Frauenfeld,Knappenberger,Michaels 2011: No Worries

I heard kind of a sick joke today, but it was so spot on I couldn't help but giggle:
"Global warming contrarians are like those sad chimpanzees who continue carrying their long dead babies."
Get it... talk about denial!

Talking about denial. . .

here is the latest scientific study to be ricocheting through the denier blogosphere ~ "Frauenfeld, Knappenberger, and Michaels 2011"
it claims:

“We find that the recent period of high-melt extent is similar in magnitude but, thus far, shorter in duration, than a period of high melt lasting from the early 1920s through the early 1960s. The greatest melt extent over the last 2 1/4 centuries occurred in 2007; however, this value is not statistically significantly different from the reconstructed melt extent during 20 other melt seasons, primarily during 1923–1961.”

Based on it Patrick Michaels (one of the authors) seems to feel entitled to post an incredibly snarky article at his CATO blog titled “Please Sell Me Your Beach House.”

Sad thing is Frauenfeld, Knappenberger, and Michaels 2011 was dead on arrival.

Problem being they ignored recent data, they limited their scope, and they gave a disingenuous spin to old data.

There’s a big brouhaha going on over it in the climate change blogosphere.
If you want to learn about it, check out this article at SkepticalScience.
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What’s interesting is that while the denial echo-chamber is laughing up yet another defeat of the Global Warming “Hoax” there was a conference going on in Copenhagen on the Arctic that they Willfully Ignored. (May 3-6, 2011)

The Arctic as a Messenger for Global Processes Climate Change and Pollution
http://amap.no/Conferences/Conf2011/about.html

For more information

Or if you really want to be impressed by the state of the science download the conference abstract
Here are some of the basic findings:

New research report shows the wider impact of climate change in the Arctic than expected

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Sharply reduced snow cover, shorter winter season and thawing tundra.

The effects of climate change in the Arctic is already here.

And change is occurring much faster than was previously thought. 

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The changes we are seeing is dramatic. And they are no coincidences.
The trends are clear and different from the patterns when compared to the longer term"

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Here's some more up to date assessment of what we are allowing to occur in the Arctic:

Speaking of the Arctic:
This page contains information products and materials presenting the results of the
Snow, Water, Ice and Permaforst in the Arctic (SWIPA)
assessment coordinated by Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) and produced in collaboration with the International Arctic Science Committee IASC, The World Meteorological Organization WMO/Clic and International Arctic Social Sciences Association (IASSA)
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Reports - Videos - Photographs - Time-lapse movie sequences- Press Kit - GRIS (2009) Overview
Reports: Snow, Water, Ice and Permafrost in the Arctic (SWIPA) 2011 - Executive Summary


Regarding Pat Michaels repulsive (and wrong headed) opining, it is interesting to note that the first defense for substance-less arguments is to wrap them in distracting emotional attacks.
In closing, it's worth pointed out that "One Way Skepticism Is Denial!"