Global Warming & The Madness of Crowds

One of the most interesting books I ever read was Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, written in 1841, and still in print because its message is timeless. Delusions documents a number of investment schemes that blew up, leaving thousands of investors penniless, and explores the dark side of centuries of witch-hunts. The world changes, but the ability of humans to be exploited does not.

It was Delusions that came to mind when I recently read Taken by Storm, the troubled science, policy and politics of global warming", by two Ontario university professors, Christopher Essex and Ross McKitrick. Anybody who reads this book will be sickened by the enormity of the international con game brought on by greenies and vote-seeking politicians that led to the Kyoto Treaty. Everybody who claims to have an interest in environmental politics should read this book.

Here are some things it says that will rock you if you have bought into the whole Kyoto business.
There is no such thing as a global temperature. Anyway, temperature is not the most important factor in considering atmospheric influences. There are several temperatures: the one at the surface of land; the one at the surface of oceans; the one in the troposphere; and the one at the highest levels of the atmosphere. Measurements over time of those temperatures give very different and irreconcilable results. Temperatures that are used in computer climate models are surface averages, calculated in only one manner (there are several ways of averaging which will produce different results). They are not actual measurements; they are just statistical manipulations.

Is the globe actually warming up? In some places it appears warmer and in others it is colder. In some places sea levels appear to be higher, but in others they are falling. Some glacial fields in the Northern Hemisphere are retreating at a fast rate. Antarctica is getting colder. Even if you accepted that over the next century that Antarctica would be 5 degrees warmer, you would be talking about a continent that went from -30 degrees to -25 degrees.

Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. It is a necessary component for plant growth. Plants produce oxygen.

There is no such thing as a "greenhouse effect" in the atmosphere.

Even if the globe were warming up that is not necessarily a bad thing.

There is no scientific theory of global climate. This is important because the way science works is that a theory is postulated and then experiments are carried out to test the validity of the theory. You cannot carry out experiments on the atmosphere.

So how did the Chicken Littles come up with this whole global warming stuff anyway? They used computer models applying statistical averages--not hard scientific information. The climate computer models did not factor in water vapour, carbon absorption by oceans and forests, and aerosols. There is a good reason for this--science does not yet understand how such things work and does not have good data on it. However, those factors each can account for significant warming or cooling effects in the atmosphere.

The lack of understanding about carbon absorption by forests is of more than passing interest. It is one of the bases on which nations will calculate their emissions credits under the Kyoto plan. Imagine agreeing to a contract in which you don't even know how to count the costs and value the assets that are the subject matter of the contract.

Our Environment Minister, David Anderson, in justifying Kyoto, likes to say that the majority of scientists support the global warming theory. That is not true. Even the scientists who wrote the initial paper on which the whole Kyoto foundation rests said that they were not sure about global warming. Subsequently, activist bureaucrats rewrote it to provide the certainty that scientists lacked. There are tens of thousands of scientists around the world who are appalled at what has happened with Kyoto and who have registered their dissents. There is a web site with an on-line petition by 19,000 U.S. scientists alone.

There is much, much more in Taken by Storm. Do yourself a big favour. Get the book and read it cover to cover.

Racism Alive and Kicking at World Cup - Blacks Not Welcome!!!

BERLIN — U.S. midfielder DaMarcus Beasley has heard the ugly words, vicious taunts screamed by fans in the Netherlands simply because he is black.
Cameroon’s brilliant Samuel Eto’o was so sickened by insults hurled his way that he threatened to walk off the field.
Even Thierry Henry, one of the world’s best players and a spokesman for racial tolerance, has been stung by a slur — from Spain’s coach, no less.
Soccer has struggled for years to rid itself of racism. For this World Cup in Germany, which opens today with two games, the governing body of the world’s sport is making harmony a central theme.
"Football, like most sports, is combative — you play to win. But it shouldn’t have anything to do with racism or violence," said Federico Addiechi, head of a FIFA division that deals with corporate social responsibility. "The problem will not disappear in a couple of days in the World Cup, but it’s important to highlight the problem when you have such a platform."
German officials who don’t want racist thugs to seize that platform have planned extensive security measures after recent attacks on minorities here. FIFA is trying to do its part, making its message of tolerance a theme at games and highlighting its commitment at a news conference.
Earlier this year, FIFA president Sepp Blatter could barely hide his displeasure when he said: "It is a shame for football that in the year 2006, you still have racism."
The 32-nation competition attracts fans from all over the globe — soccer is the most cosmopolitan sport in the world, played in every corner of the Earth.
The game has the power to unite, as two first-time World Cup participants show.
Angola’s team, the Black Antelopes, helped bring together warring sides during a brutal 27-year civil war. Ivory Coast’s trip to Germany helped restart peace talks between rebels and the government.
That kind of harmony doesn’t always extend to fans, whose passionate enthusiasm often can be tinged with racial hatred.
Hooligans, who don’t care who they beat up, get much of the attention, with violence marring both the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship. But as more black and mixed-race players appear in European leagues, racism is becoming even more pervasive.
In the past year:
• Eto’o, who stars for Spanish power Barcelona, could be seen mouthing "no more" after being taunted in February with monkey sounds for a second year by Zaragoza fans. The team was fined $10,700, but that didn’t stop Santander fans from insulting Eto’o two months later.
• Ivory Coast and Messina defender Marc Zoro was reduced to tears by racist slurs and boos in November by Inter Milan fans.
• Criticizing an influx of foreign players in Ukraine, national coach Oleg Blokhin said youngsters should learn from native sons, "not some zumba-bumba whom they took off a tree, gave him two bananas and now he plays in the Ukrainian League."
• Ghana hired a Serbian coach, Ratomir Dujkovic, who was later quoted as saying "discipline is the biggest problem with black Africans." Officials refused to fire him, saying he had been "misrepresented."
• AS Roma played its Feb. 8 home game at a neutral site and without spectators as punishment for its fans displaying Nazi and fascist symbols in a game against Livorno.
The sport’s biggest stars aren’t immune.
Spanish fans have taunted and spit at Brazil’s Ronaldo, a three-time world player of the year. And Spain coach Luis Aragones was fined $3,900 after making a racist remark about Henry in 2004.
"You look at FIFA, and you wonder if they’re doing enough or if they’re doing anything at all," said Beasley, who has been harassed while playing for PSV Eindhoven. "But, at the same time, I look at it as, what more can they do? Who do you suspend? Do you suspend the team? "
Tough questions, to be sure. World soccer officials are searching for answers.
In March, FIFA toughened its anti-racism rules. Professional clubs will lose three points for a first offense — whether by a fan, player or team official — and six points for a second. Additional violations can bring disqualification from tournaments and even demotion to a lower division.
At the World Cup, teams could lose points for remarks by players or coaches.
FIFA will send its message in other ways.
A "Football Against Racism" logo will cover each field’s center circle until just before kickoff. Before each quarterfinal game, team captains will read a "declaration against racism."
Reports of race-related attacks in Germany rose nearly 25 percent between 2004 and 2005, from 776 to 958 incidents. In May, a former government spokesman suggested that minorities not visit specific cities where there has been repeated trouble.
"It’s a mixed picture," said Piara Powar, director of Kick It Out, a London-based organization devoted to fighting racism in soccer. "I think here in England we’ve done some great work and the message has got through. In other parts of Europe … I’m afraid it’s far more pessimistic."