A few months ago, the blogosphere and talk radio were abuzz with the story of how the nation’s various weather stations and temperature reading devices have been improperly located or badly constructed and how the data received from these improper devices must be suspected as inaccurate. Since global warming research often uses this suspect data that is gotten from these failed stations, it must therefore call into question the accuracy of the entire theory as its conclusions are derived from likely false data. Still, even as the blogosphere and talk radio blasted the news, the MSM ignores this explosive wireless story.

But, it is evident that the so-called scientific community has also ignored the arguments in this story as there has yet to be a weather station moved or its location and/or construction reevaluated.

Anthony Watts has a great website detailing the problems with some of these weather stations, but there are far more out there than the ones that Mr. Watts details. He cannot be expected to catch them all, naturally. So, this report details another problematic station. This one is situated in the Bandelier National Monument Park in New Mexico.

The Bandelier National Monument is a place of great natural beauty with a rich American history going back into prehistoric times. It is 32,000 some acres of amazing nature with indigenous Indian archeological sites like the Anasazi cliff dwellings, numerous petroglyphs to see and caves to visit. The natural awesomeness of the Pajarito Plateau easily impresses with its red earth and cliffs and sporting miles of backpacking trails and picknicking areas. It’s a wonderful place and a great natural, American resource.

As it so happens, Bandelier National Monument also sports a weather station. Off the trail (and therefore not legally approachable I’m told) sits a weather station right up against the red cliffs of the Monument.

The placement of this station is most likely a major problem with the data that might be had from the weather devices there, however. The cliffs may be fun to explore, they may be beautiful and they are certainly a great and wondrous place for historical sightseeing but any area right up against the cliffs is a horrible place for a station that measures temperatures.

Consider this: during a hot summer day have you ever walked up next to the solid brick wall of a building exposed to direct sunlight? Have you ever had cause to place your hand on those bricks exposed to the blazing summer sun? If you ever have, you’ll have noticed that heat simply radiates in waves from those bricks. In fact, for hours after the sun goes down that brick facade will radiate heat.

This radiation of heat occurs because materials such as brick and rock absorbs heat and holds it for quite a while radiating it back out into the air through the day. In fact, Indian peoples throughout history have used these New Mexico cliffs to keep warm by snuggling up to the great rock edifice to soak up the heat it radiates.

And this heat daily radiating from the cliffs is just the problem here. Looking at the photo of the weather station will show how close this station is to those massive rocks. So, this raises the question: wouldn’t the heat constantly radiating from the cliff face cause the temperature devices to measure unduly high temperatures? Might not this temperature data be consistently higher to some degree than it otherwise might be should the station had been placed, say, in the near by meadow which is away from the cliffs?

These are the sorts of questions that need answering about our entire weather station system. The common sense of the construction and placement of these stations needs to be reviewed so that we might be able to assure proper accumulation of weather data.

Of course, a big question must be asked due to the failure to address the situation. Do the researchers who turn this inaccurate data into justifications for global warming theories really want to have proper data? That is the big question, indeed.

But, whatever the case, this particular weather station in the Bandelier National Monument Park needs to be reevaluated for its effectiveness, as do so many others.

What we end up with from the many revelations of the inadequate weather stations across the country is a failure to trust the entire system of weather collecting devices, yet the MSM and the scientific community has failed to highlight this story. Wouldn’t it seem a natural story for the MSM to tackle? It has drama, it has shocking consequences and it has a theme of failure; all things the MSM normally love to explore.

Yet, even as this story broke wide open in the blogosphere months ago, we see no grand stories on a story that cries out for it, no “investigative journalism” from the MSM.

Shouldn’t we be asking why that is?