AccuWeather.com

Global Climate Change Blog

Global Warming Consensus gets a Surprise Boost

Apr 5, 2011; 10:35 PM ET

UC Berkeley physicists and statisticians, led by professor Richard Muller, who has been critical of government run climate studies for many years, recently launched the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature Project to challenge the scientific consensus on global warming by analyzing a large volume of temperature data.

By the way, the project's biggest private backer, at $150,000, is the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation. Oil billionaires Charles and David Koch are the nation's most prominent funders of efforts to prevent curbs on the burning of fossil fuels, the largest contributor to planet-warming greenhouse gases, according to the Los Angeles Times.

But Muller unexpectedly told a congressional hearing last week that the work of the three principal groups that have analyzed the temperature trends underlying climate science is "excellent.... We see a global warming trend that is very similar to that previously reported by the other groups," according to the Times article.

The group was surprised by its findings, according to Muller, but he cautioned that the initial assessment is based on only 2% of the 1.6 billion measurements that will eventually be examined. (via the Times)

Over the years, Muller has supported some ideas that weather station data in official studies are untrustworthy because of the urban heat island effect, which boosts temperature readings in areas that have been encroached on by cities and suburbs.

But leading climatologists said the previous studies accounted for the effect, and the Berkeley analysis is confirming that, Muller acknowledged. "Did such poor station quality exaggerate the estimates of global warming?" he asked in his written testimony. "We've studied this issue, and our preliminary answer is no." (from the LA Times)

Other scientists noted that temperature is only one factor in climate change, according to the LA Times article. "Even if the thermometer had never been invented, the evidence is there from deep ocean changes, from receding glaciers, from rising sea levels and receding sea ice and spring snow cover," said Peter Thorne, a leading expert at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.

----------

The Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature Project

Paul Krugman wrote an interesting response to this story in an op-ed for the New York Times.

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or AccuWeather.com

blogs Home >

Comments

Comments left here should adhere to the AccuWeather.com Community Guidelines. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.

More Global Climate Change

Himalayas Experiencing Rapid Climate Change

May 18, 2012; 11:02 AM ET

Average annual mean temperatures in the Himalayas increased 1.5 Celsius or 0.06 Celsius per year between 1982 and 2006, which is three times greater than the average global increase for the same time period....

Using Statistical Analysis to Predict Future North American Warming

May 16, 2012; 3:24 PM ET

Researchers from the Ohio State University are using statistical analysis to tell us with how much certainty North America may warm later this century.

April 2012 Global Surface Temperatures

May 14, 2012; 2:53 PM ET

April 2012 was tied for 4th warmest on record globally, based on combined land and ocean surface temperature anomalies

Correction brings Temperature Trend Outlier back in Line

May 8, 2012; 3:01 PM ET

A scientific group from the University of Washington has identified a problem with one of the three satellite temperature records.

Global Satellite Temperature Results for April

May 4, 2012; 2:16 PM ET

La Nina is officially done and its global cooling influence also seems to be fading.........

Warming Experiments Greatly Underestimate how Plants respond to Climate Change

May 3, 2012; 12:56 PM ET

A group of researchers compared results from controlled environmental warming experiments on plants with a massive new archive of historical observations and found.....

Major Economic Contractions needed to Reduce CO2 Concentrations to Acceptable Levels

May 1, 2012; 1:39 PM ET

Major economic sacrifices may be needed to lower CO2 concentration to acceptable levels, according to one study......

Global Mean Sea Level

Apr 30, 2012; 2:05 PM ET

Satellite data since 1993 shows that that there is no doubt that the global mean sea level is steadily rising......

The Eastern U.S. "Warming Hole" of the Late 20th Century

Apr 27, 2012; 2:38 PM ET

Increased air pollution may have delayed global warming in the eastern U.S. back in the late 20th century.

Arctic Warming

Apr 25, 2012; 1:53 PM ET

Another indication of climate change is the warming of the Arctic....

Heat Content of the Upper Oceans is Rising

Apr 24, 2012; 3:37 PM ET

The increasing heat content of the world's oceans over the past few decades is another climate change indicator.

Glaciers Retreating, Sea Level Rising

Apr 23, 2012; 1:59 PM ET

As we continue our series on climate change indicators, we will focus on glacier melt and sea level rise today.

It's Not the Sun!

Apr 20, 2012; 11:04 AM ET

Over the next week or so I am going to focus on some of the basics of climate change and specifically on climate change indicators......

Update on Arctic Sea Ice Extent and Volume

Apr 18, 2012; 2:42 PM ET

Sea ice extent in the Arctic region continues to run close to the 1979-2000 year average at this time.

March Global Surface Temperature Data Released

Apr 16, 2012; 2:52 PM ET

March 2012 was the 16th warmest March on record globally......

older Posts >

About This Blog

Global Climate Change
In the AccuWeather.com Climate Change Blog, you will find links to the latest research, commentary by experts with various points of view on all aspects of Global Warming and Global Cooling.