- More from the fuel of the future of the past. The Wall Street Journal warns that “Nikola, the much-hyped hydrogen-truck maker that was briefly valued more than Ford Motor, is nearing a bankruptcy filing, according to people familiar with the matter.” Much-hyped indeed, as the herd of independent minds and dependent subsidies rushes from one project to extract sunbeams from cucumbers to another.
- On the subject of patronizing ways to change your idiot denier relative’s views on climate, MSN offers us “10 Reasons Why People Are Changing Their Minds About Climate in 2025”… on January 6. Uh, maybe wait until they actually do? Or are your reasons too feeble? For instance, in an equally patronizing piece the next day, “Many people often confuse climate with weather, assuming they are one and the same. Weather… can change from day to day. In contrast, climate is the average of these weather patterns over a longer period, usually 30 years or more. This misconception can lead to misunderstandings about climate change. For instance, a cold winter day doesn’t disprove global warming. Instead, climate change can make such extremes more frequent. Recognizing the difference is crucial for understanding long-term environmental shifts.” The difference being with weather, it might be cold today but with climate, it might be cold today and secretly hot. Have you got it yet?
- If you can’t get enough of such stuff, and we can, then they also patted our heads with “Common Climate Myths: What Scientists Want You to Know”. Scientists no less. OK, it’s trite unsourced sludge. But you know, they think we’re stupid and so they’re going to say stupid stuff to help us out. Or something. Including “8 Key Differences Between Weather and Climate” where, we sneer, the former is what actually happened and the latter is what zealots say should have and is bound to at some point.
- Well then, how about a New York Times item saying “A winter storm in the Southeast is causing first-ever blizzard warnings for some areas, and Houston could receive more snow than it has seen in decades”? Proving what, you ask? And the answer is nothing, because climate change is one of those theories that no evidence can disprove in principle… meaning no evidence can confirm it either. First-ever blizzard warnings? Pish. As they dismiss Japan’s Obihiri City getting its heaviest snowfall since records began, a frankly mind-boggling 125 cm in 24 hours. Whereas if it was someone’s first ever extreme heat warning…
- From the settled science file, an alert reader sends us a story that “An unusual deluge of rain is hitting the Sahara, one of the driest regions on Earth. It’s unclear exactly why the desert is experiencing so much rain, but it could be connected to an especially quiet Atlantic hurricane season, scientists say.” So they don’t understand the climate system well enough even to explain what’s happening now, let alone predict it in advance, but they do know exactly what it’s going to do later when we can’t check. Like how “Siberian tundra faces extinction by 2500 without emission cuts”. Unless it doesn’t. (Just as, we might add, around 1500 a lot of people felt crops faced extinction by 2000 without witch burnings.)
- Still, with alarmism you know how the story goes. Climate Cosmos, via MSN, explains that actually the reason they can’t predict is… climate change. Yup: “How Climate Change Is Making Weather Forecasts Less Reliable/ Weather forecasting is becoming more of a guessing game as climate change shifts the patterns we once relied on. 🌍 It’s wild to think how unpredictable our future will be if we don’t take action soon. Let’s stay informed and make a difference! #ClimateChange #Weather #TogetherForOurPlanet”. There’s nothing it cannot do. Even turn the rock-solid weather forecasts of yesteryear into… uh… hang on… the butt of cheap comedy from the invention of the jagged line showing a cold front.
- From the “hidden in plain sight” file, and also from Climate Cosmos, we’re offered “Ancient Egypt: Lessons from the Past on Climate Change/ Explore the wisdom of ancient Egypt as we uncover their responses to climate change. What can we learn from their resilience?” Wanna know? We’ll tell you. Climate change has always happened for natural reasons. It wasn’t the pyramids that did it. The same is true of another of theirs, “10 Facts About How Nature Adapts to Extreme Weather/ Discover the incredible ways nature bends and flexes to survive extreme weather! 🌍✨ These amazing adaptations highlight the resilience of our planet’s ecosystems. Let’s celebrate the wonders of the natural world!” Um and why do you suppose animals and plants evolved to survive extreme weather? Right. It’s nothing new. Nor are those emoticons. ☹ Give them a rest.
- We’re all for ingenuity. But there’s a fine line between creativity and thrashing. And when you see the failings of wind, solar, geothermal, hydrogen and so on and announce that ammonia’s the ticket, this time for sure, we worry that you’ve crossed it. Especially when “Amogy raises $56M to commercialize ammonia for heavy-duty transit/ The startup has now raised more than $270M to support its goal of decarbonizing tricky industries like shipping. So far, it has tested an ammonia-powered tugboat.” One tugboat. Yup. That’ll haul us to Net Zero by 2050 all right. Plus ammonia isn’t exactly, well, clean and inoffensive, now is it?
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12 Feb 2025 | News Roundup
