This article is like Shakespeare: Much Ado about Nothing. The article makes silly, exaggerated claims about things that are in the fringes of the basic science. The basic science stands clear. Co2 DOES trap energy, the world IS warming, etc. Sometimes the patterns of a warming globe surprise us, and there are also fluctuations in the ENSO cycle. Big deal.
Did you note how they don't reference the peer reviewed papers involved? They don't want people going to the sources and finding that the debate occurs within the overall paradigm of a warming globe. When this 'article' does mention names it's a catastrophe for Reuter's credibility: Bjorn Lomberg (vomit!), an economist (not qualified to comment), and a chemist (not qualified to comment).
Now let's look at the reality.
Of the top 3 climate monitoring units on the planet only Hadley says 1998 was the warmest, and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) has pointed to a cooling bias with the Hadley data.
What has global warming done since 1998?
Two of the three most powerful temperature databases on the planet confirm 1998 as the THIRD warmest year on record, even when 1998 had one of the most frighteningly powerful El Nino's we've ever seen. Check it out — NOAA, NASA, then Hadley's CRU.
The NCDC at NOAA says:
///For 2010, the combined global land and ocean surface temperature tied with 2005 as the warmest such period on record, at 0.62°C (1.12°F) above the 20th century average of 13.9°C (57.0°F). 1998 is the third warmest year-to-date on record, at 0.60°C (1.08°F) above the 20th century average."
State of the Climate | Global Analysis - Annual 2010
NASA GISTEMP confirms the same thing and says:
"Global surface temperatures in 2010 tied 2005 as the warmest on record, according to an analysis released Wednesday by researchers at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York.///
http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20110112/
And now Phil Jones at the CRU, but don't forget the ECMWF has had a go at this particular dataset.
///The time series shows the combined global land and marine surface temperature record from 1850 to 2010. According to the method of calculation used by CRU, the year 2010 was the equal third (see footnote) warmest on record (with 2003), exceeded by 1998 and 2005. The years 2003, 2005 and 2010 are only distinguishable in the third decimal place. The error estimate for individual years (two standard errors is about ±0.1°C, see Brohan et al., 2006) is at least ten times larger than the differences between these three years.
The period 2001-2010 (0.44°C above 1961-90 mean) was 0.20°C warmer than the 1991-2000 decade (0.24°C above 1961-90 mean). The warmest year of the entire series has been 1998, with a temperature of 0.55°C above the 1961-90 mean. After 1998, the next nine warmest years in the series are all in the decade 2001-2010. During this decade, only 2008 is not in the ten warmest years. Even though 2008 was the coldest year of the 21st century it was still the 12th warmest year of the whole record.///
CRU Information Sheet no. 1: Global Temperature Record
But rather than argue over hundredths of a degree, which is all that seems to separate the temperatures, have a look at the 15 year trend *all* 3 agencies report. Brilliant graphic here.
Climate monitoring - Met Office
Even Denialist's are admitting it. At the 2009 Heartland Institute conference (of global warming sceptics), well known climate denialist Dr Patrick J Michaels warned against using the 1998 El Nino super-spike as some sort of 'proof' of a cooling trend. Take the advice of the words of a fellow Denialist.
///"Make an argument that you can get killed on and you will kill us all… If you loose credibility on this issue you lose this issue!"///
1998 Revisited - YouTube
So while Denialists selectively zoom in on a few data points to try and skew the story any way they want, overall, the trend is clear.
Climate Denial Crock of the Week - Party like it's 1998 - YouTube
The last decade was the hottest on record, and anyone who says otherwise is denying the best data on the planet and pushing an anti-science agenda of their own.
But as for scientists not accepting global warming: it's been well documented that political ideology trumps scientific evidence for practically any right-wing person (outside of the climate community itself that is). I'm just saddened that this ability to lie to oneself even seems to operate in the Christian world. It's no surprise with someone like you, a Creationist, who has already managed to turn a blind eye to any science you don't find convenient. But someone smart like Codger? That's sad.