Vostok Sets Cold Record, Volcanic Ash Cuts AGW Advocates a Break

Daily Tech ^ | April 23, 2010 3:00 PM | Michael Andrews

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The southernmost continent is cooling

Vostok is infamous for its controversial ice cores that some say are evidence that the world is warming.
Vostok set a record for the coldest April in history by over 20 degrees Fahrenheit. (Source: NOAA)

The Vostok Station rests at the so-called "Pole of Cold" in the heart of Antarctica.  International climatology researchers have used the station as a drilling point.  The ice cores they've extracted have become the subject of substantial controversy. 

Some scientists say that they provide evidence of global warming, while the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research has expressed concern that they were contaminated.

Vostok was able to provide researchers with one metric this month that there is little room to debate -- Vostok has suffered through the coldest April temperature in its recorded history.

Temperatures in Vostok on Thursday hit -106 degrees Fahrenheit and have not been updated, as the station is currently not responding.  Typical temperatures for April are a balmier -85 degrees Fahrenheit.

Amid the cold wave at the birthplace of warming claims, a major geological event is promising to add a wrinkle to the climate debate, handing AGW advocates another opportunity to develop new theories to explain away cooling.  The volcanic eruption from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland may worsen, according to Risk Management Solutions in Newark Calif.

RMS says that Eyjafjallajökull eruptions may worsen and additionally another Icelandic volcano named Katla is now "probable" to erupt.  Further eruptions would not only disrupt air travel, but the climate.  RMS predicts that the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) may reach more than 4; more than the infamous Mount Saint Helens eruption.

The two largest eruptions of the twentieth century measured 6 VEI -- the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines and the 1912 Novarupta eruption in Alaska. 

VEI is a logarithmic scale, thus even if the eruption reaches 4 VEI, as predicted, that's still a mere one-hundredth of the ash that was ejected by Pinatubo or Novarupta. 

Current theory says that such an eruption would not have a major impact on the global climate.

AGW theorists, however, have a propensity for coming up with novel explanations to try to preserve warming theory in the face of cooling trends.  Attempts have been made to explain away Antarctica's cooling.  One approach is to say it is actually warming, using questionably estimated data (extrapolated based on current satellite data and past weather station measurements).  A second attempt is to admit that the southern-most continent is cooling, but that the cooling is due to the ozone layer depletion.

The increased volcanic activity in Iceland should be ideal for AGW advocates as it gives them yet another opportunity to "make the model fit the data".  Expect possible claims in the near future that volcanic ash's cooling contribution has been understated in past models.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The South Pole is COLD!

[wastedyears]

How does it cut them a break? Like man causes volcanoes to erupt? How stupid can people be?

Volcanoes cause the area affected to cool, not warm, due to the ash cloud.

[steelyourfaith]

Thanx !

 

Beam me to Planet Gore !

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

It gives them an excuse....the Volcano did it....

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

According to what I’ve gleaned by extensive reading associated with the WUWT site, the Poles tend to go in opposite directions weather-wise. When the Arctic warms, the Antarctic cools, and vice-versa. Not always, but that is most often the case.

[hoosier hick]

Can’t wait until winter starts....

hh

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Forecast to be down low again monday night.

Forecast Summary

Extended Forecast

Monday
-58° F | -103° F
Chance of Snow 20% chance of precipitation

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

And the volcano ash is still circling the Artic Pole.

I guess arguments are going to be inconclusive....

[Jack Hydrazine]

Warm globally, cool locally./s

Katla Kan’t Wait!
Welcome Back Katla!

[SteamShovel]

Amid the cold wave at the birthplace of warming claims, a major geological event is promising to add a wrinkle to the climate debate, handing AGW advocates another opportunity to develop new theories to explain away cooling.

Commonly known as an excuse.

No matter what the volvano's effect, it did nothing to cause cooling before it started.

How do they explain THAT?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

They use their own version of Logic.....

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

This thread might be of interest:

422,700 years of temperature data [Vostok Ice Core]

[JimWayne]

They will not accept that the volcano leads to cooling. Al Gore’s investments are at stake and this is no time to admit that warming is over. They need to keep claiming that it is getting hotter.

The latest trick in their book is to claim that 75% of the money from taxes will go to the American public as rebates (although it is a rebate, YOU PAY since the corporations pass on the costs to the consumer). The remaining 25% will go towards research, i.e., to Al Gore’s companies which will specialize in writing grant proposals and getting huge sums of money from the government. Olympia Snowe supports this option.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Just posted this....regarding the Artic data recording:

Dial “M” for mangled – Wikipedia and Environment Canada caught with temperature data errors.

[Jack Hydrazine]

“They will not accept that the volcano leads to cooling.”

How could they do that when Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 dropped the average temperature of the globe by some four degrees F? There is evidence all over the place that shows volcanoes do cause cooling although it is usually just temporary.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Yup! Read that one. Not all the comments though.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

This one is going to take some time;
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/04/25/predictions-of-global-mean-temperatures-ipcc-projections/#more-18900

[JimWayne]

Evidence does not matter. What matters is that Al Gore’s investments in carbon credits are worthless and they need a new international agreement to shore up the value of his assets. Failing the international agreement, the only way to save him is to transfer wealth from American taxpayers to Al Gore’s firms.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

http://orssengo.com/