They're also reminders of how the peer-review process works, and why peer-reviewed research remains the key to sound climate policies.
Two new studies published this month are helping resolve lingering differences between what climate models have predicted and what actual measurements have recorded. In doing so, they undermine two of the timeworn arguments used by those who question the prevailing scientific consensus on global warming.
One study, released today, took a fresh look at the vexing question of how sensitive global temperatures will be to the buildup of carbon dioxide around the earth. It reaffirmed the basic understanding that any doubling of atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases will result in significant planetary warming.
The other paper reexamined satellite observations of one layer of the atmosphere and showed that the space-based warming data does not collide, as dissenters frequently contend, with temperature measurements taken at the surface of the Earth. Instead, the satellite data shows a much more intense warming than before.
Both studies address uncertainties that are raised again and again by people who seize on them to suggest that not enough is known to justify aggressive action to control emissions of greenhouse gases. Read More
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