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MAY 15, 2009

MATHEMATICIAN’S VIEW
Green
U.S. Temperatures Inflated
Posted by reasonmclucus
In the U.S. nearly “9 of every 10 stations are likely reporting higher or rising temperatures because they are badly sited” according to a recently published study by KPAY-AM investigative weather journalist Anthony Watts.
Watts and over 650 volunteers have been conducting an extensive examination of U.S.. weather stations to determine if they produce reliable temperatures and posting the results of the examinations on his blog Watts Up With That.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) requires that temperature measuring equipment be at least 30 meters (100 feet) from any artificial source of artificial heating source such as the heat exhaust of an air conditioner or reflecting / radiating sources such as pavement. According to Watts, 89% of the sites failed to meet that standard.
They “found stations located next to the exhaust fans of air conditioning units, surrounded by asphalt parking lots and roads, on blistering-hot rooftops, and near sidewalks and buildings that absorb and radiate heat.” 68 stations were “located at wastewater treatment plants, where the process of waste digestion causes temperatures to be higher than in surrounding areas.”
They also noticed that changes in the technology of temperature stations could have caused them to report a false warming trend.
Watts says, “we found major gaps in the data record that were filled in with data from nearby sites, a practice that propagates and compounds errors. We found that adjustments to the data by both NOAA and another government agency, NASA, cause recent temperatures to look even higher.”
Supporters of the claim about global warming indicate that temperatures rose on about 0.7 C or 1.2 F which is only about a 0.24% increase.
Watts concludes, “The U.S. temperature record is unreliable. The errors in the record exceed by a wide margin the purported rise in temperature of 0.7º C (about 1.2º F) during the twentieth century. Consequently, this record should not be cited as evidence of any trend in temperature that may have occurred across the U.S. during the past century. Since the U.S. record is thought to be ‘the best in the world,’ it follows that the global database is likely similarly compromised and unreliable.”
The United States isn’t the only nation with questionable sites. Italy also has problems.
During the 90’s the U.S. was using thermometers that tended to produce artifically high temperatures.
Dr. Benjamin Herman, Director of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Arizona asks on Climate Science if anyone has corrected the inaccurate temperature readings produced by the HO-83 Hygro-Thermometers that were used at some stations in the U.S. and may still in use in other parts of the world. The problem with the thermometers has been known for years according to an post by Steve McIntyre that lists numerous studies mentioning the tendency of the thermometers to record higher than actual temperatures under some circumstances. Temperatures could by as much as 2 or3 F above the actual temperature.
As I have mentioned in previous posts there are various problems with the accuracy of the temperature data that supposedly indicates global warming. If thermometers used in the 1990’s in the United States can produce inaccurate data how can anyone rely on equipment in less technologically advanced areas of the world. If modern equipment is inaccurate, the same is likely to be the case for equipment used 50-100 years ago. The old temperatures a century ago might have really been warmer and colder than the record indicates.
Anthony Watts» Benjamin Herman» HO 83 Hygro Thermometers» NOAA» site problems» Steve McIntyre» weather stations»

http://neighbors.denverpost.com/blog.php/2009/05/15/us-temperatures-inflated/