Elizabeth Barnes, an atmospheric scientists from Colorado State University, after an attempt to dismantle Francis’ theory last summer, published a second challenge in January.
“…the link between recent Arctic warming and increased Northern Hemisphere blocking is currently not supported by observations,” Barnes’ study concludes.
Despite this pushback, numerous mainstream press outlets have written about the Francis theory uncritically, failing to present countervailing views.
For example, from the BBC:
The main system that helps determine the weather over Northern Europe and North America may be changing, research suggests. The study shows that the so-called jet stream has increasingly taken a longer, meandering path.And from NPR:
The wayward jet stream could account for the persistently severe winter weather this year in the U.S. and Britain, as well as California’s long drought.Even the White House’s science advisor, John Holdren, expressed support for the theory with only subtle qualification.
Scientists: Don’t make “extreme cold” centerpiece of global warming argument
Disrupting the Borg is expensive and time consuming!
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There is pretty good evidence that low solar activity is the cause of sinuousity in Rossby waves, which causes the blocking events:
Low solar activity link to cold UK winters
(This is on the very cold 2010 UK Winter, which was caused by jet stream blocking, as was the Moscow heatwave that summer. Right in the solar minimum after the completion of solar cycle 23.)
Paper suggests solar magnetic influence on Earth’s atmospheric pressure
(Gives a plausible candidate for the mechanism)
The recent blocking events, such as the ‘polar vortex’ storms in the US coincide with a very low solar magnetic Ap Progression index in the last 3 months, of around 5. It was at a similar level during 2010.
“Scientists: Don’t make “extreme cold” centerpiece of global warming argument”
Stone me!
Does that mean someone somewhere might just possibly have caught on to what a bunch of utter plonkers the “AGW is responsible for everything BS makes them look?