Global Temperaturs are Flat for 12 Years

The easiest place on the web that I have found to chart world temperatures is woodfortrees.com. There are 4 different series which measure world temperature, two are satellite based, both of which are managed and analyzed by "skeptics". Both the UAH NSSTC and the RSS MSU measure temperature in the lower troposphere or atmosphere. This is where extra warming from a greenhouse effect is supposed to take place, but there is no greenhouse signature. The other two are land based and combination of sea-surface temperature. They are managed by Alarmists. Land based temperature reliability has been questioned because many of them are taken in cities close to concrete and other man-made heat sources that have been shown to increase temperature, especially at night. See surfacestations.org and wattsupwiththat.com for detailed analysis of their shortcoming. This blog post from Jennifer Marohasey discusses the differences between the four series and so does this very excellent review of global temperature. The graph above is an average of all four temperature series combined on woodfortrees.com found here. I would bookmark that link and watch it!

The world temperature trend line has been FLAT for the past 12 years. Now can you see why the Alarmists have changed their tune from "global warming" to "climate change". It is impossible for them to hang their hat on a warming earth, so they are quite willing to now place any change in climate on man's CO2. Always think of CO2 this way, in parts per 10,000. CO2 has increased from 3.15 parts per 10,000 to 3.85 parts per 10,000 in the past 60 years. About 2/3 of 1 extra molecule of CO2 per 10,000 molecules!

The graph to the right plots the woodfortrees.com temperature index since 2001, a mathematical combo of all 4 temperature series. For the past 8.5 years temperatures have been decreasing while CO2 continues to increase. The alarmist fear of rising CO2 is not just in the increased greenhouse effect but their theory is that there will be an amplification of the greenhouse because hotter air will hold more water vapor which will greatly increase temperatures, maybe by a factor 3. As you can plainly see, it is undisputed that instead of rising, temperatures have fallen.

In 1998 there was a very strong El Nino which greatly increased temperature world-wide. There was an enormous spike which all scientists agree was not related to CO2, but was caused by El Nino. El Nino's are a complicated phenomena, occurring in the pacific ocean, which occurring periodically and spontaneously. Ocean winds and upwelling affect climate throughout the world. Google El Nino to find more. This web essay is quite detailed and thorough in showing that El Nino drives world temperature. The facts are that although temperatures have been decreasing since 2001, during those years the world likely experienced the highest temperatures since the Great Warming of about 1200AD. I strongly recommend you read The Little Ice Age, only $7 shipped on Amazon, which is a historical study of both the Great Warming and the Little Ice.