... "climate change that takes place due to increases in carbon dioxide concentration is largely irreversible for 1,000 years after emissions stop. Following cessation of emissions, removal of atmospheric carbon dioxide decreases radiative forcing, but is largely compensated by slower loss of heat to the ocean, so that atmospheric temperatures do not drop significantly for at least 1,000 years". ...

Susan Solomon (NOAA)

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/01/28/0812721106.abstract#corresp...

Last night “The Great Global Warming Swindle” was shown at a public meeting in Minnetonka, MN. The meeting was held at the Minnetonka Community Education center. Also, Mr. Jeff Wiita, Minnetonka resident, gave a PowerPoint presentation disputing global warming.
There was inadequate time allowed for discussion. I feel the public was greatly misinformed on the seriousness of global warming at the meeting.

Before the meeting, I provided Mr. Litkin, Executive Director of Minnetonka Community Education, with copies of work by Dr. Lee Frelich, University of Minnesota, and copies of some of my work on earlier snowmelt runoff & temperatures at Minnesota Climate stations (done while and after I was employed at the NOAA NWS Chanhassen office as a Hydrologist in modeling and flood prediction).

Data plots of earlier snowmelt runoff & temperatures at Minnesota climate stations are at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/npatnew/ClimateMidwestAK

More discussion and links are at:

http://npat.newsvine.com/_news/2009/02/19/2455100-the-great-global-warmi...

Climate of Extremes: Global Warming Science They Don’t Want You to Know
BOOK FORUM
Thursday, March 12, 2009
12:00 PM (Luncheon to Follow)

Featuring coauthor Patrick J. Michaels, Senior Fellow in Environmental Studies at the Cato Institute with comments by David Legates, Delaware State Climatologist and Director of the Delaware Environmental Observing System.

The Cato Institute
1000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001

There's a whole new world of global warming science today-but few ever hear about it. In recent years, an internally consistent body of scientific literature has emerged that argues cogently for global warming but against the gloom-and-doom, apocalyptic vision of climate change. Not that you would know. Consult the daily newspaper or evening newscast: dire predictions are nearly all we see or hear.

In their new book, Climate of Extremes, coauthors Patrick J. Michaels and Robert C. Balling Jr. illuminate the other side of the story, the science we aren’t being told. This body of work details how the impact of global warming is far less severe than is generally believed and far from catastrophic. However, because it is not infused with horrific predictions and angst about the future, regardless of its quality it is largely repressed and ignored. This in-depth exploration illustrates the crucial unreported forecasts: that changes in hurricanes will be small, that global warming is likely to be modest, and that contrary to daily headlines, there is no apocalypse on the horizon.

Climate of Extremes is a book for all who are intent on exploring the evidence and the arguments in the climate change debate.

http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=5764

"We have a planet in peril." ...

Testimony by Dr. James Hansen to House Ways & Means Committee on Carbon Tax & 100% Dividend vs. Tax & Trade, Feb. 26, 2009, at:

http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/

The world’s largest-ever gathering of global warming skeptics assembled in New York City from March 8 to March 10 to confront the issue, “Global warming: Was it ever really a crisis?”

About 800 scientists, economists, legislators, policy activists, and media representatives reportedly attended the second International Conference on Climate Change at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel.

For more information, go to http://www.heartland.org/events/NewYork09/proceedings.html

Are particle pollution, air quality indexes, and smog make believe
too? Why is it that the sky appears quite hazy when air quality
index is high? Pure coincidence? Should we just sit back and leave
everything to future generations to try and make right, try and make
better? I hope not. That is also irresponsible.

I am not an expert. But I keep myself informed about issues.
I not only read about lowered water levels in Lake Superior
and Lake Michigan, I could see it for myself with the larger
stretch of shoreline. Also the trout population in states like
Montana, are under stress due to low water levels in the rivers,
I have a cabin out there. If you are at all interested, google
Earthjustice and their involvement in Yellowstone Park, and see
what they had to fight in court the last several years, in accordance with what the Park's biologists had to say. The federal laws were going to be overturned, despite the biologist's
expertise. Earthjustice had to keep fighting in court.
I hope you continue to speak out. Have you written any editorials
or contacted the Star and Trib or Pioneer, or maybe contact
other high schools, church or synagogue groups to give a presentation,
like Will Steger did? Just a suggestion.
I love my country. America is supposed to lead for the greater common good. What happened at Kyoto?

Scientists claim earth is undergoing natural climate shift

"MILWAUKEE -- The bitter cold and record snowfalls from two wicked winters are causing people to ask if the global climate is truly changing."

"A new study by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee could turn the climate change world upside down," according to a report. For more information, go to http://www.wisn.com/weather/18935841/detail.html

FAdams posted a skeptic's view on global warming by a University of Wisconsin professor. Are there any professors at Minnesota colleges who have skeptic's views on global warming?

I have a general question pertaining to flood areas not necessarily
specifically pertaining to the Red River. My
question could extend to mudslide areas and hurricane coastlines
also. Why is development allowed in '100 or 500 year' floodplains
anyway? Homes and businesses are destroyed. Lives are uprooted or
worse sometimes lost. Taxpayers pay the cost and insurance premiums
go up.
And in response to lowering CO2 emissions, the state government
should have had the foresight in putting the infrastructure for
mass transit in place before the suburban sprawl happened.
Now if they actually ever build it. They will also have to have a
way to change the mindset of people used to taking their vehicles
from place to place.
I hope the days of short-sighted developing in whatever capacity, without calculating the environmental costs are over.

I didn't think Fargo would hit 40 ... but I'm happy to see the rate of rise has slowed some this morning.

Maybe changes to the hydrology in the Red R basin since 1997 contributed to faster and higher levels this time.

Fargo crested last night or early this am at approximately 40.8 ft.

Latest reading (USGS, provisional): 40.73 ft at 06:15 CDT

Red River basin river data, USGS website:

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mn/nwis/current/?type=flow

Discussion at Areavoices blog.

Most rivers in the Midwest have wide flood plains which store excessive runoff during large floods. Rural areas in the Red River basin are storing some of the excessive water within the flood plain now. Dikes and flood walls have been built for trying to keep the runoff out of the urban areas.Some small streams and rivers in the mountains have flood plains which are inadequate to handle excessive runoff. That was a problem for people living and camping along the Big Thompson River (east of Estes Park, Colorado) in 1976 or 77, when more than 100 people were swept away by a flash flood.

An article in the Fargo Moorhead Inforum yesterday has discussion and comment about a new floodwall in Grand Forks. Without the flood wall it's likely that some neighborshoods would have been flooded again, but not as high as in 1997.

---

Published March 29 2009
FLOOD UPDATE: Grand Forks expected to see 51-foot crest on Red River about mid-week:

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/235712/

Good thing the people of Fargo believed in Walaker and stayed to fight. According to Dennis Walaker, Mayor of Fargo, ... "Had Fargo launched a citywide evacuation as urged by state and federal officials late last week, the effects on the city could have been devastating," (link follows).

The people chose not to run scared even with numerous alarming NWS stair stepping predictions when the river was already near crest. NWS issued so many numbers it took a great leader to sort out reality from seat of the pants jive and hype. Even before the flood began, Walaker knew it was coming earlier than NWS said in mid March. NWS meteorologists need to learn some hydrology and engineering if they want to have a chance against Walaker.

Jack R. from Fargo wrote: "It appears that this pressure came on Friday after the NWS predicted a crest possibly as high as 43 feet and before the actual high water mark. So it appears that one federal agency (FEMA) was trying to protect its own backside by advocating an evacuation based on a prediction from another federal agency (NWS) also trying to protect its own backside.", 5th comment at:

Walaker says exodus would have sunk city
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/236004/

From the Fargo Inforum: ... "Once again the river crest intelligence reports from the National Weather Service are daunting and frustratingly broad: a 90 percent chance the Red will surge to 40.4 feet, a 75 percent chance of reaching or exceeding 41 feet, a 25 percent chance of reaching 42.8 feet." ...

My perspective on a second crest - Snowmelt runoff alone would not create a second crest at Fargo this month - merely fill in the backside of the recession. A second major flood crest is unlikely this month. It would take more than one storm to exceed 40 ft again at Fargo and if that happens the crest would be May or June, not mid April as NWS said last week. Up coming days with little or no precip and mild temperatures will greatly reduce the flood potential for Fargo, and green-up and higher evaporation rates will follow, reducing flood potential even more.

Ref. article at Fargo Inforum:
'These are all good signs'
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/236372/

The stage at Fargo leveled off this morning around 34.0 ft, hardly enough to be called a second crest since it only rose 2.5 ft in the last six days (bottomed out at 31.5 on April 9th after a crest of 40.8 ft on March 27th). NWS had predicted the second crest from 38 to 40 ft, possibly even 41 ft. Sad that so much public money has been spent on NWS to predict rivers when their accuracy is so low. An anonymous blogger made a bunch of ridiculous accusations against me last night at the Inforum. The blogger also made reference to a scenario where a business owner is blasted by a previous employee as appalling behavior by the employee, and that he can have no respect for a person who will publicly disparage a previous employer in a setting such as this. NWS is not privately owned, that's a big difference. Being a whistle blower against a government agency which has failed to serve in the public interest is not wrongful behavior. When the government is acting wrongly with public money people need to speak out or the wrongful behavior by government managers, and their subordinates, will continue.

Imagine a group of 100 fisherman faced with declining stocks and worried about the sustainability of their resource and their livelihoods.

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2009/05/the-tragedy-of-cli...

Fox News reports "A top Republican senator has ordered an investigation into the Environmental Protection Agency's alleged suppression of a report that questioned the science behind global warming."

To see the full story, go to http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/29/gop-senator-calls-inquiry-sup...