[b]The "hiatus"[/b] [quote]In its Fifth Assessment Report in 2013, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that the temperature of the Earth increased at a rate of 0.22 Fahrenheit (0.12 Celsius) per decade from 1951-2012. It also found that the rate of warming from 1998-2012 had slowed to 0.09F (0.05C) per decade. This slowdown in the rate of warming, called a “hiatus,” was initially perplexing to climate scientists. It was inconsistent with expectations that global temperatures would rise at similar or even greater rates than they had in the latter half of the 20th century as the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continued to rise. There were a number of [url=https://theconversation.com/is-global-warming-in-a-hiatus-18367]proposed explanations[/url] for the hiatus, including natural variability and [url=https://theconversation.com/heat-accumulating-deep-in-the-atlantic-has-put-global-warming-on-hiatus-30805] heat accumulating in the oceans.[/url] Although these studies are still equally valid, we expect our finding to provide additional clarity and answers to this question.[/quote] [b]The method of data collection matters[/b][quote] The ERSST (Extended Reconstructed Sea Surface Temperature) data set provides global observations of sea surface temperature from the 1800s to present. Much of the data comes from measurements taken by ships at sea. From the earliest records of sea surface temperature, measurements were made by dropping a bucket over the side of the ship, bringing up some water and measuring the temperature of that water. Just prior to World War II, many ships began switching the method they used to measure temperatures. Rather than using a bucket, they began measuring water temperature at the ship’s engine intakes. The water temperature measured in this way is known to be warmer than if measured using buckets. Because these two methods yield differing temperature measurements, the switch in methodology created an artificial shift, or bias, unrelated to climate in temperature records. In recent decades, there has been another switch to a greater use of buoys rather than ships for ocean observations. Buoys tend to report a slightly cooler temperature than ships, resulting in another bias between the two sources of data. [/quote] Basically previous data collection methods were creating unaccounted for biases in the data. [quote] The new version of the ERSST data set more completely accounts for the changes in observing methods and technologies than previous versions, making the data more consistent across time. This makes it possible to compare temperature data collected from locations around the world and over many decades, improving the accuracy of temperature trend estimates. [/quote] Adjustments were also made to the land air surface temp record to include areas not preciously included, most notably the arctic, where temperatures have been rising most rapidly. [quote]With the improvements to the land and ocean data sets and the addition of two more years of data, NCEI scientists found that there has been [b][u]no hiatus in the global rate of warming[/u][/b]. This finding is consistent with the expected effect of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations and with other observed evidence of a changing climate such as reductions in Arctic sea ice extent, melting permafrost, rising sea levels, and increases in heavy downpours and heat waves. .... This work highlights the importance of data stewardship and continuously striving to improve the accuracy and consistency of temperature data sets.[/quote] Here's the original link for your reading pleasure and poor attempts at saying this all wrong. http://www.iflscience.com/environment/improved-data-set-shows-no-global-warming-hiatus Inb4ConservativeseSayItsFake