The Leaflet: Global Warming Data Manipulation

Published September 15, 2017

The Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), a project of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, Science and Environment Policy Project (SEPP), and The Heartland Institute, recently released a new Policy Brief titled “Global Warming Surprises: Temperature data in dispute can reverse conclusions about human influence on climate.” The policy brief is written by acclaimed atmospheric scientist Dr. S. Fred Singer, founder of NIPCC and chairman of SEPP. Dr. Singer based the NIPCC Policy Brief on a presentation he gave at the Twelfth International Conference on Climate Change

According to Dr. Singer, “exploring some of the intricacies of climate science can lead to surprising results.” He compares the alleged warming trends of 1910–42 and 1977–2000 and finds that while the first trend was real and well documented, the second is an artifact of faulty data collection and analysis. “I wouldn’t exactly call it ‘fake,'” Dr. Singer writes, “but it just does not exist.” 

Dr. Singer exposes changes in the ways air and sea-surface temperatures are measured and analyzed that are probably responsible for the false warming trend of the late twentieth century. “The absence of such a warming trend removes all of IPCC’s evidence for anthropogenic global warming,” he writes. “Obviously, if there is no warming trend, these demonstrations fail—and so do IPCC’s proofs for AGW.” 

Singer’s “Global Warming Surprises” can be added to the growing list of publications that challenge the claims and solutions of the environmental left, and it echoes the conclusions made presented in a recent report examining the validity of global average surface temperature (GAST) data produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Hadley Center. The report was written by James Wallace III, Joseph D’Aleo, and Craig Idso. (Dr. Idso coauthored, with Dr. Singer and the late Dr. Robert Carter, The Heartland Institute’s latest book on climate change, Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming.) 

In their research, Wallace, D’Aleo, and Idso attempted to test the hypothesis GAST data from NOAA, NASA, and Hadley were credible and accurate enough to be used for climate modeling and analysis. They found researchers at these organizations made inappropriate historical data adjustments to GAST data and that those adjustments favor the viewpoint of climate alarmists about global warming. “Thus,” the authors say, “it is impossible to conclude from the three published GAST data sets that recent years have been the warmest ever – despite current claims of record setting warming.”

President Trump’s announcement that the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Treaty, along with other pro-science and pro-energy actions, have made us optimistic the Trump administration will reverse the anti-science and anti-energy policies of the Obama administration.

On November 9, 2017, Heartland will host the America First Energy Conference in Houston, Texas, which will consider President Donald Trump’s bold proposal to transform U.S. energy goals and examine where America stands today in the global energy market. Admission is free for elected officials and their staff. Please contact Government Relations Coordinator Arianna Wilkerson to reserve your place at 312/377-4000 or [email protected].

 

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