Regardless of the claims and protestations of Obama, Osama bin Laden, Gordon Brown, Paul Krugman, Tom Friedman, Robert Mugabe, Kevin Rudd, Hugo Chavez, Brad DeLong, and other radical, leftist-totalitarian progressives, the recent global warming that ceased since 1998 was not that unusual.
The earth constantly experiences extended periods of natural warming and cooling that significantly impacts the overall climate. And since 1998, temperatures have been flat to cooling, depending on which part of the world one lives in, it would not be unusual at all for the earth to continue to cool for a period, nor would it be unusual for it to resume its warming since the Little Ice Age - scientists simply don't know which way temperatures are headed.
Despite the warming blip from the mid-1970's to the late 1990's, we do know the Northern Hemisphere has been locked in a long-term cooling cycle that goes back some 3,000+ years, as the Greenland ice cores reveal. (click image to enlarge)
The hysterical response to the recent warming by liberal-leftists is indicative of an agenda approach to science and history, lacking in both rational and empirical attributes. To hyperventilate about current temperatures, while ignoring the context of historical temperature change, is best described as voodoo science. And as we have all witnessed, this newest form of the voodoo science has resulted in the recent years of wild catastrophic climate predictions that never seem to happen.
Although considerably colder, Antarctica ice cores reveal a slight warming over the last 1,300 years. Yet the Vostok ice core indicates that over the last 5,000 years there were periods when temperatures were above present time, considerably (below chart).
Modern temperature charts. Other historical charts. Other climate history postings.
