In his latest paper, CO2: The Greatest Scientific Scandal of Our Time
Dr Zbigniew Jaworowski highlights these four basic statements in the “Summary for Policymakers”:
1. Carbon dioxide, the most important anthropogenic emissions increased markedly as a result of human activities, and its atmospheric concentration of 379 ppmv (parts by volume) in 2005 by far exceeded the natural range of 180 to 300 ppmv over the last 650,000 years.
2. Since 1750, human activities warmed the climate.
3. The warmth of the last half-century is unusual, is the highest in at least the past 1,300 years, and is “very likely” caused by increases in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations;
4. Predictions are made that anthropogenic warming will continue for centuries, and between 2090 and 2099 the global average surface temperature will increase 1.1°C to 6.4°C. Various scare stories of global catastrophes are prophesied to
occur if man-made emissions are not curbed by drastic political decisions. The obvious beneficial effects of warming for man and all the biosphere are downplayed.
I queried the ice core CO2 records on the Climate Audit blog some months ago after reading the paper on the matter by Zbigniew Zarwarowski. His competance was questioned by Steve Bloom, from memory, but a following posting by a technician working on ice cores confirmed that no attempt is made to pressurize cores to keep clathrates intact before cutting samples to ‘clear ice’.
How these samples can then be a true record of atmosphericic CO2 is beyond me, can anyone enlighten me?
Julian I agree with you, the AGW foundation is shattered like the ice cores themselves.
It is impossible to maintain the hydrostatic pressure of the ice-core at any given depth during the drilling process so subsequent handling of the cores (via ‘maintaining pressurisation’ is a waste of time) for the following simple mechanical reasons based upon my experience in mineral exploration:
1). The process of drilling is destructive; vibrations and oscillations of the drill bit and rod string will break ice cores within the barrel. Thus loss and contamination contained gases and other materials. Intra-barrel core breakage happens all the time in mineral exploration drilling even highly competant homogenous lithologies.
2). Drilling muds/mediums are circulated from the surface to the bit and back to the surface in recycling loop thus cut surface of core is essentially exposed to lower than hydrostatic pressures; and any exploding gas phases (due to de-pressurisation) are lost to the muds. These muds infiltrate cracks and are resealed/cured once extracted as shown in ZJ’s 1997 paper Figs 2 & 7.
3). As soon as the barrel length (2 to 6m) of core is drilled, it is physically snapped by drilling-rig retracting rod string a few cm’s. Hence hydrostatic load is lost for each barrel-length.
4). Once core-barrel is withdrawn to surface by wireline (overlying pressures reducing all the time until reaches surface), the core is either extracted by sliding the core from the barrel and slid/dropped into furrows within core-trays or holding/storing device (all at surface atmospheric pressure); suspect more breakages again. Extraction usually involves some percussive method, although triple or split-tubes may cradle the ice core as it is forced out by compressed air; however I don’t know what precise methods were used? Has any body seen written in a paper the precise drilling method or core handling processes involved? Happens all the time in mineral exploration!
5). When the barrel is sent back down the string to the bit, it will percussively strike the bit which inturn will concuss the top of the uncut ice beneath the bit (more damage), the drill string is then pumped again with drilling mud.
6). Finally as the technician mentioned the core then just sawn-up; further microfracturing/resealing etc..at surface presures.
So the fate of the economic wellbeing of the world based upon the above scientific rigour!
Once this paper gets wide circulation the AGW bandwagon will be wrecked.
ZJ’s papers should be compulsory reading for all politicians and media people. One can only hope!