Sunshine Coast residents have been pelted with hail the size of tennis balls today as dangerous thunderstorms hit south-east Queensland.

One person was taken to hospital with serious head injuries after he was struck by a large piece of hail this afternoon.

A Queensland Ambulance spokeswoman says the State Emergency Services (SES) has had more than 100 requests for assistance.

SES workers are out repairing damage to roofs and broken windows.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-16/massive-hail-buckets-down-on-qld-sunshine-coast/5096926

Rallies are being held across Australia today calling for action on climate change as part of a nationwide coordinated event.

The National Day of Climate Action has been organised by activist groups including GetUp, the Australian Youth Climate Coalition and the Australian Conservation Foundation.

GetUp say 60,000 campaigners turned out at rallies across the country, with 30,000 in Melbourne and 10,000 in Sydney.

National director of GetUp Sam Mclean says the event is one of most widespread calls for action on climate change Australia has ever seen.

"From remote country towns to the big cities, Australians have come to their own conclusions after our hottest year on record. And they want action," he said.

Organisers say thousands of people defied the rain in Sydney to attend the Surry Hills rally, where Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek was among the speakers.

She criticised the Coalition for not sending a senior Government representative to this week's climate talks in Warsaw.

"Was a trading emissions scheme working? Yes. Electricity from old brown sources of energy down, renewable up by 30 per cent in the first year of its operation," she told the crowd.

At Melbourne's Treasury Place, campaigners donned board shorts, bikinis and sunscreen to highlight their cause, calling on politicians to act on climate change.

The Australian Conservation Foundation's Tony Mohr says it is time politicians started listening.

"Australians want to make sure that we continue to reduce emissions," Mr Mohr said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-17/thousands-rally-across-australia-for-national-day-climate-action/5097536

Remember the last few summers? They started with a fizzle that would make you believe that climate change was crap... Then the heat came in... At the beginning of the year, this county beat many of its heat records (123 for the people who want to know) including a massive 45.8 degrees Celsius in Sydney... and a 46.5 at the airport... And do not forget that September and October may have been the warmest on steroids and that should the temperature nudge above 22 degrees on average, November will be the warmest on record, despite the crap weather we're having now... 

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Sydney has notched up its wettest November in 16 years with rain gauges set for more top-ups in coming days as the weather shifts back to more seasonal conditions.

Commuters endured a wet and windy ferry ride on the Manly ferry which was buffeted by gale-force winds.

The harbour city has already collected more than 150 millimetres of rain this month, the wettest since June, and is closing in on double the amount for a typical November of 83.6 millimetres.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/drenched-sydney-has-wettest-november-in-16-years-20131118-2xpxe.html#ixzz2kwsdoTjs

Ferocious weather pounded the midwest on Sunday with tornadoes, intense thunderstorms and giant hail threatening 53 million people across 10 states and leaving tens of thousands without power.

A county coroner said two people were killed when a tornado hit their home in rural southern Illinois. Washington County coroner Mark Styninger said the elderly man and his sister died on Sunday afternoon in their farmhouse in the town of New Minden, about 50 miles southeast of St Louis.

The National Weather Center reported "tornado watches indicating a particularly dangerous situation" for Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio,Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri. It later said the storm had created tornadoes in Bone Gap and Miller City, Illinois, in Mount Carmel, Noblesville and Vincennes in Indiana, and in Paducah, Kentucky. By mid-afternoon there were reports of 59 tornadoes, 128 reports of damaging winds and 36 reports of large hail. The storm paths threatened major cities including Chicago, Cinncinatti, Detroit and Louisville, Kentucky.

Storms caused extensive damage in several central Illinois communities. Washington, a community of more than 15,000 people, appeared to have been particularly hard hit. State official said emergency crews were racing to the area amid reports of people trapped in buildings.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/17/illinois-tornadoes-midwest-storms-chicago-plains

Meanwhile:

Scientists can now explain the “pause” in global warming that sceptics have used to bolster their arguments. Sceptics had claimed we have nothing to fear from climate change because it has stopped being a problem.

A new study has found that global temperatures have not flat-lined over the past 15 years, as weather station records have been suggesting, but have in fact continued to rise as fast as previous decades, during which we have seen an unprecedented acceleration in global warming.

The findings will undermine the arguments of leading sceptics, such as the former Chancellor Lord Lawson, who have criticised scientists from the Met Office and other climate organisations for not accepting that global warming has stopped since about 1998.

Two university scientists have found that the “pause” or “hiatus” in global temperatures can be largely explained by a failure of climate researchers to record the dramatic rise in Arctic temperatures over the past decade or more.

When Kevin Cowtan of York University and Robert Way of Ottawa University found a way of estimating Arctic temperatures from satellite readings, the so-called pause effectively disappeared and the global warming signal returned as strong as before.

The paucity of surface-temperature records in the remote and inaccessible Arctic has long been recognised as a problem for global estimates, not least by the Met Office itself.

However, the scale of the Arctic warming highlighted by Mr Cowtan and Mr Way has surprised seasoned climate researchers.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/exposed-the-myth-of-the-global-warming-pause-8945607.html

and not forgetting:

Britain will see the first low-level snow of the year next week as bitter arctic winds bring plummeting temperatures accompanied by rain, sleet and snow.

Homes in Scotland will be first to experience the cold snap as temperatures dip below the seasonal average tomorrow. Throughout next week temperatures will fall below zero across the country peaking at just 4C (39.2F) or 5C (41F), forecasters have said.

A combination of rain, sleet and snow will bring wintry showers southwards on Tuesday. As far south as Devon could see a dusting of snow, though it is not expected to bring disruption.

Overnight tonight temperatures could feel as cold as minus five degrees Celsius in parts of the North of England, forecasters said.

The north-westerly winds whipping off the Arctic are expected to bring at least two weeks of the near-freezing conditions, making November up to 3C (37.4F) colder than last year....

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/arctic-blast-set-to-bring-snow-showers-and-two-weeks-of-nearfreezing-wintry-weather-to-britain-8945284.html

Now if one looks at the world weather charts one can see a high pressure system mid way between Newfoundland and Britain on the same latitude... Do the sum and this "anti-cyclone" is driving "warmish winds from the Atlantic over the pole and bringing cold winds from the Arctic... Soon to hit Britain... And of  course global warming is adding fuel to the processes, whether we believe in it or not... And there is a strong possibility that Canada, north of the great lakes is going to experience a storm of typhoon proportions...

TONY ABBOTT IS AN IDIOT.

Economist Robert Pindyck of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently examined the computer models that estimate the effects and costs of climate change — and he didn’t like what he found. The models reflect two gaping uncertainties, he says. First, we don’t know how much increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) will raise global temperatures. “There are feedback loops” — interactions between greenhouse gases and weather — “that aren’t easy to measure.” The models make assumptions. Next, he says, we don’t know what economic losses will result from higher temperatures. More assumptions. The “damage functions” in the models, he says, “are completely made-up.”

Pindyck sounds like a “global warming denier.” He isn’t. True, he thinks climate change and its adverse economic consequences could be wildly overstated. He also thinks they could be wildly understated. The effects might ultimately be catastrophic. We simply don’t know. Ignorance reigns. The best course, he says, would be to adopt a modest carbon tax — because there are certainly some ill effects of global warming — and adjust it as we learn more. Meanwhile, we shouldn’t assume that computer models convey scientific truth. “The models create an illusion of knowledge,” he says. “For me, the issue is being honest.”

I’d call Pindyck a global warming pragmatist, and it’s a middle path that I find appealing. It acknowledges warming’s uncertainties but doesn’t use them as an excuse for inaction. For years, I’ve advocated an energy tax — my preference now is a carbon tax — because it could advance other national goals. It could reduce budget deficits and enhance energy security by pushing consumers toward more efficient cars and trucks. That’s my standard: Support policies that, though they might address climate change, can be justified on other grounds.

It’s a partial solution, because there is no complete solution. If global warming is as dangerous as alarmists claim, we can’t do much about it. The world now gets roughly 80 percent of its energy from fossil fuels (oil, coal, natural gas), whose burning is the main source of man-made CO2. Unless there’s some technological breakthrough, there’s no way to replace this energy without shutting down much of the world economy. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that, despite assumed rapid growth in wind and solar, fossil fuels will still provide almost four-fifths of global energy in 2040.

Moreover, total energy use over these decades is expected to increase by about 50 percent, says the EIA, mainly reflecting poor countries’ quest for economic growth and higher living standards. This means CO2 emissions would rise about 50 percent and come mostly from poor nations. A 2012 study by the World Resources Institute, an environmental group, found that nearly 1,200 new coal-fired plants had been proposed worldwide, three-quarters of them in China and India.

read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/robert-j-samuelson-global-warming-pragmatism/2013/11/17/01a09856-4e1e-11e3-ac54-aa84301ced81_print.html

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Gus: in the long run, the cost of fixing broken windows will soon out-cost the price on carbon that would reduce the cost of fixing windows... I could not agree more that there will be some broken windows still — despite a price on carbon — but certainly not as many due to global warming being mitigated... Despite this, by mid-century, the planet would have "hit the climate wall" and most of what would be "carefully" planned now for then would be academic and to be thrown out of the window...

All our energy then will be spent in fixing windows and running away from disasters.

Imagine for example that storms alla Sandy and the mid-west tornadoes, plus a few snow storms and of course the ubiquitous hurricanes will be multiplied by a factor of four in numbers and by a factor of one-and-a-half in strength.

PLUS, when windy stormy disasters would not be on the table, one is likely to be hit with EXTREME heat waves in summer and short bursts of cold in winter followed by early springs followed by snap-freezing temperatures followed by searing heat, all this in a couple of weeks of spring... Crops will be destroyed by frost, then burnt to a crisp by heat waves the like we have not seen yet.

Are we ready? Is the insurance industry ready? Or is the insurance industry wiping its hands at the challenge and already the insurance companies are eye balling each others as to who will blink first and jack up their premiums in the hope to still make a profit, 50 years from now?... I've got news for you, fellas... As global warming creeps up, the insurance industry and government compensation/reconstruction packages won't keep up the pace. The planet is going to look a bit like an untidy demolition site.

Burn-baby-burn, and by then it won't be coal and oil.... It will be us...

At least 18 people, including four children, have been killed in flooding on the Italian island of Sardinia after a cyclone and heavy rain.

A number of people are reported missing after rivers burst their banks. Cars were swept away and bridges collapsed.

The area around the north-eastern city of Olbia was worst-hit - in some places the water was up to 3m (10ft) deep.

Prime Minister Enrico Letta has declared a state of emergency, speaking of a "national tragedy".

Mr Letta announced that 20 million euros (£16.8m, $27m) would be allocated immediately to emergency relief efforts, with soldiers deployed in the region.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24996292

Sardinia? Hello!... Never knew that cyclones were in the med... I knew of strong wind possibility (including a storm that sunk a billionaire's yacht on its first outing) but CYCLONES?... Hum, it's possible I did not pay attention before...

Understanding the psychology of climate change denial helps counter the myths.

In this easy-to-read mini eBook, Danny Chivers presents the New Internationalist guide to debunking the myths of the climate change deniers.

Sceptics are people who don't take things at face value; they demand facts, and are ready to change opinions based on the weight of evidence, even if that goes against personal preferences or beliefs.

Deniers, on the other hand, refuse to accept evidence that conflicts with their personal beliefs, desires or ideology. People in denial gather reasons and excuses, however flimsy, that allow them to not believe in whatever unwelcome truth they're trying to avoid.

This first in our series of mini eBook Essential Guides will help you understand the psychology of climate change denial, and will provide memorable tools for debunking the myths of the climate change deniers.

http://www.newint.com.au/shop/climate-change-denial-mini-ebook-3220.htm?utm_source=adwords-ads&utm_medium=ppc&utm_content=body&utm_campaign=mini-ebooks&gclid=CIji14P_8boCFcYzpAodlSUAmA

Tony Abbott is an idiot...

Sydney can expect a warmer than average summer, making it likely the city will also record its hottest year ever, the Bureau of Meteorology predicts.

With a top of 30 degrees forecast for Thursday, the harbour city will be certain to notch up another month of above-average maximums, even though November has had closer to normal temperatures than the July-October stretch.

Barring a cool end to the year, 2013 is likely to be Sydney's warmest in 154 years of records, said Aaron Coutts-Smith, head of the bureau's climate monitoring for NSW