Yes, Sometimes They Just Make It Up!

Caroline Spelman is the Environment Secretary in the British government. As such it is her job to invent new catastrophes to justify the existence of her position. Global warming is the perfect disaster for those seeking new political controls. And since global warming can cause everything, and everything is proof of global warming, it is theory that can not be falsified.

Spelman has warned that global warming could disrupt the economy and one of the looming disasters is, "high temperatures disrupt Wi-Fi signals." Now, this was reported in the news so I went and double-checked the official government report and it does list high temperatures disrupting wireless signals as something that the government has to spend money correcting. Time magazine said: "Here's a side effect of global warming no one saw coming: it could negatively affect Wi-Fi signals. A report from the British Government's environmental department suggests that higher temperatures as a result of global warming will reduce the range of wireless signals." The Guardian reports: "Wi-fi internet access and other communications are at risk from global warming..." They even note this is example of how "climate change" would hit the developed world harder than developing nations.

The Guardian quotes Spelman as saying: "If climate change threatens the quality of your signal, or you can't get it because of extreme fluctuations in temperature, then you will be disadvantaged, which is why we must address the question." Remember in politics that "address the question" means spend billions of taxpayer funds on politically lucrative, but scientifically dubious, projects.

For a moment consider the worst-case models predicting global warming. Even the worst of them are nothing compared to normal temperature variations that already exist on the planet. I've lived in places where winter temperatures can average lower than Moscow and in places where summer temperatures go over 100 on a daily basis. The natural variations on the planet regularly surpass anything projected by the doomsayers.

Considering that Spelman was howling about doom in England lets use that country as an example. If the average temperature rose even by the absurdly high projection of 5 degrees this would make visits a lot more pleasant. According to the chart of average temperatures, put out by a London tourist department the average high in London doesn't go much about 70. According to uk.weather.com the highest average day temperature is 73.4.

That is our average temperature for April. Next month our average will be in the mid 80s, then the mid-90s in June and then around 100 for July and August. So all our wireless signals operate in a climate that varies from a winter low of below freezing to a summer high above 100. Those fluctuations take place within a few months time year in and year out and all wireless signals continue to operate fine.

We have real life examples of wireless signals working in all sorts of temperatures. Those of us in desert communities don't have to worry about having the signals constantly calibrated to take temperature fluctuations into account. And the temperature variations we face are far greater than the relatively small fluctuations predicted by warming models. If the average temperature in the UK rose by 5 degrees average there highest average day would be well below our typical spring high and well over 20 degrees below our summer average high.

But then, maybe, English wireless signals operate on different principles than do the signals in the American West. But somehow I doubt it.