Did global warming just end? Or did it end in 1999? How about 1982? 1991-1992?

Question

In each of those times weather conditions caused a short term decrease in temperature. And EVERY TIME, global warming came back, stronger than ever, as we produced ever increasing amounts of greenhouse gases.

Pointing to the very recent decrease in temperature and claiming it's significant; either is deceptive, or shows a lack of understanding of the scientific data.

http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/2007/

discussed in detail, with confirmation, at:

http://tamino.wordpress.com/2008/01/24/giss-ncdc-hadcru/

There's a reason this isn't front page news, and it's not because of some imaginary "liberal conspiracy". These are simply bumps on a bumpy road to disastrous warming, if we do nothing to reduce it.

Answer 1

No one really knows when the earth will abandon it's current trend and go back to cooling. What do you think Bob? Will it ever again enter a cooling cycle like the ones seen throughout earth history? Some scientists are saying the cooling trend will begin very soon.

Answer 2

Global warming is taking place and will continue, but we dnt know for how long will it lasr bcoz CO3 that is carbon monoxide is already release in the at,mosophere.It take a lot os time for CO3 to react with Ozone, so we must expect it to happen

Answer 3

1889 was an unusually hot year (much like 1998) and the global 12-month (not a single month like 1/2008) dropped 0.61 C the next 2 years.  It took 48 years before we exceed that temperature. Now, 1889 would be considered a cold year.

The global average 12-month peak in 1938 wasn't exceeded again until 1973 (35 years), but 24 of the last 30 years (including the the most recent 12-month average) have exceeded it.

The 20, 30, 50 and even the 127 year-trends, all show a clear warming trend (with expected dips, rises, and weather noise).  And our most recent 12-month period (2/2007 - 1/2008) is warmer than 2000, 1999, 1997 and every year in our instrumental recorded history before that. I don't see how anyone with even High School level math would claim all the warming of the past 100 years is gone.  That's simply false.

People don't seem to understand that a La Niña event (like we are in) has a significant (though short term) cooling effect over a substantial part of the surface of the planet.  But it doesn't eliminate the radiative forcing of the CO2 in the atmosphere. It only masks the effect and when the next El Niño comes along the warming effect will be amplified.

Answer 4

Nadeem - CO is carbon Monoxide, CO2 is Carbon Dioxide and CO3 is Carbonate.

The period 900 - 1200 AD has been called the Little Climatic Optimum, with temperatures 1 -2 degree Celsius higher than they are today. It represents the warmest climate since the Climatic Optimum. During this period, the Vikings established settlements on Greenland and Iceland. The snow line in the Rocky Mountains was about 370 meters above current levels. A period of cool and more extreme weather followed the Little Climatic Optimum. A great drought in the American southwest occurred between 1276 and 1299. There are records of floods, great droughts and extreme seasonal climate fluctuations up to the 1400s.

From 1550 to 1850 AD global temperatures were at their coldest since the beginning of the Holocene. Scientists call this period the Little Ice Age. During the Little Ice Age, the average annual temperature of the Northern Hemisphere was about 1.0 degree Celsius lower than today. During the period 1580 to 1600, the western United States experienced one of its longest and most severe droughts in the last 500 years. Cold weather in Iceland from 1753 and 1759 caused 25% of the population to die from crop failure and famine. Newspapers in New England were calling 1816 the year without a summer.

The period 1850 to present is one of general warming.

History shows us that the temperature rises and falls naturally all the time, the nile has even frozen over twice (829AD and 1010AD).

Answer 5

well not in our life time so we cant do much about it but educate the rest of the world and the youth and hope they do it right !

Answer 6

I think it is important once again to establish the AGW hypothesis.  This hypothesis states that greenhouse gases will cause a substantial warming of the earth, and that this warming will be catastrophic.  

These projection of future warming is based on computer models and they are fed certain parameters.  The fact that we had a major cooling of the earth, which no expert predicted, shows how little understanding we have of the earth's climate.

Lets just assume that the AGW hypothesis is correct.

One of the parameters is based on the assumption that co2 is the leading cause of 20th century warming.  This strong La Nina shows that the oscillation of the oceans are not affected by greenhouse gases.  But it also means that the strong La Ninas that we had during the past 20 years are also not affected by global warming.  These El Ninos tended to average to temperatures up.  So this changed the parameters.

Then there is also the theory of co2 forcing.  As the ice melts that will cause more warming.  Well this year ice levels have increased from the same time last year.  This will reduce the co2 forcing.  Two steps forward one step back.  So how reliable are the computer models if they cannot predict that one step back?

The fact that this sun cycle is slow in starting might also be an indication of how strong of an influence the sun really is.

Answer 7

you're right. and it'll keep going if we don't do anything. i mean, it seems like a year ago, everyone was concerned about global warming. and now it's like the world completely forgot because brittney spears is going crazy. global warming is just going to get worse, and by the time people start worrying about it again, it might be too late.