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Joined: 07 Aug 2008
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Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 12:58 am Post Subject: NZ Climate Science Coalition Arm Takes NIWA To High Court
This is fun stuff! From the Coalition's own website...
COALITION ARM TAKES NIWA TO HIGH COURT Posted 16 August
The New Zealand Climate Science Education Trust, a newly registered arm of the Coalition, has filed a claim in the High Court seeking a declaration to invalidate the NZ Temperature Record, currently promoted by NIWA, and featured on its website. To download media release, bacgrounder and summary of claim, link here
Joined: 07 Aug 2008
Posts: 1852
Location: The Wild West
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:05 am Post Subject:
A follow-up from the Dominion Post... check the last line of BS (boring stuff :wink: ) by the "Environmental Defence Society" LMFAO!
Court challenge to Niwa climate records By KIRAN CHUG - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 16/08/2010
Climate change sceptics are taking the country's state-owned weather research body to the High Court over claims that its records are inaccurate.
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research is being challenged about the data it uses to calculate climate change.
The court action is being funded by the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition, and is the latest in a series of attacks by global warming sceptics on Niwa.
The group, funded by members and donations, said it had established a Climate Science Trust through which to file its claim, which was served last week.
It is asking the court to order that records are invalid that show a 1 degree Celsius warming trend in nationwide temperatures during the past century, and wants Niwa to be ordered to produce another "accurate" record.
It has also asked the court to order Niwa to stop using its current records to advise any government authority or the public.
The trust's spokesman, Bryan Leyland, said policy makers were being given a one-sided view on climate change. "We're concerned that vast amounts of money are being spent trying to fight global warming when we're convinced it's not happening." The emissions trading scheme was just one example, and the Government needed to get an opposing view.
"They use computer models and believe in computer models. I don't believe in them. I believe in looking at data and looking at history."
Niwa said it had confidence in what its science showed, and in the advice it gave to the Government. The agency refused to comment further now that the matter was before the court.
In May, Niwa chief executive John Morgan rejected allegations that Niwa had misled Cabinet ministers with its analysis of temperature records. He stood by the "integrity and professionalism" of Niwa scientists, and said the organisation was internationally respected.
The criticisms focused on two different sets of records which recorded temperatures for more than 100 years. That those records had been "adjusted in an unethical and inaccurate way" was also the basis for the court action.
Niwa chief climate scientist David Wratt has previously rejected the allegations, saying the need to make adjustments was internationally accepted. The original data was freely available on the internet, he said.
Climate science author and Meteorological Society committee member Gareth Renowden said it was sickening that New Zealand's tiny band of climate sceptics were trying to demonise Niwa scientists when the impacts of climate change were obvious in occurrences such as the Russian heatwave and floods.
"The whole affair is a frivolous, politically inspired beat-up, and a waste of judicial time and taxpayers' money."
The trust's lawyer, Barry Brill, also the chairman of the Climate Science Coalition, said court papers had been filed in Auckland and the trust was waiting to see whether Niwa would file a statement of defence. The trust hoped a hearing would be held this year, as continued use of the temperature records had "serious implications".
Mr Leyland also accused Niwa of hiring "spin doctors" when its records came under criticism.
Niwa said yesterday that it had engaged public relations company Network PR because it did not have its own resources to respond to the group. It had used the PR company for independent professional advice.
Last night, the Environmental Defence Society said it would consider joining the proceedings in Niwa's defence. "The facts support the conclusion that the climate is warming and that humans are contributing to it."
Joined: 07 Aug 2008
Posts: 1852
Location: The Wild West
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:11 am Post Subject:
Hahahahaha! Oh what fun! :mrgreen:
Court challenge to Niwa 'stupid' NZPA
Last updated 09:14 16/08/2010
Court action against New Zealand's state-owned weather and atmospheric research body is "stupid" and just creating confusion, University of Otago pro-vice chancellor of sciences Keith Hunter says.
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) is being taken to court in a challenge over the accuracy of its data used to calculate global warming.
The New Zealand Climate Science Coalition said it had lodged papers with the High Court asking the court to invalidate Niwa's official temperature records.
The lobby of climate sceptics and the ACT Party have long criticised Niwa over its temperature data, which Niwa says is mainstream science and not controversial, and the raw data publicly available.
Coalition spokesman Bryan Leyland said many scientists believed although the earth had been warming for 150 years, it had not heated as much as claimed.
He said the New Zealand Meteorological Service had shown no warming during the past century but Niwa had adjusted its records to show a warming trend of 1degC. The warming figure was high and almost 50 percent above the global average, said Mr Leyland.
The coalition said the 1degC warming during the 20th century was based on adjustments taken by Niwa from a 1981 student thesis by then student Jim Salinger, a Niwa employee who was later sacked after talking to the news media without permission.
But Prof Hunter told Radio New Zealand the courts could not determine whether or not the adjusted records had been adjusted properly.
"It can only be done by people who have an established scientific reputation in meteorology. So if the coalition has got those people they should do the analysis. If they haven't they should find someone else who has got that.
"There is nothing sinister about making adjustments. Measurements are often adjusted because of procedural differences between stations or changes in instruments with time.
"The coalition are just creating confusion. Throwing mud and if they throw enough mud some will stick and organisations like Niwa get dragged down in it," Prof Hunter said.
Meanwhile, the Environmental Defence Society (EDS) said in a statement that it may join court action in support of Niwa.
EDS chairman Gary Taylor said the society was evaluating whether there was merit in joining the proceedings.
"On the face of it, it's hard to see how the issue can properly be brought before the court. We have no doubts that the science behind global warming predictions is robust and reliable and would wish to support the institute in any way that we can.
"It is one thing to have a robust debate about the science and quite another to attempt to belittle and undermine the need for action, as the coalition has been doing now for years," Mr Taylor said.
The coalition will ask the court to find Niwa's New Zealand temperature record (NZTR) invalid.
It would also seek a court declaration preventing Niwa from using the NZTR when it advised the Government or any other body on global climate issues. It would also ask the court to order Niwa to produce a full and accurate NZTR.
Joined: 07 Aug 2008
Posts: 1852
Location: The Wild West
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:20 am Post Subject:
Well, there were some good chuckles there ay?! But seriously, despite being up against it wouldn't it be great to see court action like this actually achieve something for once. Let's keep the fingers crossed then - they might need a little bit of luck when coming up against the Arguing-Points-Of-Law System! :wink:
Joined: 07 Aug 2008
Posts: 1852
Location: The Wild West
Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 11:23 am Post Subject:
Very relevant to this story are articles which appeared on Watt's Up With That last year. Here's a reminder as you should keep all this stuff in mind with regard to the so-called "climate science" that NIWA and others shake at everyone. Please make sure to read the full articles and pass this all on to everyone around you to keep them up with the play...
(sorry, didn't have time to save, resize, upload & link the bigger photos so they all as per the original site)
The New Zealand Government’s chief climate advisory unit NIWA is under fire for allegedly massaging raw climate data to show a global warming trend that wasn’t there.
The scandal breaks as fears grow worldwide that corruption of climate science is not confined to just Britain’s CRU climate research centre...
Warming over New Zealand through the past century is unequivocal.
NIWA’s analysis of measured temperatures uses internationally accepted techniques, including making adjustments for changes such as movement of measurement sites. For example, in Wellington, early temperature measurements were made near sea level, but in 1928 the measurement site was moved from Thorndon (3 metres above sea level) to Kelburn (125 m above sea level). The Kelburn site is on average 0.8°C cooler than Thorndon, because of the extra height above sea level.
I’m not too impressed, especially when you see where the weather station for National Institute of Water and Atmosphere (NIWA) is, right on the rooftop next to the air conditioners:
Note also the anemometer mast, identifying the weather station
How not to measure temperature, part 92 – surrounded by science Posted on December 6, 2009 by Anthony Watts
Last week we had quite a row about temperature and temperature adjustments in Wellington New Zealand. One of the stations cited was the Kelburn district of Wellington, NZ.
NIWA issued a response statement regarding the charges leveled by The NZ Climate Science Coalition here:
Warming over New Zealand through the past century is unequivocal.
NIWA’s analysis of measured temperatures uses internationally accepted techniques, including making adjustments for changes such as movement of measurement sites. For example, in Wellington, early temperature measurements were made near sea level, but in 1928 the measurement site was moved from Thorndon (3 metres above sea level) to Kelburn (125 m above sea level). The Kelburn site is on average 0.8°C cooler than Thorndon, because of the extra height above sea level.
The NZ Climate Science Coalition responded with a series of graphs that showed how the temperature record of stations in Wellington looks:
What’s interesting is that if you leave Kelburn out of the equation, Thorndon in 1910 is not far below Airport 2010. Perhaps that gave NIWA some confidence that the two locations were equivalent, but I’m betting Thorndon a hundred years ago was very different from an international airport now.
Of course we all know that airports tend to run hotter than surrounding areas due to the huge expanses of runway, tarmac, terminal buildings, and car parks they have become as aviation has grown in the last 100 years, so it is no surprise to see the airport hotter than Kelburn, which is higher in elevation and with a bit more greenery, owing to the nearby Botanical Gardens.
I had an interest in tracking down the Kelburn station, just to see how good it is. I was able to find it on Google Earth as an aerial view which you can see below. I was unsuccessful in my first attempts at finding a photograph to document the measurement environment of the Kelburn station. I picked up the hunt again a few days later, and found it hiding in plain site. Thank goodness for tourists.
You can see the Stevenson screen is surrounded by astronomical science, such as the historic Dominion Observatory and the Carter Observatory to the west (off screen). But from a climate science perspective, it is also surrounded by asphalt, with a car park to the east. According to the Google Earth measurement tool, vehicles are parked within 6 meters of the Stevenson Screen.
But I really really wanted to get a ground level view to absolute ascertain the placement of the Stevenson Screen. Lots of web searches turn up nothing. I found pictures of the observatories, pictures of the Krupp gun, pictures of the skyline, but no pictures of the nearby weather station. After all, other than myself and surfacestations.org volunteers, who takes pictures of weather stations while on vacation? Still I figured, this is a major tourist spot, within walking distance of the top of the famous Wellington cable car, surely somebody had snapped a photo?
Then I discovered something in Google Earth called “Panoramio”, which had a whole collection of tourist submitted shots around the observatories.
Bingo!
Here’s the full image from Panoramio, the Stevenson Screen is clearly visible. Thank you J. Baines, wherever you are.
The car park asphalt at 6 meters away puts the station rating at CRN4, based on NOAA’s site quality rating system used for their Climate Reference Network. I’ve found that the vast majority of historical stations in the USA have been affected this way:
One wonders how this area has changed over time, and how long the car park has been there, and how much it, and the tourist vehicles that park next to the fence have contributed to the Kelburn climate record. Someone familiar with the history of the observatory might be able to shed some light on this. Was the screen always in this location? When did the car park go in? How many tree have been cleared around the site over the years? How many new buildings (Like the Carter Observatory) have but put up nearby? These are all issues which affect the temperature record. Disentangling those influences is difficult without an historical context.
I don’t blame the scientists at the observatory for letting the climate measurement environment at Kelburn deteriorate, after all they are charged with looking upwards, not at the grounds around them.
NIWA’s Kiwi Kaper Posted on May 15, 2010 by Anthony Watts
It should be noted that NIWA is not the official Meteorological Service of New Zealand. From their FAQs: Is NIWA the Met Service?
No, the MetService is a separate company which can be found at www.metservice.com. NIWA does perform climate prediction and monitoring services, however, but these are more long term.
… and…NIWA is a Crown Research Institute, established in 1992. It operates as a stand-alone company with its own Board of Directors and Executive.
- Anthony
Crisis in New Zealand climatology
by Barry Brill
May 15, 2010
The warming that wasn’t
The official archivist of New Zealand’s climate records, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), offers top billing to its 147-year-old national mean temperature series (the “NIWA Seven-station Series” or NSS). This series shows that New Zealand experienced a twentieth-century warming trend of 0.92°C.
The official temperature record is wrong. The instrumental raw data correctly show that New Zealand average temperatures have remained remarkably steady at 12.6°C +/- 0.5°C for a century and a half. NIWA’s doctoring of that data is indefensible...
