Tag: fossil fuels

[def. The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.]

A hydrocarbon deposit, such as petroleum, coal, or natural gas, derived from the accumulated remains of ancient plants and animals and used as fuel. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases generated by burning fossil fuels are considered to be one of the principal causes of global warming.

[additional comments] Many scientists disagree that fossil fuels are a principal cause of global warming and believe, instead, that fossil fuels are a very minor contributor to global warming.  Most scientists believe that the principal contributors to global warming are from natural effects.

 

Comments on the History and Current State of World Energy

Robert W. Endlich

 [Preface: This post’s topics (Coal, Oil, Gas, Fracking, Nuclear, “End of Oil” Energy Stories, unusual hydrocarbon deposits, and some estimates of Petroleum Reserves) are broad reaching; it is difficult to encapsulate all such subjects in an internet post of this type. This is my ‘best effort,’ within these obvious constraints.]

INTRODUCTION

This post provides comments on the history and current state of world energy and concerns stated by climate alarmists regarding global warming.

Courtesy of Pixabay.

The climate alarmists’ concerns about our use of fossil fuels as the source of “human-caused, CO2-fueled, global warming” begin with the Industrial Revolution, in the 19th Century. when coal use became widespread. Our ’Friends’ at the National Resources Defense Council, the NRDC, in their article’s lead paragraph, Global Warming 101, come right out and say it:

“Since the Industrial Revolution, the global annual temperature has increased in total by a little more than 1 degree Celsius, or about 2 degrees Fahrenheit.”

This NRDC statement is written as if temperature never changed before the Industrial Revolution. In this Continue reading “Comments on the History and Current State of World Energy”

What has happened to the National Academy of Sciences – Part One

Robert W. Endlich

Part One: Operational Experience . . . When We Used NAS’s Data

INTRODUCTION

My work experience serves as a useful prelude to writing this post. I was a Weather Officer in the Air Force for 21 years, and soon after retiring from the Air Force, I became a Meteorologist working for the Army Atmospheric Sciences Laboratory, ASL, where my previous Air Force experience helped the mission at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.

Image Provided by Pixabay

One of my Air Force assignments was commander of the Weather Detachment at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, sometimes simply DM, on the southeast side of Tucson. I was assigned to Davis-Monthan from Sep 1976-Jul 1979, at the height of the Cold War. Though DM was a Tactical Air Command, TAC, Base, a major “tenant” organization there was a Strategic Air Command (SAC) unit, the 390th Strategic Missile Wing, equipped with 18 Titan 2 Inter-Continental Ballistic Continue reading “What has happened to the National Academy of Sciences – Part One”

“Climate Change Making Days Longer,” studies say, Part ONE

Robert W. Endlich
INTRODUCTION

Author’s Note: This is Part ONE of a multiple post topic.  Figure numbers remain consecutive across the four parts of the post.

Part TWO is here.
Part THREE is here.
Part FOUR is here.
Presentation is here.

Image by Pixabay

This story, “Climate Change Making Days Longer,” and the variations on it, were published Summer, 2024 by mainstream media outlets.  I mention some of their Alarmist views, as well as some Contrarian views by Heartland, and some views from our skeptical friends in the blogosphere.

I explore this subject, using a wide series of facts, measurements, observations and data, easily looked up, and typically ignored by the Alarmist press.

I cite some of both sides of this story.  I widen the discussion by including Continue reading ““Climate Change Making Days Longer,” studies say, Part ONE”

Preview and Analysis of “Climate: The Movie”

Robert W. Endlich

I was very pleased to be able to view and comment on the sequel to “The Great Global Warming Swindle,” (GGWS), a serial documentary directed by the UK’s Martin Durkin and released by Channel 4 in the UK in 2007. The sequel, released in 2024, is “Climate: The Movie.”

INTRODUCTION

It is useful to introduce “Climate: The Movie” by describing how the enemies of Martin Durkin, GGWS, and skeptics of climate alarm label the video and its director, Martin Durkin.  A good example of this is in the Wikipedia listing for GGWS.

Figure 1. The Wikipedia listing for “The Great Global Warming Swindle,” taken from the Presentation Graphics. This listing exemplifies the profound ignorance of Big Tech and the so-called “educated elites,” in these specific topics: “scientific consensus,” they’re resorting to name calling “deniers” and “climate change denial.”

The previous phrase, “enemies of Martin Durkin,” might be too limiting. Writ large, this group also includes many/most left-leaning members of society. Some call them the “educated elites;” they include many in Government, Continue reading “Preview and Analysis of “Climate: The Movie””

The Imaginary Climate Crisis – How can we Change the Message?

Richard S. Lindzen
Professor Emeritus of Atmospheric Sciences, MIT

[This essay is a slightly extended version of a lecture delivered to a joint zoom meeting of the Irish Climate Science Forum and CLINTEL on March 31, 2021.]

For about 33 years, many of us have been battling against climate hysteria. We have correctly noted

The exaggerated sensitivity,

The role of other processes and natural internal variability,

Image by Pixabay

The inconsistency with the paleoclimate record,

The absence of evidence for increased extremes, droughts, floods, wild-fires, and so on.

We have also pointed out the very real benefits of CO2 and even of modest warming.  And, as concerns government policies, we have been pretty ineffective.  Indeed our efforts have done little other than to show (incorrectly) that we take the threat scenario seriously.  In this talk, I want to make a tentative analysis of our failure.

In punching away at the clear shortcomings of the narrative of climate Continue reading “The Imaginary Climate Crisis – How can we Change the Message?”