Why is it so difficult to answer three simple climate questions?

[Gustaf]

I'm not a climatologist, so I don't really know any answers on this. I lean towards global warming being an issue to be dealt with.

However, one thing should be pointed out in this context. Science is not incorruptible. Politicized science DEFINITELY is not.

Let me ask a simple question: how easy do you think it is to get a grant for research finding that there is man-made global warming going on? And how easy do you think it is to get it for the opposite?

Secondly, what do you think is the most appealing situation for a climatologist: we need the climatologists to save the world from imminent destruction or the climate is fine, climatologist are just big bores?

That isn't grounds to dismiss their findings or anything, but to be sceptical of big scares is always a good idea.

[Ban my account ffs!]

There is a lot going on in the field of climatology right now and there is increasing evidence that the surface temperature records are greatly exaggerating the warming trend of the planet.  A new study put out by Dr. John Christy at the University of Alabama-Huntsville found that the dramatic warming trend in eastern Africa, recently touted by others as being a major danger to Africa and proof of global warming in tropical areas, was, in fact, caused by dramatic urbanization around the recording stations and that almost all of the temperature increase was at night, and not during the day.

This is because the increased number of buildings causes the air to be more turbulent at night.  Night time temperatures often cool so much at the surface because a boundary of cool air sinks ot the surface with warmer air above it.  You see this in the mountains all the time with inversion layers.

The buildings increase the turbulence, thus mixing the air better and preventing a layer of cold air from building at the surface.  Also, the concrete/building materials are better at absorbing heat than soil and plant matter, and they release this heat at night.

The researchers found that while night time temperatures had warmed by 1-2˚F over the past 50 years, day time temperatures hadn't changed at all.

Christy studied temperature data that goes back to 1904 across many areas of Kenya and found that rural stations that hadn't seen much development didn't have a warming trend while stations that had become urbanized had a much bigger warming trend.  He mentioned a town he taught in many years ago.. at the time it had 10,000 residents and had mud/dirt roads with few concrete buildings.  That same town now has 100,000 people and has many concrete apartment blocs.

And yet these temperature observations are used by NOAA and GISS (Goddard Institute of Space Studies) in compiling global temperatures which are used by the IPCC.  Like I've said before they no longer adjust temperatures downward to account for localized urban development, so the warming trends have become greatly exaggerated.