Distorted data? Feds close 600 weather stations amid criticism they're situated to report warming

I didn't initially get this info from Fox News.  I first heard this from our local weather man on the Rick and Bubba show this morning.
 

Data from hundreds of weather stations located around the U.S. appear to show the planet is getting warmer, but some critics say it's the government's books that are getting cooked -- thanks to temperature readings from sweltering parking lots, airports and other locations that distort the true state of the climate.
 
(Meteorologist Anthony} Watts has for years searched for weather stations that have flaws. And he points to a still-open station at Yosemite park as an example of one with “heat sinks” – objects that store heat, and then release it at night. Heat sinks can cause stations located in or near them to give off useless data -- generally in the form of inflated temperatures not representative of the broader area.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/08/13/weather-station-closures-flaws-in-temperature-record/#ixzz2bxAn6Coz

Ok, so this article is a bit longer and gets into a bunch of scientific stuff.  I wont repost the whole thing and I'm sure ya'll are glad of that. 
 
But anyway, it appears the gist of this article is that there are a bunch of places where they monitor the temp and these places are old.  They used to be located in rural areas, places where you'd want your monitors to be in pastures and around grassland.  But over the years cities have grown up around them.  Concrete and steel affect the temperatures of a given area and make it seem hotter.  I know this is true since I know Tuscaloosa and Birmingham routinely give off hotter temperatures than most rural areas in our state.  Plus I lived on an aircraft carrier for 3 years, so I know if that thing was sitting still in the summertime...we'd bake.
 
James Spann (our local meteorologist) said that because of this it might appear that the earth is gonna burn up!  The data collected was not accurate anymore.  And he said it really appears we may be in for a 20 year cooling trend...something to do with solar activity.  I dunno.
 

Although the NOAA report noted that in 2012, “the Arctic continues to warm” with “sea ice reaching record lows,” it also stated that the Antarctica sea ice “reached a record high of 7.51 million square miles” on Sept. 26, 2012.  And the latest figures for this year show that there’s been a slowdown of melting in the Arctic this summer as well, with temperatures at the North Pole well below normal for this time of year. Meteorologist Joe Bastardi calls it “the coldest ever recorded.” - - LINK

Here's another report from Forbes magazine:

Sorry Global Warming Alarmists, The Earth Is Cooling
 
Climate change itself is already in the process of definitively rebutting climate alarmists who think human use of fossil fuels is causing ultimately catastrophic global warming.  That is because natural climate cycles have already turned from warming to cooling, global temperatures have already been declining for more than 10 years, and global temperatures will continue to decline for another two decades or more.
 
For example, temperatures dropped steadily from the late 1940s to the late 1970s.  The popular press was even talking about a coming ice age.  Ice ages have cyclically occurred roughly every 10,000 years, with a new one actually due around now.


In the late 1970s, the natural cycles turned warm and temperatures rose until the late 1990s, a trend that political and economic interests have tried to milk mercilessly to their advantage.  The incorruptible satellite measured global atmospheric temperatures show less warming during this period than the heavily manipulated land surface temperatures.  Link

I think I heard them say on the radio this morning that parts of America up north are having morning temps in the 40s!!!!  This is August.
 
So I still think  that global warming or cooling, while NOT a myth, is a normal part of nature.

Again, I think all people should care about the environment and do their best not to pollute the land water or air.  But nothing I've seen leads me to believe that man is causing global warming...or even climate change in any way.  The polar ice caps will be fine, the polar bear will be ok.

Eh, screw it. I ain't worried. Outside stimulus like warming/cooling is what brings on meaningful change like evolution. Knowing this........bring it on. I ain't changing.

This is very naughty of me....

 
What say we go on a hunting trip and help those bears evolve?

I got the perfect rifle for polar bear. That 9.3X74 will drop anything. Too bad they only come in single shot. I need to get me a 9.3X62. Same power levels, but made for bolt action. Never will get rid of my grandpa's old rifle though.

Funny thing is, polar bears are the poster animal for global warming, but their population has exploded to never before seen levels. One would make a good throw rug for the mancave though. I might even dye it purple and gold striped. That way it would match everything else in the cave......I take my team seriously if you can't tell.

Yeah that's sort of what I'm trying to say.  Tree huggers and hippies wanna make these polar bears out to be the sweet adorable teddy bears and ...awww...how cute.
 
But notice none of them are out there trying to pet one.  Polar bears have this sweet look on their face.  Don't be fooled.  These things are killing machines and they'll rip your @sshole out.  If their habitat disappears you'll probably see Polar bears migrating south and gang rape Grizzlies for their land.
 
Not saying I want all of em to die.  But its not like we're trying to save a bunch of puppies.  Lol!  Btw, I think Canada has polar bear hunting safaris.
 
Me, I'll stick to fishing. 

Marconius wrote:I got the perfect rifle for polar bear. That 9.3X74 will drop anything. Too bad they only come in single shot. I need to get me a 9.3X62. Same power levels, but made for bolt action. Never will get rid of my grandpa's old rifle though.
 

Dadgum!  I had to look this up.  You got any pics?

There are weather stations damn near everywhere. I helped deploy some in fairly remote parts of the Sierra Nevada. If the entire signal was coming from these urbanizes stations you would have a point, however this signal has been observed across the spectrum and in ocean temperatures. Even if you have several bad sensors feeding unreliable data, these values will both fall beyond two standard deviations of the trend (look this up, its important) and be muted by the sheer volume of 'good' data.

Why would Yosemite be a heat sink? Its not urbanized.

Marconius wrote: I might even dye it purple and gold striped. That way it would match everything else in the cave......I take my team seriously if you can't tell.

A purple and gold striped polar bear rug? Damn, what team is that you follow, the Louisiana Pimp Daddys?

:p

Well yeah im sure our weather station is right there somewhere on the tarmac of our local airport, and the official temps will always be hotter than it is here, barely a quarter miles away, if that

Btw, we alrdy have polar grizzly hybrids out there

Miles1 wrote:

Marconius wrote: I might even dye it purple and gold striped. That way it would match everything else in the cave......I take my team seriously if you can't tell.

A purple and gold striped polar bear rug? Damn, what team is that you follow, the Louisiana Pimp Daddys?

:p

Well, the term coonass, which is a nickname for Cajuns, is the Americanized version of the old French word counasse which basically translates to filty whore.......so well.......yeah.

Seriously, LSU's colors are mardi gras colors.......purple and old gold(yellow).

Dennis324 wrote:

Marconius wrote:I got the perfect rifle for polar bear. That 9.3X74 will drop anything. Too bad they only come in single shot. I need to get me a 9.3X62. Same power levels, but made for bolt action. Never will get rid of my grandpa's old rifle though.
 

Dadgum!  I had to look this up.  You got any pics?

I could take one or two when I get home. That will be sometime in late Sept/early Oct. Basically just an old crack barrel single shot. A 9.3mm is basically a .364 caliber. It falls just under the H&H .375 and above the .35 Whelen in energy. Not as fast moving as the Whelen, but it uses a heavy for caliber bullet. Basically it travels fairly slow, but hits really hard. With this type of bullet you get less cavitation inside the target so you destroy less meat while dropping the animal within a step or two.

I am old school like that. I don't buy into the superfast magnums that travel forever and tear up the animal. I follow the Europe/Africa school of thought when it comes to firearms. Slow, heavy bullets, to me, rule the roost. Americans can thank Mr Weatherby for our modern school of thought when it comes to firearms......the faster the better. Hunting in dense cover, those fast, light bullets can be deflected by leaves and twigs. That could lead to wounding the animal and not killing them quickly.

Bryant wrote:There are weather stations damn near everywhere.  I helped deploy some in fairly remote parts of the Sierra Nevada.  If the entire signal was coming from these urbanizes stations you would have a point, however this signal has been observed across the spectrum and in ocean temperatures.  Even if you have several bad sensors feeding unreliable data, these values will both fall beyond two standard deviations of the trend (look this up, its important) and be muted by the sheer volume of 'good' data.

Why would Yosemite be a heat sink?  Its not urbanized.

 I would imagine the ones in the Sierra Nevada are giving off good data.  I see what you're saying though.

Miles1 wrote:

Marconius wrote: I might even dye it purple and gold striped. That way it would match everything else in the cave......I take my team seriously if you can't tell.

A purple and gold striped polar bear rug? Damn, what team is that you follow, the Louisiana Pimp Daddys?

:p

      

Good one Miles.

Marconius wrote:

Dennis324 wrote:

Marconius wrote:I got the perfect rifle for polar bear. That 9.3X74 will drop anything. Too bad they only come in single shot. I need to get me a 9.3X62. Same power levels, but made for bolt action. Never will get rid of my grandpa's old rifle though.
 

Dadgum!  I had to look this up.  You got any pics?

I could take one or two when I get home. That will be sometime in late Sept/early Oct. Basically just an old crack barrel single shot. A 9.3mm is basically a .364 caliber. It falls just under the H&H .375 and above the .35 Whelen in energy. Not as fast moving as the Whelen, but it uses a heavy for caliber bullet. Basically it travels fairly slow, but hits really hard. With this type of bullet you get less cavitation inside the target so you destroy less meat while dropping the animal within a step or two.

I am old school like that. I don't buy into the superfast magnums that travel forever and tear up the animal. I follow the Europe/Africa school of thought when it comes to firearms. Slow, heavy bullets, to me, rule the roost. Americans can thank Mr Weatherby for our modern school of thought when it comes to firearms......the faster the better. Hunting in dense cover, those fast, light bullets can be deflected by leaves and twigs. That could lead to wounding the animal and not killing them quickly.

 Where are you working now?

Back in Cali.(platform Irene at the moment). Got here on Father's day.

Staying home was cool, but the offer they made to get me back was one I couldn't refuse. I came for one last project that we started the planning phase for late last year. Project was supposed to last 12-15 weeks, but I had two more projects dumped down on me. When I dob make it back home, I plan on not going back to work until after the National Championship Game. Working during college football season is a crime in my eyes.

Don't worry, my wife comes to see me on a regular basis.

Marconius wrote: When I dob make it back home, I plan on not going back to work until after the National Championship Game. Working during college football season is a crime in my eyes.

Amen to that.