Study: Global cooling a 1970s myth

February 21, 2008

A U.S. climatologist said there was no consensus in the 1970s that the Earth was headed for a new ice age.

Thomas Peterson of the National Climatic Data Center said a survey of scientific journals of the era showed that only seven supported global cooling, 44 predicted warming and 20 others were neutral, USA Today reported Thursday.

"An enduring popular myth suggests that in the 1970s the climate science community was predicting 'global cooling' and an 'imminent' ice age, an observation frequently used by those who would undermine what climate scientists say today about the prospect of global warming," Peterson said in the report, co-authored by William Connolly of the British Antarctic Survey and John Fleck of The Albuquerque Journal.

The study, which will be published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, said a review of the literature suggests that greenhouse warming even then dominated scientists' thinking.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

view popular send feedback to editors
2.6 /5 (14 votes)  

Filter


Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

mikiwud
Feb 22, 2008

Rank: 2.3 / 5 (3)
But,the temperature data at the time shows that it was cooling then.The CO2 warming con bandwagon had not started then,so,what did they blame for the "predicted" warming?
It is obvious that temperature changes are natural and been going on ever since the has been an atmosphear on earth.Get used to it!Spend your time and billions on research to find out what is happening in the real world and better the lot of the millions who die needlessly instead of trying to blame every thing on CO2!
It's like executing a known to be innocent man instead of looking for the real killer.
Rank 2.6 /5 (14 votes)
Tags

Related Stories
more news
Relevant PhysicsForums posts
  • Do some geologists actually act a lot like Randy Marsh?
    createdFeb 11, 2012
  • Discrepancy between oxygen and carbon-dioxide levels
    createdFeb 09, 2012
  • where gems are found in the world
    createdFeb 09, 2012
  • Wind Waves in Reservoir ~ Wind run-up and Wind set-up
    createdFeb 08, 2012
  • Balance of oxygen in the atmosphere
    createdFeb 01, 2012
  • The case for a methanol-based economy
    createdJan 30, 2012
  • More from Physics Forums - Earth

More news stories

Latin America mining boom clashes with conservation

Latin America is experiencing a mining boom as prices rise fuelled by a hike in global demand, but the region is also being hit by a wave of violent protests, strikes and rallies by environmentalists.

Space & Earth / Environment

created 3 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Europe stakes billion-dollar bet on new rocket

A pencil-slim rocket is scheduled to lift into space from South America on Monday, carrying a billion-dollar bet that Europe can grab a juicy slice of the market to place satellites in low orbit.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created 22 hours ago | popularity 4 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Political leaders play key role in how worried Americans are by climate change: study

More than extreme weather events and the work of scientists, it is national political leaders who influence how much Americans worry about the threat of climate change, new research finds.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Feb 06, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 72

NASA budget will axe Mars deal with Europe: scientists

US President Barack Obama's budget proposal to be submitted next week for 2013 will cut NASA's budget by 20 percent and eliminate a major partnership with Europe on Mars exploration, scientists said Thursday.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Feb 10, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 55

Humans may have helped the decline of African rainforests 3000 years ago

(PhysOrg.com) -- Large areas of rainforests in Central Africa mysteriously disappeared over three thousand years ago, to be replaced by savannas. The prevailing theory has been that the cause was a change ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Feb 10, 2012 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (14) | comments 20 | with audio podcast report


Google might launch Drive for cloud storage soon

(PhysOrg.com) -- Google's next big move, according to the Wall Street Journal, is a cloud storage service called Drive. Hardly first to the plate, Google is simply catching up to introducing its cloud reposi ...

Walney offshore wind farm is world's biggest (for now)

(PhysOrg.com) -- The Walney wind farm on the Irish Sea--characterized by high tides, waves and windy weather--officially opened this week. The farm is treated in the press as a very big deal as the Walney ...

Love a click away in Indonesia's Twitter Republic

He was a geeky kid from Yogyakarta, she a glamorous city girl in Jakarta. In a country with one of the world's most vibrant social networking scenes they fell in love on Twitter.

GPS court ruling leaves US phone tracking unclear

A US Supreme Court decision requiring a warrant to place a GPS device on the car of a criminal suspect leaves unresolved the bigger issue of police tracking using mobile phones, legal experts say.

Europeans protest controversial Internet pact

Tens of thousands of people marched in protests in more than a dozen European cities Saturday against a controversial anti-online piracy pact that critics say could curtail Internet freedom.

Study finds that anti-diabetic medication can prevent the long-term effects of maternal obesity

In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting, in Dallas, Texas, researchers will report findings that show that short therapy with the anti-diabetic medication ...