The Last Stand - Summary to Date

After two entries, my reading of the SP&T series titled “The Last Stand” confirms my prediction that SP&T would attempt to present the current Mountain Pine Beetle infestation as a glaring example of the allegedly unprecedented harm done by allegedly unprecedented Man Made Global Warming.

To summarize my critique to date of this series, I offer the following summary of “Inconvenient Truths”:

1) SP&T Assertion (emphasis mine):

“Throughout the continent, beetles are thriving in some altitudes and climes like never before because of higher temperatures.”

Inconvenient Truths:

A) Quoting NASA Goddard (home to Al Gore’s pal James Hansen):

“1934 is the warmest year in the contiguous states”

B) NCPA better describes what Hansen only grudgingly admits:

“Six of the top 10 hottest years occurred before 90 percent of the growth in greenhouse gas emissions during the last century occurred.”
(Note: I assume this applies only to “the contiguous states”)

C) Peer reviewed Ice Core Data suggest there were many, MANY times in the last 10,000 years (and beyond) which were warmer than today.

Notably, there was a period of AT LEAST 257 years (from 4,452 years ago to 4,295 years ago) when temperatures appear to have been consistently higher than today. (Any number higher than 0.2 in the rightmost column of this file indicates a temperature higher than the current mean temperature.) More details here.

2) SP&T Assertion (emphasis mine):

“mountain pine beetle will kill approximately 76 percent of mature lodgepole pine by 2015”

Inconvenient Truth (directly related to the first set of Inconvenient Truths):

Click the image to view a quote
from this source (page 3, Summary):

Click here for the rest of my observations on the SP&T series “The Last Stand”.

Click here for the primary arguments against Man Made Global Warming Hysteria.

It Depends on What The Meaning of "Never" is!

Updated & Revised on 8/3/08
This is Part II of my commentary on the SP&T series titled “The Last Stand”.
Part I of my commentary is found here.

Quoting Mr. Brandon Gee (with emphasis mine):

“Throughout the continent, beetles are thriving in some
altitudes and climes like never before because of higher temperatures.”

Never? Really?
Please, Mr. Gee, stop with the alarmist hyperbole!

Quoting NASA Goddard (home to Al Gore’s pal James Hansen):

“1934 is the warmest year in the contiguous states”

NCPA better describes what Hansen only grudgingly admits:

“Six of the top 10 hottest years occurred before 90 percent of the growth
in greenhouse gas emissions during the last century occurred.”

If you wonder why so-called “journalists” have not
told you that, then you need to read this book.

The Next Four Charts WILL FURTHER
Put This MYTH to Rest.

Click the image to enlarge:

Click the image to enlarge:

Click the image to enlarge:

Click the image to enlarge:

The data used in the above charts are found in:

Ice Core Data to more than 420,000 years ago:
this file downloaded from this page (Petit et al. 1999 to 3310m).

The past 41 years at the same location as the Ice Core studies (Vostok):
This page.

To verify that the reference point for the Vostok Ice Core study is -55.5C, click here,
then click on “click to view full summary”.

Today, the mean temperature at Vostok is -55.3C,
0.2C warmer than the mean at the time of the study (1999).

The Holocene is the name for the current interglacial warming period.

The interglacial warming period which immediately preceded
the Holocene is known as the Eemian.

Some 8,000 years ago, the temperature was 2.06C warmer than
the mean temperature at Vostok at the time of the study (1999)
and 2.04C warmer than the present mean of -55.3C.

But, we can see from the second chart that there were many, MANY times
in the last 10,000 years when the climate was apparently warmer than today!

In this file, ANY number in the rightmost column greater than 0.2 indicates
a temperature which is higher than the current mean.

We can see that the temperature at Vostok was higher than the current mean
as recently as 190 years ago!

The highest known temperature during the Eemian was 3.23C higher than
the mean temperature from 1999 and 3.21C higher than the present mean.

The bottom line?
Unless the Mountain Pine Beetle first appeared sometime
AFTER 1934, then “never” is NOT the correct word in this case!

Of course, we KNOW this is NOT the case!
AND, we also KNOW that this beetle did MORE DAMAGE in the 1930’s!

Click the image to view a quote
from this source (page 3, Summary):

Click here for a search on countless sources verifying
that the Eemian produced warmer temperatures than today.

Click here for a search on countless sources verifying
that the Eemian produced higher sea-levels than today.

P.S.) We are currently experiencing one of the
3 coldest Ice Ages in the last 600 million years!

The Last Stand

SP&T is doing an interesting series titled “The Last Stand”. This is a very relevant topic and most certainly an issue of concern (primarily as it relates to fire and safety issues). One upside is that campers and backpackers will have much more fuel for their campfires!

So far, the SP&T reporting on this appears to be slightly more balanced than the CO2-centric propaganda offered by NPR on the same subject. But, I am not convinced that the reporting and associated commentary is entirely accurate and objective.

Click the image and read
the associated commentary
which I am commenting on here:

Image from Flickr and photographer Harley Mac

Is the pine beetle “epidemic” “unprecedented in its scope”
and not “the latest iteration of a cyclical natural phenomena”?

If so, where is the proof?
Or is this just more unproven alarmist rhetoric?

Click the image to view a quote
from this source (page 3, Summary):

Misguided forest management policies may (or may not) have resulted in larger absolute quantities of beetle killed trees. But, as a percentage of the overall total? Maybe. Maybe not. Show me the data!

Anybody concerned with the “gradual warming of the Earth’s temperatures” and what impact that may or may not have on the pine beetle issue should note the following per NOAA:

1) 2008, year to date, the mean temperature in the lower 48 was 48.42F.

2) From 1895 to 2008, the average mean temperature in the lower 48 for the same YTD period was slightly HIGHER at 48.47F.

3) The winter of 2007/2008 saw a mean temperature in the lower 48 of 33.18F.

4) From 1895 to 2008, the average mean temperature in the lower 48 for the same winter period was 33.06F (0.12F colder).

Perfectly natural forces result in the climate changing all the time. From 1934 to 1979 we saw a cooling trend. From 1979 to 1998, we saw a warming trend. Since 1998, we’ve been in another cooling trend. All this and more can be verified at this NOAA page.

For additional climate change observations,
click the image below: