The Global Hot and Cold Mixing Tap

There must be something in the air. Since I posted this morning Coffee House referenced an article by the FT which highlights some serious research that raises questions about the present orthodoxy.

But new research now seems to be backing up Svensmark’s theory. Dr. Svensmark and his team undertook an elaborate laboratory experiment in a reaction chamber the size of a small room. The team duplicated the chemistry of the lower atmosphere by injecting the gases found there in the same proportions, and adding ultraviolet rays to mimic the actions of the sun.

Result: a huge number of floating microscopic droplets quickly filled the chamber. These were super-small clusters of sulphuric acid and water molecules – which are the building blocks for cloud condensation nuclei - that had been catalysed by the electrons released by cosmic rays.

The point? The research experimentally identified a causal mechanism by which cosmic rays can facilitate the production of clouds in Earth's atmosphere. This does not disprove the existence of greenhouse gases and the greenhouse effect. But it does challenge the “man-only” theory, and suggests that the IPCC should consider the effect of cosmic particles in examining climate dynamics. Or, at least, accept that there is a long way to go before we fully understand climate dynamics and who plays what role.

So the jury is out - as it should be, but we should make a careful assessment of the science before we allow our politicians to make bonehead decisions, such as Gordon Brown legislating for the compulsory use of bio-fuel at the very moment it became apparent that this is a social and environmental clanger.

The corrosive impact of environmental dogma

Go over to Devil's Kitchen to read some truly astonishing stuff. HERE
My bullshit detector has been signalling for a while now - probably triggered by Gordon Brown's discovery that green issues could be a great tax generator - but these leaked documents appear to show that the data is being manipulated to fit the theory, namely that Global Warming is man made.
Like the majority of people I simply don't know enough to pretend to any serious knowledge on this subject. What I do know, however, is that there was a significant global warming during the Middle Ages and that there was global cooling during the ice age followed by global warming and so on. None of these were caused by human population. I also grew up during the years of the smoke stack economy when huge amounts of carbon were being pushed into the atmosphere. No global warming then.
My own view now is that we should be responsible in our treatment of the environment. We can limit waste and air and water pollution and we should do everything we can in this regard. Talk to most people and they will find this reasonable. Ask them to wear a hair shirt, live in unheated homes, pay so-called "Green taxes" and you will get a different answer.
And this is more likely to be the answer when zealots overstate the case. We are not saving the planet. The planet will save itself. What we want to do is to save our lifestyle - that is, we want warm and air-conditioned environments, personal transport, easy access to good and services, choice of family size. If that requires some adjustment, we will adjust. But don't expect us to adjust on the basis of fraudulent theories and dodgy data!