Comments on: The unstoppable MWP

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 07:26:54 +0000

Sure Andy, so long as it is labeled as such. Do you think it is OK to remove such data and then modify the x axis hide the fact that the data has been removed?

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 18:55:50 +0000

Replying to Nick. Do you think that it is an appropriate scientific practice to splice instrumental records onto proxy data in the same graph?

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 08:30:32 +0000

Hi Richard T,
“this is Mother Nature. This is God’s will” is that really what you believe? I had been conducting these discussions on the assumption everyone accepted that science rather than divine intervention could explain the weather. Please correct me if my assumption is false.

Does anyone else here think that any changes in the climate are “Gods will”? It would be helpful to understand the roots of peoples perspective on these issues.

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 08:17:39 +0000

Hi Richard C,
As the Real Climate link shows the current temperatures are within the bounds of model uncertainties. Christy’s graphs do not show the model uncertainties so do not tell us anything about how successful the models have been.

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 08:09:26 +0000

If the modern instrumental record has been removed (and the x axis edited to hide the fact) how can these graph say anything about the MWP in comparison with today?

By: Bob D

Bob D — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 22:33:25 +0000

An interesting paper dealing just with the NH, using 120 proxies including 49 with annual resolutions: Ljungqvist et al. (2012) "Northern Hemisphere temperature patterns in the last 12 centuries"

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 01:23:07 +0000

The interesting thing about this paper is that is claims to be the first use of Tephrochronology to lake sediments in the area.

This is based on 210Pb, plutonium activity

Tephrochronology is based on events from volcanic eruptions, and has been used mostly in Iceland, which of course is a volcanic country

It does seem quite a stretch to make these statements about temperature reconstructions in Svalbard based on this rather untested concept.

But hey – this is cutting edge research

By: Bob D

Bob D — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 01:15:32 +0000

Careful, Simon, you’ll fall foul of Andrew W if you’re not careful. He had a lot to say about people cherry-picking single studies:

…those minority of data sets won’t give a proxy reconstruction of high confidence, especially if the people putting together that reconstruct are seeking data sets that support their preconceptions.

By: Richard C (NZ)

Richard C (NZ) — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 01:14:11 +0000

The Reverse Hockey Stick In Svalbard

http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2012/09/30/the-reverse-hockey-stick-in-svalbard/

By: Simon

Simon — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 00:56:57 +0000

A nice study looking at lake sediments in Svalbad:
“We find that the summer warmth of the past 50 yr recorded in both the instrumental and alkenone records was unmatched in West Spitsbergen in the course of the past 1800 yr, including during the Medieval Climate Anomaly, and that summers during the Little Ice Age (LIA) of the 18th and 19th centuries on Svalbard were not particularly cold, even though glaciers occupied their maximum Holocene extent.”
http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/early/2012/09/18/G33365.1.abstract?sid=97d2d392-b80d-4c0f-
9eb2-6277b09b779c