Chapter 12 Parts Of Speech Overview Answer Key: Fill & Download for Free

Step by Step Guide to Start Writing a BookStep 1: Pick a GenreTake a quick glance at your bookshelf. What do you see? Mills and Boons historical romances? Charles Bukowski’s Dirty Realism? Paperbacks straight from the NYT Bestsellers list? Anne Rice vampire rip-offs? The complete Dune and Foundation series?Picking a genre is the first step in writing a book. Don’t base this choice on what genres sell best, but what you like to read. A hardcore sci-fi fan writing a ‘new adult’ novel is only going to produce a shoddy book – if she finishes it at all.In other words, write for yourself, not the market. Stephen King puts it best:“When you write a story, you’re telling yourself the story. When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story. Your stuff starts out being just for you, but then it goes out.”Step 2: Start from the EndEndings are the hardest part of any story. Don’t take our word for it; just ask any writer buddy of yours. Most beginners start out strong but find themselves flummoxed by the time the ending draws near. It doesn’t help that the ending is also the thing that stays longest with readers.So before you put a single word to paper, figure out how your story ends. Not how it begins – that can be redrawn and revised indefinitely – how it closes. Work your way backwards. How does the character(s) reach his/her ultimate fate? What are the catalysts that lead to the close? What was their origin? And so on. Your plots will sound much more plausible and you’ll avoid the dreaded Deus Ex Machina that plagues so much fiction.Step 3: Create Your CharactersCharacters, not plots, are the soul of good writing. You don’t recall the story from Henry V; you recall Falstaff. The plot of Catcher in the Rye is mostly superfluous. It’s Holden Caulfield who holds your attention. Same with Sherlock Holmes, Atticus Finch, and Hercule Poirot. Characters stay with readers for generations, the stories are mostly forgotten.This is why you must draw out your characters before you start writing the book. These tips should help:Write a Character Biography: When was the character born? What is her name? Who were her parents? Was she rich, poor, or middle-class? Where did she go to school? What did she study in college? Answering questions like these will help draw a deep portrait of the character and make her more convincing.Understand the Character’s Motivations: What does your character want? What are her motivations for doing what she does?Understand Character Arc: Character arc refers to the character’s development through the story. The essential quality of every good character is change. For example, Harry Potter starts off naïve and ends up a steely eyed adult, while Frodo Baggins is a nobody from Shire who ends up as the savior of Middle Earth.Understand the Struggle: “Character A wants B, but C stands in the way”. How A manages to overcome C and get B is the heart of any story. For example: Rocky wants to be a champion, but crushing poverty and Apollo Creed stand in his way. How he overcomes this is the meat of Rocky, not the final fight itself.Step 4: Make an OutlineOnce you have your characters firmly in place, start creating an outline of the plot. This is meant to serve as a very rough guideline to hold the plot in place. You don’t have to follow it word for word; feel free to improvise while you write.Chiefly, the outline should:Give a brief overview of what happens in each chapter.Delineate the primary struggle in the novel.Show how different events and characters interact and affect each other (A murders B, C takes the fall, etc.)Allow plenty of room for improvisationStep 5: Write the First Draft“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed”-Ernest HemingwayThe first draft is where you discover the story by yourself.As you write, you’ll find characters and plots growing in directions you’d never thought possible. The outlines you wrote earlier will often be discarded as you experiment with characters, plots, styles and forms. This is a place for you to break the mold and push yourself creatively. Don’t bother being perfect; the faster you can jot down ideas on paper, the better. Eventually, this rough collection of thoughts, ideas, and plotlines will come together into a comprehensible book – after due editing and countless revisions of course. For now, focus on writing – anything.Step 6: Get Yourself a DrinkNow that you’re done with the first draft, head over to the nearest watering hole and grab yourself a drink. You’ve earned it.Step 7: RewriteThis is the part where most writers fail. Slinging out a rough draft is easy enough; turning that incomprehensible mess into something readers would want to read takes time, patience and practice.Ideally, you should give yourself a few months between first draft and first rewrite. This gives you the creative distance necessary to analyze the writing dispassionately.Ask sharp, pertinent questions – does the plot make sense? Are the characters convincible? Is the pace too slow? Too fast? Is the writing crisp and creative enough? Is the story fun to read?The first rewrite should take you considerably longer than the first draft. Don’t worry about getting every word right – you’ll take care of that during editing. For now, focus on pulling the rough ideas in the draft into a narrative that actually makes sense.Step 8: Edit“Write Drunk; Edit Sober”– Ernest HemingwayDone with the first rewrite? Don’t start partying yet. There is still lots of work to be done.Editing is the opposite of creative writing. Instead of spinning beautiful metaphors and creating lush imagery, you have to actually delete linguistic flourishes. The amazing adverb you found after an hour’s search in the thesaurus? Gone. Those long-winded, poetic asides? Deleted.This is where, as Stephen King puts it, you must “kill your darlings”.To make this murder slightly easier, follow these tips:Minimize Adverb Use: Adverbs are the lazy man’s writing crutches. They reduce into a single word what should generally be conveyed by context. “He walked quickly to the door as Lily pulled into the garage” is not bad writing, it’s lazy writing. Try being more descriptive – “He rushed to the door as soon as he heard Lily’s car pull into the garage”.Use Plenty of Synonyms: This quote from Dead Poet’s Society says it all:“So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys – to woo women – and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do. It also won’t do in your essays.”Tighten Up: A book is no place for lazy writing. Take out words and passages that aren’t absolutely crucial to the story. Your book should be half its original length after a solid round of editing.Get Outside Help: Most writers don’t have the critical distance to edit their own books properly. Consider getting outside help – a professional editor or a friend – to look over your manuscript.Step 9: Party!Congratulations – you’ve now written your very first book. This is the time to hit the clubs and party hard. Then wake up next morning and start working on your second book!Source : UdemyEdit : Thanks a lot guys for your upvotes. I am sharing a small guide on how to write a book in 2018. Lets have a look on it too.How to Write a Book in 2018: A Definitive Guide for WritersSo you want to learn how to write a book in 2018?I think you'll agree with me when I say learning to write a book for the first time is a challenge.Let’s tackle that.Over the past few years, I’ve written a 60,000+ word book about productivity, a novella and several short stories. I’ve also recently completed a 60,000+ word book about creativity.I’ve faced a lot of painful mistakes while writing books, and I’ve also learned a little bit about how to write a book.In this post, I want to explain exactly how to write a book based on what I’ve learned.I also want to reveal some of my mistakes and some proven book writing tips, so you can get started writing a book today.Caveat:Although I write fiction and non-fiction, my specialism is non-fiction writing.In this guide, I focus on how to write a non-fiction book in 2018.That said, you can still use some of the lessons from this post if you want to learn how to write a fiction book.GET A SPREADSHEET FOR TRACKING YOUR WRITINGContents [hide]Commit to Writing Your BookWhat You Need to Know About Writing a Book for the First TimeDetermine Why You Should Write a BookResearch Your AudienceEstablish What Your Book is AboutDecide What Type of Writer You AreBudget for Self-Publishing Your BookResearch Your BookInterview Experts for Your BookKnow When to Stop Researching and Start WritingOrganise Your Ideas and Outline Your BookSet a DeadlineWrite That Messy First DraftManage Your Writing Time Like a ProTrack Your ProgressLet Your Work SitWrite Your Second and Third DraftsHire an EditorHire a ProofreaderFormatting and Publishing Your BookKnow When You’re at The EndCommit to Writing Your BookCan anyone write a book?Writing your first book is a time-consuming creative project that demands months (or even years) of your time.Before you decide to write one ask yourself if you have the mental resources, the creative energy and the time to do it.You do?Great.You’re going to have to write almost every day and sacrifice other things in your life or rearrange your day so you can put writing first, if only for a little while.When I wrote my first book, I gave up playing Call of Duty and Halo because I didn’t have the time to write and to play games.In other words, like anything worth doing, you must stick to your commitment when times get tough, when you feel like you’re not progressing as fast as you’d like or when the writing is more like work and less like something you’re passionate about.You must adopt the mindset of a professional writer who doesn’t call in sick or give up because he or she doesn’t feel like doing the work, you must become a professional writer who goes in and gets the job done.What You Need to Know About Writing a Book for the First TimeThis is because you may be unsure of what a book should achieve and how to publish it. Book writing, like any skill, takes time to develop. You need to learn skills like writing the first draft, self-editing, arranging your ideas and son on.Stephen King, for example, threw a draft of his first book in the bin. His wife fished the book Carrie out of the trash and encouraged him to finish and publish it.It took me three years to write my first novella, and it took me a year to write my second book.Determine Why You Should Write a BookMost people leave out how lonely the writing process feels when you’re starting off.You have to spend hours researching your book, writing and rewriting it, and sitting alone in a room with only your words and ideas for company.If you’ve never written a book the isolation is difficult to get used to but don’t worry, it’ll pass as you get into the process of writing a book.Now the people close to you may understand what you’re doing, but don’t count on it!Listen to this: one new writer struggling with his book emailed me to say:“One of the reasons I have not gone farther with writing is because family sees me working at a computer, or like today with a cell phone and thinks I’m goofing off.”You’ll be able to handle isolation, other people’s judgments and keep motivated if you know why you should write a book in the first place.Here are some questions to ask yourself:Is my book a passion project?Am I writing this book to improve my craft?Will this book help me advance my career or become an expert in my field?How will I serve existing or new readers with my book?Is a book the best medium for me to express my ideas?Do I want to generate a side-income from my book and if so, how much?Do I have a plan for the marketing, promotion and distribution of my book?Will this book help me advance my dream for writing full-time?Have at least four to seven reasons for why you’re writing a book in the first place because they will help you keep motivated when you feel isolated or when others question what you’re doing.Why do I write books?To practice writing and improve my craftTo help other writers and readersTo deepen my knowledge of various topicsTo earn a side-income from book salesResearch Your AudienceAs a savvy, writer it’s your job to find out what your audience wants, likes and dislikes.Spend an hour or two browsing Amazon and finding Kindle books about your topic. Look for books in your niche with a sales ranking below 30,000.Typically, these books sell at least five copies a day, meaning they’re popular with readers and earn a return for the author.Read at least five of the books in your niche, taking note of the titles, categories and ideas behind each book.So, how do you get new ideas for your book? Study the good and bad reviews for these books, so you can see what readers liked and disliked and how you can do better.One great way to do this is to combine several different ideas from different books and then remix them with your writing.Figure out what you’re going to say that’s different because if you want to add value for readers, you must offer something other writers (your competition) don’t.Establish What Your Book is AboutAlthough you may have a vague idea of what you want to write about, you’ll save a lot of time if you clarify your idea before you start writing.So how do you get ideas to write a book?Get a blank piece of paper and spend an hour asking and answering questions like:Who is this book for?What’s the big idea behind my book?What am I trying to say?How is my book different to everything else that’s out there?Why should people spend their money (or time) reading my book?What can I offer that no one else can?Nobody has to see your answers, so be as honest as you can.You might know what your book is about, but does your reader?Unless you’re writing fiction or literary non-fiction, craft a positioning statement for your book, so you know what it’s about in one sentence.Here are three templates:My book helps ________________ who ________________ get ________________.My book teaches ________________ how to ________________.My book helps ________________ who ________________ achieve ________________.And here’s my positioning statement for my book about creativity. “My book helps people who don’t think they’ve any ideas become more creative.”Doing this extra work upfront will help you avoid spending hours writing a book, only to find you hate your idea. And if you’re self-publishing your book, your answers will also help you market your book so readers care.Decide What Type of Writer You AreThere’s two types of writers: pantsters and plotters.Pantsters are writers who sit down in front of the blank page with only a vague idea of where they are going or what the story is about. They write from the seat of their pants inventing things as they go along and are happy to see to see where their characters take them. They write with a connection to God, their muse or their sub-consciousness. Stephen King is a pantster.Plotters are writers who spend weeks or months organising their ideas, deciding what they want to write about in advance. When plotters sit down to write, they have a strong idea of what they’re going to say and they’ve the research to back it up. Robert Greene, the author of Masteryand the 48 Laws of Power, is a plotter.I’ve tried both approaches, and there’s nothing wrong with either.You’ll discover what type of writer you are (and your voice will emerge) if you turn up and do the work.Remember, as Seth Godin says, everybody’s writing process is different.After years of painful rewrites, unfinished manuscripts and pulling my hair out, I found out that I’m a plotter. I like to know what I’m writing about in advance. I NEED to know what I’m writing about in advance. Today, I’m convinced being a plotter lends itself well to most types of non-fiction writing.Budget for Self-Publishing Your BookI’ve written before about the cost of self-publishing a book.Writing a book is free (unless you count your time) but publishing a book is not. So please, budget for hiring an editor, proofreader and a cover designer. Recently, I spent:USD2000 on an editor for a 60,0000-word book about creativityUSD500 on a proofreaderUSD250 on a cover designerAnd what else did I budget for?Well because I’m self-publishing this book I set aside several hundred dollars for Facebook ads and for various book promotional services on Fiverr. You can get all of the above for cheaper (which I’ll explain), but please understand that having an editor, proofreader and cover designer is non-negotiable.Here’s the truth: If you want to write a book readers enjoy, you must invest more than just time in your book.Research Your BookRobert Greene says he reads 300–400 books over the course of 12–24 months before he starts writing a book. He uses an analogue system of flashcards to record lessons and stories from each of these books and highlights what he reads. He says “I read a book, very carefully, writing on the margins with all kinds of notes.A few weeks later I return to the book, and transfer my scribbles onto note cards, each card representing an important theme in the book.”You may not be writing a book as dense as Robert’s but research is an important part of learning how to write a book. Have a system for recording and organising your research.You could use Evernote like I do, create a mind map or use index cards like Robert. I use my Kindle to highlight key sections in books I read. Once a week I review these highlights and record notes about them in Evernote. This way, I have a digital filing system of everything I’ve come across.Interview Experts for Your BookIn another life I was a journalist, and part of my job involved interviewing politicians, business people and even authors.Can I be honest with you?The interviews that caused me the most problems were over 60 minutes long because they took hours to listen to and transcribe.Don’t make my mistake. I recommend keeping your interviews between 30–60 minutes and working out what you want to ask interviewees about in advance.You can also save a lot of time by getting your interviews transcribed for a dollar a minute using Rev.Know When to Stop Researching and Start WritingSo, how much research is too much?Well, Robert Greene’s books are dense 500+ page non-fiction books filled with historical stories and psychological insights. In other words, research forms the backbone of what Robert writes.Your book might not depend on so much research up-front. There comes a point where research stops being helpful and transforms into a type of procrastination.Besides, you can always continue to research you book as you write… once you have a system for capturing your ideas as you go.Organise Your Ideas and Outline Your BookOutlining my bookI outlined my book about creativity in advance. I started by reading dozens of books about creativity over the course of a year before deciding to tackle this topic.Then, I free wrote about creativity for an hour or so.Then, I extracted the ideas I wanted to write about. I turned them into provisional chapter titles and recorded on them on twenty index cards, one for each chapter.On each card, I created a rough list of ideas in the form of five to ten bullet points. I also noted other books and stories to reference.Then, I pinned these index cards to a wall near where I write so I could live with this outline for a few weeks. I spent several weeks working on this outline before transferring it to my computer and expanding upon each of the bullet points.Why did I do this?I wanted to spend as much mental energy during the planning stage as I could so that when the time came to put words on the page, I wouldn’t have to worry as much about what I was saying.Outlining my book with pen and paper, and then later with Evernote, helped me figure out what I wanted to write about in each chapter, identify gaps in my research and problems in my work UPFRONT.Obviously, my outline and table of contents evolved while I was writing the book, but when I was starting from ‘Total word count: 0’, my outline served as a map. It saved me time and helped me beat procrastination.Set a DeadlineProfessional writers work to deadlines.A typical non-fiction book is between 60,000 and 80,000 words, and a typical novel can be anywhere between 60,000 and 120,000 words. (That said, there’s a case for writing shorter non-fiction books if you’re self-publishing)So, if you want to write a non-fiction book, and you commit to writing 1000 words a day, it will take you 60 days to write a first draft if you write every day.Do you need to write every day? If this is your first book, it’s unrealistic to expect you can write every day for several months. Instead, aim to write five or six days a week. If you haven’t written much before, set a more achievable target daily word count along the lines of 300 or 400 words.Then, with some basic maths and a calendar (I use Google’s), you can work out how long writing the first draft of your book will take and set yourself a deadline.Write That Messy First DraftWriting the first draft of a book is intimidating. You look at the blank page in front of you and you wonder how you’re going to fill this page and hundreds of other pages to come. Don’t overthink it.Instead, find somewhere you can write quietly for an hour and do all you can to get the words out of your head and onto the blank page.The first draft is sometimes called the vomit draft because you just need to get it out! Don’t stop to edit yourself, review what you’ve written or to see if what you’re saying makes sense.I find it helpful to set a target word count for my writing sessions. I usually aim to write 1500 words in an hour, set a timer and open Scrivener. Then, I keep my fingers moving until I reach the target word count or until the buzzer sounds.While you’re writing your first draft, keep your outline and notes nearby, to guide you through each section in your chapter.My writing isn’t good enough, I feel like I’ll never finish my first draft!A writer asked me this question a few weeks ago.First of all, the job of your first draft is simply to exist, so please don’t worry about the writing… that comes later. If you feel like you’ll never finish it, start writing in the middle of the chapter that’s causing your problems.Here’s why: Introductions explain what you’re about to say next, but how can you write an introduction if you don’t know what comes next?Similarly, conclusions wrap up what you just said, but how can you write one if you don’t know what you just said! Jumping straight into the middle of a chapter will help you gain momentum faster. Then, take your first draft chapter by chapter.Tip: Speech to text software will help you write faster.Manage Your Writing Time Like a ProI wrote my first book when I was working in a job I disliked, just after my wife had our daughter.I didn’t have enough free time to write eight hours a day. Even if I did, I lacked the mental discipline to do it.When I was starting out, I wrote every night after 9 PM when the kids were in bed. However, I quickly found that when I put writing last in the day, it was least likely to happen.Now, I block-book time in my calendar for writing every morning at 6 AM, and I do all I can stick to this. It helps that my daughter is now five. IIf you’re a new writer or you’ve never written a book before, you’re probably balancing writing your book with a job and family commitments. So, pick a time that you’re going to write every day, block-book it in your calendar and do all you can to stick to it.Managing your writing time also means saying no to other activities and ideas… if they take you away from the blank page.Did I ever tell you about the podcast I almost launched? Well, I had a great idea for a podcast, and I even bought all the audio equipment, but then I realised spending time on a podcast would have taken away from writing my creativity book.Track Your ProgressOne of the biggest tips I can give you for writing your first book is to track your daily word count and how long you spend writing each day.Ernest Hemingway recorded his daily word count on a board next to where he wrote, so as not to kid himself.Tracking your daily word count will help measure your word count and see how far you need to go to reach your target for writing your first book.Your daily word count becomes less important when you’re writing the second and third draft or editing your book.During these rewrites, you should be more concerned about shaping your ideas and working on the flow and structure of your book than an arbitrary word count.When you’re at this point, it’s more helpful to know long you spend rewriting or editing your book.No matter the stage of your book, you should be able to :Review your word count and how long you write forIdentify if you reached any milestones like finishing a chapter or sectionSee what’s holding you backFigure out what you need to write or research nextTrack your wordcount in 2018Remember, what gets measured gets managed and what gets managed, gets done.Source : How to Write a Book: The Seriously Ultimate Guide for New Writers

Home→Learning Habits→The Study Plan Schedule Strategy (That Actually Works)13The Study Plan Schedule Strategy (That Actually Works)This is a guest post by Niklas Goeke. Niklas is a freelance writer and coach on coach.me. Action is his cure to anything, so he won’t be mad at you if you cut some corners and jump right into the mini-course that helps you implement a study schedule.Do you find yourself procrastinating a lot when trying to study?Can you not keep up with the amount of materials with your current study schedule?Do you maybe even pull all-nighters, cramming as much as you can the night before an important test?Then it’s time for a study plan schedule that works!Recently I helped my friend Ted set up his study plan so he could take 7 exams in 10 days. Here’s us revising his statistics material on a recent call:(the material being in German doesn’t make it easier)Thanks to his new study schedule, he passed 6 of them with flying colors!Felix Wong even took it a step further and completed an MBA in 4.5 months. Getting an MBA takes most people 2+ years and tens of thousands of dollars. Felix did it in 135 days, paying less than $3000.This would have been impossible, had Felix not had an incredible study plan.Steve has already shown you 11 good study habits. So you should already have a good study routine, so today we’ll take a closer look at each one and show you how you can implement them right away.What will you accomplish with a new and excellent study routine? Finish your degree? Write a paper? Ace a presentation?There’s no time to waste, let’s go!Step 1: Find out your learning styleWe now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn. ~ Peter DruckerIf you don’t know how you learn best, it will be impossible for you to learn efficiently at all. There are 5 different styles of learning, all of which fall into one of two groups.If you are a visual learner, you will understand the 5 different styles best by looking at this picture, since images and a sense of spatiality help you get a grip on things:SourceShould you be an aural learner, you pick up things by hearing and listening closely. Watching this TED talkabout learning styles will probably help you understand the concept much quicker than reading through this section.This also means music and sounds will help you while studying. Try listening to some kind of white noise, like rain sounds while you learn. Listening to one song on repeat (especially classical music and instrumentals) can also help you focus.Maybe you are a verbal learner. Using words in writing and speech comes natural to you. You win the ‘blog lottery’, because reading articles works perfectly for you. Try to repeat out loud what you remember about the 5 learning styles after you finish this section to see if speaking helps your memory.If you are a physical learner you’ll prefer using your body, touching things with your hands, and are focused on the feelings you get while doing whatever you’re trying to learn. Try printing this article. Just holding the paper in your hands as you read will help you understand better. Furthermore buying some study printablesgives you a chance to put your hands on a good study schedule and really come to grips with the study plan format.Lastly, you might be a logical learner. You like to sort things logically, create systems and are a very reasonable person. Try to create your own arrangement of the five learning styles and two categories, maybe draw a mindmap or use index cards to build a structure that works well for you.No matter which of these you are, you can fall into one of two groups: solitary learner or social learner. This simply describes whether you best learn alone, just going over the material by yourself, or whether you usually gain your best insights when you study with a group where you explain problems, teach each other, ask questions and review together.In order to create a good study schedule it is absolutely necessary for you to know what type of learner you are.You probably have somewhat of an idea what type of learner you are already. Your intuition is usually right, but to make sure, you can take this short 5-minute quiz.Click here to take the quiz and find out your learning style right now!Step 2: Set realistic study goalsThere are two steps to achieving a goal: planning and executing. A plan without execution is no good, but so is random execution without a plan. You will only reach your goal when you do both of them well.When Felix set out to get his MBA in such a short time, he planned well ahead, knowing exactly how many classes he would have to take, how many papers, quizzes and exams were necessary for each one and even how many chapters he had to read in his study books. That gave him a good idea of how long it would take him to complete the entire program.The problem with setting realistic study goals is most of us don’t know what’s realistic.Did you ever tell yourself: Tomorrow I will read 5 chapters in my biology book, complete the English class assignment and take an online quiz – and then failed to do it all and felt bad about yourself?It’s really hard to know what we can realistically achieve in one day. But if you yourself don’t even know, how can I give you advice on how much you should take on each day?Well, I know this: If you give yourself one thing to do each day, only one small to-do, then you can definitely achieve that. There are two things you need to do to create your one-item study schedule for each day.Part 1: Pick a very simple goal for your semesterMy friend Ted set himself one goal for the semester: Take 7 exams. He even pinned it right above his TV:Pick a very simple goal for your current term or semester that you want to achieve.For example you could make it your goal to write 50 pages for your thesis, attend 5 classes, or complete a 6-month internship.Make sure your study goal is not results-oriented, but focuses on the experience. You can write 50 pages, attend 5 classes and show up every day at your internship. That’s all up to you.But if your goal is to complete the degree, pass 5 classes or get a great review on your internship, that’s not only in your hands.Your goal shouldn’t depend on others. It must be something you can control.Part 2: Create a list of all the tiny actions you need to take towards your goalWe then created a list of all the things Ted had to learn for all of these exams. For example statistics:He had several lectures to attend and wanted to complete 10 exams from previous years as practice. So the list looked like this:Attend lecture 1Attend lecture 2Attend lecture 3…Take practice exam 1Take practice exam 2Take practice exam 3…and so on. Break your goal down into baby steps. Think as if you wanted to explain to a 3-year-old what she must do to get to that goal.You know your list is good when you have a lot of items on it (because you’ll do one each day) and when your items take an hour or less.Note: It helps a lot to set deadlines, so if you want to study for several classes, set milestones for every month or every 2 weeks. This will help you get motivated to actually make a little progress each day, especially because doing one thing is not that hardDo you not have anything to study at the moment? Many adults may not have a specific curriculum like those attending classes. This does not mean that you should be doing nothing. Self education is an important part of our modern world. If you have nothing to specific to study why not investigate some self education options you can learn on your own.Step 3: Make study time a part of your daily routineThere is only one difference between an amateur and a professional: The amateur waits until he feels inspired or motivated to do the work. The professional has a schedule that he sticks to, come hell or high water.If you want to reach your study habit goal, you really need to make studying a daily habit.When my girlfriend’s elementary school teacher told her to complete an assignment, she would sometimes say: “I don’t feel like it.” Her answer always was: “Well, then you’ll do it without feeling like it.”Studying daily, whether exams are coming up or not, will give you a huge advantage over all your friends who try to cram all their studying into a few long days (and nights).To make studying part of your routine, first you must know at what time of the day you usually perform best.For most people it’s the morning, because at 10 am your alertness is highest, according to your circadian rhythm.But for you it might be different. If you need to try different study times, start by picking one where you think you’re likely to do well.Block the time in your calendar, give yourself at least an hour each day to complete one of your tiny action items.For example, I’m trying to write daily right now, so I blocked time in my calendar each day:If you want to study in the morning, you could also try out a morning routine and make studying an updating your study planner a part of it.Keep the commitment small though, you know how easy it is for life to get in the way. Make sure you commit to a study schedule you can keep. Consistency is more important than taking huge steps.Step 4: Structure your study timeIf you often feel worn out after studying for a while and just can’t talk yourself into continuing, maybe you need to restructure the way you study.The key to staying fresh and alert during long study sessions is to include lots of breaks.No matter what time of the day you picked to study, try using the Pomodoro Technique. You set a timer for 25 minutes and get started.Depending on your own preference, you can either start with your most difficult tasks (do this if you tend to avoid them altogether) or with an easy one to get some momentum and feel more prepared (do this if you give up easily on them).(you can even buy a tomato-shaped timer for motivation, if you like!)Once your 25 minutes of focused time are over, you set the timer to 5 minutes for a short break.It is important that you do nothing related to studyingduring that time. You should relax and recharge.Get up, move around, activate your muscles and get some blood flowing. A walk around the block is perfect, it will give you fresh air and get you closer to your 10,000 steps for the day.After the 5 minutes are over, study for another 25 minute block, and so on.The creator of the technique recommends a longer, 10-minute break every 4 blocks, but I usually find myself taking an even longer one, usually about an hour where I eat something as well.Don’t pressure yourself into doing too many blocks in the beginning. If you can eventually reach 6-8 blocks per day, that’s plenty.3 to 4 hours of focused study time are worth much more than 8 hours where you neither really study nor actually relax.Many professionals know this. Woody Allen writes 3-5 hours per day and he produces a comedy in a month. World class chess players also often study 3-4 hours per day and spend the rest of it exercising and resting.Step 5: Create your own study zoneThe best way for you to “get into the zone” while studying is to, well, get into the zone. Your study zone. Having a specific location for your studies will help you trigger the habit as soon as you enter the room or place.Your study zone should be clean and distraction-free. Check out my desk:I only have a calendar, some paper for taking notes, and an inspiring quote on it. Nothing else. I just put my laptop on it and work.Don’t leave stacks of papers, bills, pens, cables, headphones, phones, books, magazines and all other kinds of distractions lying around. A cluttered desk leads to a cluttered mind.Try to have at least two study zones, so you can switch in case you need to. My favorite place to study right now is our couch:I can just put my laptop on my lap and work comfortably and without distractions.If you’re an aural learner like me, you might need your study zone to be quiet or listen to a song on repeat to really focus well. But maybe you do well with some background noise, so it might be a good idea to establish a study zone at a local coffee shop or the library.Eliminate all possible distractions. Put your phone on silent (turn off the vibration!) and, if possible, leave it in another room to avoid it altogether. Don’t study in the room where your TV is or close to the door of a place where people enter and leave all the time.The worst and easiest distractions are only a click away online, so make sure you block those.Here are some tools to help you do that:SelfControl (Mac) / ColdTurkey (Windows)TimeOut (Mac) / Workrave (Windows)Facebook News Feed Eradicator (Chrome)Adblock Plus (all browsers)Also, setting your browser to reopen all tabs from your last session might seem like a smart thing to do, but it really just produces information overload, so set your options to new tab to make sure you always start with a clean slate.Remember: Your study zone should minimize stress to maximize focus.Step 6: Take notes depending on your learning styleTaking notes is an important skill that you should try to master. How and when you should take notes depends heavily on your learning style, but before we get into that I’d like to help you avoid a rookie mistake.Don’t take notes of everything!If you write down everything you will just be left with a transcript of the lecture, which you’ll then have to learn again from scratch, since you didn’t pay any attention when the lecture actually happened.(taking pictures is similar, you gain a photo, but you lose a memory!)This is not a good way to learn, especially if you’re an aural learner. Just listen to the lecture, give it your full attention and once it’s over, take notes of the most important ideas as you go through it again in your head. Maybe even record the lecture, if that’s possible.Visual learners can draw little sketches and diagrams or copy the mindmaps and graphic schemes the teacher draws on the board.Verbal learners can jot down important points as they listen, but do so only if the teacher keeps repeating and emphasizing this point – this is a good indicator that it’ll be important later on, for example in a test.No matter how you take notes and how you use them, the most important part is that your note-taking style fits you. It doesn’t matter if anyone else thinks it’s right or wrong.Take Ludwig van Beethoven, for example. He left behind hundreds of sketchbooks filled with notes. Yet he said he never looked at them while he was composing.(he knows how to take notes)When someone asked him why he took notes in the first place he said: “If I don’t write it down right away, I instantly forget it. If I write it down, I never forget it and don’t have to look at it ever again.”Note: It is also a good idea to keep digitized versions of your notes: Steve talk about the good reasons to digitize study notesand study plans.Step 7: Review your notes regularlyUnless you’re Beethoven, you will likely have to look at your notes again some time. Whether you think that’s best done before a study session, or after, is up to you. What has been shown to help improve memory is looking at notes right before you go to sleep.A great way to review your notes is to use Anki.Anki helps you study with flashcards. There are many decks you can download, for example to learn countries, like above.You are shown a word, map, symbol or question, and when you have the answer you press space.Depending on how you think you did (did it take you long to find the answer? did you have it immediately?) you can decide whether you want to do this card again sooner or later.You can even create your own decks, based on your notes!Anki also lets you adjust how many new cards to add each session and shows you how many you need to review again soon.(some sample decks)Step 8: Don’t use your laptop or smartphone during classThere is almost no way in which browsing the web, texting or checking email can be beneficial for your studying habit. Every second you spend looking at a screen is a second of focus lost.Rare exceptions are when the teacher keeps using a word you don’t know the meaning of, or you must look up a concept again. But if you have been taking good notes, all the information you need will be in them.Bring paper & pen, a light snack, some water to drink and, most importantly: your attention. You being mindful and observant during class is the biggest favor you can do yourself and your teacher. Maybe you can even ask a few questions.Showing your teacher you make an effort to understand the material is a way of communicating no laptop or smartphone can take care of for you – and since so few people do it these days it’s even easier for you to stand out by doing it.Step 9: Find at least one learning partnerAccountability is huge. Have you ever agreed with a friend to meet at a certain time somewhere? Or even had a workout buddy?The second you know someone will be there, waiting for you, makes it much more likely for you to follow through on your intentions.Think about it, if you buy a ticket to a movie, concert or flight, then you’ll definitely make sure you’re there on time.(a personal trainer does the same thing)Whether or not you want to join an actual study group is up to you – if you’re a social learner, you should definitely try to learn with others as much as possible.But if you’re a solitary learner, that might not be as beneficial. Nevertheless, having at least one accountability partner can make a huge difference.Try to get a friend to text you once a day to see how you’re doing with your studies.You can also create a facebook group so you’ll still have the chance to ask questions, learn by answering others’ questions, share problems you run into or a big insight you gained. Exchanging with others about their progress regularly will make you want to keep up!If you can’t get a friend to be your accountability buddy, you can even hire a coach for $2 a day! Online coaching via coach.me is tailored specifically to create accountability for those who want to create new habits.Your personal habit coach will check in with you every day to make sure you follow the study schedule you set for yourself.Note: I’ve gotten my friend and fellow coach Patrik to help you get started. Coach Patrik is a certified Mental Training Practitioner and behavioral scientist who has helped more than 200 clients become highly effective students.I’ve negotiated with him until he agreed to give you your first week free (no strings attached, you can cancel at any time) – grab that special deal in the bonus section!Step 10: Create good sleep habitsIn 2012 I was in my second semester of college. We had our most important exam, Statistics, on a Saturday. It was the most important one, because failing it would mean failing the degree and having to pack my bags. Naturally, me and my friends decided to dedicate all our study time towards that.Unfortunately we had another exam in programming just 2 days later. Ugh.Guess what all my friends did? They stayed up the entire night on Sunday, studying till the very last minute before the exam, which was Monday, 8 am.I knew my performance would suck without sleep, so I studied until 8 pm the day before and got a decent night’s sleep instead.Result: I scored 2-3 grades better than all of my friends, which is a lot on a 4-grade scale.Did I learn more than them? No.I just took the exam refreshed and with a sharp mind, whereas their brains were already tired before they picked up their pens.Working through the night, chugging a bunch of Red Bulls and then powering right through the next day is a myth.Studies have shown that if you only get 6 hours of sleep for two weeks straight, you’ll perform as if you had just stayed up for 48 hours straight. That’s two all-nighters in a row! Even worse: You won’t notice your lack of performance.Professionals like LeBron James know that – the world’s top NBA player gets 12 hours of sleep each night!(yup, you can play in the NBA AND sleep 12 hrs per night)The best thing you can do to ensure you get enough sleep is set yourself a fixed bedtime each day.Check how much sleep you need, according to the National Association of Sleep:If you’re not sure, try giving yourself 8 hours for a week and see how you do. At times when you have to get up for school at 6 am, for example, make sure you go to bed by 10 pm.Tip: Set an alarm at night when you want to go to bed. Most people just set one in the morning, but that can actually make you more tired, especially if you use the snooze button a lot. Setting an alarm for a regular bedtime instead will help you not needing an alarm in the morning.Note: For a video of my full evening routine and one other thing I do to make sure I’m actually tired when it’s bedtime, check out the bonus section of this post.Step 11: Make sure you track your progress with some kind of study plannerHowever beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. ~ Winston ChurchillThe only way to make sure you’re making progress is to check how you’re doing every once in a while. Nothing is more demoralizing than feeling like you’re getting a lot done, but then end up not seeing results.Here are two tools to help you stay motivated and get the right results:Tool 1: TimeEditionTimeEdition is a simple tool that helps you track the time you spend working. You can define different customers, projects and then create tasks. I’m tracking the time spent on this post right now:After you’ve downloaded the app, click on the top bar out of the 3 and go to ‘Add customer…’Enter ‘Myself’. I always find it motivating to know I’m working for myself and on myself, what person to better spend time on?Then, click on the middle bar and add a project. This could be a class, a paper, a longer assignment, whatever takes more than just 1 or 2 hours. You can even estimate how long it will take you to complete the project. You can also copy tasks from former projects but don’t worry about that part right now. Just enter your project, an estimated time and hit ‘OK’.Lastly, click on the lowest bar and add a task. Be specific. Don’t just call it ‘Study’, tasks can be ‘Write 1 page’, ‘Solve 10 problems’ or ‘Attend a lecture’.Then you can just hit play whenever you work on a specific task and track your time.Whenever you want to check your progress you can just press Cmd+4 (or Ctrl+4 on Windows) and you’ll get an overview of all your records. You can even specify time frames, certain tasks or customers.You can even see how much time in total you have spent when you click ‘Overview’.It’s really cool to see I’ve spent over 200 hours working on my blog already, it motivates me to keep going.Tool 2: Study Planner & Accountability ChartTo really see how far you’ve gotten already, you can use an accountability chart. Simply divide a piece of paper into two columns. At the end of the day, check your records in TimeEdition and write down the times on the left side and what you’ve accomplished on the right side.Accountability in a study plan is essentialYou can also do this digitally, for example in Evernote:This especially helps you stay motivated in the beginning. Over time, as your results get bigger, you might not have to rely on this any more, but it’s a great way to get started.Recap: 11 steps to a study schedule that worksWow, we just covered a whole lot. Let’s take a look at all the steps again (remember, you should always review your study notes!):Step 1: Find out your learning style by taking this quiz.Step 2: Pick a very simple goal for your semester (that you can control) and come up with at least 7 tiny action items you can complete over the next weekStep 3: Block a 1 hour time slot in your calendar for studying for the next 7 days.Step 4: Bookmark this Pomodoro Timer, so you can structure your study time into 25 minute blocks with 5 minute breaks in between, with a longer break after every 4 blocks.Step 5: Create your own, clean study zone by cleaning up your desk or finding a comfortable and distraction-free spot. Make sure you block distractions on your computer as well.Step 6: Try a new way of taking notes that fits your learning style.Step 7: Use Anki to review your notes regularly.Step 8: Make a commitment to not use your laptop or smartphone in class. Put them in a locker or leave them at home.Step 9: Find at least one learning partner to hold you accountable to your study schedule. If you can’t find one, try Patrik as your coach for a week for free (use the coupon from the bonus section for this).Step 10: Pick a bedtime and set an alarm for that time in order to create a regular sleep schedule.Step 11: Install TimeEdition to track your studying time and progress and use an accountability chart to stay motivated.The Study Plan that WORKS!All of these steps are simple and small. You could implement all of them in a few minutes each.But they have a compounding effect: once you get ALL of them right, they amount to a lot more than the sum of their parts.You might be a little overwhelmed though, and you’d rather implement all of these small changes one at a time.So, to help you do that I’ve created a plan on Coach.me, which will give you one specific to-do each day, so you can create a study schedule that works within 14 days!I’ve also included some other bonuses, here’s the full list:Free access to this courseto help you make all of these changes one day at a timeFree week of personalized study coaching with PatrikVideo of my evening routine so you can copy it to get a good night’s sleepChance to win a free coaching call with meYou can grab those bonuses here.I wrote this post over the course of 10 days, using a daily writing schedule, working in 25-minute blocks while in my study zone, tracking all my progress.Using this system is a lot of fun. I hope you choose to give it a try and speaking of choice, I’d like to leave you with a quote from one of the greatest teachers I know.“It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices.” – Albus DumbledoreNiklas Goeke teaches marketers, bloggers and entrepreneurs how to make productivity a habit. He writes at niklasgoeke.com about overcoming fear, building willpower and making habits stick. To keep putting his in-depth guides into action, join his free newsletter.Learning HabitsRelated Posts5 Best Study Planners for Students and Professionals (Our 2017 Review)7 Benefits of the Accountability Strategy7 Styles for Learning New Things (and Actually Remembering Them!)Daily Routine: What Separates You from the Richest People on the Planet (and How to Close the Gap)Click Here to Leave a Comment Below←Previous post Next post→>> Click to Grab the FREE Book: 77 Good Habits to Live a Better Life <<Steve Scott at Good Habits (DGH) (HabitChange)CATEGORIES30 Day Habit ChallengesBook RecommendationsFitness HabitsGood Daily HabitsHabit Development ConceptsHealthy HabitsHow Habits are FormedKeystone HabitsKindle eBooksLearning HabitsOrganizing HabitsProduct ReviewsQuotes & AffirmationsSpirituality HabitsSuccess HabitsUncategorizedWork Habits200+ of the Best Self-Help and Personal Development Books34 Daily Morning Routine Habits for an Amazing Start to Your Day88 New Skills: Learn Something New EverydayBest Pedometer Watch (and Wearable) Review for 2017The Ultimate Guide on How to Increase Daily Water IntakeWalking for Weight Loss: The Ultimate Guide to Walking Off Those PoundsAffiliate links are used on this site. But each is to a product that we've used and highly recommend. Develop Good Habits - Build a Great Life - One Habit at a Time is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more.Please do your own research before making any online purchase.Copyright 2017 by Oldtown Publishing LLC.SumoFocus Retriever715Shares476147

Yes, human emissions of carbon dioxide are innocent of any role or effect on the climate. I have just posted 15 reference books that are well researched by many scientists that explain why the public have been duped by the UN pseudo-science with an agenda to use the climate for an alternative economic agenda not the environment. Here is a candid admission of the deceit by an leading UN scientist.Climate corruption has been the result with fudged data, wildly exaggerated claims and outright lies. I urge you to do your own research and rely on visual observations as much a graphs and data. The best starting place is with -Nobel laureate Ivar Giaever's speech at the Nobel Laureates meeting 1st July 2015. Ivar points out the mistakes which Obama makes in his speeches about global warming, and shares other not-well known facts about the state of the climate.Nobel Laureate Smashes the Global Warming Hoax1,710,019 viewsI recommend these 15 books because the authors rely on solid scientific research to elucidate the reality of climate change and explain the fact there is no human made climate crisis. Mother Nature controls the temperatures with solar radiation and nothing we can do about it. Be resilient to the reality that it is a fable that climate is ever stable.NEW - ‘STUDY BLOWS 'GREENHOUSE THEORY OUT OF THE WATER' 'All observed climatic changes have natural causes completely outside of human control' Hyped global warming sustains itself with unsustainable government debt.James G Matkin Published Comment USA TODAYNew research demolishes 'GREENHOUSE THEORY which explains the many failed climate predictions of the IPCC " Our analysis revealed a poor relationship between global mean annual temperature] and the amount of greenhouse gases in planetary atmospheres across a broad range of environments in the Solar System, " the paper explains. " This is a surprising result from the standpoint of the current Greenhouse theory, which assumes that an atmosphere warms the surface of a planet (or moon) via trapping of radiant heat by certain gases controlling the atmospheric infrared optical depth, " the study continues.The study helps explain the total failure of the UNIPCC climate alarmist predictions. They were based on pseudo-science as Nobel Laureate Dr. Iver Griever held.‪‪Early winters are bad weather, but not global warming bad weather. Fewest sunspots in 2017 for decades and this is a sign of cooler weather. .‬‪Winter storm slams Deep South, sets sights on New EnglandAs the numbers show there is too little Co2 cover the earth and without enclosed panels there is no greenhouse effect.Climate of Corruption : Politics and Power Behind The Global Warming HoaxMelting glaciers, suffering polar bears, rising oceans—these are just a few of the climate change crisis myths debunked by noted aerospace expert Larry Bell in this explosive new book. With meticulous research, Bell deflates these and other climate misconceptions with perceptive analysis, humor, and the most recent scientific data. Written for the laymen, yet in-depth enough for the specialist, this book digs deep into the natural and political aspects of the climate change debate, answering fundamental questions that reveal the all-too-human origins of “scientific” inquiry. Why and how are some of the world’s most prestigious scientific institutions cashing in on the debate? Who stand to benefit most by promoting public climate change alarmism? What true political and financial purposes are served by the vilification of carbon dioxide? How do climate deceptions promote grossly exaggerated claims for non-fossil alternative energy capacities and advance blatant global wealth redistribution goals? With its devastating portrayal of scientific and government establishments run amok, this book is an invaluable addition to the tremendously popular literature attacking the scientific status quo. Climate of Corruption will bring welcome relief to all those who are fed up with climate crisis insanity.By now International climate is generally interesting to transfer the resources from developed to developing nations. Or as soon quote from the poor in rich countries to the rich and poor countries. And quotationThe truth is that there is no evidence for any significant human impact on global climate, and that there is nothing in a practical sense we can do to affect global climate. And is Larry Bell points out, a somewhat warmer climate with increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would be beneficial overall to earths inhabitants, especially to those in developing nations who depend on agriculture for a living. Climate of Corruption brings a breath of fresh, cool air to the overheated climate debater.S. Fred Singer former director of US National Weather Service light service professor M or M or test at University of Virginia and Cole author of Unstoppable Global Warming“GLOBAL WARMING CEASED TO BE A SUBJECT OF SICENTIFIC DEBATE YEARS AGO” (Page 10)The authors argue that politicians and others claim far more certainty than is justified by the science. The authors also argue that public policy discussions have abandoned science and resorted to ad hominem attacks.Taken by Storm was one of two runners up for the 2002 Donner Prize for the best book on Canadian public policy.[5]In TAKEN BY STORM – The Trouble science, policy and politics of global warming Essex and McKitrick offer a scientifically sound argumentThat is gangsta Main Street. “They cut through all the obfuscation and and doublespeak that surrounds one of the most complex scientific economic issues of our time”We wrote this book because tired see irrational fears about global warming cause nations and their leaders to rush around how in a panic about a crisis that in all probability does not exist and enact obscenely expensive policies that would not fix anything even if it did. We wrote this book because we got tired of seeing science twisted into a prop for policital ideology.The physical phenomena in climate and weather are among the most complex in nature, and science can say very little about what they will do in the future. Yet a large international policy framework has been built precisely on the assumption that we know what is happening and how to control it. In Take by Storm, Christopher Essex and Ross McKitrick prove this assumption false, carefully explaining the science of climate change and deconstructing the widespread myth of global warming. They argue that the connection between science and society is disintegrating, and they propose a vital first step toward repairing this relationship.The most harmful untrue claim promoted by all governments in the Paris Climate Accord is that a carbon tax will somehow change the earth’s climate for the better. This is truly scientific nonsense and lacks common sense. Warmer is better not colder as we know from past ice ages. The idea of a stable global climate is a fantasy. It never has been and never will as the major driving forces are solar cycles and ocean currents not fossil fuels. These forces are natural, chaotic and unstoppable. See this research -The consequence for developing countries if they enact these taxes and abide by the Paris carbon reducing targets will be the greatest social reversal in history bringing misery and death to millions living without electricity. Cooking outside is the most harmful environmental issue today and Paris demonizing coal power will leave millions without hope of a more healthy alternative.Compelling, easy-to-read, and written by internationally recognized experts in applied science, this volume destroys the human-caused global warming theory and clears the innocent carbon dioxide molecule of all the heinous crimes it is accused of. Google BooksOriginally published: 2011Authors: Alan Siddons, Hans Shreuder, John O'SullivanEven before publication, Slaying the Sky Dragon was destined to be the benchmark for future generations of climate researchers. This is the world’s first and only full volume refutation of the greenhouse gas theory of man-made global warming.Nine leading international experts methodically expose how willful fakery and outright incompetence were hidden within the politicized realm of government climatology. Applying a thoughtful and sympathetic writing style, the authors help even the untrained mind to navigate the maze of atmospheric thermodynamics. Step-by-step the reader is shown why the so-called greenhouse effect cannot possibly exist in nature.By deft statistical analysis the cornerstones of climate equations – incorrectly calculated by an incredible factor of three – are exposed then shattered.This volume is a scientific tour de force and the game-changer for international environmental policymakers as well as being a joy to read for hard-pressed taxpayers everywhere.INTRODUCTIONThe most fundamental assumption in the theory of human CO2 Is causing global warming and climate change is that an increase in CO2 will cause an increase in temperature. Problem is that every record of any duration for any period in history of the earth exactly the opposite relationship occurs: temperatures increase precedes CO2. Despite that a massive deception was developed and continues.How does the massive deception of human induced global warming bypasses normally rigorous scientific method why does it continue to survive? Who orchestrated the science of politics? What was the motor?Two major factors explaining how Antrel Jenny global warming rakkas a GW and brackets evil got away with a massive deception. First was explication of fear. The end of the world is coming, there’s only a few years left in the mantra of everyone UN Secretary-General abandoned key move Prince Charles. Second was exploitation of people’s lack of knowledge or understanding sign. Science… Challenge facing anyone trying to cover the exploiters is to bring logic clarity and understanding in the way a majority of people can understand.Is the Greenhouse Effect a Sky Dragon Myth? A Dialogue with the Authors of Slaying the Sky DragonDr D Weston Allen – meet the author here 10/10/12INTRODUCTIONMy book, The Weather Makers Re-Examined, published in 2011 by Irenic Publications, was a comprehensive and damning critique of Tim Flannery’s alarming best seller which claimed ‘we are The Weather Makers’. I now examine Slaying the Sky Dragon (SSD), a full frontal attack on the greenhouse theory or ‘sky dragon’ by eight authors who refer to themselves as the ‘Slayers’ (p.358) – a term I adopt when referring to them. This 358-page book was published in 2011 by Stairway Press in WA (USA).Defining the sky dragonThe ‘greenhouse theory’ gradually evolved from the seminal work and limited understanding1 of Joseph Fourier in the 1820s, John Tyndall in the 1860s, Svante Arrhenius in 1896-1908, Guy Callendar in 1938 to Gilbert Plass in the 1950s. It holds that solar radiation penetrates Earth’s atmosphere to reach the surface which is warmed by the absorption of this electromagnetic energy. The warmed surface emits infrared radiation, and much of this outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) is intercepted by trace gases in the atmosphere. Some of this energy is radiated back to Earth’s surface where it is absorbed as thermal energy, thus enhancing solar warming of the surface by day and slowing cooling by night. Since glass on a greenhouse also absorbs and re-radiates infrared (IR) radiation, this atmospheric phenomenon became known as the ‘greenhouse effect’ (GHE), and the trace gases are referred to as ‘greenhouse gases’ (GHG).As real greenhouses work primarily by limiting convection, and GHGs by promoting it, SSD refers to them as ‘IR-absorbing gases’. Comprising less than half of one percent (0.5%) of Earth’s atmosphere, these gases are scattered somewhat unevenly through the atmosphere and across the globe. Most of the GHE, particularly over the tropics, is due to water vapour (H2O) and clouds in the troposphere, the bottom layer of the atmosphere where convective mixing and weather occurs. The tropopause, separating the troposphere from the stratosphere, increases in altitude from about 8km over polar regions to about 17km over the tropics. Above the stratosphere is the cold mesosphere (about 50-85km altitude) and then the very warm thin thermosphere which merges into the exosphere (at 350-800km altitude depending on solar activity). The troposphere contains about 80% of the mass of the atmosphere and the top of the atmosphere (TOA) is generally considered to be about 100km above Earth’s surface.Without any IR-absorbing GHGs in the atmosphere, all radiative energy losses balancing solar input would occur at Earth’s surface. According to the laws of radiation, the average temperature at the surface would then be about -180C, nearly 330C colder than the observed mean value. While IR is radiated to space from the surface and atmosphere, the average loss occurs where the temperature is actually -180C at an altitude of around 5km. The more GHGs in the atmosphere the higher this average radiative layer; and since the temperature below it increases by about 6.50C/km (the lapse rate), the higher this layer the higher the temperature at Earth’s surface. This critique will examine only the basics of this very complex subject.Arguments presented in Slaying the Sky DragonThe atmosphere is warmed primarily by conduction, not by radiation; and so the major atmospheric gases (nitrogen and oxygen) are more likely to warm the trace IR-absorbing gases than visa-versa. The major gases also absorb and emit some IR radiation.The IR-absorbing gases simply scatter IR radiation or otherwise pass any absorbed energy on immediately. These trace gases absorb more solar radiation than OLR and thus cool Earth’s surface; so they are notgreenhouse gases; it is water vapour that makes tropical rainforests cooler than tropical deserts. The glass on a greenhouse works only by limiting convection, not by back-radiation.There is no such thing as back-radiation (no empirical evidence for it) and the postulated recycling of energy between Earth’s surface and the atmosphere is a non-physical ‘amplification’.Atmospheric IR radiation cannot affect Earth’s surface temperature because heat cannot flow from the cooler atmosphere to the warmer surface in violation of the second law of thermodynamics.Every planet with an atmosphere has a surface temperature higher than predicted; and the surface temperature of such planets rises in direct proportion to atmospheric pressure.The lapse rate (declining temperature with altitude) is determined by gravity and the specific heat of the atmospheric gases, not by their ability to absorb IR radiation.The GHE is supposed to increase lapse rates, but Earth’s lapse rate (6.5K/km) is lower than predicted (9.8K/km), so the greenhouse theory is wrong.Since emissions occur at the TOA at a mean altitude of 5km (where it is -180C), the lapse rate alone explains the fact that Earth’s effective blackbody temperature is 330C below its surface temperature (150C).Based on a surface emissivity of ‘about 0.7’, a GHE is not needed to balance Earth’s energy budget. Averaging Earth’s energy budget over day and night in flat earth climate models is fundamentally flawed,and this invalidates all climate models.Human emissions of CO2 are not a problem since more than 98% is absorbed within a year.Historically, temperature rises precede atmospheric CO2 increases; so global warming produces more CO2, released from warming oceans, never the opposite.Increased geo-nuclear activity is warming the oceans from below and causing global warming. Global temperatures have been going down rapidly.The critical issue is not climate sensitivity (to a doubling of atmospheric CO2 levels) or how much global warming is due to CO2, because none of it is.There is no empirical evidence for a GHE but ample evidence against it, as provided in SSD and at their website: Principia Scientific International.http://jonova.s3.amazonaws.com/g...This book by two German scientists, FRITZ VAHRENHOLT and SEBASTION LUNING is a great example of powerful science research demolishing the alarmism view denying the role of the Sun in >400 pages and 1000 references to peer reviewed science papers.The effect of the sun's activity on climate change has been either scarcely known or overlooked. In this momentous book, ProfessorIn this momentous book, Professor Fritz Vahrenholt and Dr Sebastian Luning demonstrate that the critical cause of global temperature change has been, and continues to be, the sun's activity. Vahrenholt and Luning reveal that four concurrent solar cycles master the earth's temperature – a climatic reality upon which man's carbon emissions bear little significance. The sun's present cooling phase, precisely monitored in this work, renders the catastrophic prospects put about by the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change and the 'green agenda' dominant in contemporary Western politics as nothing less than impossible.AMAZONKent Price4.0 out of 5 stars As a retired solar radio astronomer, I appreciate the science in this bookNovember 25, 2014 - Published on Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & moreIt is no surprise that the sun is the major contributor to the Earth's surface temperature. However, this book details how the sun changes with time, in terms of electromagnetic energy radiated, magnetic field changes, and coronal mass ejections, and the resultant impact on temperature of the Earth. The result is not a simple variation of "total radiated energy" but also complex interactions such as the Sun's magnetic field shielding the Earth from cosmic rays (radiation from outside the solar system) which in turn cause more cloud cover which reflects sunlight and reduces temperatures.The book is organized with a preface plus nine chapters, four of which are written by guest contributors:(1) It's the sun stupid(2) Climate catastrophe deferred - a summary(3) Our temperamental sun (by Nir Shaviv), Solar forcing and 20-th century climate change(4) Brief history of temperature: our climate in the past (by Nicola Scafetta)(5) Has the IPCC really done its homework? (by Henrik Svensmark), cosmic rays and clouds(6) Misunderstood climate amplifiers (by Werner Weber), mining a treasure trove of old solar data(7) A look into the future(8) How climate scientists are attempting to transform society(9) A new energy agenda emergesAs a retired solar radio astronomer, I appreciate the science in this book and heartily recommend it to the general reader, just ignore the extensive footnotes at the end of each chapter (and which would have been better left to the end of the book). A strong point in the book is the extensive graphs (which are very small on the Kindle) and discussion of climate data gathered over time (100's, 1000's, and even 100,000's of years). This data from the past indicates the possible changes in the future. An interesting note is that the current climate models which focus on CO2 and a static sun are not able to fit the actual past data.The governments of the world are rushing to declare a "climate crisis" in order to justify new carbon taxes (which assume that increased CO2 emissions are causing climate changes). The material in this book should help taxpayers understand the major factors that impact climate and the expected rate of temperature change.German Professor: IPCC in a serious jam... "5AR likely to be last of its kind"P GosselinNo Tricks ZoneMon, 16 Sep 2013 16:59 UTCProf. Fritz VahrenholtAnd: "Extreme weather is the only card they have got left to play."So says German Prof. Fritz Vahrenholt, who is one of the founders of Germany's modern environmental movement and agreed to an interview with NoTricksZone. He is one of the co-authors of the German skeptic book "Die kalte Sonne", which took Germany by storm last year and is now available at bookstores worldwide in English under the title: The Neglected Sun.In Germany Prof. Vahrenholt has had to endure a lot heat from the media, activists, and climate scientists for having expressed a different view. But as global temperatures remain stagnant and CO2 climate sensitivity is being scaled back, he feels vindicated.Evidence-Based Climate Science (Second Edition)Data Opposing CO2 Emissions as the Primary Source of Global Warming2016, Pages 163-173Chapter 9 - Greenhouse GasesD.J.EasterbrookWestern Washington University, Bellingham, WA, United StatesAvailable online 23 September 2016.https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-1...AbstractA greenhouse gas is a gas that absorbs and emits infrared radiation. The primary greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is a nontoxic, colorless, odorless gas. Water vapor accounts for by far the largest greenhouse effect (90–85%) because water vapor emits and absorbs infrared radiation at many more wavelengths than any of the other greenhouse gases, and there is much more water vapor in the atmosphere than any of the other greenhouse gases. CO2 makes up only a tiny portion of the atmosphere (0.040%) and constitutes only 3.6% of the greenhouse effect. The atmospheric content of CO2has increased only 0.008% since emissions began to soar after 1945. Such a tiny increment of increase in CO2 cannot cause the 10°F increase in temperature predicted by CO2 advocates. Computer climate modelers build into their models a high water vapor component, which they claim is due to increased atmospheric water vapor caused by very small warming from CO2, and since water vapor makes up 90–95% of the greenhouse effect, they claim the result will be warming. The problem is that atmospheric water vapor has actually declined since 1948, not increased as demanded by climate models. If CO2 causes global warming, then CO2 should always precede warming when the Earth's climate warms up after an ice age. However, in all cases, CO2 lags warming by ∼800 years. Shorter time spans show the same thing—warming always precedes an increase in CO2 and therefore it cannot be the cause of the warming.The atmosphere of the planet is huge and notwithstanding our arrogance we are not a big factor.Global warming and human-induced climate change are perhaps the most important scientific issues of our time. These issues continue to be debated in the scientific community and in the media without true consensus about the role of greenhouse gas emissions as a contributing factor.Evidence-Based Climate Science: Data opposing CO2 emissions as the primary source of global warming objectively gathers and analyzes scientific data concerning patterns of past climate changes, influences of changes in ocean temperatures, the effect of solar variation on global climate, and the effect of CO2 on global climate to clearly and objectively present counter-global-warming evidence not embraced by proponents of CO2.·An unbiased, evidence-based analysis of the scientific data concerning climate change and global warming· Authored by 8 of the world’s leading climate scientists, each with more than 25 years of experience in the field· Extensive analysis of the physics of CO2 as a greenhouse gas and its role in global warming· Comprehensive citations, references, and bibliography· Adaptation strategies are presented as alternative reactions to greenhouse gas emission reductions5.0 out of 5 starsVery good, thorough, documented, convincing, does not conjecture beyond the actual evidence. Should be read by allJanuary 13, 2017Comprehensive, thorough, best overview of entire climate debate that I have found. Good introductions and summaries for each chapter, good literature reviews, lots of good graphs and charts to help in understanding things clearly, and the book does not go beyond the evidence. Its premise is stated throughout the book, that "the past is the key to the future" in climate science. Makes a convincing case that the Sun/earth system is the primary driver of climate variation. Clearly documents the "medieval warm period" clearly demonstrates that Co2 follows rather than causes global warming, clearly breaks with the predictive models that point to more warming by predicting a coming cooling phase. The recent "hiatus" may very well be a leveling off of the most recent warming phase.My intention is to rely on the facts by using a vital compendium of science articles published by the prestigious INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS in Australia.The Facts, featuring 22 essays on the science, politics and economics of the climate change debate. Climate Change: The Facts features the world’s leading experts and commentators on climate change. Highlights of Climate Change: The Facts include:Ian Plimer draws on the geological record to dismiss the possibility that human emissions of carbon dioxide will lead to catastrophic consequences for the planet. Patrick Michaels demonstrates the growing chasm between the predictions of the IPCC and the real world temperature results. Richard Lindzen shows the climate is less sensitive to increases in greenhouse gases than previously thought and argues that a warmer world would have a similar weather variability to today. Willie Soon discusses the often unremarked role of the sun in climate variability. Robert Carter explains why the natural variability of the climate is far greater than any human component. John Abbot and Jennifer Marohasy demonstrate how little success climate models have in predicting important information such as rainfall.Nigel Lawson warns of the dire economic consequences of abandoning the use of fossil fuels. Alan Moran compares the considerable costs of taking action compared to the relatively minor potential benefits of doing so. James Delingpole looks at the academic qualifications of the leading proponents of catastrophic climate change and finds many lack the credentials of so-called ‘sceptics’. Garth Paltridge says science itself will be damaged by the failure of climate forecasts to eventuate. Jo Nova chronicles the extraordinary sums of public money awarded to climate change activists, in contrast to those who question their alarmist warnings. Kesten Green and Scott Armstrong compare climate change alarmism to previous scares raised over the past 200 years. Rupert Darwall explains why an international, legally binding climate agreement has extremely minimal chances of success. Ross McKitrick reviews the ‘hockey stick’ controversy and what it reveals about the state of climate science.Donna Laframboise explains how activists have taken charge of the IPCC. Mark Steyn recounts the embarrassing ‘Ship of Fools’ expedition to Antarctica. Christopher Essex argues the climate system is far more complex than it has been presented and there is much that we still don’t know. Bernie Lewin examines how climate change science came to be politicised. Stewart Franks lists all the unexpected developments in climate science that were not foreseen. Anthony Watts highlights the failure of the world to warm over the past 18 years, contrary to the predictions of the IPCC. Andrew Bolt reviews the litany of failed forecasts by climate change activists.A major amount of analysis is devoted to the more than 100 emails called CLIMATEGATE. The emails give valuable insight into how the distortion of science for political and monetary gain happened.The classic cheating exposed by the “climate gate emails” is very troubling. Here is a primary confession of fudging from only one of more than 100 email documents -November 16, 1999: email 0942777075That background now paves the way to our understanding the historic email which generations of schoolchildren to come will study as the 33 words which summarize one of the most serious scientific frauds in the history of Western science.Phil Jones to Ray Bradley, Mike Mann, Malcolm Hughes, Keith Briffa, and Tim Osborn, regarding a diagram for a World Meteorological Organization Statement:I’ve just completed Mike’s Nature trick of adding in the real temperatures to each series for the last 20 years (i.e. from 1981 onwards) and from 1961 for Keith’s to hide the decline. [emphasis added]This email was sent less than two months after the one analysed above. Clearly, Mike Mann’s problems with Keith Briffa’s data—that it didn’t agree with the real temperature measurements from 1961 onwards—had by this time spread to the data for the other “temperature proxies”, albeit only from 1981 onwards. Jones reveals that Mann did not address this problem by making an honest note of it in the paper that he and his co-authors published in Nature, but rather by fraudulently substituting the real temperature data into the graphs, for the past 20 or 40 years as required.That Mann did so would, of itself, disqualify him and all of his research from any future consideration in the annals of science; but here we have the other leader of the field, Phil Jones, bragging that he admired the “trick” so much that he adopted it himself. Moreover, his email was sent to the major players who dominated this field. It is their silence and collaboration over the following decade in “hiding the decline” which justifies the use of the word “conspiracy”; a conspiracy which will rob the “discipline” of climate science of any credibility, and which will cast suspicion about the integrity of Western science for many decades to come.http://www.lavoisier.com.au/arti...The UN IPCC and the Paris Accord fear that global warming will lead to catastrophe is no more science based than predictions by astrologists. The true story of the science or lack thereof is documented by Bernie Lewin’s book SEARCHING FOR THE CATASTROPHE SIGNAL.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – the IPCC – is the global authority on climate science and behind some of the most important policy changes in the history of industrial society. It is therefore probably the most influential scientific body in the world.Yet the surprising story of how it came to prominence is little known. Its origins can be traced back to earlier panics over the effects of supersonic transportation and ozone layer depletion, which taught political elites that science-based scares could be powerful drivers of policy action. It was as an authority fit to deliver the required evidence on climate change that the IPCC came into being.However, in the rush towards a climate treaty, IPCC scientists continued to report that evidence of manmade climate change was scarce and that confirmation of a manmade effect should not be expected for decades. Without a `catastrophe signal' that could justify a policy response, the panel faced its imminent demise.THIS IS WHAT MORE THAN 2000 UN RESEARCHERS FOUNDNO STUDY DETECTED MAN-MADE IMPACT ON ALL OR PART OF OBSERVED CLIMATE CHANGE.In the 1995 2nd Assessment Report of the UN IPCC the scientists included these three statements in the draft:1. “None of the studies cited above has shown clear evidence that we can attribute the observed (climate) changes to the specific cause of increases in greenhouse gases.”2. “No study to date has positively attributed all or part (of observed climate change) to anthropogenic (i.e. man-made) causes.”3. “Any claims of positive detection of significant climate change are likely to remain controversial until uncertainties in the natural variability of the climate system are reduced.”The report detailed why and the primary reason was the overpowering reality of natural variability from solar cycles explained all weather and climate changes.“This is an important summary of the truth about Global Warming (aka Climate Change). The hoax is not that the climate is changing or that the globe is in a warming trend. The hoax is not that the increased energy production is causing man-made carbon dioxide levels to rise dramatically in the last 150 years and will continue as a result of improved prosperity in the third world. The hoax is not that water vapor and carbon dioxide are the end product of power plants and automobiles.
No, the hoax is that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant but a plant fertilizer. And the biggest hoax is that carbon dioxide is not causing the temperature to increase. Water vapor, which is 100 times more abundant than carbon dioxide and regulated by the oceans, is the true and only real greenhouse gas, without which the whole earth would be covered in ice. Thus, all efforts to curb carbon dioxide production are a total waste of capital. “ “ The Two Hoaxes of Climate ChangeBy Tomas de PaulisJanuary 23, 2017 “ The Global Warming, Carbon Dioxide Hoax: Easy to Read Proof That Climate Change Is Normal and Not Man-Made, Alan Fensin - Amazon.comI think the following insight by Alan Longhurst unravels the alarmist’s failed predictions, as their models are too simple like a one trick pony in a big complex circus -I became troubled by what seemed to be a preference to view the climate as a global stable state, unless perturbed by anthropogenic effects, rather than as a highly complex system having several dominant states, each having a characteristic return period imposed on gradual change at millennial scale.“Precisely the very unscientific folly and bias of the climate-change crowd.Free pdf book is available here -https://www.academia.edu/3557184...New book: Doubt and Certainty in Climate SciencePosted on September 20, 2015 by curryja | 561 Commentsby Judith CurryDoubt and Certainty in Climate Science is an important new book that everyone should read. And its free.It is a privilege to make available to you the book Doubt and Certainty in ClimateScience, by Alan Longhurst [link Longhurst print to download the book].The book is 239 pages long, with 606 footnotes/references. The book is well written, technical but without equations – it is easily accessible to anyone with a technical education or who follows the technical climate blogs.In this post I provide a brief overview of the book, biosketch of Alan Longhurst, some additional backstory on the book, and my own comments on the book.PrefaceThe Preface provides some interesting history, here are some excerpts:But more recently, I became troubled by what seemed to be a preference to view the climate as a global stable state, unless perturbed by anthropogenic effects, rather than as a highly complex system having several dominant states, each having a characteristic return period imposed on gradual change at millennial scale. The research of H.H. Lamb and others on the natural changes of regional and global climate of the Holocene appeared to be no longer of interest, and the evidence for anthropogenic climate change was being discussed as if it was reducible to change in a single value that represented global surface temperature.The complex relationship between solar cycles and regional climate states on Earth that was central to classical climatology (and is still being discussed in the peer-­‐reviewed literature) had been replaced with a reductionist assumption concerning radiative balance, and the effective dismissal of any significant solar influence. I found this rejection of an entire body of scientific literature troubling, and looked for a disinterested discussion of the balance between natural and anthropogenic effects, but could not find what I wanted -­‐a book that covered the whole field in an accessible and unprejudiced manner, and that was based solely on the scientific literature: I found text-­‐books on individual topics aplenty, together with a flood of others, either supporting or attacking the standard climate change model, but none that was based wholly on studies certified by peer-­‐review -­‐and whose author was inquisitive rather than opinionated.One thing led to another and this text is the result. My intention has been to examine the scientific literature that both supports – and also contradicts -­‐the standard description of anthropogenic climate change, and its effects on Earth systems: I undertook the task with an open mind concerning the interpretation of the evidence presented in individual research reports, and collectively by those who have been tasked to report to governments on the progress of climate change and to predict future states.Because of my experience, this review leans very heavily on discussion of the role of the oceans in controlling climate states, but I make no apology for this: their role is central and critical and too often ignored.Anthropogenic modification of climate, especially of micro-­‐climates, is undoubtedly occurring but I have been unable to convince myself that the radiative contribution of carbon dioxide can be observed in the data, although modellers have no trouble in demonstrating the effect.Because there will certainly be some who will question my motive in undertaking this task, I assure them that I have been impelled by nothing other than curiosity and have neither sought nor received financial support from any person or organisation in the prepaatio and distribution of this eBookEvidence and logic are lacking in many areas of public debate today on hot-button issues ranging from dietary fat to vaccination.In Science Under Attack, Dr. Alexander shows how science is being abused, sidelined or ignored, making it difficult or impossible for the public to form a reasoned opinion about important issues. Readers will learn why science is becoming more corrupt, and also how it is being abused for political and economic gain, support of activism, or the propping up of religious beliefs.This revised edition of Ralph Alexander’s 2009 book features approximately 50% new or updated material, including an expanded chapter on alternative explanations to CO2 as the main source of global warming. Newly added sections in the 2nd edition cover temperature tampering by the three major custodians of the world’s temperature data, so as to exaggerate the global warming rate; the Climategate scandal; the use of peer review as an alarmist weapon; the neglected influence of the sun on our climate, including the amplification of solar activity by the oceans; heat that is suppposedly hiding in the deep ocean, but can’t be found; and more. The new book also describes how the UN’s IPCC and other alarmists manipulate climate data, discusses the lack of warming for more than a decade – about which alarmists are in denial, and explains the folly of carbon pricing schemes for regulating CO2. Finally, the author reflects on the reasons that so many people erroneously believe recent climate change comes from human activity, when there’s ample evidence to the contrary.Charles4.0 out of 5 starsThe alternative viewpoint of global warmingDecember 20, 2018Professor Plimer is highly qualified to write such a scientific book, and that is borne out by the text. His thesis is that global climate has varied over millenia and will continue to vary, with no influence by humans or our carbon combustion. What I particularly appreciate is that - unlike the IPCC - Professor Plimer cites references that the reader can check for oneself, to back up every claim he makes. He includes graphs from both IPCC and other sources to prove that the IPCC claims are false. Anyone truly interested in the climate change issue should read this book before deciding what is true and what is false.AMAZON -Climate, sea level, and ice sheets have always changed, and the changes observed today are less than those of the past. Climate changes are cyclical and are driven by the Earth’s position in the galaxy, the sun, wobbles in the Earth’s orbit, ocean currents, and plate tectonics. In previous times, atmospheric carbon dioxide was far higher than at present but did not drive climate change. No runaway greenhouse effect or acid oceans occurred during times of excessively high carbon dioxide. During past glaciations, carbon dioxide was higher than it is today. The non-scientific popular political view is that humans change climate. Do we have reason for concern about possible human-induced climate change? This book’s 504 pages and over 2,300 references to peer-reviewed scientific literature and other authoritative sources engagingly synthesize what we know about the sun, earth, ice, water, and air. Importantly, in a parallel to his 1994 book challenging “creation science,” Telling Lies for God, Ian Plimer describes Al Gore’s book and movie An Inconvenient Truth as long on scientific “misrepresentations.” “Trying to deal with these misrepresentations is somewhat like trying to argue with creationists,” he writes, “who misquote, concoct evidence, quote out of context, ignore contrary evidence, and create evidence ex nihilo.”Kenneth FairhurstNovember 18, 2009Humans have been burning fossil fuels and producing CO2 for the past 150 years. The atmospheric concentration of CO2 has risen. CO2 is a greenhouse gas. The Earth's mean temperature appears to have risen over this period. "Obviously human produced CO2 has caused the warming" says the IPCC. The science is settled. Q.e.d. Anything that is at variance with this is obviously wrong and must be either ignored or changed."Not so fast" says Ian Plimer. You are ignoring the basic statistical law which states that correlation does not mean causation. I will write a book to show that there is nothing new about climate change. That the Earth has been both much warmer and much cooler than present at various times of its evolution. That todays CO2 levels are much lower than in the geological past and are not exceptionally high in relationship to the historical past. That there are many things on Earth and in space producing climate variability. That the fears of catastrophic global warming are unfounded, and that previous warm periods have been beneficial to both human society and the biosphere whilst cold periods have been times of great hardship.Has he succeeded in his quest? Absolutely! He presents convincing evidence in favour of all the above propositions, and continually emphasises how woefully inadequate are the global climate models that the IPCC relies on. I do not believe that anybody could read this book with an open mind and not be convinced that there is overwhelming evidence against the possibility of catastrophic AGW.Professor Plimer is Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Adelaide University, and Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at Melbourne University. Geology is one of the core disciplines of climate science. Consequently he is well qualified to write on this topic (not something that can be said of some IPCC lead authors, not to mention the authors of various alarmist AGW books and films).The book devotes chapters to climate history, the Earth, the Sun, water, ice and air. Each chapter is preceded by a very useful synopsis of the topics to be covered. The ways, many of them theoretical, in which these systems interact to produce the climate is explored. The stupendous complexity of these interactions is apparent. Much time is spent on the methods that have been used to determine past climates and CO2 levels as well as the ways that the IPCC and some of its lead authors have misinterpreted and misused the data. The final chapter sets forth Plimer's opinions about the politics of global warming, the individuals and groups supporting it out of self interest and the many ill-informed people who have been misled by them. Although this chapter is a bit rambling and could have used some editing, it contains plenty of information that deserves to be common knowledge.The book is constructed around more than 2,300 references. This may account for the choppiness of the writing and the repetition referred to in other reviews. The amount of information is massive, and, unless one has a photographic memory, it will take a great deal of time and effort to get through the book. It is definitely not bedtime reading material, but anyone who puts in the effort will be richly rewarded.And what of the IPCC? They have changed the CO2 atmopheric residence time from the previously accepted 4 to 5 years to a ridiculous 50 to 200 years without a shred of real-world evidence to support it. The role of the sun is downplayed and the variability of the solar constant is grossly underestimated. They admit that clouds and precipitation systems are poorly modelled, and they do not even try to model ENSO. They have spent billions of dollars over 2 decades in trying to find a fingerprint for AGW, and have completely failed to do so. In no way are these the actions of a responsible and impartial body. But then the science is settled isn't it? Professor Plimer details many more examples.The book is not perfect. There are several contradictory statements and one that made me raise my eyebrows. On page 19 he states that one of the IPCC lead authors on epidemiology has written on mercury poisoning from land mines. This is a mis-quote from page 188 of Lawrence Solomon's "The Deniers".Also, some of the graphs are not very explanatory.CO2 is a trace gas, 50% heavier than air and highly soluble in water. It is essential to life, and is a fundamental building block of all our foodstuffs. Yet the idea has taken hold that it is a dangerous pollutant which threatens to destroy civilisation and the planet. Because of this, governments are discussing spending trillions of dollars on a futile attempt to control and reduce its atmospheric concentration. This is preposterous. It is pure madness. Future generations will look back at it and shake their heads in amazement.Professor Plimer has done his best to bring sanity to the discussions on climate change. I wholeheartedly recommend his book.The Polar Bear Catastrophe That Never Happened explains why the catastrophic decline in polar bear numbers we were promised in 2007 failed to materialize. It’s the story of how and why the polar bear came to be considered 'Threatened' with extinction, and tracks its rise and fall as an icon of the global warming movement. The book also tells the story of Crockford’s role in bringing that failure to public attention and the backlash against her that ensued – and why, among all others who have attempted to do so previously, she was uniquely positioned to do so. In general, this is a cautionary tale of scientific hubris and of scientific failure, of researchers staking their careers on untested computer simulations and later obfuscating inconvenient facts.For the first time, you'll see a frank and detailed account of attempts by scientists to conceal population growth as numbers rose from an historical low in the 1960s to the astonishing highs that surely must exist after almost 50 years of protection from overhunting. There is also a blunt account of what truly abundant populations of bears mean for the millions of people who live and work in areas of the Arctic inhabited by polar bears.This book reminded me very much of Moby Dick with its heavy emphasis on both an adventure story and sharing detailed information. Those who prefer one aspect or the other will probably find themselves flipping quickly through the pages that emphasize the other aspect.Popular opinions are almost always wrong. That's the theme of this book. The point is made in the context of describing how global warming, as perceived by the public and media, is different from what scientists are describing. Dr. Crichton argues through his story that we can waste a lot of time and resources on popular delusions, and we need to get our facts right. His appendix I on the dangers of politicized science is something everyone should read. The eugenics example is a chilling one.Spiritual Ecology Versus ScienceEnvironmentalism as Religion by Michael CrichtonOne of the defining features of religion is that your beliefs are not troubled by facts, because they have nothing to do with facts.Michael CrichtonIn 2003 Michael Crichton sent the Ecology industry into a rage by exposing them as a religion. He can get away with it because he has both the science background and enough money not to be silenced by the eco-lobby. In fact environmentalism is as much a fundamentalist' religion as that of Pat Robertson. He is correct about the religious undertones, but it's also a political movement as he points out.In 2008 global warming has fallen off the radar as the presidential election, high energy costs, and the Wall Street meltdown have dominated the news. But this one article seems to have been left out of the discussion. Besides reports of such record cold in Mongolia killing people and livestock, the December 19, 2007 Washington Times reports:"In Buenos Aires (Argentina), snow fell for the first time since the year 1918. Dozens of homeless people died from exposure. In Peru, 200 people died from the cold...(in 2007) Johannesburg, South Africa, had the first significant snowfall in 26 years. Australia...New Zealand...weather turned so cold..."Remarks to the Commonwealth Club by Michael Crichton San Francisco September 15, 2003 (Extract)I have been asked to talk about what I consider the most important challenge facing mankind, and I have a fundamental answer. The greatest challenge facing mankind is the challenge of distinguishing reality from fantasy, truth from propaganda. Perceiving the truth has always been a challenge to mankind, but in the information age (or as I think of it, the disinformation age) it takes on a special urgency and importance.We must daily decide whether the threats we face are real, whether the solutions we are offered will do any good, whether the problems we're told exist are in fact real problems, or non-problems. Every one of us has a sense of the world, and we all know that this sense is in part given to us by what other people and society tell us; in part generated by our emotional state, which we project outward; and in part by our genuine perceptions of reality. In short, our struggle to determine what is true is the struggle to decide which of our perceptions are genuine, and which are false because they are handed down, or sold to us, or generated by our own hopes and fears.As an example of this challenge, I want to talk today about environmentalism. And in order not to be misunderstood, I want it perfectly clear that I believe it is incumbent on us to conduct our lives in a way that takes into account all the consequences of our actions, including the consequences to other people, and the consequences to the environment. I believe it is important to act in ways that are sympathetic to the environment, and I believe this will always be a need, carrying into the future.I believe the world has genuine problems and I believe it can and should be improved. But I also think that deciding what constitutes responsible action is immensely difficult, and the consequences of our actions are often difficult to know in advance. I think our past record of environmental action is discouraging, to put it mildly, because even our best intended efforts often go awry. But I think we do not recognize our past failures, and face them squarely. And I think I know why.I studied anthropology in college, and one of the things I learned was that certain human social structures always reappear. They can't be eliminated from society. One of those structures is religion. Today it is said we live in a secular society in which many people---the best people, the most enlightened people---do not believe in any religion. But I think that you cannot eliminate religion from the psyche of mankind. If you suppress it in one form, it merely re-emerges in another form. You can not believe in God, but you still have to believe in something that gives meaning to your life, and shapes your sense of the world. Such a belief is religious.Today, one of the most powerful religions in the Western World is environmentalism. Environmentalism seems to be the religion of choice for urban atheists. Why do I say it's a religion? Well, just look at the beliefs. If you look carefully, you see that environmentalism is in fact a perfect 21st century remapping of traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs and myths.There's an initial Eden, a paradise, a state of grace and unity with nature, there's a fall from grace into a state of pollution as a result of eating from the tree of knowledge, and as a result of our actions there is a judgment day coming for us all. We are all energy sinners, doomed to die, unless we seek salvation, which is now called sustainability. Sustainability is salvation in the church of the environment. Just as organic food is its communion, that pesticide-free wafer that the right people with the right beliefs, imbibe.Eden, the fall of man, the loss of grace, the coming doomsday---these are deeply held mythic structures. They are profoundly conservative beliefs. They may even be hard-wired in the brain, for all I know. I certainly don't want to talk anybody out of them, as I don't want to talk anybody out of a belief that Jesus Christ is the son of God who rose from the dead. But the reason I don't want to talk anybody out of these beliefs is that I know that I can't talk anybody out of them. These are not facts that can be argued. These are issues of faith.And so it is, sadly, with environmentalism. Increasingly it seems facts aren't necessary, because the tenets of environmentalism are all about belief. It's about whether you are going to be a sinner, or saved. Whether you are going to be one of the people on the side of salvation, or on the side of doom. Whether you are going to be one of us, or one of them.Am I exaggerating to make a point? I am afraid not. Because we know a lot more about the world than we did forty or fifty years ago. And what we know now is not so supportive of certain core environmental myths, yet the myths do not die. Let's examine some of those beliefs.There is no Eden. There never was. What was that Eden of the wonderful mythic past? Is it the time when infant mortality was 80%, when four children in five died of disease before the age of five? When one woman in six died in childbirth? When the average lifespan was 40, as it was in America a century ago. When plagues swept across the planet, killing millions in a stroke. Was it when millions starved to death? Is that when it was Eden?...In short, the romantic view of the natural world as a blissful Eden is only held by people who have no actual experience of nature. People who live in nature are not romantic about it at all. They may hold spiritual beliefs about the world around them, they may have a sense of the unity of nature or the aliveness of all things...If Eden is a fantasy that never existed, and mankind wasn't ever noble and kind and loving, if we didn't fall from grace, then what about the rest of the religious tenets? What about salvation, sustainability, and judgment day? What about the coming environmental doom from fossil fuels and global warming, if we all don't get down on our knees and conserve every day?Well, it's interesting. You may have noticed that something has been left off the doomsday list, lately. Although the preachers of environmentalism have been yelling about population for fifty years, over the last decade world population seems to be taking an unexpected turn. Fertility rates are falling almost everywhere.As a result, over the course of my lifetime the thoughtful predictions for total world population have gone from a high of 20 billion, to 15 billion, to 11 billion (which was the UN estimate around 1990) to now 9 billion, and soon, perhaps less. There are some who think that world population will peak in 2050 and then start to decline. There are some who predict we will have fewer people in 2100 than we do today.Is this a reason to rejoice, to say halleluiah? Certainly not. Without a pause, we now hear about the coming crisis of world economy from a shrinking population. We hear about the impending crisis of an aging population. Nobody anywhere will say that the core fears expressed for most of my life have turned out not to be true...Okay, so, the preachers made a mistake. They got one prediction wrong; they're human. So what. Unfortunately, it's not just one prediction. It's a whole slew of them. We are running out of oil. (Note: oil has fallen to $45 a barrel June 2017) We are running out of all natural resources. Paul Ehrlich: 60 million Americans will die of starvation in the 1980s. Forty thousand species become extinct every year. (Ehrlich is still at it in 2017. See There's No Man-Made Global Mass Extinction.)Half of all species on the planet will be extinct by 2000. And on and on and on. With so many past failures, you might think that environmental predictions would become more cautious. But not if it's a religion. Remember, the nut on the sidewalk carrying the placard that predicts the end of the world doesn't quit when the world doesn't end on the day he expects.He just changes his placard, sets a new doomsday date, and goes back to walking the streets. One of the defining features of religion is that your beliefs are not troubled by facts, because they have nothing to do with facts....I can cite the appropriate journal articles not in whacko magazines, but in the most prestigious science journals, such as Science and Nature. But such references probably won't impact more than a handful of you, because the beliefs of a religion are not dependant on facts, but rather are matters of faith. Unshakeable belief.Environmental Religion by Michael CrichtonJames Matkin's answer to Is there a reasonable body of scientific opinion that is sceptical of climate change?