Statement — Dr. John R. ChristyProfessor of Atmospheric Science and Director,Director Earth System Science Center -- The University of Alabama in Huntsville
Newswise — "I have been flooded this week with calls and e-mail messages concerning a story that has appeared on various Internet sites, in which the claim is made that cooling global temperatures over the past 12 months in some way negate or eliminate any global warming that might have happened over the past 100 years.
"Here is my perspective on this issue: Twelve months of data does not make a trend, especially in a system as complex and slow moving as global climate, and even more so when the cause for that short-term cooling is as reasonably well understood and well documented as a switch from a minor El Nino Pacific Ocean warming in January 2007 to the La Nina cooling event now taking place.
"The 0.59 C drop we have seen in the past 12 months is unusual, but not unprecedented; April 1998 to April 1999 saw a 0.71 C fall. The long-term climate trend from November 1978 through (and including) January 2008 continues to show a modest warming at the rate of about 0.14 C (0.25 degrees F) per decade.
"One cool year does not erase decades of climate data, nor does it more than minimally change the long-term climate trend. Long-term climate change is just that — long term — and 12 months of data are little more than a blip on the screen."
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