If you're interested in global warming and are familiar with shell scripts and Fortran, you can now access the code written by NASA's James Hansen on the taxpayers' dime.

Hansen continues to come across as a horse's behind as he reluctantly released data that we paid for.

Because the programs include a variety of languages and computer unique functions, Reto would have preferred to have a week or two to combine these into a simpler more transparent structure, but because of a recent flood of demands for the programs, they are being made available as is. People interested in science may want to wait a week or two for a simplified version.

Nah. "People interested in science" want to look at what you used to come up with your numbers. We'll take a look at the "simpler" version when it comes, but you better make sure you've got your ducks in a row; both programs better produce identical results.

We may know very soon just how "catastrophic" the global warming trends are thanks to the work that Steve McIntyre is doing over at ClimateAudit.org. For the past several weeks McIntyre has been trying to find the evidence of global warming in the NASA numbers, and he hasn't been having a whole lot of luck.

So United States shows no material change since the 1930s, but this doesn’t matter, South America doesn’t matter, Africa doesn’t matter and Antarctica has no records relevant to the 1930s. Europe and northern Asia would seem to be plausible candidates for locating Waldo. [BTW we are also told that the Medieval Warm Period was a regional phenomenon confined to Europe and northern Asia - go figure.]

On two separate occasions, Hansen, who two weeks ago contrasted royalty with “court jesters” saying that one does not “joust with jesters”, raised the possibility that the outside community is “wondering” why (using the royal “we”) he (a) “bothers to put up with this hassle and the nasty e-mails that it brings” or (b) “subject ourselves to the shenanigans”.

Actually, it wasn’t something that I, for one, was wondering about it all. In my opinion, questions about how he did his calculations are entirely appropriate and he had an obligation to answer the questions - an obligation that would have continued even if had flounced off at the mere indignity of having to answer a mildly probing question. Look, ordinary people get asked questions all the time and most of them don’t have the luxury of “not bothering with the hassle” or “not subjecting themselves to the shenanigans”. They just answer the questions the best they can and don’t complain. So should Hansen.

And questions are being raised. Questions that might turn into a big time black eye for Hansen and the rest of the global warming alarmists. The following note is an e-mail to Anthony Watts who has been coordinating the examination of U.S. temperature stations for problems -- like air conditioning units blowing hot air on the thermometers -- from volunteer Chris Dunn.

I downloaded the raw and adjusted text versions of the GISS data for Walhalla, and did a simple subtraction of annual figures: adjusted minus raw. It's clear that they created a step-up over time. They started by subtracting 0.3 from the early record, then progressively reduced this amount by 0.1 degree a couple of times until 1990, after which there were no adjustments made. This artificial "stepping down" of the historical temperature record as you go back in time induces a false upward trend to the data where, in my opinion, one shouldn't be. Consider that this is a rural site and the CRS was unmoved, and in the middle of a large, empty and level field in a relatively static, isolated setting from at least 1916 to 2000. There is just no justification for this whatsoever when looking at the site and the general area.

Of course, this "step" procedure is what McIntyre et. al. have been documenting over on CA for some time, now, but having visited the Walhalla site personally and seeing how pristine it was during that period, I am just shocked to see how the data have been so clearly & systematically manipulated. It seems if they can't find an upward trend, they simply create one. It's an outrage to an average citizen such as myself, especially when I think of the good people (private observers, among others) who dedicated their time every day for so long to create an accurate record. That's the real rub as I see it - the arrogant disregard of honest people who have put so much of their lives into it. I truly see just how important this work is that is being done by you and the folks over at Climate Audit.

I'm considering writing my congressmen, but will wait to see what the results are when McIntyre is done.

Lies. Damn lies. Statistics. And politicians are making energy policy on based on this garbage.