Global warming confirmed
US government study undermines a key argument of climate change skeptics
The report,Temperature Trends in the Lower Atmosphere:Steps for Understanding and Reconciling Differences, issued on 2nd May, says that data shows clear influences on the climate system due to changes in greenhouse gases, aerosols and stratospheric ozone.
Until now the major issue was an apparent discrepancy in the rate of global average temperature increase for Earth's surface compared with higher levels of temperature increase in the atmosphere. Now the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, an interagency body, has concluded the two data sets match.
Some people had used the discrepancy to challenge the validity of climate models used to detect and attribute the causes of observed climate change. Rafe Pomerance, chairman of the US Climate Policy Center, said the new report settles the scientific debate over humans' role.
"This puts the nail in the coffin of [the skeptics'] argument as much as anything I've seen," Pomerance said. "It may not be the first time it's been said, but it's the clearest I've seen it stated coming out of a government agency. Game over."
America's NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) also reported on 1st May that concentration of major greenhouse gases in the world's atmosphere rose by 1.25% in 2005 to stand 21.5% above their 1990 level.
For further information, go to:
U.S. Department of State release on the study
The NOAA annual greenhouse gas index
