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William M. Connolley

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December 24, 2009
'Twas the night before Christmas and all the blogs were silent as mice. The usual fare will return. For now, comments are off. Happy Christams to all! [Update: comments are back]
December 23, 2009
The latest is http://connelleywatch.blogspot.com/. I'd be slightly more honoured if my watcher was watching closely enough to spell my name. [Update: they have (silently) taken my comment to heart and moved it to http://connolleywatch.blogspot.com/] [Late update: thanks to JG for the pic: ]
December 23, 2009
Via dubious routes I ended up at the bizarre http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/12/22/william-connolley-and-wikipedia-turborevisionism/. Unfortunately I didn't get to see the original version. In what is presumably deliberate irony, he has coined the term "Turborevisionism" to describe his own…
December 22, 2009
Carbon prices drop in wake of climate talks. Carbon prices plunged on Monday in the aftermath of the Copenhagen conference on climate change, dealing a blow to the credibility of the European Union's carbon-trading scheme. Prices for carbon permits for December 2010 delivery, the benchmark…
December 19, 2009
Actually it turns out that this is part 3! But I'm not going to revise the title now. Part 1 and Part 2 refer, as does some digging. [Update: this made the [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2009-12-28/In the news]] ] So, Lawrence "beany" Solomon does me the honour of a full-out assault. I'm a bit…
December 18, 2009
An exciting new blog aicomment.blogspot.com. However, I'm insulted that An Open Mind has got on their bad-boys list and I'm not. I thought I was notorious for rejecting inconvenient comments? Anyway, *I* suggest that you all try to make a comment on this post here, I'll reject them all, and you can…
December 17, 2009
So, it snowed. I got stuck in traffic after a curry and Miriam had to walk home through the mighty blizzard. The photo doesn't really capture the full horror of a full 5" of snow - who knows, perhaps more by tomorrow. Madingley hill was chaos and I shall certainly cycle to work tomorrow as it will…
December 13, 2009
The mighty Chesterton Men (Ralph, James H, Chris W, Dave B, Me (special guest appearance on strokeside), Michael S, Andi R, Mike PJ; cox James T) powered to victory in Saturday, though admittedly not in the prestigious "best fancy dress" category but in the less hotly contested "novice M8+". I…
December 5, 2009
Somewhat against my will, I find myself obliged to post about Hulme, if only to stop people arguing on other talk pages. Come and argue here, folks :-(. Anyway, KK pointed me to two Hulme pieces, and I'll take those as my texts: * http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8388485.stm * http://online.wsj.…
December 5, 2009
If you believe in climate related software being open, or even if you only believe in the ultimate triumph of Python over Fortran (personally I'm a Perlista when not rooting for embedded C, though I have respectable colleagues who adhere to the Python heresy, and who may convert me in time), then…
December 3, 2009
Can we leave out the -gate trash? We had a big argument on wiki about this, and the wacko POV-pushers lost, hurrah. So none of that here, thanks. Keith "baby killer Kloor strokes my ego so outrageously that I can't find it in me to rage much that apparently I failed to use [my] influential corner…
December 1, 2009
So says the Beeb. And they have a cute picture of whales next to icebergs to prove it. It would be natural to think this was occaisioned by That East Antarctic mass loss, in full (i.e. the new GRACE results) but apparently not, it is just a coincidence: Sea levels are likely to rise by about 1.4m…
November 28, 2009
Perhaps sensing blood, Zorita explains Why I think that Michael Mann, Phil Jones and Stefan Rahmstorf should be barred from the IPCC process. I know little of Zorita; he appears to be a protege of von S (many of his pubs are with von S; but some with Tett, Moberg, etc., so don't imagine I'm…
November 28, 2009
This from off in the comments at Slashdot, brought to my attention by planet3.0 (thanks VM). Yes, I know I'm a layperson now myself, but some shreds of the old knowledge still cling. Related thought: just about everyone knows they aren't able to understand, or make a meaningful contribution to,…
November 27, 2009
Ah, a fertile theme for post names. Excellent. So, much excitement over a new GRACE study in Nurture (Accelerated Antarctic ice loss from satellite gravity measurements, J. L. Chen et al.) indicating that Antarctica as a whole was losing mass: In agreement with an independent earlier assessment, we…
November 24, 2009
Anyone who cares has found them by now so I won't trouble you with all the details. James "Gonad Watcher" Annan is fulfilling, with commendable neutrality, the role of arbitrator to which I appointed him, and I don't think there is much more I need to say. That won't stop me from saying it, of…
November 22, 2009
Spot the problem: So, my Top Tip is, Don't drop your camera onto a hard stone courtyard. Apparently http://www.fixationuk.com/ may be able to help (thanks Andrew). Another Top Tip might be learn from your mistakes but that is just too hard. In unrelated news, I finally got one of the coveted…
November 21, 2009
In shocking news just in, record heavy rain in the Lakes and extensive flooding has not been linked to global warming. Dr Bogus, spokesman for the Made-Up Institute of Twaddle, said "This is completely unprecedented. Normally, any unusual - or even merely somewhat uncommon - weather event is…
November 16, 2009
Shamelss fanboy stuff I'm afraid. The great Klotzbach wars have been playing for a little while now ([1], [2], [3], [4] etc etc), but the arbitrator has spoken and its time for the Dark Side to stop digging and throw in the towel. Now you can settle down to enjoy a nice video and wonder what…
November 15, 2009
Just to show how ecumenical I am, I agree with (most of) RP Sr's post Comment On News Article On Weather Modification Titled ""Playing With Weather Stirs Debate In China". Which basically says "stop being such a bunch of credulous bozos". I reviewed that "Human Impacts on Weather and Climate" for…
November 14, 2009
I like this one. It is from NASA though I've heavily hacked it around (I saw it today in a copy of Wired at Mr Polito's; oh yes, it is online too: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/08/gallery_volcanoes/3/, but I don't recommend visiting, the site is mindbogglingly slow, lord knows how much…
November 14, 2009
I'm not a mass-media-audience type of blog, so I excuse myself from having to be kind to "my side"; I don't think I need to avoid worrying Joe Public about dissent in the "we believe in GW" side of the blogosphere, because I don't think JP reads me. And it is far more fun trying to pick holes in…
November 14, 2009
Having just read Eli being unhappy on the APS I'm struck by a thought, which is that no-one at all seems to think they might learn anything useful about actual climate change from the APS statement or its revised version. All anyone is doing is picking over it to see whether the miscellaneous…
November 12, 2009
RC RP jr. Need I say more, guv? See also: 4, 3 and probably others.
November 12, 2009
The color of solar cells -- and their short energy payback -- are trivial factors when considering the huge climate benefit they provide in avoiding the release of CO2 from the combustion of fossil fuels. That was a central point I made when I broke the story on the error-riddled book…
November 10, 2009
Says the Grauniad. Their not-very-useful article is about a Discussion Paper (as it calls itself) of Himalayan Glaciers, A State-of-Art Review of Glacial Studies, Glacial Retreat and Climate Change by V.K.Raina, Ex. Deputy Director General, Geological Survey of India. The Telegraph of India has an…
November 9, 2009
This stuff just gets weirder; maybe you should just read Brian for some sense instead. Anyway, so as the Breakness Institute (-it all fits together, folks, with the Emeriti) point out, Romm has silently changed his headline from "Meet Trash Journalist Keith Kloor" to Meet blogger Keith Kloor. But…
November 7, 2009
So says Sci-Am. The article is high on pic and low on facts. Only a small percentage of the CO2 is captured - 1.5% - but that is OK, it is only a demo plant. The key question, of course, is how much extra coal is burnt to achieve this? This vital fact is not clearly provided. The 1.5% is clear And…
November 6, 2009
Nothing new, but M pointed me at Greenman on sea ice which has a quote from Wadhams (starts around 5:00, quote around 5:20 I think) that is the "the arctic will be ice free in summer in 20 years" or words to that effect (which got noted in my Arctic to be 'ice-free in summer'?. I still don't…
November 5, 2009
To the city fireworks. Park in Mount Pleasant House and walk with the children to the river, when James and Emma and James and Amy are having a party. Arrive in time for the mulled wine to just run out; watch the fireworks (ooh! ahh! how long do these go on for?); tour of the boats (hello Lyra!);…