Climate Skeptic has fun with two media headlines that appeared, somewhat awkwardly, on exactly the same day. The first warns readers that “Scientists fear Arctic thaw has reached ‘tipping point,” the second reassures us that the “Arctic Sea Ice Re-Freezing at Record Pace.” I suppose that it shouldn’t altogether be a surprise to discover that a “record” melt (if that’s what it was) was followed by a record re-freeze, but it is interesting to see that “the re-freeze continues in December, such that the ice coverage is pretty much at the median level today.”

Does this prove or disprove the competing theses about global warming? Of course not, but it’s a useful reminder that what’s needed in this discussion is, above all, a dispassionate look at the data, along with proper cost/benefit analysis. What little I heard of the goings on at Bali put me more in mind of a blend of tent revival, Salem, and the preparations for for the first Soviet Five Year Plan.