1998 is no longer the hottest year on record?

[bobert16]

http://www.norcalblogs.com/watts/2007/08/1998_no_longer_the_hottest_yea.html#comments

Apparently an error has been discovered in the way NASA calculates US temperatures, and they've had to recalibrate their temperature data for the last 120 years.

According to the old data, 4 of the 10 hottest years on record occurred during the past ten years. That number has now fallen to 3 with the new corrections, while the 1930s now has 4 top-ten years.

NASA has acknowledged the error (http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/) and has posted corrected data (http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs/Fig.D.txt).

What do you think? Any significance behind this? What will this mean to Global Warming -- perhaps the debate isn't actually over yet?

 

[IrishDawg]

I think that all the research that has gone into Global Warming over the past few years would outweigh this new discovery of a mistake by NASA. How do we know this correction isn't a mistake in itself? How accurate could data from the 1930's be?

Just something for the oil owners to use to try and pretend that global warming doesn't exist...

 

[LJT]

It's a localised climate...those figures are just for the US...taking into consideration of the whole world, temperatures have increased....it could be the coldest year on record for the US this year, but that wouldn't change that temperatures the world over are rising.

So no there is no significance behind it at all...

 

[Dreadsox]

hey what the hell...I have AC....

 

[Varitek]

Clearly this indicates that all that other data about arctic ice melting, weird climate patterns, extinctions, and warm weather is totally wrong. Global warming doesn't exist and we should use as much oil as possible so that Dick Cheney can get richer.

 

[A_Wanderer]

"In response to earlier reports, Dr. James Hansen, top climate scientist with NASA, has issued a statement on the recent global warming data correction. He points out 'the effect on global temperature was of order one-thousandth of a degree, so the corrected and uncorrected curves are indistinguishable.' In a second email he shows maps of U.S. temperatures relative to the world in 1934 and 1998, explains why the error occurred (it was not, as reported, a 'Y2K bug') and, in response to errors by 'Fox, Washington Times, and their like,' attacks the 'deceit' of those who 'are not stupid [but] seek to create a brouhaha and muddy the waters in the climate change story.'"