A statistical analysis of temperature data since 1500 rejects the hypothesis that global warming is a natural fluctuation in the earth’s climate. The study presents a new approach to the question of whether global warming in the industrial era has been caused largely by manmade emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. The study uses historical data—instead of complex computer models used historically in such studies—to assess whether warming over the past century is due to natural long-term variations in temperature. The study uses climate reconstructions to estimate historical temperatures, and fluctuation-analysis techniques to understand the temperature variations over wide ranges of time scales. Read more in Climate Dynamics.
S Lovejoy, Climate Dynamics, 2014. DOI: 10.1007/s00382-014-2128-2
