Global Temperatures over the last decade

The Distortion

One of the most common techniques of those who try to deny the reality of climate change is to cherry-pick data. For example, 1998 was the hottest year on record, so climate change deniers like to start graphs with that year to try to make the case that the planet is actually cooling “over the last ten years.”

The Truth

The long-term trend in the climate is unmistakable: the planet is getting warmer. This holds up in just about any way you analyze the data, with five of the hottest years on record in this decade alone.

The hottest year on record was 1998. Year-to-year weather isn’t consistent; some years are just hotter than others, within the overall warming trend. If you start the “study” of the climate from 1997, or 1999, or really any other year, the graph would show a clear upward trend. Only by randomly picking the freakishly hot year of 1998 can you distort the evidence into saying what the climate change deniers want it to say.

The Associated Press did a great article where they gave 4 statisticians the temperature data without telling them what the data showed (just a series of numbers). The unanimous verdict: clear warming trend. Read that article here:

http://www.nctimes.com/news/science/article_3be80d8f-524a-5c78-b9e0-a1abe8f14a94.html