Can we trust what some scientists are saying?
Is climate change real?
How can the climate be warming when places like Melbourne have had amazing cold snaps this winter? Forget four seasons in one day – it’s one season, and its cold.
Adam Morton from The Age reports on a new study that says global warming is undeniable.
The 2009 State of the Climate Report, published by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, found the last decade was the hottest around the world since modern temperature records began.
In addition to rising temperatures (the report found that each year between 2000 and 2009 were hotter than the average global temperature for the 1990s, and, in the same way, each year between 1990 and 1999 were hotter than the 1980), the report pointed to places which experienced unusually hot and cold periods and extreme weather. Taking a closer look at home, Morton considers events in Australia last year, like the heat waves in the south-east of Australia in January and February which took many lives, and large-scale flooding in Queensland later in the year.
The report answers my question about Melbourne. The authors of the report believe that there will still be cold spells but they won’t be as intense or frequent as what they have been in the past.
How can we believe what they’re saying though?
There were more than 300 scientists who analised data for the report.
The information came from 7000 weather stations in 48 countries.
In addition, for the first time, data from several climate indicators were put together. These include data from: glacier, snow and sea ice cover, temperature over land and sea and temperatures from the lower atmosphere.
Co-author of the report Derek Arndt explains: “It’s testing all the parts, and they’re all in agreement that the same thing’s going on.”
Does this answer our questions?
Can we trust these scientists and the data that they’ve used?
cultivatingFaith 