re: #326 Throbert McGee

… (Though, admittedly, Watts is a lame loozer for having brought up the point of weather-station accuracy in the first place, since any attempt to deny that there is an observable and ongoing trend towards warmer global temperatures is at this point a YEC sort of exercise.)

…

First of all, as a meteorologist, I could see why the really horrible state of the weather stations “in this day and age” would be an ongoing pet peeve, AGW crap or no.

Secondly, he’s not trying to deny the warming trend that occurred from the late 70s up through about 2000. He doesn’t claim that it’s all due to the “heat island” effect, although (and this IS a shocker!) you wouldn’t know it from this film. It’s obviously not exactly an objective documentary.

Third, I think a more objective assessment of US weather would show that the late thirties was as warm as today, if not a bit warmer. Ever hear of the “Dust Bowl”? Notice how they chop off the data BEFORE 1950? The idea that US is experiencing an unprecedented level of warmth (or at least one outside the possibility of natural variation) is bogus, and I think Watts is trying to show that.

Fourth, the chart itself shows a cessation of the global warming trend during this decade. So even somebody who buys it shouldn’t be talking about warming as an “ongoing trend”. If anything, the most recent data (not completely shown) is hinting at the start of a cooling trend. Wouldn’t THAT be “inconvenient”?