On NC Media Watch our intrepid applied scientist Russ Steele has done a great piece of work showing how temperature data from automated surface observation stations (ASOSs) across the country are being misused for political purposes in the great global warming fiasco. Russ does a detailed analysis of the ASOS data from the Reno airport that demonstrates how urbanization - the so-called Urband Heat Island effect - completely explains away, in both timing and magnitude, the increase in the recorded temperatures. The UHI effect and misplacement of ASOS units across the land account for most of the mischief in using this kind of data for concluding that we must now destroy our economies in order to "fight global warming". (see also Anthony Watts' Surface Station Survey) A cheaper start would be to relocate the ASOS units properly and then take another look at the claims the UN's IPCC and Team Gore are trumpeting around the world. But why do that when their agenda is already being swallowed by even the likes of McCain?
A tip of the hat to Russ, and please queue the applause.
ps. GIGO? left as exercise for the reader with the hint in the figure.
George,
Thanks for the kind words. It was a lot of fun digging for information, Google Earth is turning out to be a great resource, as is Google's search engine. If I can find this data, why not a few good reporters? The whole project was done from may laptop, using available resources on the Internet. Even the plotting software is free at the R Project. My next challenge is the ASOS at Helena Montana.
Posted by: Russ Steele | 25 October 2008 at 04:45 PM