Climate boffins believe the UK’s topsy-turvy climate is in for a chilly twist within the next few years as three major forms of climate change trigger “substantial cooling”. Drastic changes in ocean conditions, greenhouse gases and a weakening of the sun threaten increasingly worsening winters of blistering blizzards and severe snowstorms for years to come. Another major factor in the predicted cool down could be the switch from an usually strong El Nino to a La Nina weather front in the pacific ocean. Meteorologist for AccuWeather Tyler Roys told Daily Star Online La Nina could contribute to the chilly mix. The Met Office said the onset of La Nina from 2017 is likely to “buck the trend” in terms of record-breaking global temperature averages, predicting a cool down across the globe. –Joshua Nevett, Daily Star, 14 August 2016
Antartica is one of the most ice-covered locations in the world, but it is also one of the world’s largest land masses. Previous estimates by researchers placed the level of uncovered land in Antartica at about 1%. However, a new survey in part by NASA shows that this estimate was rather generous and the continent is covered in a lot more ice than previously thought. Researchers from Cryosphere have shown that only 0.18 percent of the entire continent is not covered by ice and snow, which is surprisingly low. –Trevor English, Interesting Engineering, 12 August 2016
A blast of polar air swept across central Europe from Wednesday through Thursday, sending temperatures tumbling to record low levels for mid August in parts of Germany. German meteorologist Domink Jung wrote yesterday that a number of German stations recorded surface frost, “and that in the middle of peak summer” and that “it was colder than Christmas day 2015”. Swiss meteorologist J√∂rg Kachelmann writes of “new records: At these locations in mid August it has never been as cold as it is today!” –P. Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, 12 August 2016
Northern Europe was hit with some weird August weather in the past week, as summer snows fell in Sweden and a city in Saxony experienced its coldest temperature on record. Down in Germany, the city of Carlsfeld was also hit by record low temperatures. The Local reported temperatures dropped to 34 degrees Fahrenheit — the coldest ever recorded in the town. –Michael Bastasch, Daily Caller, 12 August 2016
So when the Krebs committee claims that “the number of hot days has been increasing since the 1960s”, as Homewood points out, this may be true. But it would be equally true to say that since the Seventies, their number has declined. And when Krebs tells us that future temperatures could reach 48C, such nonsense belongs in a comic strip, not in a supposedly serious study. To claim that temperatures like those of 2003 “are expected to become the norm” by the 2040s, is simply selling us snake oil. The only thing which should really concern us about such nonsense is that the Government is legally bound to treat these solemn pronouncements by a bunch of non-climate experts as a guide to Britain’s future energy policy. –Christopher Booker, The Sunday Telegraph, 14 August 2016
Copenhagen, September 2009: Global warming could make 2016 Games ‘the last Olympics in the history of mankind’, says Tokyo governor. “Global warming is getting worse. We have to come up with measures without which Olympic Games could not last long. Scientists have said we have passed the point of no return,” said Ishihara. August 2016: Move that disaster by 60 years: “A sobering new study shows that by the 2084 Olympics, rising temperatures will make it practically impossible for most cities to host the summer games.” —Jo Nova, 14 August 2016
