Bam wrote on May 17^th, 2016 at 12:38pm:



If you really had a clue you would realise it ends in 2016 and works backwards to 1997, Do you want him to pontificate about 2017 temperatures?

2. Cherry-Picking Facts

This is an especially tough one to crack because climate deniers often cite factual statistics. And factual statistics are factual statistics, right? Except when the statistics are taken out of context or missing pertinent information, making it hard to have an informed rebuttal ready.

Let’s take this statistic that’s often cited out of context: “The global mean temperature was 58.3 degrees Fahrenheit in 1998 (14.6 degrees Celsius) according to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. In 2012, it was 58.2 degrees (14.56 Celsius).”

The obvious conclusion here is that global warming stalled or even stopped during this period. And if you look at changing temperatures in just these 14 years, it does look like they rose at a slower rate than they did over the longer period from 1951—2012.

But remember, 1998 was an unusually hot year, which skews the analysis. Plus, when scientists looked at the data again in 2014 after two more years of rising temperatures, the overall picture changed. With a higher average temperature as an endpoint in 2014, the graph shows that overall average temperatures from 1998—2014 rose at nearly the same rate as in the second half of the twentieth century.

The bottom line: global warming didn’t stop between 1998—2012. Far from it. And if someone cites 1998 temperatures to make a point about climate change, chances are there are some missing facts.

That’s why it’s important to remember that when climate statistics are cited, context and complete data are necessary to understanding the full picture.

3. Dwelling on the Weather

Everyone loves to talk about the weather. It’s a safe-zone, and people care about it because it has a direct impact on our feelings and mood. One especially common tactic is for climate deniers to dwell on weather patterns over the course of a few days or even a year to make the case that climate change isn’t happening.

“You know its freezing outside, right?”  they might say, or “How can there be global warming when there’s a polar vortex?”

Weather patterns will always vary, causing temperatures to be higher or lower than average from time to time, depending on factors like El Niño and other ocean processes, cloud variability, volcanic activity, and other natural cycles.

It’s the long-term range (30-plus year cycles) that scientists look at to determine real changes in the climate system, and the changes scientists see are unmistakable. It’s time for climate deniers to stop focusing on the day-to-day weather as an excuse for why the Earth isn’t warming. This will only harm us in the future.

Now You Know

So the next time you hear someone stating climate statistics that attempt to show the Earth isn’t warming or harping on the blizzard outside, you’ll be able to recognize if they are cherry-picking facts or skewing data. Just remember: all the data you need to prove them wrong can be found in the blink of an eye on reputable websites like NASA and NOAA.

It's a cherrypick - a point that you have not addressed. WHY choose THAT starting point? It's a CHERRYPICK. Deny it. Go on. I dare you.

2016 is smashing global records for the same reason that 1998 did - a very strong El Niño is causing massive amounts of sequestered heat to be released from the oceans. In 3 years, 5 at the most, you'll be cherrypicking a new set of data starting at 2015 or 2016.

poor BAM,

you have tripped up over your own Greenie style lies and hypocrisy.

The year 1998 is chosen for sound reasons which, if you were able to, you could readily verify by doing a bit of searching.

Taking shorter periods is doing just what the lying hypocritical Greenies do to produce a totally incorrect result but when did the Greenies ever have any concern for the TRUTH ?

Cherrypicking facts AGAIN. When will you learn?

Bam wrote on May 17^th, 2016 at 3:30pm:



They are historical facts. Not cherry picked at all, the information is publicly available. Please tell us how those temperatures can be so, 1997 was at that point deemed to be the hottest year evah, 2015 is supposed to be the hottest year evah but it is cooler than 1997. Those are the facts. Deal with it.

2. Cherry-Picking Facts

This is an especially tough one to crack because climate deniers often cite factual statistics. And factual statistics are factual statistics, right? Except when the statistics are taken out of context or missing pertinent information, making it hard to have an informed rebuttal ready.

Let’s take this statistic that’s often cited out of context: “The global mean temperature was 58.3 degrees Fahrenheit in 1998 (14.6 degrees Celsius) according to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. In 2012, it was 58.2 degrees (14.56 Celsius).”

The obvious conclusion here is that global warming stalled or even stopped during this period. And if you look at changing temperatures in just these 14 years, it does look like they rose at a slower rate than they did over the longer period from 1951—2012.

But remember, 1998 was an unusually hot year, which skews the analysis. Plus, when scientists looked at the data again in 2014 after two more years of rising temperatures, the overall picture changed. With a higher average temperature as an endpoint in 2014, the graph shows that overall average temperatures from 1998—2014 rose at nearly the same rate as in the second half of the twentieth century.

The bottom line: global warming didn’t stop between 1998—2012. Far from it. And if someone cites 1998 temperatures to make a point about climate change, chances are there are some missing facts.

That’s why it’s important to remember that when climate statistics are cited, context and complete data are necessary to understanding the full picture.

'The global average temperature of 62.45 degrees Fahrenheit for 1997 '

https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/199713

'the average global temperature across land and ocean surface areas for 2015 was 0.90°C (1.62°F) above the 20th century average of 13.9°C (57.0°F)'