Has the planet stopped warming in recent years?
Thursday, April 8, 2021
By John Cook
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NO
Earth has continued to warm in recent years, with 19 of 20 of the warmest years on record since 1880 occurring since 2000.
The warming trend slowed in the 2000s before picking up sharply around 2014. The temporary slow-down is attributable to known factors accounted for in climate models, including:
- The El Nino Southern Oscillation, which caused heat to be stored in the oceans.
- Volcanic eruptions, which spread sunlight-reflecting dust into the upper atmosphere.
- Low sun-spot activity, which reduced the amount of solar energy reaching earth.
- Increased air pollution, which reflected sunlight in the same manner as volcanic dust.
- An omission of Arctic temperatures from the global average.
Although these factors temporarily masked warming, it is clear that Earth’s heat energy is increasing due to greenhouse gases preventing heat from escaping, causing long-term warming.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
NASA Global Temperature
UQx Denial101x Making Sense of Climate Science Denial Making sense of the slowdown
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Skeptical Science is a non-profit science education organization. Our goal is to remove a roadblock to climate action by building public resilience against climate misinformation. We achieve this by publishing debunking of climate myths as well as providing resources for educators, communicators, scientists, and the general public. Skeptical Science was founded and is led by John Cook, a Senior Research Fellow with the Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change at the University of Melbourne.
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