No warming in 15 years

[Curmudgeon]

Himalayan Sherpas lament climate change devastation

Apa Sherpa, the Nepali climber who has conquered Mount Everest a record 21 times, said he was disturbed by the lack of snow on the world's highest peak, caused by rising temperatures.

"In 1989 when I first climbed Everest there was a lot of snow and ice but now most of it has just become bare rock. That, as a result, is causing more rockfalls which is a danger to the climbers," he told AFP.

"Also, climbing is becoming more difficult because when you are on a mountain you can wear crampons but it's very dangerous and very slippery to walk on bare rock with crampons."

[Joe Liberty]

http://reason.com/archives/2012/02/29/k ... ate-change

This article is about the recent climate change agreement reached last December at the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP-17) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). So read up on that if you want. But one paragraph jumped out at me:

...a November report by the Swiss bank UBS found that implementing Europe’s carbon market under the Kyoto Protocol has resulted in almost zero low-carbon innovations in energy production while imposing about $280 billion in additional costs on European consumers.

[CaptainCorruption]

I've got to mow - in early March...

Sure is warm out this week.

[Joe Liberty]

Polar Bear Decline Exaggerated

http://www.570news.com/news/national/ar ... urvey-says

...a new survey shows Canada's polar bear population hasn't significantly declined in the last seven years as predicted and that the iconic mammal has not been hurt by climate change.

An aerial survey done in August by the Nunavut government, in response to pressure from Inuit, estimated the western Hudson Bay bear population at around 1,000.

That's about the same number of bears found in a more detailed study done in 2004. That study, which physically tagged the bears, predicted the number would decline to about 650 by 2011.

Last year's survey found fewer cubs — about 50 — than in previous years, but officials say the new figures show the "doom-and-gloom" predictions of environmentalists about the demise of the polar bear have failed to come true.

Environmentalists have warned the bears are under serious threat as climate change melts the sea ice, giving the animals less time to bulk up on fatty seal meat. Canada is home to about two-thirds of the world's polar bears, but environmental experts say climate change could make the Hudson Bay population extinct within a few decades.

Inuit hunters have insisted the population is healthy. They say they are seeing more polar bears and say they aren't as emaciated or in the poor condition scientist suggest.

Gissing said this latest survey shows the bears are doing well, despite being hunted, and it may be time to re-evaluate the restrictions placed on the polar bear harvest.

"The population was continually harvested since 2004," he said. "A lot of animals have been removed from that population ... so that should have resulted in a much steeper decline than the one that was predicted in 2004."

[CaptainCorruption]

June bug was on my door the other day... on April 3rd.

[Curmudgeon]

The Nunavut government said the aerial study is an accurate reflection of the population. The survey was conducted during the summer when the bears were confined to land and were easily observable, officials said. The survey covered about 8,000 kilometres along the coastline of Manitoba and Nunavut, as well as inland and offshore islands of western Hudson Bay.

Polar Bear Habitat and Range

[Joe Liberty]

I think I'll take the opinion of the Inuit (people who live there and depend on a healthy polar bear population) over people relying on satellite data. Especially considering that the predictions of polar bear extinction from many warmers have been proven to be very wrong.

[Curmudgeon]

Oh I am not trying to invalidate the study, I'm sure it is relevant for the area studied.