Another Alarmist Consensus Achieved!

 

Okay, after a couple I’ve decided to go ahead and write about Steig’s recent foray back into the public conversation.  If you haven’t yet read Jeff Condon‘s response, you should do so.  It’s written in magnificent style.  Anthony reproduced it.  This was one of the examples of bloggers teaching scientists about how to properly conduct science.  It’s a wonderful back-story, and then another backstory beyond that one. 

But, I want to focus on another aspect of what Steig had to say.  Here’s what Steig stated in part…..

The relevant paper here is Orsi et al, Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 39, 2012, which shows that the rate of warming in west Antarctica is as great, or greater, than what we showed in our original work (Steig et al, Nature, vol. 457, 2009). Moreover, Lewis’s own paper shows there has been significant warming in west Antarctica and that the average trend over Antarctica is of warming, not cooling as is often stated.

The reality is that the Antarctic is warming up and is contributing significantly to sea level rise; and that there is strong potential for a greater contribution to sea level rise from Antarctica in the future.
Professor Eric Steig
University of Washington, Seattle, USA

Forget for a moment that Steig didn’t mention that “O’Donnell et al’s 2010 response demonstrated conclusively that the peninsula is warming, but the whole of the continent is not.”  And forget all of the back and forth and Steig demonstrating his cluelessness about statistics.  What did the paper state that he referenced?

Here’s the title and from the abstract….

Little Ice Age cold interval in West Antarctica: Evidence from borehole temperature at the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide

The largest climate anomaly of the last 1000 years in the Northern Hemisphere was the Little Ice Age (LIA) from 1400–1850 C.E., but little is known about the signature of this event in the Southern Hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. We present temperature data from a 300 m borehole at the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide. Results show that WAIS Divide was colder than the last 1000-year average from 1300 to 1800 C.E. The temperature in the time period 1400–1800 C.E. was on average 0.52 ± 0.28°C colder than the last 100-year average. This amplitude is about half of that seen at Greenland Summit (GRIP). This result is consistent with the idea that the LIA was a global event, probably caused by a change in solar and volcanic forcing, and was not simply a seesaw-type redistribution of heat between the hemispheres as would be predicted by some ocean-circulation hypotheses. The difference in the magnitude of the LIA between Greenland and West Antarctica suggests that the feedbacks amplifying the radiative forcing may not operate in the same way in both regions.

The paper also asserts, “Cooling broadly synchronous to Greenland cooling, with lesser amplitude“.

As we all know, the climate events of the MWP (Medieval Warm Period) and the LIA (Little Ice Age) has long been contentious subjects in the climate wars. 

But, weren’t we told the LIA and MWP were local events?  Weren’t we told that the climate was essentially stable until evil man started to advance technologically?  The LIA was the largest climate anomaly!!!!???   Then it stands to reason we should be warming over the last 150 years or so, right?  I think Steve Goddard would say that it’s ‘time for a team huddle’. 

Who should we believe?  The consensus representative Steig or consensus representative Mann? 

Here’s what has become abundantly clear.  There is no consensus of anything.  And, the consensus advocates don’t have a clue about anything.  These know-nothing but say-anything clowns will continue to talk themselves into a circle of fail for time eternal.