8 December 2009

Last 10 Years Hottest Decade On Record- UK Met. Office

Posted by Dan Satterfield

Climate Change is not something for the future. It;s already happening. From the UK Met Office.

Climate Change is not something for the future. It's already happening. From the UK Met Office.

The UK Met. Office released data today showing that 2000-2009 was the warmest decade since instrumental records began in the 1850’s. The data also highlights the silliness of those claiming that stolen emails show a cover-up.

The data was run with Climate Research Unit (CRU) data and with data from NASA and NOAA.

There was very little difference.

Surface thermometers are not the only way to measure the Earth's warming.

Surface thermometers are not the only way to measure the Earth's warming.

If anyone tells you the planet is not warming, or the warming has stopped, they are not giving you science. Not only do all three independent temperature reconstructions match well. They also match with Borehole temperature reconstructions and proxies from ice cores and soil cores. Then there is the rapid loss of ice worldwide. From tropical mountain tops to Arctic Sea ice to the Antarctic Peninsula.

The animal and plant life also shows it. Watch this lecture courtesy of the American Meteorological Society (I am a proud member of that organization), and you will see how dramatic the change is.

Then there are those claiming it’s natural. I’m surprised that many people don’t realize that scientists have been asking just that question for a long time now. The ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica have taught paleoclimate experts a lot over the last decade.

Forcing-Diagram-1We know that changes in the Earth’s orbit and changes in the Sun’s brightness can cause the planet to warm and cool. Models can even simulate  the past with very good results. Scientists can calculate the orbital changes and there are fairly good records of the sun’s energy output.

We even know that the Earth warms and cools about one tenth of a degree Celsius over the 11 year sunspot cycle. (It’s actually a 22 year cycle but that is for a future post.)

If it were not for greenhouse gases, the overwhelming opinion of climate scientists is that the Earth as a whole, would be getting a little cooler. The Sun has been very quiet over the past few years, yet the last ten have been the warmest in 160 years.

The truth is a lot different than the junk science on the web isn’t it!

Later,

Dan