Why do most walmists believe that 2005 was the hottest year on record.?

Question

Most walmists believe James Hanson's theory that 2005 was the hottest year of all time, even though almost every study done on the subject has found that 1998 was.

Do they consider that James Hanson isn't a global warming celebrity because of his accuracy. He's famous because his innacuracies allowed him to grab the headlines before publishing a retraction.

Is this typical of the way walmists think (accept everything that supports AGW and reject everything that doesn't)?

Answer 1

Because we listen to scientists, not crackpots or oil company propaganda.

Answer 2

Most political activists tend to get stories from their political leaders and repeat them, publish them, research online and find them just as they heard them from someone they trust.

This goes on on all sides of every issue.

We have good reason to believe that several times in deep distant past global warming has gone all the way, thawing out the polar regions completely. It would be expected by anyone that those events would have been warmer than 1998 or 2005, regardless of anyone's recent record keeping.

In this day of the internet we have attained a new level of information overload... an era when no retraction can ever undo the original statement.

So, it has become a critical issue in our life as a society that our technology develop an ability to do a much better job of doing retractions.

If we only collected hyperlinks to works, and if everyone were able to edit the original rather than post an unrelated piece, could we get to a state where we all can learn what is currently understood?

Answer 3

Here in Tornonto they claim that whatever last year was, it was the second hottest year on record. They have said that about some pretty cool summers sandwiched between some frigid winters. It's so bad it's become a joke now. No matter how cold it gets outside this day is always second warmest on this date since they have been measuring temperatures.

Records are made to be broken but apparently these bode disaster.

Answer 4

can you please provide sources?

NASA shows 05 as the warmest year because they take into account the arctic while most temp reconstructions dont.

Answer 5

The difference between those two years is a few thousandths of a degree.  To make a big deal of the fact that different datsets put one or the other a tiny tiny bit higher is a sign of how desperate the arguments of deniers have become, as a mountain of scientific evidence shows they're wrong.

Are these guys "warmists"?  Do they have a long history of misinterpreting data?  They all say global warming is real, and mostly caused by us.

The National Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute of Physics, the American Chemical Society, the American Meteorological Association, etc.

What about these guys.  A pretty strange assortment to be in an environmental conspiracy.

"Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich challenged fellow conservatives to stop resisting scientific evidence of global warming"

"National Review (the most prestigious conservative magazine) published a cover story calling on conservatives to shake off denial and get into the climate policy debate"

"Pat Robertson (very conservative Christian leader) 'It is getting hotter and the ice caps are melting and there is a build up of carbon dioxide in the air.  We really need to do something on fossil fuels.”

"I believe there is now more than enough evidence of climate change to warrant an immediate and comprehensive - but considered - response. Anyone who disagrees is, in my view, still in denial."

Ford Motor Company CEO William Clay Ford, Jr.

"The science of global warming is clear. We know enough to act now. We must act now."

James Rogers, CEO of Charlotte-based Duke Energy.

"Republican governors team up against global warming"

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Republican...

"the overwhelming number of scientists now believe that there is significant human cause,'' Giuliani said, adding the debate on the existence of global warming "is almost unnecessary ... ''

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=...

"(from Republicans for Environmental Protection) The consensus of almost all climate scientists is that global warming is already happening, that human actions are causing it, and that it will cause major problems for our planet."

http://www.rep.org/news/GEvol5/ge5.1_glo...

Why would anyone intelligent trust their well being to a very few "skeptics" instead?  Are the above stupid, ignorant, or united in a giant conspiracy?

By the way, it's Hansen.  Dr. Hansen to you.

Answer 6

"Walmists" - is this your new hate word for people who care about what's happening to the planet?  Keep on poking fun at them - the oil companies LOVE you.

Answer 7

Why are you engaging in personal attacks on James Hansen?  That sort of thing really undermines whatever point you're trying to make.

According to NASA GISS, 2005 was the hottest year on record.  Because NASA extrapolates for the warming in the Arctic (where the rate of warming is the greatest) while the other datasets leave it out because there are no temperature stations there, that accounts for the difference.  It has nothing to do with James Hansen, except he may have had a part in deciding to include the Arctic temperature extrapolation in the NASA data.  Personally I think NASA's data is the most accurate for this very reason, assuming their estimate of the Arctic temperatures are reasonably close.

Whether the hottest year on record is 1998 or 2005,  you're talking about thousanths of a degree difference.  To quibble over this and engage in a baseless attack an excellent scientist does not make you look very good.

Try to stick to scientific arguments in the future.

Answer 8

james hansen is a card carrying tree hugger and a payed agent of the environment movement.

American Association for the Advancement of Science, AAAS  $5000

'Open Society Institute' funded Hansen to the tune of $720,000,

Hansen received an earlier $250,000 grant from the Heinz Foundation,

has been awarded the WWF's top conservation award.Accepting the award, which includes a gold medal and a Rolex watch,

plus all the speaking and lecture fees  $2000+, and travel per

he is not a climatologist

http://www.giss.nasa.gov/staff/jhansen.h...

he's a talking head for the treehuggers.