On Thursday morning, TVNZ’s Breakfast Business programme included an interview with Baron Lawson of Blaby. It’s available here. Nigel’s opening statement is a shocker:
“There’s no global warming happening at the present time. That’s clear, accepted on all sides of the argument.”
I’ve got news for Nigel. The world continues to warm, and the only people who think it isn’t are a dwindling band of climate cranks and ageing curmudgeons. Greenpeace rather wittily demonstrated that last night outside the Auckland Museum, welcoming Lawson’s audience with a bunch of dummies with their heads in the sand.
I’m particularly disappointed with the TV interviewer, who gave him an incredibly soft ride. You’d think even TV NZ business journalists might be expected to know enough to spot blatant rubbish when it’s being spouted.
Meanwhile, the Herald (via NZPA) reports him as saying: “We appear to have entered a new age of unreason, which threatens to be as economically harmful as it is profoundly disquieting.” I’m rendered speechless, which is something I might wish for the blue Baron.
“The world continues to warm, and the only people who think it isn’t are a dwindling band of climate cranks and ageing curmudgeons.”
Give it up Gareth. More and more people are finally seeing through the BS that is AGW. I’d suggest you stop the unhealthy obsession before it consumes you. Go outside and spend more time in the fresh air with your truffles. I’m sure the fresh air will do wonders for clearing your head.
“You’d think even TV NZ business journalists might be expected know enough to spot blatant rubbish when it’s being spouted.”
Boy they’d have a field day with this website. lol
bat, you’re not a Lawson, are you?
Gareth – might Baron Lawson not be referring to the fact that in the last few years that average temperature has not increased? Now that is a different issue to whether it will increase, but that I presume is what he was referring to?
Do you want the full half hour, David?
According to Nasa’s GISS data, 2005 was the warmest year on record. 2007 is likely to be 2nd warmest. The Hadley Centre in Britain still has 1998 slightly ahead of 2005, but they ignore much of the polar regions, so understate the warming. But looking at individual years is not very meaningful, because things like El Nino/La Nina can make them hotter or cooler than average. If you take a moving average over five, or better 10 years, you see that the trend is still very definitely upwards. (And if the world isn’t still warming, why did the Arctic ice suffer a dramatic melt this summer?). The IPCC says the that warming is “unequiviocal”.
Lawson actually lies twice. Once about the fact of warming, and then by asserting that everybody accepts that it isn’t happening. He gets away with his bald-faced assertion because the interviewer is clueless on the subject.
Gareth, what do you make of NASA’s data of global warming on the other planets and their moons in our solar system ?
And yes, I actually am a Lawson. No joke.
“There’s no global warming happening at the present time. That’s clear, accepted on all sides of the argument.â€
An extraordinarily stupid statement – actually too stupid to be stupidity. Lawson repeatedly lets his ideology cloud his judgement on matters to do with AGW.
Previously, amongst his nonsense he has claimed that IPCC economic growth projections assumed that GPD/unit energy was less than one, he was wrong about that also.
DPF if you check AGW on wiki and eye ball the temperature graph the upward trend through to 2006 is clear. Lawson & Co only measure the trend from the 1998 El Nino spike, measure from any other year and you can’t even twist the data to get a nil temperature rise. The “no temperature rise in recent years” claim is simple dishonesty.
“Gareth, what do you make of NASA’s data of global warming on the other planets and their moons in our solar system ?”
I “make” that you haven’t looked at it, if you had you wouldn’t be so foolish as to mention it.
Sorry bat, but Andrew W is correct. The “warming on other planets” is irrelevant, and in many cases is based on just a few data points. We know a lot more about what’s happening here – and it isn’t the sun wot did it.
Just the sort of response I would have expected from fanatical AGW believers. Discount what doesn’t suit or can’t answer and happily believe in coincidence theories.
And for the record I have looked at NASA’s and others data that support that of NASA. Hmmm……….foolish or ignorant. Looking at some posters here I think I’d be foolish every time.
So bat, you didn’t come up with anything to support your position then.