Right now in Madison, Wisconsin it is zero degrees Fahrenheit and getting colder. TCS Daily has several recent articles discussing global warming theory worth a complete reading. The first story alludes to what I consider the primary flaw of computer modeling which is treating the planet like a closed system. In other words, computer modeling ignores the second law of thermodynamics. Earth does not exist in a closed system.
The Climate Forest for the Trees: Some background information is in order here. Climate scientists look at the earth-atmosphere system as an integrated system that is generally thought of as being "closed"; that is not gaining or losing mass to outer space even if there is energy exchange between our planet and outer space.The second addresses the problem of assuming that recent events differ from past events in unusual ways. Climate change advocates excel at attributing human causation to changes that are perfectly consistent with long term patterns of variability on Earth.
Ice Storm: So what we have here are two stories making a lot of headlines -- Greenland is melting and hurricanes are strengthening. Both things are true. And, again, looking at real data it is apparent that at this time they are both part of a natural cycle that has been going on for thousands of years.The third article takes aim at the myth of consensus within the scientific community. True science is skeptical of everything and the duty of proof is upon those making claims to provide full disclosure of methods and data so that others can consistently and independently reproduce the same results. This is especially important when essential assumptions are dependent upon theoretical assemblages of proxy data and derivative calculations.
The End is Not Nigh?: This debate entered a new phase when Steve McIntyre, one of the foremost hockey-stick critics, who had long been ignored, if not ostracized, by the global warming community, was officially invited by the National Research Council of The National Academies of the United States to participate in a special committee. This committee was requested to summarize the current scientific information on the temperature record over the past two millennia, describe the proxy records that have been used to reconstruct pre-instrumental climatic conditions, assess the methods employed to combine multiple proxy data over large spatial scales, evaluate the overall accuracy and precision of such reconstructions, and explain how central the debate over the paleoclimate temperature record is to the state of scientific knowledge on global climate change. It was exactly the mandate which Steve McIntyre had been advocating all along.The climate change movement is an attempt to use bad science to attain personal financial gain, political power and a social agenda that will cripple our economy and increase the dependence of individuals on the government. It is good to see portions of the scientific community confronting the misuse of science by political interests.
