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Cassandras of Climate
New York Times ^ | 27 September 2008 | Paul Krugman

Posted on 09/29/2009 11:40:02 PM PDT by Lorianne

Every once in a while I feel despair over the fate of the planet. If you’ve been following climate science, you know what I mean: the sense that we’re hurtling toward catastrophe but nobody wants to hear about it or do anything to avert it.

And here’s the thing: I’m not engaging in hyperbole. These days, dire warnings aren’t the delusional raving of cranks. They’re what come out of the most widely respected climate models, devised by the leading researchers. The prognosis for the planet has gotten much, much worse in just the last few years.

What’s driving this new pessimism? Partly it’s the fact that some predicted changes, like a decline in Arctic Sea ice, are happening much faster than expected. Partly it’s growing evidence that feedback loops amplifying the effects of man-made greenhouse gas emissions are stronger than previously realized. For example, it has long been understood that global warming will cause the tundra to thaw, releasing carbon dioxide, which will cause even more warming, but new research shows far more carbon locked in the permafrost than previously thought, which means a much bigger feedback effect.

The result of all this is that climate scientists have, en masse, become Cassandras — gifted with the ability to prophesy future disasters, but cursed with the inability to get anyone to believe them.

And we’re not just talking about disasters in the distant future, either. The really big rise in global temperature probably won’t take place until the second half of this century, but there will be plenty of damage long before then.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Foreign Affairs; Government; Politics/Elections
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Un_relenting.
1 posted on 09/29/2009 11:40:02 PM PDT by Lorianne
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To: Lorianne
...the most widely respected climate models...

LOL! Funny stuff. Garbage in, garbage out. The amount of garbage is equal to the size of the expected government grant.

Krugman needs to get out of the office a little more often. The world is not ending.

2 posted on 09/29/2009 11:44:18 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (I don't remember Americans being called "racists" when we fought against Hillarycare.)
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To: Lorianne

Saw this in my paper this AM...can’t wait for the dissenters to pop up on FR and cram it down Krug’s face.


3 posted on 09/29/2009 11:48:51 PM PDT by norge (The amiable dunce is back, wearing a skirt and high heels.)
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To: Lorianne

The Socialist economic hack Krugman is adding ignorance and incompetence to his usual dishonesty by lying about climate change now, including recycling the thoroughly discredited ‘consensus’ canard that even Al Gore has given up on and relying on worthless climatic models for his predictions while ignoring all facts. Plus I see that the Leftist propaganda rag NYT is trying to peddle Krugman’s BS.


4 posted on 09/29/2009 11:56:12 PM PDT by Post Toasties (Conservatives allow the guilty to be executed but Lefties insist that the innocent be executed.)
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To: Lorianne
Krugman never is on the bleeding edge, is he? Next thing you know he'll be telling us about this wonderful new car he saw


5 posted on 09/30/2009 12:00:38 AM PDT by VeniVidiVici (Hey Obama. Where is Osama Bin Laden?)
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To: Lorianne
Somebody ask Krugman why much of the northern hemisphere isn't covered with miles of ice anymore?

The earth has been steadily warming since the last ice age. Climate has never been static.

I look forward to the day the NYT closes its doors.

6 posted on 09/30/2009 12:04:05 AM PDT by DB
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To: VeniVidiVici

I swear, that thing had the ugliest hind end I’d ever seen on a car.


7 posted on 09/30/2009 12:05:31 AM PDT by coydog (Time to feed the pigs!)
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To: FlingWingFlyer
Funny how none of the models predicted cooling for the last 8 or so years...

Funny how the warming at mid levels of the atmosphere around the equator predicted by these models never occurred...

Funny how the polar caps on Mars warmed at the same time earth was warming in the early 90's...

Funny how Antarctica is at record ice levels...

Funny how the sun went from being unusually active to unusually quiet...

8 posted on 09/30/2009 12:13:51 AM PDT by DB
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To: Lorianne

Is the lack of hurricanes this year due to globull warming?


9 posted on 09/30/2009 12:33:03 AM PDT by Need4Truth (Who can reprogram the Branch Carbonians?)
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To: Lorianne
The Seven Graphs That Dispel Alarmist Claims About Climate Change

Click Here For Larger Graph

The world is cooling, sea levels are falling, ice is spreading, there are fewer extreme weather events, and it was hotter 1000 years ago, yet the myth of global warming is providing governments the excuse to micromanage every aspect of our lives, with Al Gore now openly calling for a carbon tax on the energy we use.

Following the end of the Sun’s most active period in over 11,000 years, the last 10 years have displayed a clear cooling trend as temperatures post-1998 leveled out and are now plummeting.

But such figures won’t deter the agenda of control freaks like Al Gore, who last night publicly called for a carbon tax to be imposed on the use of fossil fuels at a time when even middle class families are struggling to pay the bills as a result of a crippled economy, soaring oil prices and inflation.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE
.

10 posted on 09/30/2009 1:00:27 AM PDT by Iron Munro (You can't kill the beast while sucking at its teat - Claire Wolfe)
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To: Lorianne

11 posted on 09/30/2009 1:14:54 AM PDT by Iron Munro (You can't kill the beast while sucking at its teat - Claire Wolfe)
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To: Lorianne
Every once in a while I feel despair over the fate of the planet. If you’ve been following climate science, you know what I mean: the sense that we’re hurtling toward catastrophe but nobody wants to hear about it or do anything to avert it.


12 posted on 09/30/2009 1:22:14 AM PDT by BookmanTheJanitor
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To: Lorianne
Just when you think Paul Krugman cannot get any stupider, he tops himself. What a fool!
13 posted on 09/30/2009 1:26:28 AM PDT by truthguy (Good intentions are not enough!)
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To: Lorianne
I clicked through to see if there were any comments. Sadly, the vast majority were even loonier (if such a thing can be!) than the Krugman column, several hyperventilating over the "need" for population control through forced sterilization.

What is it about the Left that leads to this complete disconnect between reality and their perceptions? Is it a form of schizophrenia?

14 posted on 09/30/2009 2:07:00 AM PDT by maryz
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To: Lorianne
the most widely respected climate models

have failed to predict the lower temps of the last ten years.

15 posted on 09/30/2009 2:40:55 AM PDT by Right Wing Assault
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To: Lorianne

Did their model predict this...

U.S. Northeast May Have Coldest Winter in a Decade

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=amm7GJfWypJE


16 posted on 09/30/2009 2:48:45 AM PDT by broken_arrow1 (I regret that I have but one life to give for my country - Nathan Hale "Patriot")
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To: Lorianne

Yesterday, Sept 29th, was Trofim Lysenko’s birthday. He would have been 111 years old this year. I bet Krugman wrote this in his honor.


17 posted on 09/30/2009 2:48:49 AM PDT by Brugmansian
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To: Right Wing Assault

Great info rebutting the lefties lies on global warming

http://www.iceagenow.com/

http://icecap.us/index.php


18 posted on 09/30/2009 2:51:03 AM PDT by sako shooter (cib&eib)
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To: Lorianne; rdl6989; Little Bill; IrishCatholic; Normandy; According2RecentPollsAirIsGood; ...
 


Beam me to Planet Gore !

19 posted on 09/30/2009 3:20:57 AM PDT by steelyourfaith (Limit all U.S. politicians to two terms: One in office and one in prison!)
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To: Lorianne

Why is it every time I read something by Krugman the word a$$hole comes to mind?


20 posted on 09/30/2009 3:48:44 AM PDT by anoldafvet (Proud Member of the Un-American Domestic Terrorist Movement)
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