“CLIMATISM” by Steve Goreham (2010)
reviewed by William M. Gray

Here posted: 18 June 2010

 William M. Gray, Professor Emeritus, Colorado State University, reviewed a book “CLIMATISM” by Steve Goreham, posted at WUWT 14 June 2010, recently, commenting – inter alias - :

This is a wonderful, extremely factual, and very timely book on the new ‘ism’ that has sprung forth in recent decades and is now stalking the world (as communism, totalitarianism, religious-isms of the past) namely CLIMATISM – the irrational belief in human induced climate degradation and the need for world government.

Goreham exposes the political chicanery behind this movement and how the generation of electricity from renewable energy sources will be much more expensive than electricity from fossil fuels. ….

Goreham does a masterful job in portraying the coming global problems we will have if we let this Climatism disease continue to fester and grow. ……. 

As there is little to complain about to expose any political chicanery, particularly if done in an intelligent and convincing manner, but it is somewhat frustrating that all this considerations are based on a weak understanding of what makes the CLIMATE (average weather) tick. As Gray leaves this aspect uncommented, and Goreham seems to have said little about the relevance of the oceans, but discusses instead in the book Chapter 5:  “The sun is our climate driver”, “ArndB” commented. His comments and replies are hereafter reproduced:  

ArndB says:  June 15, 2010 at 1:21 am

It surprises that Prof. William M. Gray laudates a book that seems to have little, if anything to say about water and the oceans (according a look at the ToC), although he seems to assume that “Climate Change: (is) Driven by the Ocean not Human Activity” (Heartland Institute Conference on Climate Change .March 8-10, 2009; http://www.heartland.org/custom/semod_policybot/pdf/24891.pdf )
concluding that : deep ocean circulation offers the best explanation for the global
temperature changes of the last century. Instead, Steve Goreham has a Chapter 5 called “The sun is our climate driver” . The sun is the basis for getting the system warmer than minus 200°C, but the sun is not the driver of our average weather (climate) but water, and if we talk about water on this planet, we talk about the oceans and seas, which means one could and should define: “CLIMATE is the continuation of the oceans by other means”; (more at: http://www.whatisclimate.com/ ), which would comply with W.M. Gray’s thesis of what made the temperatures to change during the last century, and a notion by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519): “Water is the driver of nature”. 

Roger Knights says: June 15, 2010 at 6:52 pm

ArndB says: June 15, 2010 at 1:21 am

It surprises that Prof. William M. Gray laudates a book that seems to have little, if anything to say about water and the oceans (according a look at the ToC),

I have the book. It gives due weight to the oceanic cycles on pages 70-78, citing primarily Akasofu. But I agree that its main explanation, unfortunately, is on solar forcing.

Nevertheless, the major part of the book, which makes it so valuable, is its even-toned, deadly criticism of alarmist science, disaster-predictions, and mitigation-prescriptions. 

ArndB says: June 16, 2010 at 12:38 am

Roger Knights says: June 15, 2010 at 6:52 pm
“I have the book. It gives due weight to the
oceanic cycles on pages 70-78, citing primarily Akasofu.

Thanks a lot for your information, I will try to get hold of the full text. Syun-Ichi Akasofu, demonstrates convincingly that the discussed warming has presumably little if anything to do with CO2, in his paper “Two Natural Components of the Recent Climate Change: (1) The Recovery from the Little Ice Age; (2) The Multi-decadal Oscillation “ , saying that global temperature increase seems to have started in 1800–1850, and that 150~200-year-long linear warming trend is likely to be a natural change, with a positive trend from 1910 to 1940, and a negative from 1940 to 1975.              
The first event was primarily the early Arctic warming from winter 1918/19 to winter 1939/40 (more at: http://www.arctic-heats-up.com/ ) and the global cooling from 1940 to mid 1970s, which started with three record cold winters in Europe (more at: http://climate-ocean.com/ ). Unfortunately Akasofu misses the important aspect that the early temperature rise started exactly in winter 1918/19 and at Spitsbergen, where warm water enters the Arctic Ocean, which also marked the end of WWI, and that the cooling commenced simultaneously with WWII since September 1939. In both cases the seas and oceans spaces in Northern Europe had been under severe stress by naval war activities. The changes 1919 & 1940 could well have been push-started by human activities, showing that the oceans matter  

RACookPE1978 says: June 16, 2010 at 4:58 am

No. No I will not accept the concurrent end of WWI/start of WWII with those changes: The 66 year short term cycle goes back before the 1900′s, and is continuing now through a peak period. There is not enough energy in ships to affect even the local tide in a local harbor.

Are we at the top of the combined 800 year Roman Warm Period, Dark Ages, Medieval Warm Period, Little Ice Age, Modern Warming Period plus the latest 66 year solar cycle? Or do we have one more 66 year short cycle to go? 

ArndB says: June 16, 2010 at 6:36 am

RACookPE1978 says: June 16, 2010 at 4:58 am      
___(1) No. No I will not accept the concurrent end of WWI/start of WWII with those changes: ….
___(2) There is not enough energy in ships to affect even the local tide in a local harbor.

Reply to (1) : Any convincing explanation of the climatic shifts at the end of the 1910s and the early 1940s is most welcome, non is sufficiently explained yet. NO, NO is bringing the issue not any further. Here is a corresponding poster concerning the Arctic warming presented at the AGU Meeting in Dec. 2010; http://www.arctic-warming.com/poster.pdf (1MB), or see here: http://www.arctic-warming.com

Reply (2) None of the points mentioned has anything to do with the two climatic shifts, which is about churning the sea-surface layer to a considerable depth, (particularly sufficient in autumn in Northern Europe’s seas), or may transfer colder deep water to the surface (Atlantic and Pacific), and/or is changing the salinity structure. Here are corresponding abstracts and posters concerning Europe 1939-42 and the Pacific 1942-45: http://www.oceanclimate.de/ displayed at PACON 2010 in Hilo.   

Source:

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/06/14/book-review-climatism

Book Review – Climatism

Posted on June 14, 2010 by Anthony Watts