Sidewalks are slippery, with the newly arrived and thus unusual European winter. Traffic is as bad as every year and people are frantic to make last minute purchases.

Then comes another old tradition, with a new name. It used to be some mumbo jumbo about not exploiting something, now the young hooligans blocking traffic and shopping malls call it a Climate Action.

Could, in the midst of winter, these kids at least try to show some decency towards their fellow men and women, who are just out to – with or without wheelchair or crutches – risking their health in order to spend a nice holiday.

Grumpy? You bet. But, Yes, this is not a season for grumpiness. Please take my advice, go sit on Santa’s lap instead of harassing people. Who knows, we might even get peace, prosperity and a clear sky to contemplate on that star up above.

The fact that you didn’t make it in Durban does not give you the right to deny others to enjoy the pleasures of the season. Merry Decency to you all.

Hey Lady! Got a Light?

Don’t you agree? On the anti smoking issue, that is. On the one hand, people in general are just giving up, resigning in the face of oppression and harassment. On the other, some – maybe an increasing amount of people – are beginning to feel that enough is enough. Some even dare to say so in public.

Let me be one of them, enouraged by a – today non smoking – brother in arms.

Dr Sean Gabb of the Libertarian Alliance has made a bold effort to reintroduce science into the debate, otherwise carried out either by uninformed legislators or the, often just as uninformed, public.

The passive smoking, or as it is sometimes referred to, Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS), roughly took off about 30 years ago with a widely quoted EPA report in the US, quickly dismissed as nonsense by a subsequent analysis from the Congressional Research Center, not gaining much attention. Legislators followed. Air traffic came first, then public buildings, airports, trains, restaurants, now even pubs, and the hyenas are out sniffing for balconies, peoples homes, and now even their cars. Oh, yes, forgot the outdoor cafes, already banning smoking in some places, and probably the top thing next European summer. Sure, there has been a load of more or less scientific attempts since then.

Writes Gabb:

“The argument from “passive smoking” is based on falsehoods. There is no way of gathering meaningful data, nor even sound epidemiological evidence that passive smoking exists. The alleged figure of 300,000 children harmed every year in the UK by passive smoking is what is called a “junk statistic.” It is in the same league as the claims made in the 1980s about the number of people who would die of aids by 1990, or the claims made in the 1990s about the numbers who would soon be dead from mad cow disease. It is almost as gross a falsehood as the fraudulent global warming claims made by British scientists.”

Letting voodoo into the rules for governmental buildings is one thing. As for the airlines, well, the result apparently was less cost for ventilation/fresh oxygen, and a jump in so called air rage, which in turn was used as an excuse to cut down on the free drinks.

But moving further, to the situation today, when it’s regarded as perfectly normal to harass smokers standing on the sidewalk (where-else should we be), it’s strange to notice the – frankly rather stunning- disrespect for private property. Some European countries still allow smoking in bars, if not in restaurants, but even that is to be taken away. Germany, seems to be one of the few decent countries left. Austria introduced a rule a few years ago that you had to have separate sections and advertise on the entrance door if you were a smokers place or not. Quite acceptable from a patron’s point of view. This is now tightening. Belgium has fallen, as has France. One of the last times I had a decent smoke indoors was in the secluded smokers area (air proof) at one one Copenhagen’s oldest hang-outs, in connection to the Climate Fiasco in 2009.

Remains the fact that smoking can be impolite, just as hitting on total strangers, or invading private property. Remains the golden rule of survival in a civilized society: Common Decency.

The tradition of lighting a candle, or a fire, to guide travellers and visitors is probably as old as the tamed fire. With the invention of electricity and the light bulb, it also became more convenient and safer.

Since some years back, another – imposed – tradition is the so called Earth Hour on Saturday, when politicians and environmentalists, led by WWF expect you to turn out the lights.

My own tradition is to write about this every year, and the most encouraging parallel tradition of turning on your lights during the same hour is spreading, for example on Facebook.

I do admit that candles are cosy, as is a barbecue or an open fireplace. I do however acknowledge that it’s hardly a coincidence that most tragic accidents related to fires occur in different parts of Europe during the events when the open fire, or candle, is – again – part of the tradition. Christmas, Hanukkah, and up north in the spring greetings or light traditions around the darkest day of the year.

And I do, as I do every year, wish to point out that street lights and lighthouses are not there for no reason.

As the entire Earth Hour is just a gimmick with more than questionable environmental symbolism, feel free to light that candle if it makes you happy. If you really care about human safety, why not turn on the lamps.

Finally the trial against the hooligans posing a security threat to the Queen of Denmark during the Copenhagen conference is starting. Naturally, Greenpeace is doing it’s best to ridicule the process, pointing out that “the eleven are also facing the obscure charge of having committed an offence against Denmark’s Queen.” , “… dusting off of this little known and as far as we can tell never before used law”.

You might argue that it was unnecessary for the Royal Court to host a gala dinner for this obscure gathering, or that it was bad judgement in the first place of the Danish government to make lives miserable and dangerous for Copenhageners by hosting the summit. However, severe rules protecting the Head of State – and in this case, one of the most admired monarchs in Europe – are neither uncommon, nor ridiculous.

It should also be noted that the other charges include, listed by Greenpeace themselves: “Trespass, falsification of documents, and impersonating a public official”.

You might want to add creating a general danger to the public, breach of security and general hooliganism.

At least, Greenpeace should be grateful they are not charged with what most decent people probably would suggest; High Treason.

In the never ending debate on what really triggered WWI, an interesting observation is that August 1914 was one of the warmest months in Europe, during the last century. With no AC, politicians simply went bananas.

Naturally, the underlying factors were multiple; trigger happy, sometimes very old, politicians and officers, negligence to the risks involved in a full scale war with the still new military technology, old alliances, you name it. But the observation is still interesting, and probably correct at least for some of the major players.

In a recent issue of Science, the authors try to take a climate approach to the fall of the Roman Empire, arguing that the Germanic tribes finally invading Rome, were driven south by severe draughts caused by climate change.

Again, there’s probably some sense to this. At the same time, empires tend to fall for multiple, often combined reasons, such as corruption, uncontrollable expansion or just plain discontent, or incompetence among the rulers.

For some reason, the authors in Science find it necessay to point out that today’s warming is unprecendented. Really? As far as I know, the history of the world has always been rather turbulent, both concerning politics and science. And climate.

Applying an alarmist perspective to the Roman Empire gets complicated indeed, given that you really believe that climate can’t vary without human intervention. Did the northern tribes eat too much meat, or did the vicious Romans bomb them with CO2? Was this extraordinary technology of warfare then hidden until 1914,  later to be exposed by the IPCC, or has it been the well kept secret of a mysterious society, the Knights of Climate Control, based on a non-discovered island and devoted to fight civilization wherever it should appear.

I feel old sometimes. I’m not, according to my doctor, but I’m at least not “Youth”, as defined by the United Nations to be between the age of 15 and 24 (for the first three years in there, you also have the privilege of being “child” at the same time).

Couldn’t care less.

The UNFCCC however, cares a lot, and that’s where I start to care.

The report on youth participation in the climate battle, distributed here at the climate conference in Bonn, is impressive, with government funded youth summits and UN financed education camps. To join in, Alofa Tuvalis together with ADEME, has produced a partly entertaining comic book, where non-environmental decisions in daily life is punished by itching powder thrown by the mysterious bug Sib.

If the island of Tuvalis is really sinking, and if, in that case, it has anything to do with what I have for breafast, is not really explained, but as a pedagogic endeavour, it’s interesting from mainly two aspects.

Good manners is an important virtue, and one that all “youth” should pick up, else they might run into problems later in life. These include most of the things taught in the booklet, don’t throw garbage in nature, try not to work up your parents’ electricity bill too much.

But what ever became of good old youth rebellion against authorities and oppression? Do dress in a UN sponsored T-shirt and harass people, telling them that politicians should “do something”, in other words taxing and regulating people, does not come across as very courageous, or youthful for that matter.

But maybe I’m just too old for this.

On March 21, incidentally my birthday, a friend from Iceland called me and said she had organized some fireworks for me. What a pity she could not set off the second eruption one week ago. With all airline traffic closed down in most of  Europe, as today, the Climate conference in Bonn would have been more eventful. Or less.

But I don’t blame her. Or anyone else. I also have a solid alibi myself.

To my knowledge, honestly, no alarmist has yet tried to pin volcano eruptions on human activity. Nothing surprises me these days, so in case someone would try that over the next few days, it’s interesting to look at the statistics. It’s not Armageddon – non man made - either. Reliable, reported data on eruptions has developed mainly over the past century (though, naturally, there are plenty of earlier accounts). This compiled data shows no significant changes from then to now (though, also naturally, the cycles between eruptions are rather long). Except for the decrease in the early 40′s. I presume you can draw your own conclusions from that. But it also makes you think about the validity of different climate data. The infamous hockey stick, now not accepted by hardly any scientists for example, takes of upwards around 1990. A lot of things happened, including to observation stations, in huge parts of the world those years.

Human action – and design – can, however be valuable. The eruption might go on for days or even years, but so far there are no casualties on Iceland. According to friends there, the worst problem is that the evacuation from the area is getting disrupted by, particularly domestic, tourists, wanting to see it for real.

In 1783, another volcano erupted on Iceland. This led to bad harvests in large parts of Europe, and is generally believed to have been a major source behind the famine and subsequent turmoil in France in 1789. The world, and Iceland in particular, is just trying to recover from a major financial crisis. So far no one – in this part of the world – is talking about a revolution. Once again, draw your own conclusions!

I might get my asthma back, and I can’t fly for a while, but hey! There is a civil society out there, in case of emergency. People are now taking cab rides across half of Europe. You certainly could not do that before the car was invented, the taxi market privatized and the border controls were taken away.

On top, if the eruption continues, the average temperature will drop. Maybe as much as two degrees Celsius, It’s just a theory, but if I were the IPCC, I would at least take a little break.

Last day of the climate conference in Bonn, a most interesting city that we unfortunately never had the time to study more closely, due to the – as usual – busy program. Bonn, the city of Beethoven and a symbol both for peaceful German recovery after WWII and the European university traditions. Today, all but remnants of the hastily build government administration are gone, together with the embassies, though the sometimes magnificent residences still remain along the Rhine.

How lovely then to stumble across an invitation to come back! The Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum, sponsored by everything from the European and especially German taxpayers to DHL is inviting everyone to an international conference 21-23 June, here in Bonn, on “Climate change and the media”.

I humbly accept your invitation. The topic “How to make Oscar-winning movies on climate change”, interests me in particular. Let me also give you an offer in return! CFACT will gladly help with both material and lecturers, on all of the listed topics. I just spoke to one of our fabulous experts and lecturers, Lord Monckton, who readily accepted to address, for example, the seminar “How to professionally deal with climate scepticism”.

To reply to this offer, please leave a comment below, or use the contact information to CFACT listed on the site.

Looking forward to seeing you again in Bonn!

University of East Anglia

Exonerated, is a beautiful word. It means that all your trouble are gone and you can go back to sleep, with no accusations hanging over your head. Consequently, it is also frequently used in the comments after the UK parliamentary committee delivered its report on Professor Jones’ responsibility for the strange events at the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at East Anglia University. The problems with Climategate are instead described as a lack of routines and a culture of secrecy, something the panel advises CRU to do something about. Note that this is only about the E-mails at East Anglia, not the peculiar coincidence that all the other mistakes made by IPCC  were only detected after the Copenhagen Climate Chaos.

However, the panel also voices understanding over Jones, most likely being frustrated about handing over data to climate sceptics who just want to undermine his research. Is this a university or a political youth organisation?

Don’t submit that dissertation! The opponents might attack you. Don’t publish your findings. Other researchers might quote your work, or even challenge it. Don’t discuss! The others might try to undermine your research.

If this is the guiding principle for East Anglia, or indeed for all universities in the UK, it’s quite remarkable. Stop researching ancient Greece! The Greeks might use your findings in their fight to remain in the EURO system. Stop teaching languages! Your students might use them for all sorts of purposes. 

Or might it be that climate research has really turned into ordinary brutal politics?