Originally posted by klaus54
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One really useful and important but difficult measurement is heat content of the ocean. It's not a single temperature; the ocean has a temperature profile with depth. This really measures better than anything else how much the planet as a whole is heating up. The surface temperature we experience is something of the wagging tail on the dog; flipping all over the place. The ocean steadily heats up; it has a massive heat capacity and responds much more gradually. It's where all the extra heat Earth absorbs is going. Unfortunately this doesn't have a good historical record; direct measures are still only quite a recent development.
BTW, contrary to what is often presumed, the satellite temperature record is much less reliable than the surface temperature record. The post processing of raw data required for satellites is far more complex and difficult than the post processing of raw surface temperature data (to account for TOBS, MMTS, urban development, etc etc). Satellite data processing has serious unresolved issues; different groups using the same raw data can and do obtain results that have statistically significant differences. It's all still useful scientific data, because knowing temperature profiles of the atmosphere is important in its own right.
I had heard a controversy about MMTS located near heat sources, e.g., this site:
http://www.surfacestations.org/odd_sites.htm
K54
http://www.surfacestations.org/odd_sites.htm
K54
Cheers -- sylas
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