to expand and grow in this continuing cooling phase that is occurring for reasons which appear to be eluding the entire scientific community. My "alleged" theories are certainly going to be much more than that quite soon it seems.

Enjoy the article, and don't forget to send Al "Running out the Back Door with your money" Gore, a sarcastic email.

Steven Goddard
The Register
Monday, Aug 18, 2008

Just a few weeks ago, predictions of Arctic ice collapse were buzzing all over the internet. Some scientists were predicting that the “North Pole may be ice-free for first time this summer”. Others predicted that the entire “polar ice cap would disappear this summer”.

The Arctic melt season is nearly done for this year. The sun is now very low above the horizon and will set for the winter at the North Pole in five weeks. And none of these dire predictions have come to pass. Yet there is, however, something odd going on with the ice data.

The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado released an alarming graph on August 11, showing that Arctic ice was rapidly disappearing, back towards last year’s record minimum. Their data shows Arctic sea ice extent only 10 per cent greater than this date in 2007, and the second lowest on record. Here’s a smaller version of the graph:

The problem is that this graph does not appear to be correct. Other data sources show Arctic ice having made a nice recovery this summer. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center data shows 2008 ice nearly identical to 2002, 2005 and 2006. Maps of Arctic ice extent are readily available from several sources, including the University of Illinois, which keeps a daily archive for the last 30 years. A comparison of these maps (derived from NSIDC data) below shows that Arctic ice extent was 30 per cent greater on August 11, 2008 than it was on the August 12, 2007. (2008 is a leap year, so the dates are offset by one.)

The video below highlights the differences between those two dates. As you can see, ice has grown in nearly every direction since last summer - with a large increase in the area north of Siberia. Also note that the area around the Northwest Passage (west of Greenland) has seen a significant increase in ice. Some of the islands in the Canadian Archipelago are surrounded by more ice than they were during the summer of 1980.

The 30 per cent increase was calculated by counting pixels which contain colors representing ice. This is a conservative calculation, because of the map projection used. As the ice expands away from the pole, each new pixel represents a larger area - so the net effect is that the calculated 30 per cent increase is actually on the low side.

So how did NSIDC calculate a 10 per cent increase over 2007? Their graph appears to disagree with the maps by a factor of three (10 per cent vs. 30 per cent) - hardly a trivial discrepancy.

What melts the Arctic?

The Arctic did not experience the meltdowns forecast by NSIDC and the Norwegian Polar Year Secretariat. It didn’t even come close. Additionally, some current graphs and press releases from NSIDC seem less than conservative. There appears to be a consistent pattern of overstatement related to Arctic ice loss.

We know that Arctic summer ice extent is largely determined by variable oceanic and atmospheric currents such as the Arctic Oscillation. NASA claimed last summer that “not all the large changes seen in Arctic climate in recent years are a result of long-term trends associated with global warming”. The media tendency to knee-jerkingly blame everything on “global warming” makes for an easy story - but it is not based on solid science. ®

Bootnote

And what of the Antarctic? Down south, ice extent is well ahead of the recent average. Why isn’t NSIDC making similarly high-profile press releases about the increase in Antarctic ice over the last 30 years?

The author, Steven Goddard, is not affiliated directly or indirectly with any energy industry, nor does he have any current affiliation with any university.