Environment

Some College Students Get It

The College Republican National Committee has a nice web page dedicated to the dissemination of the truth about Global Warming:

Global Warming

Certainly, the environment concerns us all. Unfortunately, many groups use scare tactics and hyperbole to send listeners into a tailspin about global climate change. While the issue of climate change should be investigated and addressed, it shouldn’t be guided by cataclysmic predictions and “what ifs” that bypass reason, the markets, and effectiveness. Temper the global warming hype with some sobering facts.

FACT: While some scientists have warned of a global warming, not all scientists are in agreement as to just what type of threat this poses. Many reputable scientists predict no substantial warming in the future; they predict a raise of merely 1 to 1.5 degrees Celsius over the next century, which is well within the range of human adaptability.

FACT: The Kyoto Protocol will do little to slow carbon dioxide emissions, and has enormous costs. [read more about Kyoto]

FACT: Polar Bears are Drowning. Did you know that ice caps melting is causing extinction for homeless polar bears??? Just kidding, but some people seem to think so. [Are polar bears dying?]

Spouting More Hot Air than Al Gore

Who are Al Gore and his enviroloons going to blame for this reckless discharge of greenhouse gasses?

From Astronomy Picture of the Day:

An Alaskan Volcano Erupts

What is happening to that volcano? It’s erupting! The first person to note that the Aleutian Cleveland Volcano was spewing ash was astronaut Jeffrey N. Williams aboard the International Space Station. Looking down on the Alaskan Aleutian Islands two weeks ago, Williams noted, photographed, and reported a spectacular ash plume emanating from the Cleveland Volcano. Starting just before this image was taken, the Cleveland Volcano underwent a short eruption lasting only about two hours. The Cleveland stratovolcano is one of the most active in the Aleutian Island chain. The volcano is fueled by magma displaced by the subduction of the northwest-moving tectonic Pacific Plate under the tectonic North America Plate.

Image and story courtesy NASA and APOD

The “O” Zone

Ozone” was President George H.W. Bush’s pet name for Al Gore during the campaign in ’92. At that time, Gore’s weirdo environmental views were already well-known, but, that’s beside the point of this article.

What do we know about ozone?

To better understand that question, we must discuss oxygen. Earth’s atmosphere is composed of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1% “other gasses” which include water vapor, carbon dioxide and ozone. Included in the latter 1% is the dreaded “greenhouse gasses” you hear about. Less than one percent of the atmosphere is causing all that “trouble” — hmmmm. I digress — Back to oxygen . . .

Right: The Antarctic ozone hole (Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech)
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Actual Science Debunks Hurricane Intensity Myth

World Climate Report, an excellent resource for scientific climate analysis, published an article that demonstrates the falsehood of increased hurricane intensity to have any relationship to increases in sea surface temperatures (SST) or anthropogenic (man-made) climate change.

Scientist Philip Klotzbach in a published paper analyzed the work done by a couple of misguided colleagues and compared their conclusions to his:
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Racist Wins the Race

I understand why voters in California vote the way they do — they continue to elect liberals and get higher taxes and liberal social programs. I blame that on voter ignorance and union-sponsored political commercials filled with lies and deceptions. What I don’t understand is why the voters in New Orleans reelected the incompetent Ray Nagin to another term as mayor. I would think that they would be smart enough to see through all the post-Katrina rhetoric and send Nagin packing after his dismal performance in crisis and the racist rhetoric that followed. I guess I was wrong.

Image: Nagin sleeping on the job.

Read Michelle Malkin’s post-mortem on the New Orleans mayoral race, The Definition of Insanity.

The Sky is NOT Falling – Yet

NASA – NASA Satellites Observe Comet’s Trail

There will be no tsunamis, firestorms or mass extinctions to spoil your Memorial Day weekend.

Image right:This infrared image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope shows the broken Comet skimming along a trail of debris left during its multiple trips around the sun. On the lower right lies the Ring Nebula, coincidentally in the same direction as the cometary fragment.

Despite speculation that Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 will strike the Earth on May 25, neither the main comet nor any of its more than 40 fragments pose a danger to Earth.

“We are very well acquainted with the trajectory of Comet 73P Schwassmann-Wachmann 3,” said Donald Yeomans, manager of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office. “There is absolutely no danger to people on the ground or the inhabitants of the International Space Station, as the main body of the object and any pieces from the breakup will pass many millions of miles beyond the Earth.”

However, you can see the comet falling apart right before your very eyes, thanks to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Swift X-Ray and Spitzer Space Telescope.

Click on the Space Rocks page for an animated preview of the next large comet impact.