https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2018/06/climateers-latest-little-earner/
Rising CO2 levels haven’t produced the soaring temperatures warmists so confidently predicted, but not to worry. In their latest grant-snaffling gambit, catastropharian careerists are saying greenhouse gases produce ‘extreme weather’ even without the missing heat. Yes, really.
Readers may remember a CAGW paper, co-authored by Professor David Karoly, that professed to demonstrate recent climate extremes in south-east Australia were unprecedented in the paleoclimate record. This paper was announced with suitably hysterical headlines as you might expect. Then sceptic Steve McIntyre identified a fatal flaw within hours of publication and it was withdrawn for “revision”. This took all of four years to publish and, when resubmitted, produced markedly less alarming conclusions. To no-one’s surprise this farce was conveniently overlooked by the mainstream media.
Anyway, the redoubtable Dr Karoly is back in the news today having co-authored a new paper which can only strike those without a seat on the warmist gravy train as plumbing the depths of desperation. They can see the writing on the wall. As CO2 concentrations inexorably rise and global temperatures disobligingly refuse to rocket upwards, the warmist establishment sees the need for a new and foolproof narrative. They have done it often enough before, so it is not as if switching stories is a great challenge. Remember those dams that would never fill again and, when they did, how the narrative switched tacks and proclaimed torrential downpours and flooding as the “genuine” consequences of electricity bills that just aren’t high enough?
The latest line appears to be that, even if CO2 doesn’t cause warming per se it can still cause “extreme weather” through some other, unspecified and malign influence. Thanks to Eric Worrall at WUWT for spotting the latest meme switch.
Now I haven’t read the paper, it being paywalled, and even if I did I’m sure it would dazzle baffle me with ‘science’. However, I have read the abstract, which pretty much tells you all you need to know. Here is how it begins (emphasis added):