{"id":5606,"date":"2010-12-09T11:14:10","date_gmt":"2010-12-09T16:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.realclimate.org\/?p=5606"},"modified":"2011-07-18T07:18:35","modified_gmt":"2011-07-18T12:18:35","slug":"a-brief-history-of-knowledge-about-antarctic-temperatures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.realclimate.org\/index.php\/archives\/2010\/12\/a-brief-history-of-knowledge-about-antarctic-temperatures\/","title":{"rendered":"A brief history of knowledge about Antarctic temperatures"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Sources in italics.<\/p>\n

Early 20th Century<\/strong>:\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Scott<\/em>: It’s cold here.
\nThe media<\/em>: Scott is a hero!
\nScott<\/em>: It’s really really cold here.
\nThe media<\/em>: Scott is a hero!
\nAmundsen<\/em>: It’s not that cold.
\nThe media<\/em>: Scott is a hero. Oh, and Amundsen.
\nPublic<\/em>: Shackleton is a hero, but please shut up, there’s a war on.<\/p>\n

Mid 20th Century<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Geophizzicists<\/em>: Let’s find out just how cold it is.
\nMedia<\/em>: Scott is a hero!
\nPublic<\/em>: yawn…<\/p>\n

Late 20th Century<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Scientists<\/em>: It’s colder in some place than others.
\nMedia<\/em>: Antarctica is cooling.
\nScientists<\/em>: It’s cooling at the South Pole, but warming very fast on the Peninsula.
\nMedia<\/em>: Antarctica is cooling, but warming faster than anywhere else on earth.
\nPublic<\/em>: Huh…?<\/p>\n

2000<\/strong>
\nThompson and Solomon<\/em>: Most of Antarctica is cooling in summer, but it is warming on the Peninsula. We think it has to do with the ozone hole.
\nMedia<\/em>: Because of ozone, Antarctica is warming faster than anywhere else on earth and we are all going to die.
\nPublic<\/em>: Huh…?<\/p>\n

Early 21st Century<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

2006<\/strong>
\nScientists<\/em>: The troposphere over Antarctica is warming significantly in winter.
\nMedia<\/em>: Even though that paper was published in Science<\/i>, our readers don’t know what the troposphere is. Neither do we. Next?<\/p>\n

2007<\/strong>
\nScientists<\/em>: The troposphere over Antarctica is warming significantly in winter and spring, especially over West Antarctica.
\nMedia<\/em>: That paper wasn’t published in Nature<\/em>, so we’re not very interested.<\/p>\n

2009<\/strong>
\nScientists<\/em>: Antarctica is cooling in fall — not summer — in some places, but warming, especially in winter and spring, especially in West Antarctica.
\nMedia<\/em>: Antarctica stops cooling! Conservative or liberal, we are ALL going to die.
\nSteve McIntyre<\/em>: The “team” made up the data again. I don’t know what Antarctica is doing, but I think it is probably cooling.
\nMedia<\/em>: Antarctica starts cooling again, global warming is a fraud.<\/p>\n

2010<\/strong>
\nRyan O’Donnell<\/em>: Our paper in the Journal of Climate<\/i> shows a somewhat better way to look at the same data. Antarctica is warming a bit more in summer, and a bit less in winter in the Ross Sea region. In fall it is cooling a bit more too, and so the overall trends are smaller. Still, West Antarctica is definitely warming significantly, as Steig et al. found. That’s interesting.
\nEric Steig<\/em>: Nice paper Ryan. Thanks for sending along a pre-print.
\nSteve McIntyre<\/em>: Hey, we got published in the Journal of Climate<\/i>! Another paper showing that the “team” made up the data again! (Sotto voce): Ryan says it it is warming a bit more in summer, and a bit less in winter in the Ross Sea region. In fall it is cooling a bit more. Otherwise we get the same results, though the magnitude of the trends is smaller. But West Antarctica is still warming significantly. But I really don’t care.<\/small> The peer review process is broken, which is why.. umm…our paper was published in the leading climate journal<\/small>.
\nLiberal Media<\/em>: That paper wasn’t published in Nature<\/em>, so we’re not very interested.
\nConservative Media<\/em>: Antarctica is cooling. Global warming is a fraud.
\nPublic<\/em>: zzzZZZzzz
\n————-
\nP.S. For those actually interested, yes, I’ll have more to say about O’Donnell et al., but overall, I like it.–eric<\/p>\n\n<\/div> ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sources in italics. Early 20th Century: Scott: It’s cold here. The media: Scott is a hero! Scott: It’s really really cold here. The media: Scott is a hero! Amundsen: It’s not that cold. The media: Scott is a hero. Oh, and Amundsen. Public: Shackleton is a hero, but please shut up, there’s a war on. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-arctic-and-antarctic","category-climate-science","category-skeptics","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t