cool

[caspian_x]

No, really. Cool.

Harshest winter in years (in 100 years in China).
Returning Arctic Sea ice (thicker than before).
Incomplete climate models (that don't account for wind).
Record solar inactivity (least activity in 150 years).

Too bad the debate on global warming is over.

Comments

[clayfoot]

Oleg Sorokhtin is a tough one. His expertise is in geophysics for the oil and gas industry, but he's made a name for himself lately in climatology.

http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20080103/94768732.html

Some say his climatology research has received poor peer reviews, so I'm not sure why he is so often quoted as an authority on the matter.

[clayfoot]

I think this is the original story on Astronomer Ken Tapping, a very credible and relevant source, IMHO:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/earth/4248062.html

[clayfoot]

And since I have it, you can even email Ken Tapping to ask him yourself:

http://expert.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/profiles/hia-iha/tapping_kenneth_1100_e.html

[celendil]

Consider the world as a balanced system of heat and so forth, before humans hit the 1800's or so. At this point, natural swings of weather patterns result in both extremes of temperature - global ice ages happen, along with preiods of extreme warmth. Both happen naturally, but significantly, slowly, over long periods of time