At last! Somebody actually gets the significance of "Hide the Decline"

And the Russell Enquiry did find it was misleading. Unfortunately, the media, including many who remain skeptical of climate change, have missed the main scientific point at question in the tree ring data. The researchers were not trying to hide evidence of a decline in global temperatures over the last decade—we have plenty of actual thermometer readings to show temperatures in recent years. What they were trying to hide was the discrepancy between actual temperature readings and the temperatures suggested by tree ring data. They have relied on tree ring data to show that the earth was cooler in the past. If the tree ring data is not reliable (as the discrepancy in recent years would suggest), then maybe the earth was actually hotter in the past than these researchers would have us believe—and perhaps the hot temperatures of recent years do not represent unprecedented global warming but just natural variation in climate. The review panel at least acknowledged that the “trick” used to “hide the decline” was misleading. Now let’s see if the media can report the result in a way that is not itself misleading.

Posted via email from Garth's posterous