Trade winds slower or faster?

WUWT has an interesting post on the conflicting nature of recent climate change research:

While Matthew England claims in a new paper that fast trade winds caused cooling.

Another paper from 2006 says the exact opposite.

Once again ABC's reporters fail their readers by not mentioning the glaring contradiction given they covered the 2006 paper. One wonders where ABC's "journalists" are getting their training. Seems the ABC's Groupthink hot house is failing to imbibe a sense of scepticism necessary for sound reporting.

Here's ABC's latest report:
Warming slowdown caused by Pacific winds

The research, published in Nature Climate Change, shows more than 20 years of strengthening trade winds has increased the circulation of water in the western Pacific Ocean.

Back in 2006
Global warming may weaken Pacific current

The vast looping system of air currents that fuels Pacific trade winds and climate from South America to Southeast Asia may be another victim of climate change, scientists say

You can only sit back and weep! We made ABC's Alan Sunderland aware of the inconsistency.

Lightning strikes

ABC's environment site are always quick to highlight extreme weather events and disasters but always seem to fail in putting events into their historical perspective. Sadly this week saw at least 32 people killed in India from lightning strikes. This was in at least two separate strikes.

In 1915 lightning killed at least 34 people in one strike.

More historical tragedies can be found by searching TROVE.

Spring Fires in past times

ABC's sister publications THE AGE and the Sydney Morning Herald  linked yesterday's Sydney bushfires with Climate change. Before Auntie follows a similar path here are a few items from times past that might help provide some perspective...

These articles of note....
State wide heat, Bushfires. Sydney homes in Danger. SMH 13/9/1946

Heat in Sydney. The West Australian 9/9/1940
Drought and Bushfires The Advertiser Friday 13 September 1895
Bush Fires, Heat And Fierce Winds The Sydney Morning Herald  Friday 21 September 1945

Some other examples (sorry no links but if you are interested search NLA...
1965...HOTTEST SEPTEMBER DAY Early bushfires widespread, The Canberra Times 27 September 1965 
1994...Early start to bushfire season The Canberra Times 21 August 1994
1964...Bushfire danger. The Canberra TimesThursday 13 August 1964
1956...BUSHFIRE RISK IS GRIM STATES OFFICIAL. The Central Queensland Herald 13 September 1956
1950...Bushfire Peril In N.S.W. And Queensland The Advertiser 25 September 1950
1918...A Terrific Bushfire ENORMOUS DAMAGE IN TAMBO DISTRICT. MITCHELL, Townsville Daily Bulletin 26 September 1918
1932...HUGE BUSHFIRE. FARMS IN DANGER. Rockhampton Menace. The Brisbane Courier 27 September 1932

Catalyst-no sense of history

Heat waves that kill tens of thousands. Apocalyptic floods. Blizzards in the Middle East.  ....in this report we explain the mechanisms behind some of the most catastrophic events of the decade.

Opening lines from last week's Catalyst. The links we added above go to the decade 1940-1949 when CO2 levels were about 100ppm less than now.

It's that history thing again. 'Nuff said.

Hailstones in Armenia

ABC have a piece on its Environment page from The Climate News Network (PS  I think that the CNN moniker is taken) titled: Caucasus farmers a picture of climate change. The CNN are convinced that:

• climate change is one of the most serious threats to human wellbeing
• it is caused in large part by human activities
• the decisions we take in the next few years will decide how severe it is
• it is not too late to act; but…
• …we need to make very radical changes – fast

Sounds like your typical activist creedo no wonder ABC found the item of interest.

The story ABC re-printed includes this mention of hailstorms:

There are often hailstorms in Armenia and throughout the rugged and mountainous Caucasus region but the ferocity of this one — happening in mid May when crops were just coming to life — was highly unusual.

We turned to the trove newspaper database and conducted a quick search. To our amazement the following article popped up from the SMH of Monday 10 September 1877. It makes for an interesting read, click to enlarge or follow the link to the source:

Small trip on the tightrope of history

MARIA SPELTERINA

A 23-year-old Italian woman, Maria Spelterina was the only woman to cross the Niagara gorge on a tightrope. In 1876, she walked backwards, put a paper bag over her head, and wore peach baskets on her feet to inject some drama into her crossings - note the lack of a safety harness source.

ABC borrow a report from AFP/Reuters about Nik Wallenda's recent tightrope walk across Niagara Falls (with a safety harness) that includes the following statement:

"Since the Great Blondin took his high-wire walk, a ban has been in place on similar stunts over the famed falls. Wallenda waged a two-year crusade to convince U.S. and Canadian officials to let him try the feat."

The Great Blondin, (Charles Blondin or  Jean-François Gravelet) crossed the Niagara River on a tight rope below the falls in June 1859 (see a contemporary, report in the Sydney Morning Herald HERE). Contrary to ABC's report, there were a number of other tightrope walks over the Niagara Gorge since Blondin's and the "ban*" has in fact been in place, not since Blondin's walk in 1859 but according the Niagara Parks Commission since July 1896 when James Hardy, crossed the gorge on a wire.

Source: Niagara Falls: Stunts and dare devils: a history

ABC's neglect in picking up and re-producing errors in the AFP/Reuters piece compounded when this February 2012 report with the photo above is taken into account: Maria Spelterini walks a tightrope over the Niagara Gorge. The date quite clear in that caption. But then we know ABC News has a disregard for historical accuracy.

*The Niagara Parks Commission state: NPC has ruled that it will consider proposals by stunting professionals no more than once in a generation, or approximately once every 20 years, as a way to pay tribute to the stunting history that helped make Niagara Falls a top global tourism destination.

The Niagara Parks Commission prohibits stunting on all of its properties under the authority granted under Regulations of the Niagara Parks Act. Stunting now carries a maximum fine of $10,000.



Update 12/7/2012: From ABC

Dear Mr Hendrickx,
Thank you for alerting us to the error in the agency copy.
This has since been corrected.

Kind regards,
Stuart Watt
National Editor
ABC News Online

Score +1

NiagaraFallsStunts&Daredevils:History

NiagaraFallsStunts&Daredevils:History

A bad year for the weather

It certainly has been a dramatic year for the weather, especially in Australia, but before we loose our heads a quick look at the record books indicates things have been as bad or worse in the past. 


1918 for instance saw two cyclones kill over a hundred people in North Queenland, both as intense as recent cyclone Yasi. There were record floods in eastern Australia, including the Great Rockhampton flood that saw the Fitzroy River rise to its highest level on record. There were notable floods also in New Zealand, Germany, England, and Africa. Meanwhile heat waves swept Australia (Sydney, Victoria, Perth, Brisbane), and Pennsylvania; and droughts occurred in Australia, Norway, India, North America, Brazil and Africa. Blizzards affected the eastern United States with the "coldest weather in history". There were also snowstorms in New Zealand, Argentina and in Europe, and tornados destroyed towns in the USA. 


To top it off there was also a World War, an influenza pandemic that killed millions, earthquakes rocked the Western USA, Puerto Rico, left over a 100,000 homeless in Guatemala, and a magnitude 6 earthquake damaged buildings in flood affected Rockhampton. Vesuvius erupted in Italy and Katla in Iceland.  

Let's get more serious, how about 1934? The Sydney Morning Herald provided the following weather related headlines?

Floods

Australia 

Lismore deluged Kyogle in darkness The Courier Mail Tuesday 2  January 1934

9 inches in 24 hours Rivers in High flood Cairns  The Courier Mail Tuesday 2  January 1934

Tweed Flood Feared The Courier Mail Tuesday 2  January 1934

Queensland Storms Floods delay trains. Bridges under water The Sydney Morning  Herald Tuesday 2 January

Thunder Storms cause damage. Lithgow The Sydney Morning  Herald Tuesday 2 January

Floods in Melbourne Suburbs Western Argus Tuesday 2 January

Heavy Thunderstorms damage in South Australia  Western Argus Tuesday 2 January

Storm ravages border areas, shops flooded in Kyogle The Courier Mail Wednesday 3 January

Flood in Burdekin  The Courier Mail Wednesday 3 January

Floods in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald Wednesday 3 January

Melbourne Streets resemble canals The Mercury Wednesday 3 January

Queensland Rivers in flood The Advertiser Wednesday 3 January

Canberra Isolated by Road The Courier Mail Tuesday 9 january

Wangaratta suffers large flood expected The Argus Monday 8 January

Floods in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald 31 January

Flood warning. North Coast Rivers. Monsoonal Rain The Sydney Morning Herald 2 February

Flood in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald 17 February

Hawkesbury River in Flood The Sydney Morning Herald 23 February

Castlereagh River in Flood The Sydney Morning Herald 23 February

Queensland Floods Sixty men marooned The Sydney Morning Herald 23 February

Flood devastation The Sydney Morning Herald 24 February

Bridge work swept away. Merriwa. The Sydney Morning Herald 3 March

Torrential Rain Floods in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald 13 March

Flood rains in North Queensland. Large areas inundated. The Sydney Morning Herald 14 March

Heavy Rain in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald 2 April

Falls in WA. Perth The Sydney Morning Herald 4 April

Floods in Western Australia. Town isolated for week The Sydney Morning Herald 3 April

Floods in South Australia Dead Sheep in Tall Trees. The Sydney Morning Herald 14 April

Floods.North Coast Rivers. Two men nearly drowned. The Sydney Morning Herald 9 May

Floodwaters. Residences menaced at Coroki. The Sydney Morning Herald May 12

Diprotodon’s jaw uncovered by flood. The Sydney Morning Herald May 17

Rain in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald June 25

More Rain. Flooding on south coast. The Sydney Morning Herald June 27

Flood rains on South Coast The Sydney Morning Herald July 25

Snowy River in Flood. The Sydney Morning Herald July 28

Weekend Gale. Warning of floods. The Sydney Morning Herald July 30

Flooded Rivers. Big damage in Hawkesbury Valley. Windsor Isolated. The Sydney Morning Herald July 31

Flooded Molonglo at Canberra and floods at Camden. The Sydney Morning Herald August 1

Heavy Rain in Riverina. The Sydney Morning Herald August 3

Burrinjuck Dam overflows The Sydney Morning Herald August 14

Southern Rivers flooding extends The Sydney Morning Herald August 15

Floods in the South. The Sydney Morning Herald August 16

The flooded Murrumbidgee. The Sydney Morning Herald August 16

Storm Sweeps Brisbane The Sydney Morning Herald August 25

Floods in Hunter The Sydney Morning Herald September 3

Cyclonic Storm Terrific rain Flooding in Suburbs The Sydney Morning Herald September 7

Car swept away from flooded bridge The Sydney Morning Herald October 22

Heavy Floods in NSW and Victoria The Sydney Morning Herald October 26

Torrential rain cause floods at Orange The Sydney Morning Herald October 27

Wagga Inundated The Sydney Morning Herald October 29

The floods near Narrandera The Sydney Morning Herald October 30

Flooded Rivers Murray overflows  The Sydney Morning Herald October 31

Violent Storms. More flooding in south The Sydney Morning Herald November 8

Rivers Swollen. Heavy Rain in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald November 8

Flooding in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald November 30

Havoc in Melbourne The Sydney Morning Herald December 1

Flood Disaster The Sydney Morning Herald December 5

Goulburn River in Flood The Sydney Morning Herald December 3

Record Flood Yarra’s devastating rush  The Sydney Morning Herald December 3

Yallourn open cut flooded The Sydney Morning Herald December 3

Rain without precedent The Sydney Morning Herald December 4

The Melbourne floods The Sydney Morning Herald December 10

Floods in Tasmania  The Sydney Morning Herald December 31

New Zealand

New Zealand Flood The Sydney Morning Herald May 8

Torrential Rain devastates two valleys. The Sydney Morning Herald May 7

Floods in New Zealand The Sydney Morning Herald June 20

Torrential Rain. Houses flooded in Auckland. The Sydney Morning Herald July 9

Hurricane in New Zealand The Sydney Morning Herald October 2

Floods in New Zealand The Sydney Morning Herald December 11

Italy

Floods in Venice The Sydney Morning Herald November 8

USA

Los Angeles. Terrific rainstorm, heavy death toll feared. The Sydney Morning Herald 3 January

Results of floods in Los Angeles The Sydney Morning Herald 9 February
Floods wreak havoc in California The Courier Mail Wednesday 3 January

Central America

Disastrous Storm in Central America The Sydney Morning Herald June 13

Poland

Floods in Poland. 50,000 families homeless. The Sydney Morning Herald July 20

Africa

Floods in South Africa The Sydney Morning Herald 9 January

India

Fire and Flood. Indian Earthquake death toll now 2500 The Sydney Morning Herald 19 January

Bengal Bridge. Fight for safety. Danger of monsoon Floods. The Sydney Morning Herald 20 February

Floods in India. Many lives lost. The Sydney Morning Herald 25 June

Terrific Rainfall. Huge Areas inundated The Sydney Morning Herald July 13

Floods in India The Sydney Morning Herald August 27

Japan

Japanese Floods. Heavy Death Toll The Sydney Morning Herald July 13

Typhoon Sweeps Japan The Sydney Morning Herald September 22

China

Floods in China. The Sydney Morning Herald July 19

Floods in Manchukuo The Sydney Morning Herald August 21

Drought

South Australia

Drought Broken The Sydney Morning Herald November 8

Britain

Drought in Britain The Sydney Morning Herald 4 January

Drought in Britain The Sydney Morning Herald June 18

Water shortage Heath fires in Britain  The Sydney Morning Herald June 18

United States of America

Wheat crop. United States drought The Sydney Morning Herald May 11

US Wheat crop smallest for 30 years The Sydney Morning Herald July 12

Drought in USA  The Sydney Morning Herald August 8

United States Worst Drought in history The Sydney Morning Herald August 17      

Canada

Wheat crops Canadian Production The Sydney Morning Herald August 8   

Russia

Wheat crop failures USA and Russia The Sydney Morning Herald May 31

Europe/North America

Drought Three Continents Heavy Losses reported The Sydney Morning Herald June 4

Germany

Drought in Germany The Sydney Morning Herald June 6

Bulgaria

Drought in Bulgaria The Sydney Morning Herald June 9

Japan

Japan Floods and Drought The Sydney Morning Herald July 12

China

Chinese Wheat Crop The Sydney Morning Herald November 5

Heat Waves

Australia

Heat Wave 110.2 degrees at Perth The Sydney Morning Herald 13 January

Heat Wave expected in coastal areas The Sydney Morning Herald 16 January

Heat wave in Victoria and South Australia The Sydney Morning Herald 17 January

Heat Wave danger of bush fires The Sydney Morning Herald 18 January

Heat Wave in three states The Sydney Morning Herald 19 January

Intense heat birds die and horses collapse  The Sydney Morning Herald 20 January

Heatwave throughout the state The Sydney Morning Herald 25 January

Heatwave in Sydney The Sydney Morning Herald 26 January

Oysters Heavy Mortality during heat wave The Sydney Morning Herald 7 February

Heat wave fires in South Australia The Sydney Morning Herald 9 February

Heatwave. High temperatures inland The Sydney Morning Herald 13 March

Heat wave over inland districts The Sydney Morning Herald 18 December

India

India Heat wave and storms  The Sydney Morning Herald June 1

North America

Drought in America The Sydney Morning Herald June 4

Heat wave in United States The Sydney Morning Herald July 23

Heat Wave Heavy Death toll The Sydney Morning Herald July 25

Heat Wave in USA causes 1100 deaths The Sydney Morning Herald July 27

Bulgaria

Drought in Bulgaria The Sydney Morning Herald June 7

Britain

Heat wave in southern England The Sydney Morning Herald June 18

China

Floods in china The Sydney Morning Herald July 19

Snow Storms/Blizzard

Japan

Blizzard in Japan The Sydney Morning Herald 6 January

United States of America

Intense cold in North America. People frozen to death The Sydney Morning Herald February 12

Blizzard in USA The Sydney Morning Herald February 22

Blizzard Sweeps USA The Sydney Morning Herald February 26

New Zealand

Blizzard. Most violent in Memory The Sydney Morning Herald July 2

Snow and Rain Heavy Storm in New Zealand The Sydney Morning Herald August 27

India

North-west India Unprecedented cold The Sydney Morning Herald 15 January

Cyclones/Typhoons/Hurricanes/Tornados

Australia

Cyclone at Inverall The Sydney Morning Herald 5 January

Cyclone disaster. The Sydney Morning Herald March 15         

Queensland Cyclone, heavy death toll feared The Sydney Morning Herald March 17           

Cyclone death toll 79. The Sydney Morning Herald March 17

Cyclone extensive damage Onslow The Sydney Morning Herald March 30

Central America

Disastrous Storm in Central America The Sydney Morning Herald June 11

Japan

Typhoon in Japan The Sydney Morning Herald September 25

Philippines

Typhoon in Philippines The Sydney Morning Herald October 15

USA

Tornado in New Orleans The Sydney Morning Herald March 26

Killed by Lightning

Australia

Year’s weather The Sydney Morning Herald 5 January

Terrific Storms The Sydney Morning Herald 8 January

Floods in Riverina The Sydney Morning Herald 9 January

Death in Storms Two men struck by lightning The Sydney Morning Herald 31 January

Sheep killed by lightning The Sydney Morning Herald 12 April

Storm in Queensland Man killed by lightning The Sydney Morning Herald 14 April

Lightning kills football enthusiast The Sydney Morning Herald 20 August

Lightning. Man killed on Road The Sydney Morning Herald 20 August

Casualties The Sydney Morning Herald 5 November

Cyclone sweeps Victoria three men killed The Sydney Morning Herald 9 November

South Africa

Lightning Flash kills and injures natives The Sydney Morning Herald November 19

Damaging Hail

Australia

Storms in Queensland wind lifts man bodily The Sydney Morning Herald 9 January

Hailstorm damage in Cessnock The Sydney Morning Herald February 16

Severe Storms heavy damage by hail The Sydney Morning Herald February 16

Remarkable Storm. Worst Hail on record The Sydney Morning Herald 20 December

Storms in Queensland Loss of lIfe The Sydney Morning Herald 21 December

Terrific Storm lashes Bathurst The Sydney Morning Herald 29 December

Bush fires

Australia

Bushfires-losses in Tasmania The Sydney Morning Herald January 18

Bushfires damage in suburbs The Sydney Morning Herald January 25

Bushfires Buildings Saved The Sydney Morning Herald January 26

Grass fires damage in South Australia The Sydney Morning Herald February 8

Heat wave Fires in South Australia The Sydney Morning Herald February 9

Bushfires Losses in Tasmania The Sydney Morning Herald February 12

Victorian outbreaks The Sydney Morning Herald February 12         

Bushfires The Sydney Morning Herald March 15

Bushfires damage in Queensland  The Sydney Morning Herald October 8

Bushfires Destruction in Western Australia The Sydney Morning Herald December 13

Dust Storms

Australia

Severe Dust Storms The Sydney Morning Herald September  8

Dust Storms The Sydney Morning Herald December 10

USA

US Crop prospects The Sydney Morning Herald July 24