by Javier Vinós Part I of a three part series. The Sun is a variable star and the amount of energy it emits varies from month to month, year to year, and century to century. One of the manifestations of these variations are sunspots, which are more common when the Sun is more active and disappear when it is less active. These spots follow a solar cycle of about 11 years, but sometimes there is a longer period, decades or centuries, when the Sun’s activity is so low that there are no spots. These periods are called grand solar minima. There are also periods of decades or centuries when the acti ..read more

by Judith Curry “Europe’s highest human rights court ruled Tuesday that countries must better protect their people from the consequences of climate change , siding with a group of older Swiss women against their government in a landmark ruling that could have implications across the continent.” [link] “The court — which is unrelated to the European Union — ruled that Switzerland “had failed to comply with its duties” to combat climate change and meet emissions targets. That, the court said, was a violation of the women’s rights, noting that the European Convention on Human Rights guarante ..read more

by Javier Vinós The unlikely volcano, the warmest year, and the collapse of the polar vortex. The climate events of 2022-24 have been were truly extraordinary. From an unlikely undersea volcanic eruption to the warmest year on record to the collapse of the polar vortex after three sudden stratospheric warming events. This rare convergence presents a unique learning opportunity for climatologists and climate aficionados alike, offering insights into a climate event that may not be repeated for hundreds or even thousands of years. January 2022, the unlikely volcano Never before have we witness ..read more

by Judith Curry The latest developments. Some new filings from Mark Steyn: New Trial: https://www.steynonline.com/documents/14131.pdf Judgment as Matter of Law: https://www.steynonline.com/documents/14132.pdf   Stay of Execution: https://www.steynonline.com/documents/14133.pdf Further details at steynonline [link ..read more

The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published their latest assessment report (AR6) in 2021. In 2023, the Clintel Foundation published a report which criticizes AR6. Clintel is short for Climate Intelligence, and the Clintel Foundation doesn’t think there’s a climate emergency. Overall, Clintel’s main criticism is that the IPCC hasn’t reviewed the scientific literature in an objective way, as is their stated mission.1) This article focuses on the topic of chapter 2 of the Clintel report: The Resurrection of the Hockey Stick. What is a “hockey stick” temperature ..read more

By Planning Engineer     Russ Schussler “Renewable good, non-renewable bad” is far too simplistic and unfortunately influential Previous posts have argued that renewable does not necessarily mean green, sustainable or environmentally sound. Non-renewable generation may meet green goals, be highly sustainable and environmentally sound.  The dichotomy adds more confusion than value.  Additionally, the grid impacts of resources lumped together as renewable are so diverse that it makes no sense to speak of them as a group in that context.  This posting will, thro ..read more

By Planning Engineer  (Russ Schussler) “Renewables:”  some resources support a healthy grid, other challenge it The first part of this series discussed some of the shortcomings of the renewable/nonrenewable dichotomy.  Renewable generation resources are not necessarily sustainable or environmentally sound and non-renewable options can be clean and highly sustainable.  For example, you will find many ardent environmentalist groups strongly opposed to “renewable” biomass generation. Similarly, more and more environmentalists are dropping their objections to “nonrenewable” nuc ..read more

by Judith Curry BREAKING.  The verdict is in – GUILTY.   Mann’s lawyer introduced into evidence an old ethics complaint against Michael Mann that I had addressed to the Penn State administration. I didn’t expect such a quick verdict, I had this post queued up for tomorrow.  More on the trial and verdict tomorrow, but this constitutes what I suspect was my main contribution to the trial. If you’ve been following the trial, a key part of my testimony related to a Huffington Post op-ed and Mann’s statement about me: “On the other hand, serial climate disinformer Judith Curry ..read more

By Frank Bosse and Nic Lewis A recent article by Roy Spencer was (strongly) criticized by Gavin Schmidt over at “Real Climate”.  In the summary Gavin S. wrote: “Spencer’s shenanigans are designed to mislead readers about the likely sources of any discrepancies and to imply that climate modelers are uninterested in such comparisons – and he is wrong on both counts.” Let’s have a detailed and objective look if the wording “…to mislead the readers” is sound. In his 1st figure Gavin S. cites a chart of Roy S. and makes remarks (in red): Figure 1: A reproduction from the “Real Climate” articl ..read more

by Judith Curry After 12 years, Mann’s lawsuit is finally being tried before a jury in Washington DC I am offering a discussion thread, but not my personal comments at this time.  I will be called as a witness for Simberg and Steyn, and Simberg’s lawyer has advised me not to listen to the live streaming of the trial. For background, I have written numerous previous posts on this lawsuit: Mann versus Steyn Steyn et al. versus Mann In defense of free speech Trial of the century? Fraudulent(?) hockey stick In defense of free speech Steyn versus Mann: norms of behavior Mann versus Steyn disc ..read more