Europe

This thread is for discussion of European aspects of global warming.

Tags
Comments rss
Comments rss
Trackback
Trackback

53 Responses to “Europe”

  1. Mike Jowsey says:
    October 21, 2010 at 2:59 pm

    Speech by President of Czech Republic : Climate Control or Freedom?

    http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/10/20/president-vaclav-havel-climate-control-or-freedom/#more-26734

    “The current debate is a public policy debate with enormous implications.[3] It is no longer about climate. It is about the government, the politicians, their scribes and the lobbyists who want to get more decision making and power for themselves. It seems to me that the widespread acceptance of the global warming dogma has become one of the main, most costly and most undemocratic public policy mistakes in generations. The previous one was communism.”

    (Have also posted this under ETS & Economics)

    Reply
    • Mike Jowsey says:
      October 22, 2010 at 12:37 pm

      I believe that the AGW debate is now simply noise to the power brokers of the world. They do not give a toss whether the science is settled or not. They will not engage in the debate because AGW has already done its job for them – namely, to spearhead legislation worldwide which sets the financial foundation for a world government. This is where the fight will move during the next decade. The words of President Vaclav Klaus are chilling as he compares this global eco-political movement to the communism he endured for most of his life.

      And when you overlay that with the sort of eco-bureaucratic nightmare eroding property rights in Western Australia the times, they are a-changing. http://joannenova.com.au/2010/10/thompsons-update-protest-in-perth-on-monday/

      Reply
  2. THREAD says:
    October 22, 2010 at 12:54 pm

    Moscow Shivers Through Coldest Winter in 26 Years

    Scores die in record Russia freeze

    -30 degrees Celsius

    Reply
    • Richard C (NZ) says:
      October 22, 2010 at 1:03 pm

      Exports of gas and electricity have been cut back to provide for increased domestic demand, and the exceptionally cold weather in Siberia has halted oil production in many places.

      Russia’s power infrastructure, from power stations to the heating system, has had little investment since the fall of the Soviet Union 14 years ago.

      The electricity system, some of it nearly 70 years old, has so far coped with the challenge as people turned up the heating, but there are fears of blackouts.

      Record loads

      “Every day we are seeing a new record load on the system. Yesterday was a record in both the country and in Moscow,” a UES spokeswoman said. “So far, all the electricity stations are coping with the load.”

      On Wednesday, electricity consumption nationwide hit 146,000 megawatts  a record high since the Soviet collapse 15 years ago, the head of national electricity monopoly RAO Unified Energy Systems, Anatoly Chubais, said in televised comments.

      In Moscow, where a construction boom is in full swing and the gray streets of the Soviet era have turned into glitzy thoroughfares festooned with bright lights, electricity consumption reached a record of more than 15,300 megawatts, RAO UES said.

      The cold snap has put many trolley-buses out of action, while passenger numbers on the underground railway system have swelled because drivers cannot start their cars. Big display advertising has been banned to save energy.

      Unified Energy System, Russia’s power monopoly, said it may be forced to cut electricity supplies to Finland by as much as 30 percent because it barely had enough to supply its own consumers.

      UES said it expected a new spike in domestic power consumption on Thursday as people plugged in their electric heaters for extra warmth.

      Russia on Wednesday reduced gas supplies to Europe and trimmed back its oil output because of the extreme cold. Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko said the country may draw on its modest strategic fuel reserves. He gave no details.

      Moscow’s coldest spell in 26 years brought out the quirkiest in the Russian character with one animal trainer feeding an elephant a bucket of vodka to warm it up — only to watch the drunken beast set about wrecking the central heating system.

      Reply
  3. THREAD says:
    October 22, 2010 at 1:06 pm

    Moscow Cold – Google Search

    Reply
  4. THREAD says:
    October 23, 2010 at 11:54 am

    Andy says:
    October 23, 2010 at 11:34 am

    Earliest snowfall in Bergen, Norway in 37 years

    (in Norwegian)

    h/t Richard North

    Reply
    • Richard C (NZ) says:
      December 1, 2010 at 1:32 pm

      Atrocious weather across Europe

      Dec 1, 2010 – NZ Herald

      Snow and freezing temperatures have severely disrupted airports in Germany and Britain and caused chaos and deaths on roads across Europe.

      More than 200 flights were cancelled overnight (NZ time) at Frankfurt airport in Germany, the continent’s third busiest, while southern German states were blanketed by snow.

      Large parts of Poland were covered in thick snow, causing hundreds of accidents on the roads and at least four people were killed on snowbound roads in the Czech Republic.

      It was so cold in France that electricity network RTE warned of cuts in the supply as the country looked set to top record demand levels while 20 per cent of high-speed train services to the hard hit southeast were cancelled.

      Switzerland suffered its coldest November night for 45 years as temperatures plunged below minus 30 degrees Celsius, according to national weather service Meteosuisse.

      Even Spain and Portugal were shivering after snow fell in the northern half of the Iberian peninsula.

      Continues………
      ——————————————————————————————————————–
      Sweden braces for record freeze

      30 Nov 10 – Sweden’s news in English

      Stockholm is forecast to experience its coldest seasonal temperatures for over 100 years this week as winter weather takes hold of the country, according to the Swedish Meteorological Institute (SMHI).

      * Bitter winter on the way: expert (25 Nov 10)
      * Swedish military called in to battle winter storm (24 Nov 10)
      * Transport agency calls for caution after snow (23 Nov 10)

      Temperatures across the country are expected to drop to record lows for the first week of December, with the exception of the far north, with averages coming in 7-10 degrees Celsius below normal.

      Stockholm registered -11 degrees Celsius at the weekend, the coldest November temperature since 1965 and the mercury is set to plunge further on Wednesday and Thursday, dropping as low as -15.

      “It is far below average temperatures, which usually oscillate around zero at this time of the year,” said Alexandra Ohlsson, a meteorologist with SMHI.

      Dalarna and Jmtland in northern Sweden will also be hit with the harsh weather. The Storsjn lake in the heart of Jmtland’s main city stersund has already frozen over in most parts.

      SMHI forecasted that in southern and central areas the cold will ease off somewhat come Friday. Northern Norrland will however drop to minus 14-17 degrees Celsius in the middle of the day.

      Continues…..

      Reply
    • Richard C (NZ) says:
      December 19, 2010 at 10:12 am

      Snow hits holiday travel

      5:30 AM Sunday Dec 19, 2010 – NZH

      Heavy overnight snowfall disrupted air travel across western Europe yesterday, forcing more than 800 flights to be cancelled and bringing delays in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

      Germany appeared the hardest hit by the snow, with more than 600 flights cancelled, schools forced to close and highways clogged with traffic after scores of accidents that killed at least three people and injured dozens.

      Snow also hindered flights in the Netherlands, where Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport had more than 100 cancellations and serious delays ahead of the Christmas rush.

      Dutch weather agency KNMI warned of heavy snow and lethal driving conditions in large parts of the western Netherlands as traffic jams grew around Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague.

      Snow also forced the cancellation of about 100 flights in Switzerland, where Geneva’s airport was closed for several hours. Flights were also disrupted in Zurich.

      In Frankfurt, continental Europe’s second-biggest hub, 470 flights were cancelled and an estimated 1000 passengers were stranded overnight.

      [Snip]

      Meanwhile, the Italian island of Capri woke up to its first snowfall in 25 years.

      Snow also coated beaches on the neighbouring island of Ischia, whose thermal waters attract visitors all year round.

      In Denmark, the state postal service reported snow in the past weeks had caused a high number of injuries to the country’s 12,000 letter carriers, including broken limbs.

      Even where snow is desperately needed, too much of it proved to be a curse. The women’s World Cup super-G downhill skiing event in Val d’Isere in southeastern France was called off because of too heavy a snowfall overnight and yesterday morning.

      Reply
  5. THREAD says:
    October 26, 2010 at 1:53 pm

    Wind power reduces the value of homes

    Swedish Wind Energy appears in a new increase in the deliberate attempt to conceal the fact that properties near wind turbines drop significantly in value, among others, writes Elisabeth von Brömsen, Föreningen Svenskt Landskapsskydd. Confederation of Swedish Landscape Protection.

    [Wait 10 secs - Google Translate]

    Reply
  6. THREAD says:
    October 26, 2010 at 2:03 pm

    Climate Activists learn their ‘solutions’ are absurd

    Bjørn Lomborg, Sunday, October 24, 2010

    Although some activists still rely on scare tactics – witness the launch of an advertisement depicting the bombing of anybody who is hesitant to embrace carbon cuts – many activists now spend more time highlighting the “benefits” of their policy prescription. They no longer dwell on impending climate doom, but on the economic windfall that will result from embracing the “green” economy.

    You can find examples all over the world, but one of the best is in my home country, Denmark, where a government-appointed committee of academics recently presented their suggestions for how the country could go it alone and become “fossil fuel-free” in 40 years. The goal is breathtaking: more than 80% of Denmark’s energy supply comes from fossil fuels, which are dramatically cheaper and more reliable than any green energy source.

    Reply
  7. Richard C (NZ) says:
    November 3, 2010 at 11:41 am

    Ski Season Begins Early In Europe

    Friday, October 29th, 2010

    A number of big ski resorts will open for the winter 2010-11 this weekend, many of them weeks and even months earlier than planned.

    Heavy snow in the Alps has led to Schladming in Austria being the first non-glacier ski centre to open, it’s due to be followed by Kitzbuhel, tomorrow.
    Snow reporting agency skiinfo.co.uk reports that up to a metre of snow has fallen in the past week bringing great conditions to the 20 glacier ski areas that are already open in the Alps. The Tux glacier next to Mayrhofen and close to Innsbruck is already offering more than 40km (20 miles) of piste to enjoy with a 600m lift served vertical. The Kitzsteinhorm glacier above Kaprun has more than three feet of new snow on its slopes.
    In Switzerland the resort of Laax, which will stage the Brits festival next Spring, has decided to open early too because of all the snow. It joins Gstaad’s Glacier 300 which is opening tomorrow too. Engelberg, Zermatt and Saas Fee are also open, the latter with World Cup Snowboarding this weekend.
    In Italy Cervinia opens this weekend, joining Passo Tonale and two other glacier centres which are already open. Les 2 Alpes and Tignes are both open in France this weekend too. While up in Scandinavia Ruka in Finland is already open and will be joined by Geilo and Hemsedal in Norway next weekend.
    Resorts have also begun opening in North America. Loveland and Arapahoe Basin have opened in Colorado and Sunday River in Maine. Keystone and Copper Mountain are due to open on Bonfire Day next week, however Canada’s first opening for 2010-11m Mount Norquay by Banff, is due to happen tomorrow, October 30th, conditions permitting.

    Reply
  8. Richard C (NZ) says:
    November 11, 2010 at 4:00 pm

    Branding of Dissenters Has Begun – Clearing The Path To A Climate Science Pogrom

    By P Gosselin on 11. November 2010

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    From German Parliamentarians to the German Government

    Short Query

    from Parliamentarians Dr. Hermann Ott, Bärbel Höhn, Hans Josef Fell, Sylvia Kotting-Uhl, Oliver Kriseher, Undine Kurth (Quedlinburg), Nicole Maisch, Dorothea Steiner and the Parliamentary party BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN (ALLIANCE 90 / THE GREENS)

    Subject: Deniers of climate change in the coalition government

    The so-called “climate change sceptics” or “climate change deniers” for years have been a permanent fixture in American politics. Their influence on American politics is not insignificant. They are mainly supported and funded by the fossil fuels industry like Exxon (Esso) or Koch Industries. Now it appears that their influence is now growing in Germany and in Europe.     In the past weeks various press releases and other reports have appeared in the “Financial Times Deutschland” and news magazine “Der Spiegel” about on how certain climate change deniers were given a discussion forum by the CDU and FDP Bundestag’s factions and that some parliamentarians of the ruling CDU and FDP factions were sympathetic to the ideas put forth by climate denier Fred Singer. This and a range of other activities by the so-called climate sceptics in Germany compel us to ask the German Government for its assessment.

    We ask the German Federal Government:

    1. Is the German Government aware of a scientifically published paper that has been subjected to peer review that questions climate change caused by man, and that is supported by scientific data?

    2. In the view of the German Government’s Leadership, is there a scientific discussion on whether climate change is taking place and whether man has a decisive impact on climate?

    3. Is the German Government aware of the publications from American physicist Fred Singer on the subject of climate protection? How does the German Government view the scientific reputation of Mr Singer in regards to climate protection?

    4. For the German Government, do the arguments made by Fred Singer and other arguments presented have merit and are they “enlightening”? How do you assess the statements by Mr Singer that “Politicians that are embedded in climate change are more dangerous than climate change itself”?

    5. Is the German Government aware of the ideas Mr Singer has previously promoted? What’s your view on the fact that he, for example, questioned the hazards of passive smoke, or that he contested the ozone layer was damaged by CFCs, or that he trivialized acid rain? With this background, how does the German Government judge the credibility of Fred Singer’s activities with regards to climate protection?

    6. Is the German Government aware of who financed Mr Singer for his activities? Is the Federal Government aware of the funders who – like Exxon und Koch Industries in den USA – fund the activities of the climate change deniers in Germany?

    7. Does the German Government share the opinion that events with Mr Singer provide a forum for the pure interests of the fossil fuel industry, and thus enhance their unscientific work and unserious activities?

    8. Are there voices within the German Government who question the anthropogenic causes of climate change?

    9. How does the German Government view the activities of the European Institute for Climate and Energy (EIKE) with regards to climate change? EIKE is supported by Fred Singer. In the Federal Government’s view, does the Institute work on the scientific question regarding the subject of climate change?

    10. Is the German Government aware of whether climate denier conferences are also being financed by public funds, for example by the Liberal Institute of the Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation?

    11. In general, does the German Government approve of the use of public funds for spreading the ideas of climate deniers like Fred Singer?

    Berlin, 3 November 2010

    Renate Künast, Jürgen Trittin and Fraction
    ——————————————————————–
    H/T Andy

    Reply
    • Richard C (NZ) says:
      November 12, 2010 at 1:09 pm

      The reason why EIKE is a target of ALLIANCE 90 / THE GREENS

      “The rise of the CO2-content since 1958 cannot have been caused alone by the burning of rising quantities of coal and oil in the post-war period. And there is also no straight-line connection between the CO2-concentration in the atmosphere and the global temperature development.”

      Obituary: Ernst Georg Beck
      Posted on September 23, 2010 by Anthony Watts

      Ernst Georg Beck published this analysis three years ago in the British technical periodical “Energy & Environment” and sowed thereby already before “Climategate” in late autumn of 2009 serious doubts about the reliability of the statements of the IPCC. Climatologists who depend on financial funding from the German Government and the European Union and who are closely linked to the IPCC could not forgive him that publication. They tried to denounce Ernst Georg Beck in the Internet as naive amateur and data counterfeiter. Unfortunately, Ernst could hardly defend himself in the last months because of its progressive illness. It is therefore particularly necessary that we as members of EIKE feel obligated to continue the work of our dear colleague, who left us much too early.

      Reply
      • Andy says:
        November 12, 2010 at 1:15 pm

        Herman van Rompuy, EU president, said this week in Berlin

        “We have together to fight the danger of a new Euro-scepticism.
        This is no longer the monopoly of a few countries.
        In every Member State, there are people who believe their country can survive alone in the globalised world.
        It is more than an illusion: it is a lie!

        The time of the homogeneous nation-state is over.”

        Reply
  9. Richard C (NZ) says:
    November 25, 2010 at 9:00 am

    DDR stole 40,000 little heatballs

    Luboš Motl, Pilsen, Czech Republic

    During communism, people had to smuggle lots of basic things if they wanted to have them. For example, my father had to smuggle Commodore 64 twice for me. ;-)

    The communism collapsed by 1989 – in most of the socialist Europe. However, DDR has actually swallowed West Germany, updated its socialist ideology a little bit, and continues to terrorize the people who exchange goods and ideas in between the nations.

    Mr Siegfried Rotthäuser and his brother have sold about 4,000 heatballs in the past. See

    http://www.heatball.de

    What is a heatball? It is a miniature source of heat – clearly a perfectly legal device according to the existing law. In order to guarantee that you won’t heat your room when you don’t want to, it also emits light to inform you that the heatball is turned on. An advantage of this piece of operational art is that you can use the sockets for (fluorescent) light bulbs. I am using several 100-Watt heatballs in my apartment, too.

    Because the first packages of 4,000 heatballs – sold for EUR 1.69 or USD 2.30 per piece – were instantly sold out, the entrepreneur ordered 40,000 additional heatballs. However, they were immediately confiscated by the DDR custom apparatchiks at the Cologne International Airport and the engineer was actually arrested for a while: he became a kind of dissident in the DDR.

    An official propaganda mouthpiece of Business Green describes the business idea as “orchestrated two fingers” to the Brussels. :-)

    To be honest, they authorities are still investigating what the products actually are used for – by polls etc. Why don’t they ask a physicist instead of random consumers what is the primary purpose of the product? As a physicist, I can assure them that a vast majority of the energy in the product is used for heating, so it should be considered a heating device and the regulations invented for light sources shouldn’t apply. ;-)

    This point doesn’t seem obvious to them and they’re unfortunately in charge. You just can’t import miniature sources of heat to the DDR, stupid! The message is Don’t mess up with arrogant totalitarian ideologies. The DDR and EUSSR comrades have apparently forgotten the weather that German soldiers experienced near Stalingrad so they want to deny their citizens their right to possess heatballs. ;-)

    Via aktualne.cz (MSM), Wochenblatt (MSM), and klimaskeptik.cz

    See also: Germans intercept weapons shipment :-) (by Andrew Bolt)

    United Nations plan what science will say

    The United Nations undersecretary for planning is following in the footsteps of his comrades Stalin, who had 5-year plans, and Hitler, who had 4-year plans. His planning includes the future developments in science. As the AFP reveals, Robert Orr of the U.N. has planned that the next IPCC climate report will be more catastrophic than ever before.

    I wonder whether these dishonest parasites are also planning how to move on the electric chair when they get it for their long years of lying to, robbing, and manipulating the world’s public – because, whether it sounds surprising or not, genuine science can’t be pre-ordered to produce results of a certain kind.

    Reply
  10. Richard C (NZ) says:
    December 9, 2010 at 12:02 pm

    Snow shuts Paris airport, bus system

    Wed Dec 8, 10:10 am ET – AP

    PARIS – Heavy snowfall has forced the closure of Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport and shut down the Paris bus system.

    The Paris airport authority says flights in and out of Paris’ main airport are suspended until around 5 p.m. local time Wednesday (1600 GMT).

    Snow quickly turned into a slushy mess in Paris’ streets, stalling traffic. Paris’ RATP transport network says all buses in the capital have stopped running, as have many suburban buses.

    Heavy snowfall is unusual in Paris. Some shop owners are busy sweeping slush off the sidewalks, while Parisians and tourists alike are cautiously braving the slippery roads.

    Reply
    • Richard C (NZ) says:
      December 10, 2010 at 10:00 am

      French motorists camp out as snow smothers Paris

      PARIS | Thu Dec 9, 2010 5:13pm IST

      PARIS (Reuters) – Several thousand Parisians were forced to spend the night in emergency shelters or their cars, and transport remained chaotic on Thursday, after a blanket of snow fell on the French capital.

      City authorities asked residents to avoid using their cars after the heaviest snowfall in nearly a quarter of a century covered city streets with ice and slush, causing traffic jams that prevented commuters getting home on Wednesday night.

      “Stuck”, read a headline in the popular daily Le Parisien, while Le Figaro heralded “The great freezing of Paris”. TV images showed people sleeping on mattresses in school gymnasiums and emergency workers serving them food.

      The interior ministry said 3,300 people spent the night in some 78 shelters around Paris, as the snow paralysed cars, taxis and buses and slowed suburban trains. Grounded passengers slept in airports after flights were cancelled. Icy conditions kept several highways shut on Thursday despite salting operations.

      “We had to deal with a weather phenomenon with no precedent in the last generation,” Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said on Europe 1 radio. Many motorists had slept in their cars as black ice and slush made driving impossible, he said.

      In some places, the snowfall reached 11 cm (4.3 inches), the most since 1987. The Eiffel Tower was temporarily closed.

      People packed into the underground metro system, which was crammed full of shuffling commuters on Thursday.

      “We formally advise all road users against driving on the greater Paris region road network except in cases of absolute professional need,” the Paris prefect’s office said.

      Reply
  11. Andy says:
    December 16, 2010 at 8:02 am

    Little Ice Age And Expanding Arctic Ice Coming – “Climate Forecasts Will Have To Be Thrown In The Dustbin”

    The cold now sweeping over Europe and other parts of the globe are due to natural cycles, says German meteorologist Thomas Globig. He points out that the first 2 weeks of December in Britain have been the coldest since the last little ice age 350 years ago, and claims some climate models have criminally under-estimated solar influence on climate and that we ought to expect colder winters, and expanding Arctic ice in the years ahead.

    “Some climate forecasts will have to be thrown in the dustbin.”

    http://notrickszone.com/2010/12/14/little-ice-age-and-expanding-arctic-ice-coming-climate-models-will-have-to-be-thrown-in-the-dustbin/

    Reply
    • Richard C (NZ) says:
      December 16, 2010 at 9:53 am

      This is interesting – and a difference from the Easterbrook et al scenario.

      “It has gone past its high point of its 200-year high-phase and will decrease over the coming decades. Around the year 2040/2050, scientists calculate there will be a new so-called solar minimum, that means much less feed-in of solar energy into the Earth’s atmosphere.”

      Don Easterbrook has the cool phase bottoming out circa 2030 and warming again 2040/2050.

      Hmmm……….. tricky times far a coolist/warmist.

      Reply
  12. Richard C (NZ) says:
    December 18, 2010 at 4:38 pm

    The EU Connection in Climate Research

    Tuesday, 14 December 2010, 4:02 pm - Scoop

    Opinion: Hoover Institution

    by John Rosenthal

    Millions of euros come with an agenda

    The leaking of the East Anglia “Climategate” e-mails and data last November shattered the appearance of a scientific consensus on supposed “man-made global warming” and provided a disturbing insight into the corruption of the scientific process as it relates to the “man-made global warming” hypothesis. The spectacle of scientists stonewalling freedom of information requests, destroying records, hiding unwelcome results, colluding to keep dissenting viewpoints out of scholarly journals, and even suppressing their own acknowledged doubts — all of this made it perfectly clear that other interests were at stake than the pure pursuit of knowledge. The centrality of the quest for funding in the e-mail exchanges made it equally clear that for the scientists in question, money, unsurprisingly, was first and foremost among those interests.

    But just who or what had corrupted the science in order to produce the phantom “consensus”? Commentators in U.S. online discussion forums and blogs wasted no time in identifying two prime suspects: the reputed prophet of green energy, Al Gore, and the right’s least favorite leftist billionaire, George Soros. Such speculation said a lot about the top bogeymen in the conservative blogosphere, but it was prima facie implausible or even indeed absurd. After all, no single individual, no matter how wealthy, has the resources that it takes to politicize weather and corrupt the entire global scientific enterprise. Indeed, in the grand scheme of things, one of the named suspects is not even particularly wealthy. Despite the prominent role he has played as a spokesperson for climate alarmism, it is far more likely that the former vice president is a passenger on the global warming bandwagon, not a driver.

    If no individual has the money it takes, states — especially if they pool their resources — most certainly do. The real culprit in the corruption of the scientific process and the promotion of climate alarmism is named again and again in the East Anglia e-mails and documents. But the culprit is named with many different names, mysterious combinations of letters and numbers and lyrical code words, names like “dgxii, dgxi fp5 fp6 fp7 life enrich.” What do they mean? In the final analysis, it is but one and the same multinational organization that lurks behind all these designations: the European Union.

    The eu funding stream

    Continues……….

    Reply
    • Richard C (NZ) says:
      December 18, 2010 at 5:05 pm

      MUST READ – Follow the money

      This is a HUGE ARTICLE in length and substance
      ———————————————————————————————————————-
      The eu funding stream

      All the designations refer either to departments of the European Commission or eu funding schemes. “dgxii” is the acronym by which the Commission’s Directorate General for Research was formerly designated, and “ dgxi” was the acronym for the Directorate General for the Environment.

      The Research dg is essentially a funding organization. It controls a massive multi-year budget for research support known as the “Framework Programme” — or “fp,” for short. The European Network for Research into Global Change — or “ enrich” — was an early climate change research initiative that was launched already under the fourth Framework Programme (1994–96). The Environment dglikewise has at its disposal a “financing instrument” (albeit a more modest one). The financing program of the Environment dg is called “ life.” The Research Directorate’s Framework Programme 6 — or “fp6” — ran from 2002 through 2006 and comprised a budget of some € 17.5 billion. The current Framework Programme 7 began in 2007 and will run through 2013 It comprises a research support budget of some €50.5 billion.

      fp6 funded 26 projects on climate change. The total eu contribution to these projects was a whopping €165,580,451. The University of East Anglia was a partner institution in no less than eight of these projects and it was the coordinating institution for one. Under fp7, the “climate research” manna has flowed even more freely. In just the first three years (2007–09) of the current Framework Programme, the European Commission has already funded 28 projects on climate change for a total eu contribution, according to provisional data, of some €116,271,772. The University of East Anglia is a partner institution in four of these projects.
      ——————————————————————————————————————–
      And still it continues, this is one big mother article – in Scoop!

      Reply
      • Andy says:
        December 18, 2010 at 6:03 pm

        I seem to remember reading a version of this article a while back. The WWF – EU – Pauchauri – TERI links have been well explored by Richard North (as acknowledged in the article).

        The Euro-marxist agenda is a perfect fit, of course.

        Good read, as you say.

        Reply
        • Richard C (NZ) says:
          December 18, 2010 at 6:38 pm

          Probably is repackaged but it doesn’t hurt for it to be current again – and comprehensively. Also good to see it in NZ media – surprisingly..

          This explains why the UN is so desperate to be the big climate dog on the block. The EU is their opposition and is roundly gazumping them. Totalitarians don’t like other Totalitarians muscling in on their patch and taking their action.

          I watch the DWTV climate change propaganda “Global 3000″ on the regional TV channel Central TV (Waikato). It is amazing how far the global reach of Germany is. North Africa goes without saying but they are into places like Philippines and Mongolia, truly global – the UN wont like that.

        • Richard C (NZ) says:
          December 18, 2010 at 6:43 pm

          “It is amazing how far the global reach of Germany is”

          And why “capacity building” is a big thrust by the UN because they’re in catch-up mode.

    • Mike Jowsey says:
      December 18, 2010 at 5:16 pm

      Indeed, in the grand scheme of things, one of the named suspects is not even particularly wealthy. Despite the prominent role he has played as a spokesperson for climate alarmism, it is far more likely that the former vice president is a passenger on the global warming bandwagon, not a driver.

      WTF – Gore has made millions and millions off this gig. Is this reporter blind as well as dumb and deaf? Gore was a founder of the Chicago Carbon Exchange, as just one example. Is that not a ‘driver’?

      Reply
      • Richard C (NZ) says:
        December 18, 2010 at 6:02 pm

        “millions and millions off this gig” – “Is that not a ‘driver’?”

        millions and millions off this gig = beneficiary

        millions and millions into this gig = driver

        Reply
        • Mike Jowsey says:
          December 18, 2010 at 6:43 pm

          Hey – Where can I get me some of dem drivers / beneficiaries?????

        • Richard C (NZ) says:
          December 18, 2010 at 6:54 pm

          You gotta book a ride on the Climate Change Gravy Train, Mike.

          Tickets available at Greenpeace, OXFAM, UNICEF, NIWA, MAF and many other approved outlets.

        • Richard C (NZ) says:
          December 18, 2010 at 8:22 pm

          IUCN, not UNICEF

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Union_for_Conservation_of_Nature

        • Richard C (NZ) says:
          December 18, 2010 at 9:17 pm

          e.g. This ticket

          IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic, and Social Policy (CEESP): CEESP provides expertise and policy advice on economic and social factors for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. As of May 2010[update], CEESP has 1000 members and is led by Chairwoman Aroha Te Pareake Mead

          http://www.iucn.org/about/union/council/members/chairs/

          Upcoming Events

          Sharing Power: A New Vision for Development, 11-15 January 2011, Whakatane New Zealand

          The six Conference streams are: (i) Pathways to a new vision of conservation and development; (ii) Indigenous Values, Biocultural heritage and the Role of Protected Areas; (iii) Power-Sharing and Shared Governance in Practice; (iv) Grassroots Responses to Land Grabs, Extractive Industries and Climate Change; (v) Re-Thinking Economics and (vi) Inter-Cultural Dialogue, Education and Communicating Change.

          i.e. Surrogate (but wishful) government right here in NZ

        • Richard C (NZ) says:
          December 18, 2010 at 10:12 pm

          And this ticket

          Cancun wrap up: We’re kicked out, a deal is made and Adrian Macey scores a new job

          Lastly, a big shout out to Adrian Macey, the former head of the New Zealand government delegation who has just been promoted from Co-Chair to Chair of the Kyoto Protocol negotiations. I hope that despite his history of being a New Zealand negotiator he will act in an unbiased way towards both developed and developing countries. I hope he acknowledges that these negotiations have not been democratic or transparent and that he will act to improve on that in Durban.

          http://www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/en/news/blog/cancun-wrap-up-were-kicked-out-a-deal-is-made/blog/30936

  13. Richard C (NZ) says:
    February 1, 2011 at 12:54 pm

    The Dutch lose faith in windmills

    The new Dutch right-wing government has announced a radical overhaul of Dutch energy policy. It is cutting subsidies for most forms of renewable energy drastically, and is even putting an end to all subsidies for offshore wind, solar power and largescale biomass. It has also announced a warm welcome for new nuclear power stations – the first time a Dutch government has done so since the Chernobyl-disaster in 1986. However, not all is lost for the renewable energy sector: the cabinet is still brooding on a long-term strategy and a “Green Deal” that might yet put the Netherlands back on a “greener” course.

    http://energiaadebate.com/the-dutch-lose-faith-in-windmills/

    Reply
  14. Andy says:
    March 7, 2011 at 12:09 pm

    Helmut Schmidt calls for IPCC enquiry.

    n a keynote speech to the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Germany’s most eminent science organisation, Helmut Schmidt, Germany’s former Chancellor, has cast serious doubt on the integrity and credibility of the IPCC and called for an independent, scientific investigation into the IPCC’s questionable practices:

    http://thegwpf.org/the-climate-record/2591-helmut-schmidt-calls-for-ipcc-inquiry.html

    Reply
  15. (not so) Silent says:
    March 7, 2011 at 3:09 pm

    Andy,
    Thats fantastic. The walls are starting to crumble now. I’m just loving the turmoil in Australia right now. I reckon a couple of the independants will soon withdraw support for Gillard and force a new Election as its becoming clear to those independants that they will be out in the next election if they cant turn it around.
    Hat tip to Andrew Bolt for outstanding coverage.

    Reply
  16. Andy says:
    March 9, 2011 at 12:09 pm

    Europe pushes ahead with tighter emissions targets and the de-industrialisation of the continent:

    http://www.bishop-hill.net/blog/2011/3/8/as-if-things-werent-bad-enough.html

    Reply
  17. Andy says:
    May 28, 2011 at 12:20 pm

    Germany ‘Sliding Head Over Heels Into Eco-Dictatorship’

    Germany’s green government advisors admit frankly that decarbonization can only be achieved by the limitation of democracy – both nationally and internationally.

    When it comes to environmental and climate policy, Germany’s Scientific Advisory Council on Global Environmental Change (WBGU) is an influential advisory committee for the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The chairman of the council is Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

    http://www.thegwpf.org/international-news/3095-germany-sliding-head-over-heels-into-the-eco-dictatorship.html

    A similar theme is explored at Shub’s blog:

    The Stockholm Memorandum and The Great Structural Solution:

    Keep global warming below 2ºC, implying a peak in global CO2 emissions no later than 2015 and recognise that even a warming of 2ºC carries a very high risk of serious impacts and the need for major adaptation efforts

    Not sure about that 2015 date. Fours years might be a bit ambitious to completely re-engineer the world’s economy.

    http://nigguraths.wordpress.com/2011/05/27/the-stockholm-memorandum-and-the-great-structural-solution/

    Reply
  18. Andy says:
    October 8, 2011 at 5:49 pm

    Why do European’s think Climate Change is the world’s biggest issue?
    Maybe it’s the wording in the surveys…

    http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2011/10/sacre-bleu-eees-climate-change.html

    Reply
  19. Richard C (NZ) says:
    October 11, 2011 at 9:01 am

    EU sets conditions for signing up to Kyoto II

    (Reuters) 10 October 2011

    LUXEMBOURG – European Union environment ministers — responsible for only 11 percent of global carbon emissions — said they would commit to a new phase of the Kyoto climate change pact, on the condition that nations blamed for the rest join up too.

    [...]

    “What’s the point of keeping something alive if you’re alone there? There must be more from the 89 percent,” EU Environment Commissioner Connie Hedegaard told Reuters.

    The European Union stated the need for a road map that would indicate when the biggest emitters — led by the United States, China and India — would sign up.

    >>>>>>>

    http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/environment/2011/October/environment_October13.xml&section=environment

    Reply
  20. Andy says:
    October 17, 2011 at 10:06 am

    Lubos Motl in fine form again:

    There’s pretty much a consensus across the political spectrum – and especially in the public – that global warming alarmism is a fashionable disease that plagues the brains of pampered and brainwashed people in the West who are either champions of a statist political ideology or their own profits, or those who want to be “hip”, who are naive and detached from reality, and who don’t understand how it easy it is to hijack a part of the scientific institutions and turn them into tools of shameless and cynical political propaganda.

    [..]


    Ms Rosenthal also mentions an irrelevant woman, a Ms Hedegaard or what’s her exact name, from Denmark who is apparently a climate alarmist and an EU commissioner responsible for promoting the scientific emotions of female journalists such as Ms Hedegaard with intelligence matching that of poultry across the continent.

    It’s surely politically correct in certain mentally degenerated circles to praise stupid women in politics – we need more women in politics, don’t we? – except that this particular Danish woman is stupid beyond imagination. But she’s not the worst one. Another woman, Jill Duggan or Hoggan, is in charge of the carbon tax in the whole EU. If you click at the previous link, you may listen to an interview with Andrew Bolt (and another guy) in Australia showing that this woman doesn’t have the slightest clue about a single fact that is relevant for climatology or the proposed carbon regulation.

    More of this at
    http://motls.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-york-times-on-disappearance-of-agw.html

    Reply
  21. Richard C (NZ) says:
    October 31, 2011 at 6:57 pm

    Germany Plans Solar-Subsidies Cut, May See Installation Rush

    Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) — Germany, the world’s biggest solar- panel market, will cut subsidies for photovoltaic power by a record amount next year as the government tries to control the pace of installations and wean the industry off support.

    Rates under the feed-in-tariff system will be reduced 15 percent from Jan. 1, 2012, after Germany added about 5.2 gigawatts of panels in the year through Sept. 30, the Bundesnetzagentur, the federal grid regulator, said in a statement on its website today. Power from panels will earn 17.94 euro cents (25 cents) to 24.43 euro cents a kilowatt-hour.

    “The cut is part of the push down toward competitive pricing without subsidies,” Charles Yonts, an analyst at CSLA in Hong Kong, said by e-mail.

    >>>>>>>>

    http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-27/germany-plans-solar-subsidies-cut-may-see-installation-rush.html

    Reply
  22. Richard C (NZ) says:
    November 10, 2011 at 12:20 pm

    EU finance ministers confirm €7.2bn climate financing

    But green campaigners warn development aid has simply been repackaged as climate aid

    http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2123775/eu-finance-ministers-confirm-eur72bn-climate-financing

    A statement outlining the conclusions of the latest meeting of finance ministers showed EU states had provided €4.68bn in 2010 and 2011 towards the $30bn “fast-start” climate fund agreed at the 2009 climate change summit in Copenhagen.

    Reply
  23. Andy says:
    January 31, 2012 at 9:03 am

    Dozens freeze to death as temperatures plunge to MINUS 26C in parts of Eastern Europe

    Severe cold snap kills at least 36 people across region
    Ukraine: 18 die of hypothermia, 500 people seek medical help
    Poland: At least 10 people dead as cold reaches -26C
    Serbia: 3 dead and two missing; Romania: 4 people dead; Bulgaria: 1 dead

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2093891/Dozens-freeze-death-temperatures-plunge-MINUS-26C-parts-Eastern-Europe.html#ixzz1kyg9qnwA

    Reply
    • Richard C (NZ) says:
      February 8, 2012 at 5:02 pm

      Wolves scavenge as Italians take shelter from biting cold

      Biting temperatures and widespread snow and ice have caused up to 500 million euros ($610 million) worth of damages to Italy’s agriculture sector so far, the Confagricoltura association said.

      The economic development ministry activated a plan to maximise gas supplies to vulnerable households by reducing gas supplies to industrial clients and switching from gas to oil-fired power stations

      http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-08/italy-hit-by-big-freeze/3817114

      Shades of Argentina a couple of years ago.

      Reply
  24. Andy says:
    February 9, 2012 at 12:06 pm

    Amazing pictures of the big freeze across Europe

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2097779/Europe-weather-Snow-covers-continent-temperatures-plunge-MINUS-40C.html

    Reply
  25. Richard C (NZ) says:
    February 9, 2012 at 3:35 pm

    In blaming mankind for causing snow across Europe, Greens sound eerily like 16th-century witch-hunters

    By Brendan O’Neill

    Brendan O’Neill is the editor of spiked, an independent online phenomenon dedicated to raising the horizons of humanity by waging a culture war of words against misanthropy, priggishness, prejudice, luddism, illiberalism and irrationalism in all their ancient and modern forms.

    Whenever it snows these days, there will always be an eco-miserabilist at hand to tell us it is our fault – that freakish wintery weather is as much “manmade” as is hot weather and droughts. And so the Independent, having told us in March 2000 that, as a result of climate change, “snow is starting to disappear from our lives”, now tells us that, as a result of climate change, snow will become a more regular feature in our lives. Under the headline “Science behind the big freeze: is climate change bringing the Arctic to Europe?”

    [...]

    I wonder if environmentalists ever stop to think how much they sound like the witch-hunters of yesteryear? Because however radical Greens think they are, the truth is that this isn’t the first time in history there has been a fashion for blaming long or dark or weird winters on foul individuals and their apparently problematic lifestyles. No, the sixteenth-century hunters of evil witches did likewise, pinning the blame for cold weather on sinning mankind long before the Independent and other modern Greens had the same idea.

    One of the key mad beliefs behind witch-hunting in Europe between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries was the idea that these peculiar creatures had warped the weather, that they had caused “climate change”. As the German historian Wolfgang Behringer argued in his 2004 book, Witches and Witch-Hunts: A Global History, “large-scale persecutions were clearly linked to years of extreme hardship and in particular the type of misery related to extreme climatic events”. During the Little Ice Age, the period of unusual coldness that kicked off in the mid-1500s, there was an upsurge in witch-hunting. There was another outburst in 1628, described by historians as “the year without a summer”, because once again people’s crops failed as a result of very cold weather and they were desperate to find someone to blame – usually a cranky old woman who could be labelled a “witch”.

    >>>>>>>>

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/brendanoneill2/100135504/in-blaming-mankind-for-causing-snow-across-europe-greens-sound-eerily-like-16th-century-witch-hunters/

    I wonder if Bryan Walker, Hot Topic Officionado and author of ‘Uncomfortable parallels’ (“…what I see as parallels between the defence of slavery in earlier times and today’s persistence with fossil fuel-based economies”), has read this article?

    Reply
  26. Richard C (NZ) says:
    March 3, 2012 at 8:28 pm

    Dying from cold

    Portugal has had in the last weeks a big increase in the total number of deaths. As can be seen in the graph below (original here – in Portuguese), the last weeks have seen several hundreds of excess deaths in Portugal:

    http://ecotretas.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/dying-from-cold.html?m=1

    Reply
  27. Richard C (NZ) says:
    March 11, 2012 at 1:45 pm

    Seen at Climate Change Dispatch comments under ‘Study: climate alarmists represent 30% of OCD psychiatric patients’

    # Red Jeff 2012-03-10 01:18

    Europeans are already 40% crazy! “Europeans are plagued by mental and neurological illnesses, with almost 165 million people or 38 percent of the population suffering each year from a brain disorder such as depression, anxiety, insomnia or dementia, according to a large new study.” http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/04/europe-mental-illness-idUSL5E7JV2R320110904

    “Mental disorders have become Europe’s largest health challenge of the 21st century,” the study’s authors said.

    Ya just can’t make this stuff up!!!!

    PS… as an amazing coincidence 38% of the population is employed with the Eurozone government!

    http://climatechangedispatch.com/home/10039-study-climate-alarmists-represent-30-of-ocd-psychiatric-patients#comment-35065

    Reply

Leave a Reply