Amidst the commotion surrounding the Clean Power Plan, two important studies were released that further weaken the argument for inaction. While the "pause" or "hiatus" in warming has long been debunked, the new papers provide additional ways to show that warming has continued all along.
In a detailed post, Greg Laden helpfully explains the studies and how "the alleged hiatus in global warming didn't happen." Here's the short version. One paper searched for the hiatus and "found that there was no statistically significant change to the [global warming trend] since 1970," as stated by co-author John Abraham in his Guardian piece.
The second paperused change point analysis—a statistical technique used to examine the size of temperature changes and to estimate when big changes happen. Its conclusion is quite straightforward: "the term 'hiatus' or 'pause' cannot be statistically justified."
While it's nice to see more papers debunking this denier myth, it'd be even nicer if scientists could spend time advancing science instead of having to defend it from unjustifiable attacks.
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