Some interesting news in the climate science field this week. First is a new paper that indicates the so-called slow down in the warming over the last decade is actually an artifact of the lack of temperature data in the Arctic. An excellent summary is available on REAL CLIMATE. This is actually not a big surprise, since the Arctic is warming more rapidly than just about anywhere on the planet, but there isn’t a lot of high quality surface data from the region.

This paper puts a big dent in the latest claims from the ever dwindling number of those who think that a warming planet is a hoax. It was a ridiculous claim anyhow, since most of the new global climate models show that natural variations combined with the increasing greenhouse warming will cause slowdowns in the warming, some over a decade in length. These same models still show a warming of 3-5 C and more over the next 90 years.

In related news, denying science has gotten rather expensive for a group in New Zealand. I’ll let the Radio New Zealand story speak for itself:

One last thing, if you are a teacher and got a slick-looking packet about climate change in the last few days, the National Center for Science Education wants to hear from you. It’s from a right-wing political group called the Heartland Institute. It’s not their first foray into the anti-science arena either. Oh, and in spite of these attempts, the science is winning. Hat tip to Joe Romm at Climate Progress for this story.