New independent study confirms global warming is real

[Dr Martin Williams [account from Drupal site]]

Climate change sceptics have long tried arguing that data showing warming trends over past decades is somehow wrong, biased, global warming is some kind of big lie designed to take money from people (yeah, stupid notion this latter one, but all too common among the fearmongers who say never mind the possible harm from changing climate, it's best to do nothing).

Well, whaddya know? An independent study was set up to test such notions, with funds including from Koch brothers, a shady but very rich pair who are funding much of the anti-global warming lies and hysteria. And, the initial results are now in, up for peer review – and tally very closely with other studies showing temperatures rising.

 

You can find this chart (maybe an updated version) plus links to more info on the project at: Berkeley Earth Analysis Charts.

Here's some info from the Independent:

Quote:

A climate sceptic has said that it is now time to end the debate over whether global warming is real after the most definitive study into temperature data gathered by weather stations over the past half-century.

Professor Richard Muller, a physicist at the University of California, Berkeley, who has been an outspoken critic of the science underpinning global warming, said that there is little doubt in his mind the phenomenon of rising land temperatures is real. Over the past two years, he has chaired a group of scientists who have carried out an exhaustive analysis of more than 1.6 billion temperature recordings collected from more than 39,000 weather stations at land sites around the world.

The Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature (Best) study was set up to test the findings of other studies and was part-funded by US billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch.

"When we began our study, we felt that sceptics had raised legitimate issues, and we didn't know what we'd find. Our results turned out to be close to those published by prior groups. We think that means that those groups had truly been very careful in their work, despite their inability to convince some sceptics of that," Professor Muller said.

Ex-climate sceptic now backs global warming

Worthwhile article on Mother Jones has more on the results, and notes:

Quote:

the fact that climate scientists turned out to be careful and thorough in their basic estimates of temperature rise surely enhances their credibility in general. Climategate was always a ridiculous sideshow, and this is just one more nail in its coffin. Climate scientists got the basic data right, and they've almost certainly gotten the human causes right too.

Climate Skeptics Take Another Hit

Kind of hilarious to note that hardcore warming denier had written in March "“I’m prepared to accept whatever result they produce, even if it proves my premise wrong.” – yet is now complaining, saying he wants corrections etc etc. Would be hard for him to accept, as without his pulpit for spouting global warming scepticism, Watts would be as nothing; no more love from Fox News fans and their ilk.

Expect, too, plenty of flak for Muller – what a turncoat, to not just express scepticism about climate science, but actually conduct science without pre-determining the result. Come on, that's not what warming scepticism is about; where's the cherry picking data, the attacks on individuals, the evasiveness and arguments vs strawmen and repetition of claims that have already been debunked (it's the sun; not long ago all climatologists said an ice age was coming, it's cosmic rays, it's the heat island effect, those climate scientists can't read thermometers, the more Lindsay Lohan goes to jail the warmer the world is…)?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for this great post! Great insight! the initial results are now in, up for peer review – and tally very closely with other studies showing temperatures rising. Peter

[Author]

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