Tim Ball Can't Decide Whether the Earth is Getting Colder or Warmer, but He Thinks Dr. Michael Mann Should Be in the State Pen instead of at Penn State

The renowned American climate scientist Dr. Michael Mann is suing a retired Canadian Historical Geologist named Dr. Tim Ball and a mysterious "John Doe" for libel because of comments they made on a Canadian site called the Frontier Centre (2-11-11). Dr. Ball claimed that Dr. Mann belonged in the "state pen," although this comment is now deleted from the site.


The Canadian Dr. Ball did not get specific about any American law Dr. Mann had supposedly broken. Tim Ball only claimed:


There is a move amongst the Attorney Generals in the States to start prosecuting.


Tim Ball was referring to Virginia's Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a stooge for the fossil-fuel interests who has hijacked the high office of Attorney General and turned it into a political police, an outpost of fossil-fuel propaganda and persecution of climate scientists. According to information posted on the Internet, Cuccinelli gets money from a company owned by his father, a career lobbyist for the gas industry. 


Just because Attorney General Cuccinelli launched a civil---not criminal---investigative demand, does not make Cuccinelli right. State and federal courts have not allowed Attorney General Cuccinelli access to Dr. Mann's emails. So far, our courts are protecting this famous scholar and our people from foreign and domestic operatives for the fossil fuel interests who seek to undermine our national security by buying up politicians and attorney generals. 


Dr. Mann's data and research for his "hockey stick" graph, which shows that the northern hemisphere has been warming, have been posted on the Internet for many years. They are in plain sight; they are not hidden, as the liars claim.  If Dr. Mann's research is fabricated, why don't other climate experts look at his data and code and expose Mann's errors? Instead, subsequent researchers have published similar results in peer-reviewed literature. The "hockey stick" is not controversial with real, practicing climate scientists at all. Dr. Mann's results have long been replicated by other scientists.


Tim Ball, who is not really a climate scientist, sometimes claims that the earth is cooling; but he sometimes also claims that the earth is warming. He does not cite evidence in peer-reviewed literature for either of his contradictory propositions.


In his 2011 interview with the mysterious "John Doe" of the Frontier Centre (2-10-11), Tim Ball claimed:


The earth has been cooling since at least the year 2000. It’s a very slight cooling trend but the rate of cooling is increasing.


In the Canada.com/Ottawa Citizen (5-18-2006), Tim Ball is quoted as saying:

Earth is warming up… but it’s not humans who are doing it.

Tim Ball keeps changing what he says without giving any evidence for his contradictory arguments. How can the earth be warming in 2006 but cooling at an increasing rate since 2000?

Could the secret data and computer code that would unravel this conundrum be hidden in Dr. Tim Ball's entrails? Inquiring minds want to know!

I don’t think that Tim Ball is really a climatologist at all.  His degree is reportedly in Historical Geography, although the Frontier Centre identifies him as a Historical Climatologist.

British Close "Climategate" Hacking Investigation, but U.S. Justice Department Investigation Hopefully Continues

"I hope that the separate investigation underway by the Justice Department in the US will continue undaunted, especially since the British police concluded that the data breach was the result of a 'sophisticated and carefully orchestrated attack'."---Dr. Michael Mann in BBC News (7-18-12)


"[T]he theory that the hacker was a disgruntled UEA employee - did real harm to public perceptions about the dangers of climate change."---University of East Anglia (7-18-12) 


The U.K. Guardian (7-18-12) reports that the Norfolk Constabulary are closing their investigation into the hacking of the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU) because of a three-year statute of limitations. The British investigation was code-named "Operation Cabin." In a second Guardian story (7-20-12), Detective Chief Superintendent Julian Gregory regrets that the culprits were not caught. Gregory observes:


[T]he data breach was the result of a sophisticated and carefully orchestrated attack" and that there was no evidence to suggest that anyone working at or associated with UEA was involved in the crime.


The BBC (7-18-12) reports that Dr. Michael Mann confirms that the U.S. Justice Department is conducting a separate investigation:


Prof Michael Mann from Penn State University in the US, who collaborated with CRU researchers on many projects and led the development of the noted "hockey stick" graph, said it was important that the criminals be brought to justice.


"I hope that the separate investigation underway by the Justice Department in the US will continue undaunted, especially since the British police concluded that the data breach was the result of a 'sophisticated and carefully orchestrated attack'," he told BBC News.


The University of East Anglia issued this press release (7-18-12):


Police close investigation into hacked CRU emails


Wed, 18 Jul 2012


Prof Edward Acton, Vice-Chancellor of the University of East Anglia, and Prof Phil Jones, Research Director of the Climatic Research Unit, have issued the following responses to Norfolk Constabulary's decision to close its investigation into the theft of emails from UEA's Climatic Research Unit:

Prof Acton said: “We are naturally disappointed that those responsible for this crime have not been caught and brought to justice. We are very grateful to Norfolk Constabulary for their sustained effort over the last two-and-a-half years, and appreciate the difficulty of devoting continued resources to such a complex international investigation. Clearly the perpetrators were highly sophisticated and covered their tracks extremely carefully. 

“The misinformation and conspiracy theories circulating following the publication of the stolen emails – including the theory that the hacker was a disgruntled UEA employee - did real harm to public perceptions about the dangers of climate change. The results of the independent inquiries and recent scientific studies have vindicated our scientists, who have returned to their important task of providing the best possible scientific information on this globally critical issue.”

Prof Jones said: “I would like to thank the police for their work on this difficult investigation and also for the personal support they offered me. I am obviously disappointed that no-one has been prosecuted for this crime but hope today’s announcement will draw a line under the stressful events of the last two and half years. My colleagues and I remain committed to the research CRU undertakes to illuminate the globally important issue of climate change.”

For further information, please visit the Norfolk Constabulary website.


The Norfolk Constabulary issued this press release (7-18-12):


18 July 2012

Norfolk Constabulary has made the decision to formally close its investigation into the hacking of online data from the Climate Research Centre (CRU) at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich.

The decision follows a comprehensive investigation by the force’s Major Investigation Team, supported by a number of national specialist services, and is informed by a statutory deadline on criminal proceedings.

While no criminal proceedings will be instigated, the investigation has concluded that the data breach was the result of a ‘sophisticated and carefully orchestrated attack on the CRU’s data files, carried out remotely via the internet’.

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Superintendent Julian Gregory, said: “Despite detailed and comprehensive enquiries, supported by experts in this field, the complex nature of this investigation means that we do not have a realistic prospect of identifying the offender or offenders and launching criminal proceedings within the time constraints imposed by law.

“The international dimension of investigating the World Wide Web especially has proved extremely challenging.

“However, as a result of our enquiries, we can say that the data breach was the result of a sophisticated and carefully orchestrated attack on the CRU’s data files, carried out remotely via the internet. The offenders used methods common in unlawful internet activity to obstruct enquiries.

“There is no evidence to suggest that anyone working at or associated with the University of East Anglia was involved in the crime.”

The security breach was reported to Norfolk Constabulary on 20 November 2009, following publication of CRU data on the internet from 17 November onwards.

An investigation was launched by the joint Norfolk and Suffolk Major Investigation Team, led by Det Supt Gregory, with some support from the The Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, the National Domestic Extremism Team and the Police Central e-crime Unit, along with consultants in online security and investigation.

The investigation, code-named Operation Cabin, focused on unauthorised access to computer material, an offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990, which has a three year limit on proceedings from the commission of the original offence. It has been concluded by Norfolk Constabulary, in consultation with The Met, that due to outstanding enquiries this is now an unrealistic prospect.

Norfolk Assistant Chief Constable Charlie Hall, Protective Services lead, said: “Online crime is a global issue. While law enforcement agencies continue to develop our response to emerging threats, it falls upon individuals and organisations to be alert to this and and take steps to mitigate risk as far as is practicable.”


Additional documents from the Norfolk Constabulary are posted on the right sidebar.

Will Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli Learn Anything from the Super Derecho Event of June 29, 2012?

"As the intensity of the heat wave, without reservation, was a key factor in the destructiveness of this derecho event - it raises the question about the possible role of manmade climate warming (from elevated greenhouse concentrations)"---Washington Post (6-30-12)

"Here in the US, we've seen a doubling in the frequency of record-breaking heat, relative to what we would expect from chance alone. So far this year, we're seeing those records broken at nearly 10 times the rate we would expect without global warming. So there is no question in my mind that the "signal" of climate change has now emerged in our day-to-day weather."---Dr. Michael Mann in The Guardian (7-3-12)

A huge branch plunged right through our kitchen roof during the recent derecho event, and we have a huge mess in the yard. Fortunately, it’s fixable; and as nobody was home, nobody was hurt when a 12 inch diameter branch plunged through the roof above the kitchen table.

My kitchen roof is just a little example of the cost of the more severe weather caused by climate change. We and our insurance company will have to pay thousands. That is nothing compared to the cost in lives from the derecho event. More than 20 people were killed by this huge derecho, and people are dying of the extreme temperatures that contributed to the derecho. Some old people were crushed to death as they slept in their beds. Our emergency 911 didn’t work for two days! Millions lost their electricity for days in 100 degree temperatures. Ironically, burning fossil fuels may have contributed to the destruction of our electric power!

Bad weather happens, and Virginians are surrounded by huge trees that demolish roofs and power lines; but the derecho event is an example of climate change---higher temperatures---making bad weather more severe. I wonder if any of the politicians or political operatives who deny global warming had a log pierce the ceiling where their children sleep, eat, and play?

I often watch CNN, and they constantly air commercials on behalf of the fossil-fuel interests. Probably FOX does too, but I never watch them any more. Perhaps the cable news won’t say much about climate change because their fossil-fuel sponsors would drop them. The fossil-fuel propagandists on T.V. say that fossil-fuels are "cheap," but they aren't telling people that part of the hidden cost of using fossil-fuels are expensive economic and human consequences from increasingly severe weather.

MSNBC tells more about climate change, and the Washington Post linked the June 29 derecho to climate change right on the front page of their on-line paper. The derecho was like a hurricane that began with thunderstorms in Iowa and raced like a tsunami south-east to the Atlantic coast with little warning. Repairs to power lines are slow because there was no time to hire repair crews from outside the area prior to the event and because many states were affected.

Here is an excellent article in the Washington Post (6-30-12) about the derecho, and it states that a factor was climate change:

As the intensity of the heat wave, without reservation, was a key factor in the destructiveness of this derecho event - it raises the question about the possible role of manmade climate warming (from elevated greenhouse concentrations). It’s a complicated, controversial question, but one that scientists will surely grapple with in case studies of this rare, extraordinary event.

I used to be a Republican; but when the fake Climategate provocation happened, I did some research and realized that my party was just lying to me. They thought that I was a fool, and I guess they were right. I realized that Republican politicians are persecuting the great scientists who are trying to protect us and show us how to transition to renewable energy.

Virginia’s mendacious Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and his climate-change denying crew were all rebuked by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on June 26, four days before the derecho. Here is my link to some sources on that related story. Be sure to read the Court’s ruling. They were very contemptuous of Cuccinelli's crew:


This is how science works. EPA is not required to re-prove the existence of the atom every time it approaches a scientific question.”---United States Court of Appeals

Cuccinelli complains that the EPA didn't do its own research, but whom does this Tea Party freak cite in his petition to the EPA for his “science”? Attorney General Cuccinelli cites the Kremlin’s official news agency RIA Novosti recycling the propaganda of Kremlin-friendly-Kommersant, which is owned by the Gazprom operative Alisher Usmanov. The Russian mogul is also big into mining nickel–like that notorious Canadian climate change denialist Steve McIntyre. Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but I do wonder.

Cuccinelli lives in Virginia, so his family was endangered by the derecho. This man even endangers his own children’s futures with his climate change denialism. When I see pictures of him with all his innocent children, I am reminded of the pictures of the propagandist Joseph Goebbels with his innocent children who were all destroyed by poison and their father's mendacity.

If Mr. Cuccinelli would listen to the scientist Michael Mann and tell Virginians the truth about the dangers of climate change, all our children would have a safer future. Cuccinelli is not some elderly politician who was educated before schools and universities taught about climate change, but he gets money for his campaigns from the fossil fuel interests. He also gets money for his campaigns from a business owned by his his father, who is a career lobbyist for the natural gas industry.

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli should think of the kind of world he is leaving his children. Cuccinelli is a Catholic, and even the Vatican's prestigious Pontifical Academy of Sciences is hosting conferences about climate change. Shouldn't Attorney General Cuccinelli consider the opinions of scientists who advise his own church?

How dare Ken Cuccinelli subvert the office of Attorney General and turn it into a political police, the "sword and shield" of the fossil-fuel industry! How dare he persecute climate scientists and undermine our scientific agencies on behalf of domestic and foreign fossil-fuel companies! He should be a leader who protects the people, not a liar!

Here is what Dr. Michael Mann, who is being persecuted by Attorney General Cuccinelli, told the Guardian (7-3-12) in an excellent article about the link between climate change and the June 29 derecho:

Professor Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at the Penn State Department of Meteorology:


I like to use the analogy of loaded dice. Here in the US, we've seen a doubling in the frequency of record-breaking heat, relative to what we would expect from chance alone. So far this year, we're seeing those records broken at nearly 10 times the rate we would expect without global warming. So there is no question in my mind that the "signal" of climate change has now emerged in our day-to-day weather. We are seeing the loading of the random weather dice toward more "sixes". We are seeing and feeling climate change in the more extreme heat we are witnessing this summer, the outbreak of massive forest fires like the one engulfing Colorado over the past week, and more extreme weather events like the Derecho that knocked out power for millions in the eastern US during a record-breaking heat spell.