Sierra Rayne

Canada's Climate Incoherence

Discussions over climate change in the media and by politicians are ramping up to new levels of incoherence following the release of the National Climate Assessment and the Obama administration's push towards greater regulation of atmospheric carbon emissions.

Setting the Record Straight on Denver's Crime Statistics

In a recent opinion piece for the Washington Times, Michael Taube makes some unusual statements about crime in Denver, Colorado after the state legalized the sale of marijuana for recreational use on January 1st of this year. Taube claims the following:

Conflict in Syria and the Climate Change Narrative

According to Nafeez Ahmed at The Guardian, "the age of climate warfare is here. The military-industrial complex is ready. Are you?"

Hot Times in the American Southeast?

The National Climate Assessment's section on the American Southeast reads like a climate apocalypse. In this section is likely the most bizarre prediction I've seen yet in reviewing the NCA.

Fantasizing over Hot Days in the American Northeast

In the National Climate Assessment's section on climate change impacts for the US Northeast region, the following claims are made:

No Increase in Global Drought Over Past 30 Years

A recent paper published in the Nature Publishing Group's journal Scientific Data has quantified the fraction of the global land surface in varying degrees of drought since 1982. Here is the figure of interest:

Climate Hysteria and Breakfast Cereals

Oxfam's latest report on getting food and beverage companies to fight climate change leaves much to be desired

Problems in the National Climate Assessment's Evaluation of Energy System Risks

The energy sector is one of the largest and most fundamental components of the American economy. For those reasons, the National Climate Assessment's highly climate alarmist section on energy supply and use leaves much to be desired. Interestingly, one of the two lead convening authors for this chapter is from a major fossil fuel company.

Any Way You Want It: Australian Climate Modeling

When the movie Rock of Ages was released in 2012, it regenerated interest in a classic song by Journey entitled "Any Way You Want It." The following line from the song applies to climate modeling predictions for precipitation in much of Australia:

Climate Hysteria Down Under

Being a resident of the Northern Hemisphere, all I seem to hear about climate change Down Under is that (1) Tony Abbott is the Great Satan for his very reasonable skepticism over climate hysteria, and (2) much of Australia is turning into a dustbowl and a tinderbox due to a lack of precipitation brought on by anthropogenic climate change.

Winters in the United States Are Getting Colder

The Huffington Post is unhappy about how CNN Crossfire covered the latest National Climate Assessment (NCA) during a debate between Bill Nye and S.E. Cupp. Of course, the Post wanted more hysteria, but at least they acknowledged that "'Crossfire' had everything you don't want in a climate change segment. The use of Bill Nye, who has no background in climate science, as the 'climate change is real' participant? Check."

Climate Models Fail on California

Back in February, there was a public dust-up between the Obama administration and the climate science community. Obama blamed the current California drought on climate change -- let's be precise, on anthropogenic climate change -- while the climate scientists generally pushed back and said California's current drought is likely due to natural climate variability.

Global Cooling Underway

With global temperature data now available for the first three months of 2014, an interesting trend has clearly emerged: global cooling. No longer is it just a hypothesis. For the first quarter of each calendar year since 2002, it is effectively a fact at reasonably strong statistical significance. Here is the data.

Canada's National Temperature and Precipitation Farce

Despite their huffing and puffing over private sector environmental activists since 2006, the one "environmental activist" group the Conservative Party of Canada has entirely failed to correct is its own government agency: Environment Canada.

Extreme Heat Hysteria Fail

In its latest entry on "health repercussions for Canadians of a changing climate" in the Globe and Mail newspaper, Karen McColl raises the alarm bells on "substantial increases in occurrences of extremely hot seasons" in Canada.

Lyme Disease and Climate Alarmism

Tough Questions for Canada-US Oil Relations

With the latest delay in the Keystone XL pipeline saga by the Obama administration, incoherent desperation is setting in among some Canadian oil industry experts.

Under Pressure from the Drug Cartels, Puerto Rico is Collapsing

In July 2010, an investigation by the US-DEA and the Puerto Rico Police Department resulted in a federal grand jury indictment for 158 people on heroin, crack, cocaine, and marijuana drug trafficking charges, as well as firearms related offences. It was the largest ever federal law enforcement operation in the American territory.

Bolivia and the Drug Cartels

Since 2006, Evo Morales has been the president of Bolivia. As an active campaigner against the war on drugs, a coca grower himself, and an admirer of Che Guevara, controversy has swirled about his administration.

Backdoor Carbon Taxation in Saskatchewan

In an interview with Theo Caldwell published in The Daily Caller, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall expressed his pride for the carbon capture project at the Boundary Dam coal-fired power station in the southeastern portion of the province. This is most unfortunate, although he might just be trying to make the best political situation out of a bad policy foisted on him by the supposedly "conservative" federal government.