Climate change
is studied as a
global phenomenon.
A global phenomenon
supported by
local and national
temperature data.
A majority of our planet
has no local temperature data,
so the numbers must be
wild guessed by
government bureaucrats
to compile a global
average temperature.
But the
global estimates
of average
temperature,
sea-level rise, etc.
are mainly (over 50%)
computer
model-derived
abstractions,
largely irrelevant
to climate reality,
at specific locations
around the world.
No one actually
lives in the
"average global
temperature".
Challenging the accuracy
of US weather station data:
The U.S. surface
temperature record
has long been viewed
as the most accurate
and complete
of the national records
relied on by scientists
to estimate global
temperature trends,
so shortcomings
are likely to be
even greater
in other countries !
A U.S. program
measures the
surface ambient
air temperatures
at a network of
surface weather
stations.
About a decade ago,
Anthony Watts,
a meteorologist,
recruited a team of
“citizen scientists”
to photograph some
of the climate-monitoring
stations in the
U.S. Historical
Climatology Network
(USHCN)
overseen by the
National
Weather Service,
a department of the
National Oceanic
and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA),
which is part of the
Commerce Department.
The goal was to see
if those stations
complied with
NOAA’s own
quality standards
(Watts, 2009). ( a )
The team eventually
surveyed 82.5%
of the stations.
“We were shocked
by what we found,”
Watts wrote:
"We found stations
located next to the
exhaust fans of
air conditioning units,
surrounded by
asphalt parking lots
and roads,
on blistering- hot
rooftops,
and near sidewalks
and buildings
that absorb
and radiate heat."
"We found 68 stations
located at wastewater
treatment plants,
where the process of
waste digestion
causes temperatures
to be higher than
in surrounding areas. "
"In fact, we found that
89 percent of the stations
– nearly 9 of every 10
– fail to meet the
National Weather Service’s
own siting requirements
that stations must be
30 meters (100 feet)
or more away from
an artificial heating
or radiating / reflecting
heat source (p. 1)."
“In other words,
9 of every 10 stations
are likely reporting
higher or rising
temperatures
because they are
badly sited. "
"We observed that
changes in
the technology
of temperature stations
over time also
has caused them
to report a false
warming trend. "
"We found major gaps
in the data record
that were filled in
with data from
nearby sites, a practice
that propagates and
compounds errors."
"We found that
adjustments
to the data
by both NOAA ,
and another
government agency,
NASA, cause
recent temperatures
to look even higher”
A report by the
U.S. Government
Accountability Office
confirmed
Watts’ findings,
and urged NOAA
to improve the quality
of its surface station
network.
(GAO, 2011) (b)
NOAA agreed with
GAO’s findings
and identified
a subset
of the USHCN
consisting only of
supposedly high-quality
climate-monitoring
stations complying with
its siting standards.
In 2011, Watts
and several colleagues
examined “the differences
between USHCN temperatures
and North American
Regional Reanalysis
(NARR)
temperatures”
( the temperature
record produced
by the subset of
higher-quality
stations )
and found
“the most poorly
sited stations
are warmer
compared
to NARR".
"According to the
best-sited stations,
the diurnal (day-night)
temperature range
in the lower 48 states
has no century-scale trend”
(Fall et al., 2011) (c)
References:
(a)
Watts, A. 2009:
Is the U.S.
Surface Temperature
Record Reliable?
Chicago, IL:
The Heartland Institute.
(b)
GAO. 2011:
Climate Monitoring:
NOAA can improve
management of the U.S.
Historical Climatology Network.
Washington, DC:
Government Accountability Office.
August.
(c)
Fall, S., Watts, A., Nielsen-Gammon,
J., Jones, E., Niyogi, D., Christy, J.,
and Pielke Sr., R.A. 2011:
Analysis of the impacts
of station exposure
on the U.S. Historical
Climatology Network
temperatures and
temperature trends.
Journal of Geophysical Research
116: D14120. doi:10.1029/2010JD015146.
Pictures of Poorly Sited
Surface Weather Stations:
