People - and media - have lost interest in the UN annual climate festival

The annual UN festival of climate alarmism continues in Doha, but almost unnoticed. The Edmonton Sun columist Lorne Gunter explains why:

But the lack of international interest may also be a sign that, at least subconsciously, more scientists are recognizing that the climate isn’t changing as rapidly or dramatically as predicted.

Certainly the alarmists, both within the scientific community and among environmentalists — the Al Gores and David Suzukis — are as vocal as ever in their predictions of imminent doom. They still insist that every study that calls into doubt their “settled science” is a plot by Big Oil and climate “deniers” to ignore reality.

But take, for instance, what is sometimes called the “Arctic refreeze.” It’s true that this summer more northern sea ice melted that at any time since the record low of 2007. But less well-publicized is the fact that since Oct. 1 there has been a record return of ice in polar regions, or that Antarctic sea ice has been growing for 30 years.

The destruction caused by Superstorm Sandy has been used repeatedly in Doha as “proof” extreme weather is intensifying.

Yet as Chris Landsea of the U.S. National Hurricane Center pointed out this week, there has been no increase in the intensity of landfalling hurricanes since 1900. While 2004 and 2005 were the two most intense hurricane years in the last century, 2006 to 2011 were the five least intense.

Britain is this year predicting its coldest, snowiest winter in a century, following 2011-12 which was the coldest, snowiest in 70 or 80 years. Europe and Alaska are in the grips of early cold snaps and Moscow has had one of its snowiest Novembers on record.

Global temperatures have been flat for nearly 15 years and northern Hemisphere winter temperatures have fallen significantly in the past two years, despite predictions that global warming would be most felt in northern climates, in winter.

It’s true that many alarmist scientists objected when the U.K.’s Daily Mail newspaper ran stories two months ago claiming global temperatures have flatlined since 1997. But the fact is, the Mail was only using temperature statistics provided by the U.K. Met Office, a very pro-warming government agency.

Even more convincing is a chart compiled by researcher Paul Vaughn for the blog Tallbloke’s Talkshop (tallbloke.wordpress.com) that shows sea level and sea surface temperatures rise and fall with the activity of the sun — not emissions.