Friday, July 5, 2013

Talking To Religious Fanatics... and Steven Goddard


Couple days ago I went looking for an update on the recent heat wave in Western USA, and I came across a blog by a character who goes by StevenGoddard, it's titled: Oklahoma Heatwave Update (July 2, 2013)
which reports that McAlester, OK had a cold record broken, in fact, by a whopping 6° below the 1995 record.  He does this in the spirit of ridiculing the standing Heat Wave that settled over the West this past weekend.  As if a few cold temperatures on the other side of that "unusually extreme standing wave pattern in the jet stream" negates the records caused by yet another freak weather system.


As documented by Mr. Burt in this wunderground.com  blog post, that lists some all-time records from this recent 2013 heat wave:

June 27, 2013102° Santa Fe, NM: all-time heat record105° 
Albuquerque, NM: tied 2nd highest temperature on record  
June 28, 2013 
105° Salt Lake City, UT: hottest June temperature on record 
114°Zion National Park, UT: hottest June temp on record, and only 1° short of their all-time record of 115° 
June 29, 2013 
100° Ely, Nevada: hottest June temperature on record (previous 99° June 22, 1954) 
101° Eureka, Nevada: hottest June temperature on record (previous 98° on two occasions) 
105° Salt Lake City, Utah: hottest June temperature on record (again, see June 28) 
122° Palm Springs, California: hottest June temperature on record (tied June 28, 1994) and 1° short of all-time record of 123° set on August 1, 1993 
128° Death Valley, California: hottest June temperature on record (tied previous 128° set on June 29, 1994) 
It was 119° in Phoenix, Arizona their 4th warmest reading on record. 
June 30, 2013 
*129° Death Valley, California: Earth's all-time hottest June temperature 
115° Lancaster, California: all--time heat record (previous record 114° on July 18 and 19, 1960) 
117° Las Vegas, Nevada: all-time heat record (tied with July 19, 2005 and July 24, 1942) 
All-time June monthly records were set or tied at: 
104° Elko, Nevada (previous 104° June 24, 1981) 
103° Tonopah, Nevada (previous 102° on two occasions), this was also just 1° short of their all-time record of 104° set on July 18, 1960). 
106° Winnemucca, Nevada (previous 106° on June 24, 1988) 
July 1, 2013 
127° Death Valley, California110° Boise, Idaho: tied for 2nd hottest temperature on record

And about that old Death Valley record some folks are putting so much stock in - here's some interesting background from Dr. Jeff Masters and Mr. Burt at http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2451:
The only higher temperatures ever recorded on the planet occurred in Death Valley on July 10, 12, and 13, 1913, when readings of 134°F, 130°F, and 131°F were recorded. 
This 100 year-old record heat wave has many doubters, though, including Mr. Burt, who noted in a 2010 blog post that "The record has been scrutinized perhaps more than any other in the United States. I don't have much more to add to the debate aside from my belief it is most likely not a valid reading when one looks at all the evidence. 
Normally when Death Valley records its hottest temperatures they occur during region-wide heat waves. On July 10, 1913 the next highest temperatures recorded in southern California (aside from Greenland Ranch) were just 119° at Heber and 118° at Mammoth Tank." If Mr. Burt is correct, then this Sunday's temperature of 129.2°F in Death Valley was the hottest temperature in recorded history on Earth.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
In any event, I posted an objection to his implication
and have added some highlights - Goddard's words are in Courier font:

citizenschallenge says:July 3, 2013 at 1:22 pm 
Guess you’d have to look at a weather map, high and low pressure zones and think about our Jet Stream to understand how such a thing could happen.   OK also had a never before observed 2.6 mile wide tornado just a few weeks back. 
The denial of our warming global climate system is breathtaking in all it strategically ignores. 
~ ~ ~
stevengoddard  replies:
    July 3, 2013 at 1:35 pm 
    The last two years have been the two quietest tornado seasons on record in the US. But thanks for being a moron anyway.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This led to some further discussion, which I'll share in another post - since what he's claiming is very misleading.  In any event, Steven and I went back and forth a little and then:

citizenschallenge says:
July 4, 2013 at 2:27 am

Steven, I’m not basing morality on junk science – I am basing my morality on a good four decades of observing the science, Earth observations and the power-politico driven attack on science. And the denialists constantly regurgitated dead-horse memes. But ya got the media Force behind you. 
For instance, as our pal Eric dramatized – grand insults, but not one bit of solid claims or information or anything to stand behind… whereas I’ve been happy to furnish the sources that I base my admittedly non-expert opinions on. 
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
And to be clear I have no expectation or interest in getting your confession – I’m just saying: Mr. Goddard, you owe yourself some serious soul searching, when it’s just between you and yourself – because I’m convinced you know all about the cons you are pulling on the gullible.
~ ~ ~ 
  1. stevengoddard  says:
  2. July 4, 2013 at 2:33 am 
    You are exposing yourself as another religious fanatic, using words like “belief” “soul searching” and “confession” 
    Those are not the words of scientists

stevengoddard says:
July 4, 2013 at 2:43 am
You won yourself a special post
http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2013/07/04/talking-to-religious-fanatics/
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

That thread start with this post:

Posted on July 4, 2013
"Fanatic : Jennifer Francis says that dips in the jet stream are caused by global warming and Arctic ice loss
Me : The National Academy of Sciences said in 1975 that dips in the jet stream were caused by global cooling and excess Arctic ice
Fanatic : The science has advanced since 1975
This is classic leftist thinking! In 1975, there were deep dips in the jet stream. In 1975 there was also excess Arctic ice and global cooling.  This lack of correlation between Arctic ice area and jet stream dips completely wrecks Jennifer Francis theory, but the religious fanatic takes comfort in the delusional idea that scientists are smarter now – while ignoring the actual data."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
A review of the offending posts reveals what I actually said:
You guys are cute.
Let’s see here:
melting ice cap… pure delusion?
open ocean absorbing more solar radiation… pure delusion?
evaporation and convection patterns… pure delusion?
Jet Streams changing character (see: J. Francis)… pure delusion?
tornadoes a product of air masses colliding –
- – - you know ‘warm fronts’ – ‘cold fronts’ – wind shear… pure delusion?
a quickening drum beat of extreme weather events… pure delusion?
Our climate being a heat distribution system… pure delusion?


{science in a vacuum is an ugly thing 
>>> be brave broaden your horizons:
Do a search on YouTube – NASA “Earth From Space (HD)” {sasijayaram} }

~ ~ ~
And then to put a cherry on the cake, Mr. Goddard comes up with a total disconnect, in order to sidestepping my challenge.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Like I said Steven: Science in a vacuum is an ugly thing!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
miked1947 says:
July 4, 2013 at 1:33 am
Who is Jennifer Francis? Is she a member of the Chicken Little Brigade that is claiming the Sky is Falling?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Your reply indicates you aren’t interested in learning about our planet’s climate.
I say this because apparently you have no interest in hearing a thing she has to say about the data she has been studying – but you’re more than ready to insult her.
Although, come to think of it, insults seems to be the denialists,
oops i mean the climate science ‘skeptic’s',
bread and butter.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
miked,
please try to understand that SCIENCE is, at it’s core, about LEARNING and not about political agendas.
~ ~ ~
{I ended this remark by embedding a talk from Dr. Francis herself.}
PS. Arctic Amplification (Extreme Weather): Jennifer Francis June 6, 2013


Please listen to what the professor has to say - verify for yourself how reliable SteveGoddard's assessment is.







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