Two new high-profile studies reaffirm global-warming science
Last year, the National Academy of Sciences was commissioned by Congress to rigorously assess a notorious climate study that has become a flash point in the debate between global-warming denialists and the other 98 percent of us. The study contained a graph that’s come to be known as the “hockey stick,” which purports to show a spike in global average temperatures in the last 25 or so years, to the highest level in over 1,000 years. Yesterday, the NAS released its report. Though it cast some doubt on ancient temperature measurements and the study’s methodology, the report reaffirmed the basic notion that temperature is rising, quickly, and that human activity is to blame. So there you have it. Global warming: really happening. In other climate news, a new study out of the National Center for Atmospheric Research found that global warming was responsible for over half the rise in ocean temperatures that led to the horrific 2005 hurricane season. Sometimes we wish they were wrong …
