Studies provide 'compelling evidence' of global warming: US DOE

Washington (Platts)--12Aug2005

New studies provide "compelling evidence" that the lowest level of the earth's
atmosphere has warmed since 1979, and that the temperature changes are
consistent with results predicted by climate models, according to the US Dept
of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. "For the first time, the
new climate observations and computer models provide a consistent picture of
recent warming of the earth's tropical atmosphere (the troposphere)," the lab
announced Thursday. 

The troposphere is predicted to warm in climate model simulations that include
observed increases in greenhouse gases. However, until recently temperatures
from a single satellite data base showed a slight cooling in the troposphere
since 1979. Climate-change skeptics have cited this discrepancy in temperature
trends "to cast doubt on the reliability of computer models, and on their
usefulness for predicting future climate changes," the lab said.

Two studies that revisited data obtained from satellites and weather balloons
and a third study analyzing computer models led by scientists at Livermore,
however, "strongly suggests that there is no longer any fundamental
discrepancy between modeled and observed temperatures trends," said Benjamin
Santer, lead author of the Livermore study. "The new observational data helps
remove a major stumbling block in our understanding of the nature and causes
of climate change."

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