IPCC Scientists Lie To Congress

12 Responses to IPCC Scientists Lie To Congress

1. Will Nitschke says:

   August 2, 2012 at 7:03 am

   It’s a pretty obnoxious state of affairs. I’ve been following this topic closely since 2007 and ‘extreme weather’ was not something that was discussed until recently, except very briefly. (Mainly brought on by some really cold winters in Europe.) It’s taken on a life of its own now, presumably because of the flattening of global temperature rises in the last decade or so.

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2. Ed Darrell says:

   August 2, 2012 at 3:05 pm

   Isn’t it illegal to lie as an expert witness in a Congressional hearing?

   You know better than that! Christopher Monckton would be doing time in Colorado if it were.

   Generally, it’s not illegal to lie unless they swear you in. Rarely are witnesses sworn in, and if you are, it’s a clue that someone is out to get you. Even then, you have to get a vote of the committee, and then a vote of the entire body, before charges are recommended to the local U.S. attorney, who ignores most such recommendations, because they come about as well grounded as your claim.

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   • stevengoddard says:

     August 2, 2012 at 3:08 pm

     OK, so it is alright for IPCC lead authors to lie in order to obtain taxpayer money via fraudulent assertions. Thanks for clearing that up.

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     • kim2ooo says:

       August 2, 2012 at 3:13 pm

       Ha ha ha ha 🙂

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     • Ed Darrell says:

       August 2, 2012 at 3:30 pm

       No, it’s not okay to lie to get government grants. But Congress is not a granting agency, and this was not a plea for funds personally for these researchers. In fact, it’s a crime to commit fraud in a plea for funds — which is one reason so few climate denialists even bother to ask for NSF or NOAA research funding.

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     • miked1947 says:

       August 3, 2012 at 4:54 am

       Ed:
       They are before Congress to justify all the money they ave wasted. If it was not for the money involved there would be no reason for them to be in front of Congress.
       This sham goes back to the “Dog and Pony Show” Hansen produced in 1988. It may even go back to Revelle and his Snakeoil sales job.

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     • Ed Darrell says:

       August 3, 2012 at 7:54 am

       Mike, it was a hearing on the science — there was no intent for anyone to “justify” research monies — it was a hearing on what is the sense of science today on global warming. Chairman Boxer put it simply:

       We cannot turn away from the mountain of evidence that climate change has already started to impact the planet and will only grow worse without action. Leading scientists who are testifying today on the latest science will reinforce that point.

       Your failure or inability to understand the legislative process, or just sheer orneryness, doesn’t change the purpose of the hearing, nor the nature of the testimony. In this case, if you claim scientists lied, bring your evidence. (What? You don’t have any? What a surprise.)

       Generally, no, it’s not “okay” to lie to Congressional committees — but were it a crime, most of the people who testify in support of your wild claims on this blog would be in jail, starting with Madman Monckton. It’s difficult to tell whether Sen. Inhofe is lying or is just so ill he can’t tell the difference — but were a crime to dissemble, he’d be in difficulty, too. Inhofe has set new records in dishonesty in legislative pursuit in his unholy jihad of falsehoods on this issue, in this committee of the Senate.

       You have a lot of gall to claim the guys telling the truth are, instead, liars.

       The purpose of the hearing was to get on the record the science that tells the state of the art, and, in many cases, that sounds the claxons to rational people to get them to act to prevent or mitigate the damages from global warming (in Maryland, for example). If you have contrary evidence, bring it forward. Calumny does not constitute evidence.

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   • Ed Darrell says:

     August 3, 2012 at 8:14 am

     And, by the way, witnesses at this hearing were not sworn. See the tape at about 112:30: http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.LiveStream&Hearing_id=c0293eca-802a-23ad-4706-02abdbf7f7c3

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3. kim2ooo says:

   August 2, 2012 at 3:14 pm

   Reblogged this on Climate Ponderings.

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   • Ed Darrell says:

     August 3, 2012 at 7:55 am

     Why? Are you engaged in some odd sado-masochistic internet thing?

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4. Ed Darrell says:

   August 3, 2012 at 8:08 am

   Here are some of the impacts of global warming, just in one state, Maryland, according to the testimony of John R. Griffin, the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources for the State of Maryland:

   Here are some examples of observable impacts that we are already witnessing in Maryland:
   • Maryland has experienced more than a foot of sea level rise in the last century due to the combined forces of regional land subsidence and global sea level rise. Current projections
   from the Maryland Climate Change Commission indicate that we could see as much as three to
   four feet of additional rise over the next 100 years. A recent study by the U.S. Geological
   Survey published in the journal Nature Climate Change indicates that the 1,000 kilometer stretch of coast running north from Cape Hatteras to north of Boston is a “hot spot” for sea level rise caused by global warming. The study found that since 1990, sea levels along this stretch (which includes Maryland) are rising at an annual rate three times to four times faster than the global average. The impacts of sea level rise are already increasing our vulnerability to storm events, causing more frequent and severe coastal flooding, inundating our low-lying lands, submerging our tidal marshes, and causing more shore erosion, salt-water intrusion, and higher water tables. Coastal communities are in harm’s way, and public funding for disaster relief and restoration will be in increasing demand.
   • Maryland is currently losing approximately 580 acres every year to shore erosion; and alarmingly, thirteen Chesapeake Bay islands once mapped on nautical charts have already
   disappeared beneath the water’s surface. A 2008 report by the National Wildlife Federation calculated that approximately 400,000 acres of land on the Chesapeake’s Eastern Shore (Maryland and Delaware) could gradually be submerged.ii Maryland has thousands of miles of developed waterfront property along its coast, including many historic human settlements such as Smith Island. These coastal areas contain billions of dollars worth of public and private investments that will be adversely impacted by sea level rise and the intensification of coastal storm events. Approximately 450 State-owned facilities and close to 400 miles of State highways are located within areas that will be vulnerable to coastal flooding from sea level rise and/or coastal storms over the next 100 years.
   • Since 1960, Chesapeake Bay water temperature has increased approximately in 2.8° F.iii
   Scientists are concerned that eelgrass, an underwater grass that provides critical nursery habitat for commercially and recreationally important fish and blue crab populations, will soon be eliminated from the Chesapeake and our seaside bays because of the rising temperatures and erosion from sea level riseiv. Higher temperatures will also very likely increase the size of the Chesapeake Bay’s oxygen depleted “dead zone”, and the frequency and severity of harmful algal blooms. Fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay will be further stressed by higher surface temperatures and lower dissolved oxygen.v These trends pose a real threat to the significant progress we have made toward the recovery of our recreational and commercial fisheries, which contribute more than $1.42 billion to our State’s GDP.
   • Critical wetland habitat is already being lost to erosion and sea level rise. At least 5,000 acres of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge have been lost since the 1930s with 300 more acres being lost each year.vi Marshes across the Bay are being lost to the same process of erosion and sea level rise and many are not very likely able to keep up, eventually falling apart and sinking into the Bay. Commercially valuable forest lands in other areas of Maryland’s Eastern Shore are being lost to flooding. Increased flooding and rising carbon dioxide provide an unfortunate opportunity for invasive species to takeover. All of these impacts affect species
   such as the saltmarsh sparrow, clapper rail, seaside sparrow, and willet just to name a few.
   • Last year, Maryland was hit by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, impacting not only Maryland’s coast but also many of our inland towns and communities. Warmer ocean waters will increase the impacts of storms such as these. As residential and commercial development increases on highly prized coastal land, more property will be at risk from intense storms.
   • Maryland is one of 28 states across our nation that experienced record high temperatures from July 2011-June 2012. Heat waves in Maryland over the last three summers have been the hottest since 1943, the year of record, and have set one-hundred year records, particularly in urban areas, like Baltimore. In Maryland alone, 13 deaths were attributed to heat in an 11 day period in June and July of this year.

   Notice that this testimony informs the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the very real problems Maryland encounters. The testimony is not contested, by the way, by any researcher. It does not represent any allegations of misuse of funding. It is not testimony from any researcher with a federal grant.

   Easy to sit 2,000 miles away from the committee an hurl ill-informed and surly epithets at people who work to preserve our natural resources — but shame on those who do.

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5. rocknblues81 says:

   August 3, 2012 at 8:18 am

   lol. Fearsome “Irene”. Oh noes!

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