Tuesday 28 August 2007

Climate Change Part 13 (Where do they get their figures from?)


Following the revelation that the scientists got it wrong with the temperatures in America (it turns out that it was hotter in the 1930s than in the 1990s) Steve McIntyre of the Climate Audit questions the validity of the data used to draw conclusions about relative land temperature levels in Africa between the 1930s and the present:

"Gavin Schmidt and James Hansen say that errors in the U.S. “don’t matter” because it is only 2% of the earth’s surface (about 6% of the land surface). This implies that the accuracy of measurements in other parts of the world can be relied on. In the U.S. the 1930s have a similar level to recent levels, while the ROW has a striking difference. The surface area of Africa (30,300,000 km² ) is about one-fifth of the Earth’s land surface. 148,939,100 km²), about 4 times the size of the contiguous 48. I guess that this would be a good place to look for the high-quality stations that Schmidt and Hansen are counting on."

To continue reading Steve McIntyre's article and to see the data for yourself, click HERE.

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