CLIMATE scientists yesterday stunned Britons suffering the coldest winter for 30 years by claiming last month was the hottest January the world has ever seen. The remarkable claim, based on global satellite data, follows Arctic temperatures that brought snow, ice and travel chaos to millions in the UK.
At the height of the big freeze, the entire country was blanketed in snow. But Australian weather expert Professor Neville Nicholls, of Monash University in Melbourne, said yesterday: “January, according to satellite data, was the hottest January we’ve ever seen.
“Last November was the hottest November we’ve ever seen. November-January as a whole is the hottest November-January the world has seen.” Veteran climatologist Professor Nicholls was speaking at an online climate change briefing, added: “It’s not warming the same everywhere but it is really quite challenging to find places that haven’t warmed in the past 50 years.”
His extraordinary claims came after the World Meteorological Organisation revealed 2000 to 2009 was the hottest decade since records began in 1850. But UK forecaster Jonathan Powell, of Positive Weather Solutions, said: “If it is the case and it is borne out that January was the hottest on record, it is still no marker towards climate change.
“It’s all part of a cyclical issue and nothing should be read too deeply into that.
“It’s been the coldest for 30 years in Britain but we predicted that and climate change always tends t o throw up anomalies. It’s all in line with predictions and I won’t be sold on climate change at all. The data is either faulty or manufactured to make it look like it shouldn’t.”
Cripes! My head hurts.
The level of their subterfuge is amazing.
Indeed. It’s been the coldest 24 months or so here in Socal that I can remember, and I’ve lived here for 46 years.
But, melting glaciers and polar ice caps don’t lie. It’s GLOBAL Warming, not local weather that we have to worry about, long term.
#1, well when the livelihood you have been scamming for the last 20 years is on the line, then you have two choices. Give up, and try something new. Or go all in and hope that something will come up that you can wedge into, and turn it around.
Does that satellite run Windows, by any chance?
Vancouver and the Canadian maritimes have been having freakishly warm years. I know the eastern States and Britian are getting a lot of snow, but there’s more of the world, y’know?
Visible grass in February is definately not the norm around here. Usually we can’t see the next door neighbour’s house for the snow.
It appears that the professor has used global averages over a large chronological sample base, ignoring facts like , people don’t live in Antarctica or the Sahara. Like presuming that humans occupy a uniformly distributed “film” on Earth’s surface, then asking each one how hot he feels.
so hard to get people to understand that they are just a small part of a much bigger world.
Hard to believe that there are still people who fail to understand the simple concept of global mean temperature, or the idea that the southern hemisphere is in summer while we have winter in the north.
You think it’s too cold now, wait, the summer we got coming is gonna be sizzlin’. Hotter and hotter summers, colder and colder winters. When the gain breaks the cycle, probably when the polar ice melts, then it’s apocalypse time. At this rate I think the climate change argument will be over in a couple of years.
For all you folks who are stating “It’s been freezing here in (state your location), so it *can’t* be that cold *everywhere*”, please remove your heads from your anuses, look away from your window, and look at a globe. The world is a big place, and your snowy/chilly backyard is but a tiny, tiny part of it.
As one commenter already stated – it is GLOBAL warming, not “backyard warming.”
and,
how warm was it 30 years ago??
Still no evidence how much people have to do with it and that it not a solar cycle…
Yeah, because the entire world’s weather pattern for the last 50,000 years should be determined by the thermometer in one person’s backyard on one particular day
There might be something to the temperatures increasing. Look at pictures of the sensors.
http://norcalblogs.com/watts/images/Marysville_issues1.JPG
http://norcalblogs.com/watts/images/Tahoe_city3.JPG
The temperature sure rises when you put a temperature sensor next to a barbecue in an asphalt covered parking lot or next to a burn barrel. Winters are sure hot in the vicinity of a burn barrel. Duh.
“November-January as a whole is the hottest November-January the world has seen.”
Really? Heard anything about mean global temperatures during the Mesozoic Era by any chance?
FTA “The data is either faulty or manufactured to make it look like it shouldn’t.”
I like that. “If the data makes me wrong, the data must be wrong”
Nice.
“In Virginia, the weather also has changed dramatically. Recently arrived residents in the northern suburbs, accustomed to today’s anemic winters, might find it astonishing to learn that there were once ski runs on Ballantrae Hill in McLean, with a rope tow and local ski club. Snow is so scarce today that most Virginia children probably don’t own a sled.”
Robert Kennedy Jr. Sept 24, 2008 on how global warming has eliminated snow in DC
Hello children, let me tell you a story.
When Mr Ice isn’t on Mrs Lake then Mr Happy Cloud forms and drops happiness on all the good little children and cute furry animals. In winter when Old Man North blows his winds that happiness is called snow. But when it’s too cold and Mr Ice covers up Mrs Lake then Mr Happy Cloud doesn’t come to visit.
How hot are things? As usual, The Onion says it best.
As someone who lives in Australia, I can completely confirm that this summer has been (or has seemed to be) one of the hottest I can ever remember.
Now I’m a climate change skeptic, but at least I’m not so stupid that I think that the temperature in my own backyard is representative of the temp that whole damn planet is experiencing.
What the hell is it with Americans who seem to think the entire world starts and ends at the US border??
Having lived in ND all my life I can say for certain that we don’t have giraffes. Well, we do have 2 in Minot, if they are still alive.
It has been warm though, compared to last year.
@#4, #7, #20: “so hard to get people to understand that they are just a small part of a much bigger world.”… It is NOT just US/EU that are cold. In Southern hemisphere, S.America experiences one of the coldest Summers ever…
It is not question of “bigger World” (yes, somewhere it is warmer/cooler) but irresponsible measuring standards. Two great examples: For a decade it was “common knowledge” that Siberian temperatures have been very high… It turned out that Russian weather stations were (due to the neglect and lack of money) reporting old, Summer set of temperatures on-and-on without anyone noticing the problem, for YEARS. Second, “fudge factors”. USA own NOA admits that 80% (yes 80%!) of “measured” temperature rise is a FUDGE FACTOR! For measured 0.1 degree in temperature rise, they add 0.4 in “fudge”…
Time for public to understand these reckless “numbers” for what they are.
Britain, and the United States, ain’t the world you HICKS! 2/3 of the world is WATER. Then you have Africa, South America, Asia. Britain and the United States are a TINY part of the world. Stop arguing by faith and magic and use DATA! Idiots.
Just because it’s cold where you live doesn’t really matter.
“Man, it sure is a blizzard outside, how bout that global warming? HAW HAW!”
GLOBAL Warming. —–> GLOBAL <——-
Well there is warm oceans, and also snow on the ground means more heat in the rest of the environment, as energy was lost from water to form the snow.
If you believe in magical invisible floating people who live in the sky telling you that you can’t eat bacon, I guess you can also dismiss evolution and global warming because facts aren’t exactly your strong suit.
Well, we’ve got a lot of snow on the ground in Minneapolis too for late February.
Nevertheless, it’s been a mild winter temp wise. I ride my bike year round. Last year there were several days near -20 or colder.
Didn’t ever get that cold this year. Seemed to be in the +20s for highs most of the time. That’s not bad for January in Minnesota.
In the Northern part of the state they got less snow than usual. I know Toronto got very little snow this season.
#12 Ah yeah, um, a natural cycle can kill you just as easily as an unnatural one. It could be the suns activity cycle has something to do with it. However the sun and it’s cycles seem to have changed very little in comparison to the earth that’s been going through some very evident change. In any case I think the next solar max in 2012 will clear up any doubts.
Temperature change doesn’t concern me, too much. Changes in the frequency of severe storms do (yes I know they’re related). BTW, the south of Spain (like northern Sahara), is usually a very dry and arid place. It’s been raining for months, flooding everywhere, most rain in the last 50 years. Very unusual, and tomorrow we have a severe storm warning with winds of up to 150 km/hr also very unusual. I imagine there are those that are seeing this from far away and saying – crisis, what crisis? But from where I’m sitting it’s a real and imminent danger.
The end is here.
Buwahahahahahahaha.
We’re all gonna die.
I’m even willing to concede that some climate guys are trying to do real science (unlike IPCC and OTHERS). Problem is that they thought they were getting data from meteorologists. In reality it’s coming from meaty urologists.
“Cripes! My head hurts.” /// Now why is that? I can see thinking of Global Warming “seemingly” being disproven by a spate of local cold weather === BUT THEN YOU READ THE FRICKEN EXPLANATION and whether its right or wrong, it does make sense doesn’t it?
You silly apes don’t deserve technology, medicine, life outside a cave.
Silly hoomans.
January was much warmer than normal with below normal snowfall here in Alberta. February is on track to be even warmer.