Yesterday we posted on an AP story about the Obama administration’s tight schedule for getting going on climate change, and illustrated it with the Goddard Institute for Space Study’s global temperature plot through 2007. (Incidentally, speaking of AP, a union-mgt tiff has an AP byline boycott underway this week, so not many signers on today’s AP posts.) This morning the nearly-complete (first 11 months) plot for 2008 came out, to the right. A lot of people will see that plunge in temp at the end – all the way down to ninth on the all time list – and wonder if this means adios global warming, stoke the boilers with coal, mateys! Other saner sorts will scan back along the plot and notice that what would be a real break from history would be a sudden cessation of the data’s fine-scale jitteriness. Which is to say, this looks to these eyeballs to be exactly the sort of behavior expected as we go warmingly along. Which is also to say, one must suppose, that if by some oddity of nature a real longterm cooling trend is starting, it might look like this too. ‘just can’t tell.
The UK’s Met Office released its preliminary analysis today too, with similar result (says it tenth, not ninth warmest year). It says La Niña cooled things off. World Meteorological Organization did too.
The Tracker will likely update this tomorrow as more news accounts arise. For now here’s some of what’s already in:
- NYTimes – Andrew C. Revkin : A Cooler Year on a Warming Planet ;
- USA Today – Bob Swanson, Doyle Rice: NASA: 2008 is coolest year since 2000 ;
- Guardian (UK) James Randerson : Coolest year since 2000 but trend still shows global warming ;
- BBC – Richard Black: This year is coolest since 2000 ;
*UPDATES:
- Time Mag. – Bryan Walsh : The Planet Gets Cooler in ’08. Say What? ; says, somewhat cleverly, it was the coolest year since the turn of the century. 20th century reflexes take over, briefly, on reading that.
- McClatchy Newspapers – Renee Schoof : NASA reports 2008 is ninth warmest year since 1880 ;
- Just to get in the expected blogosphere reaction from the doubting side of the climate change ledger: ClimateResearchNews: Don’t Mention Cooling: 2008 is the 9th, 10th, and 15th Warmest Year ;
Grist for the Mill:
NASA-Goddard Inst. for Space Studies Temp Analysis ; NOAA Press Release (November was 4th hottest on record) ; UK Met Office Press Release ; WMO Press Release ;
-CP
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