When the United Nations World Meteorological Organization recently reported that global temperatures had not risen since 1998, the explanation given by WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud was that the cool spell was the effect of the Pacific Ocean’s La Nina current, “part of what we call ‘variability.’ ”

Well, oops, the Earth will do it again. According to a report by German researchers published in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature, shifting Atlantic ocean currents will cool parts of North America and Europe over the next decade as well.

Noel Keenlyside of the Leibnitz Institute of Marine Science at Germany’s Kiel University says “in the short term, you can see changes in the global mean temperature that you might not expect given the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.”

The key to the Kiel team’s prediction is the natural cycle of ocean currents called the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, or AMO for those who aren’t oceanographers or don’t play Scrabble. The AMO is closely related to the warm currents that bring heat from the tropics to the coasts of Europe and North America. The cycle is not well understood, but is believed to repeat every 60 to 70 years.

According to the greenies, the Earth is supposed to warm continuously and disastrously without taking any rest breaks. Yet after taking actual data from the Labrador Sea where the Gulf Stream gives up its warmth before sinking and returning southward and projecting forward, the Kiel team says the Atlantic currents will keep rising temperatures in check around the world, much as the warming and cooling associated with El Nino and La Nina in the Pacific affect global temperatures.

Howard Hayden, physics professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut, has described the machinery of the computer models used by the IPCC and others to predict imminent and cataclysmic climate change as ones that take “garbage in” and spit “gospel out.”

In a study published last August in the journal Science, U.K. researchers said:

“A common criticism of global climate models . . . has been that they only include factors such as solar radiation, atmospheric aerosols and greenhouse gases, which are affected by changes outside the climate system (while neglecting) internal climate change variability that arises from natural changes from within the system, like El Nino, fluctuations in ocean circulation and anomalies in ocean heat content.”

Understanding the ocean’s effect on climate took a quantum leap forward in 2003 when the first of 3,000 new automated ocean buoys were deployed, a significant improvement over earlier buoys that took their measurements mostly at the ocean’s surface.

The new buoys, known as Argos, drift along the world’s oceans at a depth of about 6,000 feet constantly monitoring the temperature, salinity, and speed of ocean currents. Every 10 days or so a bladder inflates, bringing them to the surface as they take their readings at various depths.

Once on the surface, they transmit their readings to satellites that retransmit them to land-based computers.

The Argos buoys have disappointed global warming alarmists in that they have failed to detect any signs of imminent climate change. As Dr. Josh Willis noted in an interview with National Public Radio, “there has been a very slight cooling” over the buoy’s five years of observation.

Actual observations trump computer models and as we learn more about the Earth we start to realize how puny and irrelevant man’s contribution to climate change really is.

While irresponsible environmentalists panic over warming, the Earth cools and goes with the ocean flow.

Check out Red Bull’s interactive activities at the FREE Red Bull Air Races Terminal on the corner of Market and 7th Avenue downtown San Diego. Open to the public each day from Noon to 5:00 PM. To purchase tickets for Saturday’s Exclusive After Party or for additional information call 619.233.5008 or visit www.redbullairrace.com.

Me & Eddie

(from left to right: KFMB floor director Kenny Sanchez, Red Bull Air Force’s Jon Devore, Me, Red Bull Air Force’s Miles Daisher)

The Region 12 Soaring Championships hosted by Sky Sailing, Inc. in Warner Springs.
Now - Saturday 26th

I am Skydiving to raise money for the Child Abuse Prevention Foundation in May. This is a personal goal, unassociated with the station. I think CAPF is an awesome organization and I would love to get your support. For more details, please go to this website.
I want to extend a special thanks to Martin Gonzalez, owner of Acqua Al 2 for his generous donation and to my friends and family.

Don’t miss the Maui Jim Outrigger Challenge.
When: Saturday, April 26 8:00 am: Registration Opens
8:30 am: Instructions
9:00 am: Races Begin
Where: Bahia Point, Mission Bay Behind the Bahia Resort Hotel
Address: 998 W. Mission Bay Dr. San Diego, CA 92109

The Monster Energy/Sun Diego Pro-Am Surf Tour
Saturday, April 19 - Sunday, April 20
Ocean Beach Pier in Ocean Beach

Camp Pendleton Devil Dog Duathlon
Saturday, April 19, 2008 8:30 a.m. - Las Pulgas Area/43 Area

The event I am looking forward to most is the Region 12 Soaring Championships hosted by Sky Sailing, Inc. in Warner Springs.
Kicks off Monday April 21 - Saturday 26th

I am Skydiving to raise money for the Child Abuse Prevention Foundation in May. This is a personal goal, unassociated with the station. I think CAPF is an awesome organization and I would love to get your support. For more details, please go to this website.
I want to extend a special thanks to Martin Gonzalez, owner of Acqua Al 2 for his generous donation and to my friends and family.

Next Saturday, don’t miss the Maui Jim Outrigger Challenge.
When: Saturday, April 26
8:00 am: Registration Opens
8:30 am: Instructions
9:00 am: Races Begin
Where: Bahia Point, Mission Bay Behind the Bahia Resort Hotel
Address: 998 W. Mission Bay Dr. San Diego, CA 92109

This heat isn’t due to anything like global warming, it’s just some offshore flow that has set up. . .but you can bet there are a few people that wouldn’t mind a little warming right now in their world.

Big surf on Lake Superior this weekend

These photos are courtesy of the Duluth News Tribune up in Northern Minnesota. They just had a major winter storm - about four weeks into the season of spring! Here’s a shot of downtown Duluth today, as just getting around in April was a little. . .contentious:

Downtown Duluth on an April Saturday

And of course winter storms, even when they are really winter-LIKE storms in spring, pack a powerful punch. It isn’t just all unpleasant, for some it has been really quite nasty indeed.

Strong winds creating property damage

It’s not just another April weekend for Duluth OR for San Diego, but it’s the kind of wild weather that if you know someone up in Duluth you should call them and offer to host their visit out here. By now, a lot of people back East will be ready to enjoy a little of San Diego’s weather, even if it so much hotter than normal.

The really wet winter made for some spectacular flowers out in the desert earlier this spring; I was too late to get out there for the really good stuff. But even now, you can still catch some great blooms - as the desert is still quite active.

This weekend may be the first weekend of the season where it gets to 100F degrees out in the desert, so even though there have been fewer and fewer flowers of late - the blooms that ARE out there aren’t likely to be lasting long. But there’s still some beauty to be had, and of course, Fonts Point doesn’t show too many blooms - and there’s another beautiful shot there.