May 7, 2012
A new paper in Nature Geoscience shows that solar grand minima do indeed cause cooling of the climate in Europe. Around 2800 years ago, one of these Grand Solar Minima, the Homeric Minimum, caused a distinct climatic change in less than a decade in Western Europe. The forcing mechanisms still remain unclear but the evidence that solar effects are significant and cannot be ignored are mounting and persuasive. Now as we enter (or have already entered) a new solar minimum it remains to be seen as to whether this (Landscheidt?) Minimum will be a grand minimum to compare with the Maunder Minimum. In any event a period of global cooling seems likely.
In contrast, the evidence for any anthropogenic effects on climate is still non-existent though political and alarmist theories abound. There is as yet no direct evidence that man-made carbon dioxide emissions has any significant effect on global warming.
Regional atmospheric circulation shifts induced by a grand solar minimum by Celia Martin-Puertas, Katja Matthes, Achim Brauer, Raimund Muscheler, Felicitas Hansen, Christof Petrick, Ala Aldahan, Göran Possnert & Bas van Geel
Nature Geoscience (2012) doi:10.1038/ngeo1460
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Tags: climate change, Homeric Minimum, Landscheidt Minmum, Maunder Minimum, Pre-Roman Iron Age, solar effects on climate, Solar minimum, Solar variation
Posted in Alarmism, Climate, Solar science | 12 Comments »
May 6, 2012
Sarkozy has lost in France according to Belgian and Swiss sources though the exit polls in France are not yet out. Hollande is expected to win by 5%.
The exit polls are also out in Greece.
In Greece, the only two parties supporting the Eurozone bailout and the austerity measures – PASOK and New Democracy – will probably not be able to form the next government. And that means that the chances of Europe leaving the Euro are greatly enhanced. In the short term this will cause massive turbulence in the Eurozone.
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Tags: Elections, Euro, Eurozone, France, Greece, New Democracy, Nicolas Sarkozy, PASOK
Posted in Economy, European Union, France, Greece, Politics | Comments Off on More turmoil awaits Europe as Sarkozy loses and Greeks vote against Europe
May 5, 2012
A “supermoon” is the coincidence of a full moon (or a new moon) with the closest approach the Moon makes to the Earth on its elliptical orbit, or perigee, leading to the technical name for a supermoon of the perigee-syzygy of the Earth-Moon-Sun system. The association of the Moon with both oceanic and crustal tides has led to claims that the supermoon phenomenon may be associated with increased risk of events such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. However, the evidence of such a link is widely held to be unconvincing.
A supermoon will occur today, Saturday 5th May.
A “supermoon” typically happens once a year and at perigee it is 14 per cent larger than an average full moon, but not much larger than the full moons that precede and follow the supermoon. The closeness of the supermooon does cause higher tides but only about 2 or 3 cms higher than average levels.
The moon illusion refers to the moon seeming larger when it is near the horizon than when it is high in the sky. Some people judge it to be as much as twice as large, but the average estimate is 50% to 75% larger. But this is only an optical illusion.
Physical and cognitive explanations do not yet explain the illusion or why some people cannot observe it. The debate goes on.
The so-called “moon illusion” or “moon effect” has perplexed people since earliest historical times, at least as early as the 7th century BCE. It is described in early Greek and Chinese writings. Aristotle mentions it in 350 BCE.
No tidal waves or other catastrophic effects are expected.
Tags: Full moon, Moon at perigee, moon illusion, Supermoon
Posted in Art, Astronomy, Science | 2 Comments »
May 5, 2012
Following Cease and Desist notices and the subsequent removal of some blog posts at another site which I had linked to, I have also removed some blog posts from this site.
Trying to reach those posts will probably give a 404 error. I suspect the posts themselves were largely accurate, but..
Intimidation works.
Posted in Behaviour | Comments Off on Intimidation works – some blog posts deleted
May 3, 2012
Methane hydrates represent the largest source of hydrocarbons in the earth’s crust.
Methane clathrate (CH4•5.75H2O), also called methane hydrate, hydromethane, methane ice, fire ice, natural gas hydrate, or gas hydrate is a solid clathrate compound (more specifically, a clathrate hydrate) in which a large amount of methane is trapped within a crystal structure of water, forming a solid similar to ice. Originally thought to occur only in the outer regions of the Solar System where temperatures are low and water ice is common, significant deposits of methane clathrate have been found under sediments on the ocean floors of Earth.
The worldwide amounts of carbon bound in gas hydrates is conservatively estimated to total twice the amount of carbon to be found in all known fossil fuels on Earth.
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Tags: DoE, gas, Methane clathrate, methane hydrate, Shale gas
Posted in Energy, Gas | Comments Off on With gas from methane hydrates added to shale and natural gas, the world has gas for a thousand years
April 30, 2012
After driving Saab into bankruptcy it seems that Victor Muller’s Spyker will still come out of it pretty well. Accounting gymnastics will give Spyker (Saab’s former owner) a profit of some 140 million kronor (€16 million).
Svenska Dagbladet reports (free translation):
Saab Automobile’s bankruptcy has a shortfall of over nine billion kronor (€900 million) and many creditors will not get a penny. But Saab’s former owner, Spyker, has managed to show a profit of over 140 million kronor just because of the Saab bankruptcy. “It sounds very strange that Spyker makes a profit because of Saab’s bankruptcy. But we don’t know what lies behind and what legal documents were drawn up between the companies”, said Marie Karlsson Tuula, associate professor of civil law and specialist in bankruptcy matters. ….
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Tags: Bankruptcy, SAAB, Saab Automobile, Spyker, Swedish Automobile, Victor Muller
Posted in Automobiles, Business | 1 Comment »
April 30, 2012
Last week I flew in and out of New Delhi’s new Terminal 3 at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. It took me 20 minutes to clear immigration, baggage collection and customs going in and 15 minutes to clear immigration and security on my way out. The Indian security personnel are getting their act together. I have to say that I found the security check more simple, more thorough, more courteous and more credible than that at Munich when I got back to Europe (and Munich is one of the better airports and far more customer-friendly than Frankfurt).
Compare that with the apparent incompetence at London’s Heathrow.
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Tags: BAA, Border Force, Heathrow, Home Office, IGI Airport, London Heathrow Airport, New Delhi, UK Border Agency
Posted in Alarmism, Behaviour, Business | Comments Off on London is a disgrace compared to Delhi
April 29, 2012
German politicians and plagiarised dissertations are reaching new heights. You can now get political credit for returning your doctorate awarded for a plagiarised dissertation provided you do it before you are found out.
Copy Shake and Paste has this story:
Florian Graf, CDU photo:dpa
There’s a bizarre case brewing in Berlin, Germany. A local politician, Florian Graf, chief of the CDU party group in the city-state governing council, announced Friday afternoon that he was returning his doctorate to the University of Potsdam.
His announcement (here his text) was a very strange tale. It seems that he had submitted his thesis and delivered the copies to the library, but requested that they not be on loan because he was publishing an article and the journal wanted to be the first publisher. And then he got the piece of paper saying he had a doctorate and has been using it ever since, even though he does not have the thesis published.
And now he’s come to realize, as he said to the Bild-Zeitung, that he is sure that he did not follow quoting conventions and asks for everyone’s forgiveness. And his fellow party members are rushing to hug him and say: ohhhh, that’s bad, we’re so sorry, you are such a nice guy. He’s requested a vote of confidence for Thursday (Tuesday is a holiday in Germany, and most of the country will take Monday off as well).
Tags: doctorate rescinded, Florian Graf, Germany, Plagiarism, University of Potsdam
Posted in Academic misconduct, Germany, Politics | Comments Off on Plagiarism one-upmanship – return your doctorate before you are found out
April 29, 2012
I have been away for a few days on assignment conducting some business and project reviews.
I can’t help feeling that over the years technology has changed and tools have changed and financial scenarios have changed and markets have changed but the behaviour of people to others remains much the same. The fundamental drivers of behaviour are the same and are probably genetic. But perhaps some of the prejudices of 30 years ago – against women in the work place and against ethnic groups – while still present have reduced significantly. The prejudices against the young and the old still persist.
Or maybe it is only my perception which changes.
Tags: Management
Posted in Behaviour | Comments Off on Back from assignment
April 22, 2012
The recent BBC story about the Catholic Church’s Office of the Inquisition pressurising some US nuns who are considered too liberal by the Church hierarchy got me to wondering whether our behaviour today is much different to that in medieval times.
To make the parallel to medieval times we have to substitute modern institutions. Governments and their institutions ( such as the United Nations or the IMF or the ICC) are today the equivalent of the medieval monarchs and their Catholic Church. They bless some countries and excommunicate others. They tolerate the same behaviour (for example the quest for nuclear weapons) in favoured countries and condemn it in others. They support uprisings against some of their less-favoured member countries and help suppression of rebellion in others. They enforce sanctions – even with the use of collective force – against some and ignore the same behaviour in others. And like the college of cardinals a select group of 5 nations and the 15-member Security Council makes up the holy inner circle controlling these institutions.
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Tags: basic human duties, behaviour, Catholic Church, Crusades, Human rights, Inquisition, inquisitions today
Posted in Behaviour, Development, Evolution | Comments Off on The spirit of the Inquisition is alive and well
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