This is what Lawrence Solomon, writing in the Financial Post, considers “analysis.”
Solomon wrote that on april 14th, the arctic “had more sea ice than it had on april 14, 1989”. See the graph above for how this is done.
Exactly the same ploy was applied by denier Jack Schmidt, one of the Heartland Institute’s “experts” on climate science – see video below.
One has to set the bar low enough, that the sheep can jump across it. Got lots of ’em over at the Financial Post’s comment section willing to argue just about anything. If only, if it were at all possible, someone would just post that time series every other comment over there. The picture does it better than any amount of typing….
Really, really, really love your Youtube channel. Thank you for your public service. As a fellow Michigander what would say to those that claim this terrible excuse for a spring is proof global warming is a fraud?
Also I have a blog, not as good as yours but I am trying. I would appreciate any feedback you could give me.
http://democraticprogress.net/
http://climatecrocks.com/2012/10/29/reposting-jennifer-francis-were-in-for-an-interesting-fall-and-winter/
http://climatecrocks.com/2013/03/20/much-different-march-same-reason/
I have to update my video on this topic, I guess soon.
Peter – is the first red point of Tamino’s graph in the right place? (asking)
It looks near a trough, not near a peak as one would have expected for an April figure.
I have the answer. Tamino’s graph shows anomalies.
Something happened in 1979 causing large swings in the anomaly. Perhaps a lot of ice melted at the same time, then not much more did for the rest of the year
As they say lies, damn lies and statistics!
Mr. Solomon “forgot” about cubic kilometers.
http://neven1.typepad.com/.a/6a0133f03a1e37970b017d428f2a8e970c-pi
Yes, exactly. In addition to cherry-picking the dates, there is further deception due to the fact that ice extent has not been declining as steadily as ice volume (cubic km). We saw this last year–ice extent “recovered” to more or less normal levels in the winter, but set a new low volume record. Why? Because older multi-year ice is being replaced by thin ice. There is refreezing in the winter, but the melt in the summer is more rapid. See http://dosbat.blogspot.com/2013/04/nosedive.html for the numbers on decline of thick ice.
Mr. Solomon is just a hack–has also claimed in the past that the science is settled, and that it’s cosmic rays driving planetary warming (which according to the above graphic doesn’t exist). Anything for a buck.
This really is a textbook example of how denialists manipulate the data to build their case. I will refer to this many times in my future interactions with those not familiar with the actual science. Thanks!