Ten indicators from the Met Office

One reason we can have a lot of confidence about the basic science of climate change – that the world is warming, because of people, in ways that could be harmful to humanity – is because there are numerous independent indicators showing the same trends. A new report from the Met Office in the United Kingdom highlights this, pointing to ten distinct indicators that all show the planet warming:

1. Rising air temperature over land
2. Rising sea-surface temperature
3. Rising marine air temperature
4. Rising sea-level
5. Rising ocean heat
6. Rising humidity
7. Rising tropospheric temperature in the ‘active-weather’ layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth’s surface
8. Declining arctic sea-ice
9. Declining glaciers
10. Declining spring snow cover in the northern hemisphere

Deke Arndt, who co-edited the report, explained that: “The records come from many institutions worldwide. They use data collected from diverse sources, including satellites, weather balloons, weather stations, ships, buoys, and field surveys. These independently produced lines of evidence all point to the same conclusion: our planet is warming.”

None of this is new, really, but there is value in re-expressing it and stressing how the different indicators reinforce one another. Climate change deniers often fixate on details, raising doubts about a single measure and then suggesting that this calls into question the whole edifice of climate science. What work like this Met Office report indicates is how climate scientists are approaching the problem in a way that reduces the danger of such dangerous extrapolations.

Of course, that means climate change is something we really do need to worry about, and which we ought to be taking much more action about.

Author: Milan

In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. In the fall of 2005, I began reading for an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford. Outside school, I am very interested in photography, writing, and the outdoors. I am writing this blog to keep in touch with friends and family around the world, provide a more personal view of graduate student life in Oxford, and pass on some lessons I've learned here. View all posts by Milan