GR Direct - Sony - Save up to £500
Sunday 27 July 2025
 12.6°C   SSW Light Breeze
Ocean Kinetics - The Engineering Experts

Letters / Urban heat islands

There’s been an interesting development in the science of what causes the climate to change.

For many years scientists sceptical of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) assertion that the only significant influence on climate is the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide have complained that global temperature trends produced by groups like the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit (CRU),

the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) ignore the impact of poorly sited temperature measuring sites e.g. at airports and in city centres which, having expanded rapidly, can cause several degrees distortion in the temperatures measured.

Oddly, none of these organisations has studied the so-called “urban heat island” effect properly however others have now done it for them and Watts et al 2012 (Watts, Evans, McIntyre and Christy) have pre-released their paper in advance of formal publication to open it to the “widest possible peer review.” They are obviously confident their methodology is sound.

Watts et al’s findings compare the USA temperature trend measured using strict “Leroy” (proper scientific) siting criteria with the trend actually produced by NOAA and their conclusion is clear:

“These factors (upward adjustments of actual measurements – JT), combined with station siting issues, have led to a spurious doubling of U.S. mean temperature trends in the 30 year data period covered by the study from 1979 – 2008.”

A spurious doubling! Yes, NOAA has been saying the trend has been +0.309C/decade whereas the rigorously-produced new version suggests the true rate of rise is half of that, +0.155C/decade.

It’s not unreasonable to speculate that this result may be replicated for land measuring sites around the globe – the US, after all, is likely to have among the best siting criteria.

Well, well! Isn’t that exactly what all those vile “climate change deniers” have been saying all along?

“Chapter and verse” is available at http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/07/29/press-release-2/

John Tulloch

Lyndon

Arrochar

Become a member of Shetland News

Shetland News is asking its readers to consider paying for membership to get additional perks:

  • Removal of third-party ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.

 
Categories

Sign up
for our Newsletters

Stay in the loop with newsletters tailored to your interests. Whether you're looking for daily updates, weekly highlights, or updates on jobs or property, you can choose exactly what you want to receive.

Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 

JavaScript Required

We're sorry, but Shetland News isn't fully functional without JavaScript enabled.
Head over to the help page for instructions on how to enable JavaScript on your browser.

Interested in Notifications?

Get notifications from Shetland News for important and breaking news.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Have you considered becoming a member of Shetland News?

  • Removal of third-party ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.