Originally published @ 12:46 pm, Thu 7th Jan 2010
Ann Winterton (Congleton) (Con): Bearing in mind ... the current weather cycle, which clearly indicates a cooling trend - [ Laughter. ] (From Hansard)
MPs laughed, but she wasn’t joking.
As "Tabloid Watch" reports - “the Daily Express is actually suggesting that because it is snowing in Britain in winter, global warming can't possibly exist.”
As Tabloid Watch points out, the weather in Britain can’t be taken to indicate the state of the world as a whole, and last year happened to be the fifth warmest on record.
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The Tory MP went on to suggest that investment in off-shore wind power was a waste.
Gordon Brown in reply, queried how the Tories could lead on climate change if they can’t convince their own backbenchers. He pointed out –
“We are now the leading power in the world for offshore wind. We will soon be making announcements that will make it clear that massive numbers of jobs will come as a result of offshore wind.”
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In the world of science, can there be a job as unrewarding as weather forecaster? Through history we see them in the role of bad guys, responsible for fouling up bomber raids over Germany or delaying D-Day.
Cue Andrew Neil to rip into the head of the meteorological service for not predicting a colder winter than usual. Protests that such longer-range forecasts were so difficult to get right that they weren’t part of any performance management system cut no ice, as it were.
Perhaps weather forecasters don’t help themselves, using all the powers of a technology available that gives the impression of accuracy that they can’t meet.
And why, with all the computer power available to them, do they still insist on the obscure view of the Albion which lingers on the fortunes of Cornwall (population 534,000) and skims over Scotland (population 5,168,000)?
On the other hand, where else is someone’s predictions dependent on something as subtle as a flap of a butterfly’s wings? (The butterfly effect refers to the idea that a butterfly's wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that may ultimately alter the path of a tornado or delay, accelerate or even prevent the occurrence of a tornado in a certain location.)
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