Best Environmental / Green Issues Blog

I have just heard that I have been awarded third place for "Best Environmental / Green Issues Blog" in the Witanagemot 2007 Political Blog Awards.

Given my politically incorrect, scientific perspective on the AGW debate, this probably says as much about the bloggers who took part in the survey as about the rigour of my analysis. Nevertheless, to celebrate this August occasion, here is a comment that I recently left at Burning Our Money, responding to a question about data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which others found "amazing" and "truly jaw-dropping."

(For comparison, I also include the corresponding chart showing global temperature anomalies since 1880.)

One of the most interesting graphs from the NOAA is this one showing the effect of the adjustments they have made to the actual ("raw") temperature observations. As you will see, most of the "global warming" since 1960 appears to have been caused by these adjustments! Yet, given how little we understand (as evidenced by both the huge differences in future predictions and our inability to explain present observations) it is quite reasonable to suppose our adjustments are wrong, especially when it comes to the effects of urbanization. See The Difference: climate change for more.