Originally Posted by
FDXLAG
Todd look at your chart and the chart they use. It shows the same data. From 1998 to today temperatures have leveled out. If anything there is a slight decrease.
I think it's important to look at the data a number of different ways and it's good to see that if we zoom in on a 15 year period, the warming trend flattens out. However, I think it's a mistake to look for broad, long-term trends in such a small sampling. I know that C02 doesn't make the sun rise and fall every day and I know that phenomena like El Nino can cause fluctuations. I think when looking at all of the available data, a warming trend is pretty clear. I readily recognize the incentive for scientists to make the most alarming predictions -- our society and media focus on the most extreme of either side. At the same time, an impartial view seems to reveal a moderate warming trend that is not as dire as some predictions but still warrants concern. I don't understand even a fraction of climate science, so I tend to defer to the experts -- not a single nationally or internationally recognized research organization refutes anthropogenic global warming.