UPDATE:  Shockingly, Anthony Watts stands behind his offensive post and comments.

Today, a demented, violent individual held people hostage with a gun and bombs strapped to his body at the Discovery Communications building in Silver Spring, MD.   He was ultimately shot and killed by police.  Thankfully, the hostages were safe.

For Anthony Watts, this bizarre tragedy is an opportunity to launch his most offensive headline to date at WattsUpWithThat:

And the first line of Watts’ post is “Well, you filthy readers, see what happens when we don’t acquiesce?“  Remember, Watts is a guy who just a few weeks ago demanded others “dial back the rhetoric.” Seriously.

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WattsUpWithThat breaks its own record for fastest overturning of a prediction by reality

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA, click to enlarge) has a widely used plot of sea ice area.

The notion that the Arctic sea ice was somehow on a long-term recovery trend based on a short-term two-dimensional analysis (i.e. sea ice area or extent just over the last 2 years) — had no basis in fact.  That goes double (triple?) when you look at three dimensions (i.e. volume) over a multi-year period, as I’ll discuss below.

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If one follows Bjorn Lomborg closely — not for the feint of heart — one can argue that his position has not changed drastically, as some commenters noted (see “Lomborg flip-flop: “Climate change is undoubtedly one of the chief concerns facing the world today”).

But that assumes you ascribe a level of nuance to Lomborg that sometimes exists in his writing, but not in how the anti-science ideologues have used him throughout the years.  Below is an excerpt from Media Matters piece, “How will right-wing media react to former climate skeptic Lomborg?” that drives this point home.   Then I’ll repost a piece by Howard Friel, author of The Lomborg Deception, who explains why “Lomborg is not a responsible climate commentator.”

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At first, I wasn’t going to blog on this because I thought it must be a hoax.  Who could possibly ask such a question of candidates?  Then again, the Tea Party have outsourced their thinking on climate to The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, which is as ridiculous as it gets.

Yesterday, the UK Guardian‘s Leo Hickman reported the story, “with a side order of jaw drop”:

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Energy Dept. says nationwide ‘smart meter’ army hits 2 million

The Energy Department said Tuesday more than 2 million “smart” electric meters have been installed nationwide, sped along by funding in the big 2009 stimulus law.

The devices help consumers and businesses track and control power consumption and, hence, costs.

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But no, ‘dirty air’ Lisa is not a “climate change victim” even though her opponent is an anti-science ideologue

Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska conceded late Tuesday in her Republican primary race against Joe Miller, a lawyer from Fairbanks who was backed by Tea Party activists, Sarah Palin and other conservatives.

Mr. Miller shocked the political establishment here and in Washington last week when he emerged with a narrow lead, 1,668 votes, after the primary vote, on Aug. 24. His victory makes him the presumed favorite to win the Senate seat from this heavily Republican state.

That means the GOP candidate for Senate from the state that’s Ground Zero for climate change is a hardcore science denier who recently said “We haven’t heard there’s man-made global warming.”

Last week, Jeffrey Birnbaum of the conservative newsletter EnergyGuardian (subs. req’d) leapt to the beyond-dubious conclusion, “Murkowski is a climate change victim”:

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