BERKELEY, CA — A new study by the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature (BEST) project, a group of scientists at the University of California, confirms the effects of global warming and that the world’s temperature has risen by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit since 1950. (Photo © Meryll | Dreamstime.com)
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By Gustavo Grad November 1, 2011 BERKELEY, CA — “… [W]herever you roam And admit that the waters around you have grown And accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone If your time to you is worth saving …”This is not about Bob Dylan but about a new study confirming the effects of global warming. The study was just released by the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature (BEST) project, a group of scientists at the University of California.
The study analyzes anew the land and sea surface temperature record, the most important indicator of global warming, in an unprecedented, rigorous manner using more than 39,000 stations—five times more than the 7,280 stations found in the Global Historical Climatologically Network Monthly that serve many previous studies. The results of the BEST study were merged after combining 1.6 billion reports from existing archives, using raw data rather than edited data whenever possible and eliminating duplicate records.
The project set clear objectives, including providing comprehensive new data, developing new approaches, creating a new global surface record, and providing an open platform for further analysis. The group developed a new mathematical framework, which is described in the draft paper “Berkeley Earth Temperature Averaging Process.”
The findings confirmed the effects of global warming and that the world’s temperature has risen by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit since 1950. In Dylan’s words: “the line it is drawn, the curse it is cast …, and the times they are a-changing.” With the times, the climate is changing, too.
© 2011 SCGH, LLC.
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