Global temperatures: higher or lower?

Have global temperatures risen or fallen over time?

Before answering this question we must surely point out that variations in the global thermal condition are such a complex subject that on studying the data, academics often reach totally different conclusions.

Considering that from the nineties until 2015 global temperatures no longer seemed to be rising as they had before, some researchers mistakenly assumed that the climatic models suggesting bigger increases were actually wrong.

Two years ago however, NOAA released the results of a study which explained very clearly that the increase in climatic temperatures has never ceased and neither has the very dangerous warming of the oceans. In other words:  the apparently stationary temperatures were merely the result of errors in calculation and assessment.

After some time, that theory was also confirmed by researchers at the University of California, who, after careful analysis of the general situation, arrived, without a shadow of doubt, at the same conclusion.

Let’s start from the beginning though: in 2015 NOAA discovered that the buoys used to measure oceanic temperatures had recorded slightly lower levels compared to the instruments previously used.

Years earlier, in fact, water was measured after collection in buckets or directly inside ships.  Of course, such procedures led to a slight increase in the actual temperature of the samples.

However, more recent ocean buoys allow the temperature of the water to be measured directly in the water. This means that the values recorded, as well as being lower, are also more precise.

In 2015 it was discovered that the temperature of the oceans has increased by an average of 0.12 degrees Celsius since the year 2000 (the increase was previously thought to be 0.07 degrees – almost half). So that is a significant increase which is perfectly in line with the previous years.

Despite the presentation of striking evidence, NOAA has refused to answer some of the more sceptical scientists’ queries, thereby leading to much disagreement and the less than total acceptance of the theory by the scientific community.

Nevertheless, today, the above-mentioned study by the University of California should generate greater consensus regarding the fact that global temperatures have risen rather than fallen, because it has demonstrated the authenticity of NOAA’s research using information obtained through the use of satellites and floating robotic buoys.

Translated by Joanne Beckwith