Natural shifts in ocean circulation may trump human-caused warming over the next decade, causing global temperatures to cool slightly, says new research published in the journal Nature. But hang on to your pessimism: “Just to make things clear, we are not stating that anthropogenic climate change won’t be as bad as previously thought” over the long run, says researcher Mojib Latif. Of course, if the cooler-decade theory holds true, there’s the concern that “policymakers may either think mitigation is working or that there is no global warming at all,” says coauthor Noel Keenlyside. Oh, Noel, policymakers are smarter than that. Sob.
