False Equivalence from AP

Statement released by AP:

Scientists who consider themselves real skeptics—who debunk mysticism, ESP and other pseudoscience, such as those who are part of the Center for Skeptical Inquiry—complain that non-scientists who reject mainstream climate science have usurped the phrase skeptic. They say they aren’t skeptics because “proper skepticism promotes scientific inquiry, critical investigation and the use of reason in examining controversial and extraordinary claims.” That group prefers the phrase “climate change deniers” for those who reject accepted global warming data and theory. But those who reject climate science say the phrase denier has the pejorative ring of Holocaust denier so The Associated Press prefers climate change doubter or someone who rejects mainstream science.

Okay, let’s not forget this.

More than 90% of peer-reviewed scientific literature supports the view that, as a result of humans burning fossil fuels, a buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is changing the earth’s climate.

If you ask me, calling someone who denies the validity of sound scientific evidence a denier is an accurate label. Saying that it relates to the Holocaust is completely absurd. This is clearly a false equivalence and reeks of neutrality bias. The facts have a well known liberal bias. And this strikes me as a highly political move from AP.

Resources to learn more about this below:

https://youtu.be/Plm6muYeV9w

http://news.sciencemag.org/scientific-community/2015/09/associated-press-no-more-climate-skeptics-or-deniers

High Surf, Rip Current, Flash Flood Threat From the Carolinas to New Jersey; Minor to Moderate Flooding Reported (FORECAST)

First off, any broad area of low pressure off the coast of the Carolinas is highly unlikely to develop into a subtropical or tropical cyclone.

As has been the case often this season, wind shear is currently too strong to allow any tropical or subtropical development.

Despite the low chance of development, a stuck weather pattern is shaping up to make a getaway to the beaches of the Carolinas and parts of the Mid-Atlantic states less than ideal, to put it mildly.

First, the polar branch of the jet stream will remain well to the north over eastern Canada or northern New England, ensuring little change in the weather over the eastern U.S. through Monday.

At the surface, strong high pressure will build southeastward into eastern Canada and northern New England.

Meanwhile, stubborn low pressure will linger somewhere off the coast of the Carolinas possibly crawling slowly northward off the Mid-Atlantic seaboard into early in the coming week.

As the high pressure center moves south, the distance between the high and low pressure centers will become smaller – and the pressure difference, or gradient, between these two features will become stronger. This will maintain and even strengthen that persistent onshore wind from the Atlantic Ocean toward the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Virginia Tidewater, Delmarva Peninsula, and Jersey shore the next several days.

Those winds should peak in intensity through early Sunday, when a broad swath of sustained easterly winds between 30 and 40 mph is forecast over a stripe of ocean water just east of the Virginia and North Carolina coasts.

http://www.weather.com/forecast/regional/news/coastal-flood-heavy-rain-threats-mid-atlantic-carolinas-sep2015

Drought-hit California burns while waiting for El Niño rains

The fires are stoked by drought, in California’s case the worst its history. Earlier this year, officials went to measure the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, which provides much of the state’s water. Instead of the traditional 1.5 metres of snow, they found just dry earth. This year’s snowpack is at a 500-year low, thanks to unusually warm winter weather and poor snows – conditions that are expected to become more common as climate change hits.

Climate change is widely acknowledged as being behind the severity of the drought. Warmer temperatures mean precipitation is more likely to fall as rain rather than snow. Rain runs off the mountains fast rather than piling up into a natural water reserve as snow does.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28212-drought-hit-california-burns-while-waiting-for-el-nino-rains/ 

Amsterdam Trees Hard-Hit by European Windstorm "Zeljko"; Casualties Reported in Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Slovakia

The Netherlands
Residents in at least four European countries will be cleaning up after being blasted by damaging winds from an unseasonably strong low-pressure system and several lines of severe thunderstorms associated with it Friday and Saturday.

Trees were felled across much of the country as winds gusted over 50 mph. The wind was particularly tenacious near the coast, where the country's official meteorological agency posted code-red wind warnings. The Hoorn-A oil platform just off the Dutch coast clocked a 78-mph wind gust according to official weather observation data.

The Dutch weather website Weer.nl says the storm is the Netherlands' strongest July windstorm since modern records began in 1901.

Germany
A line of thunderstorms swept northeast through much of the country Friday night, bringing torrential rainfall and numerous lightning strikes, many of them the more powerful but typically rare positvely-charged kind.

Top wind gusts reported in Germany Saturday included 58 mph in Munster, 53 mph in Paderborn, and 51 mph in Celle and Laage. Winds peaked at 48 mph at Berlin's Tegel Airport as well as in Frankfurt, and 47 mph at the Dusseldorf Airport.

http://www.weather.com/storms/severe/news/amsterdam-netherlands-germany-wind-storm-zeljko

Sea Levels WILL Rise by 15 ft

WHATEVER we do now, the seas will rise at least 5 meters. Most of Florida and many other low-lying areas and cities around the world are doomed to go under. If that weren’t bad enough, without drastic cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions – more drastic than any being discussed ahead of the critical climate meeting in Paris later this year – a rise of over 20 meters will soon be unavoidable.

After speaking to the researchers behind a series of recent studies, New Scientist has made the first calculations of what their findings mean for how much sea level rise is already unavoidable, or soon will be.

Much uncertainty still surrounds the pace of future rises, with estimates for a 5-metre rise ranging from a couple of centuries to much sooner and more drastic.

This isn’t just some conspiracy theory as some right wingers would have you believe, this is coming from NEW SCIENTIST!!!!

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22630253-300-latest-numbers-show-at-least-5-metres-sea-level-rise-locked-in/?utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=SOC&utm_campaign=hoot&cmpid=SOC

Strange Clouds Over Costa Rica

To the delight of many, a stunning rainbow-like formation peered out from behind the clouds over Costa Rica on Tuesday. The formation was spotted in the sky over several Costa Rican cities, including the capital of San Jose, ABC reported. The striking colors are caused by a rare weather phenomenon called "cloud iridescence." A mix of light, water droplets and ice particles cause the light to refract and create the phenomenon.

This is certainly not severe weather but it is definitely unusual. It makes you wonder if we will see more strange weather events as climate change progresses.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/09/18/costa-rica-cloud-formation-rainbow-iridescence/72393422/

Reservoirs Running Dry in Cali

Residents of Lassen County, California, are baffled after an artificial lake dried up, seemingly overnight, leaving thousands of dead fish across 5,800 acres of mud.

People were fishing at Mountain Meadows Reservoir, also known as Walker Lake, on Sept. 12, Eddy Bauer, who has lived near the lake his whole life, told local news station. By the next day, he said, the lake was totally dry.

Doug Carlson, with the state Department of Water Resources, said he fears drought will create similar situations throughout the state. “The reservoirs are all continuing to be far below normal,” Carlson told CBS Sacramento. “We are reliant upon rainfall to fill those lakes, of course, and until we get more rain, we’re not likely to see any appreciable increase in the reservoir levels,” Carlson said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/california-lake-dries-up-overnight-fish_5605af0ce4b0af3706dc4f9b