Peter Aitken: No climate change hiatus

The Jan. 15 letter “Climate paranoia” made two serious errors.

One is to dismiss the idea that current weather can be “a preview” of future weather. In fact it can, not necessarily regarding the details of the weather (cold, hot, wet, dry), but that it is extreme. Extreme weather is one of the predictions of climate scientists: That climate change will lead to more frequent and more serious extreme weather events (such as the Midwest floods, California drought and Northeast blizzards). Just because our earth is warming does not mean that it will be warmer everywhere, always. So, recent weather is not a predictor, but an example of what may come.

As for the supposed “hiatus” in global temperature rise, it is a fiction. There was indeed a preliminary statement from the IPCC that there had been no statistically significant increase in global surface temperature from 1998 to 2012. However, a more recent and detailed analysis shows that in fact there was a warming trend, albeit small, during that period. And when the years 2013-2015 are added in, the warming trend since 1998 is comparable to that seen in the previous 50 years. Given that the 10 warmest years on record all were since 1998, any talk of a “hiatus” is just nonsense.

This story was originally published January 23, 2016 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Peter Aitken: No climate change hiatus."