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There's been a recent, fresh surge of global warming denial that looked like it was going to get out of hand for a second there. Much of it came after the BBC ran a piece in which one solitary climate writer wrote "What ever happened to global warming?" It was picked up by climate denying pundits and talking heads, and perhaps culminated when Sean Hannity cited the source and declared the debate over global warming to be over--it wasn't happening.
Well, it looks like everyone got all excited over nothing (not that real scientists were ever worried--they knew their data was being misrepresented). Because here's what happened to global warming: nothing. Since the world has failed to make serious cuts in the amount of greenhouse gases it emits over the last decades, and has instead seen the amount skyrocket, scientists reported that we've just had the second hottest September ever on record. Ever.
The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration released its monthly State of the Climate: Global Analysis, and here's the key finding:
The combined global land and ocean surface temperature for September 2009 was 0.62°C (1.12°F) above the 20th Century average of 15.0°C (59.0°F). This was the second warmest September on record, behind 2005, and the 33rd consecutive September with a global temperature above the 20th Century average. The last below-average September occurred in 1976.
And yes, it was warmer here in the United States, on a whole as well.
According to Climate Progress:
Although the United States as a whole was "1.0°F above the 20th Century average," with record-tying temperatures in California, as usual the deniers had a few seemingly cool places in the country on which to feast.
This was because there were a few pockets where, yes, temperatures were colder than usual. And some took the opportunity to claim that was a surefire sign that climate change doesn't exist. But we already know to be weary of such anecdotal claims--it's the temperature world as a whole we're worried about, not whether Minnesota has one abnormally cool summer.
So let's keep up the good fight--the planet's still heating up, and we have a long ways to go to stop the worst of it.
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