State of the Climate, Indicators of Change

As the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen gets into full swing, it’s a good time to take a look around and assess the current state of things.

In the 30 years of direct satellite observation…

• Solar irradiance has declined (Source: PMOD/WRC) which should drive temperatures down, and we are currently in the middle of a prolonged solar minimum
• The El Nino / La Nina Index has declined (Source: NOAA) which should also drive temperatures down.
• The Pacific Decadal Oscillation index has declined (Source: JISAO) which should also drive temperatures down.

Meanwhile…

• Global temperatures have increased, even in the last ten years (Sources: GISS, UAH, HadCRUT3, RSS)
• Atmospheric CO2 content has increased (Source: NOAA)
• The upper atmosphere has cooled while the lower atmosphere has warmed (Source: UAH)
• Oceanic carbon content and related acidity has increased (Source: IAP)
• Global mean sea level has increased (Source: AVISO)
• Arctic sea ice extent has declined (Source: NSIDC)
• Antarctic ice loss has accelerated (Source: NASA JPL; Univ of Texas)
• Glaciers across all six continents where they are located have retreated (Source: WGMS)

And in the last ten years, the U.S. is setting record high temperatures at twice the rate of record lows.

All of which point toward an anthropogenic forcing on climate and none of which is impacted by a bunch of emails from UEA.