Peer-reviewed study from Down Under points to nature as global warming source
By: Mark Tapscott
Editorial Page Editor
07/23/09 11:40 AM EDT
This ought to stir things up royally. Three Australasian scientists have published a study in the Journal of Geophysical Research claiming that virtually none of the observed temperature increases in the Earth’s atmosphere in recent years can be attributed to man-made factors.
Instead, researchers Chris de Freitas at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, John McLean from Melbourne, Australia, and Bob Carter from James Cook University in North Queensland, Australia, ), point to the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
The Down Under trio also contend that volcanic activity tends to produce significant cooling trends in the atmosphere.
"The surge in global temperatures since 1977 can be attributed to a 1976 climate shift in the Pacific Ocean that made warming El Niño conditions more likely than they were over the previous 30 years and cooling La Niña conditions less likely" de Freitas said.
"We have shown that internal global climate-system variability accounts for at least 80% of the observed global climate variation over the past half-century. It may even be more if the period of influence of major volcanoes can be more clearly identified and the corresponding data excluded from the analysis,” he added.
The journal abstract of the study summarizes the conclusion thus: “Overall the results suggest that the Southern Oscillation exercises a consistently dominant influence on mean global temperature, with a maximum effect in the tropics, except for periods when equatorial volcanism causes ad hoc cooling.”
HT: Marc Morano, Climate Depot
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