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Doubling Down - Copenhagen summit: decade is world's warmest on record
This decade has been the warmest on record and this year is likely to be the fifth warmest, according to the World Meteorological Organisationss (WMO) assessment of global average temperatures. There were sharp differences between regions, with central Africa and parts of southern Asia having their warmest year but the United States and Canada experiencing cooler than average conditions. The WMO released the preliminary data at the Copenhagen climate summit in what the Met Office, which contributed to the figures, admitted was an attempt to influence the negotiations over cutting greenhouse gases. The WMO is also anxious to quell doubts about the scientific analysis of temperature records raised by the publication of stolen e-mails in the Climategate scandal. The WMO and the Met Office base their reports partly on data and analysis supplied by the University of East Anglias Climatic Research Unit. Phil Jones, the units director, has stood down while an investigation takes place into allegations that he manipulated data, attempted to block publication of alternative scientific views and tried to delete information requested by climate change sceptics. The WMO, which has data going back to 1850, said that the ten years from 2000 to 2009 were 0.44C warmer than the annual average of 14C between 1961 to 1990. The Met Office, one of three main sources for the WMO figures, said its records showed that each of the last six decades had been warmer than the previous one. Since the 18th century, the global temperature has risen just over 0.7C. The Copenhagen summit is trying to agree global action to prevent the temperature rising more than 2C above the pre-industrial average. The Met Office said: These figures highlight that the world continues to see global temperature rise most of which is due to increasing emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and clearly shows that the argument that global warming has stopped is flawed. . Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC 2009-12-08 |
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