Hopefully those poking fun at GW hysterics by referencing how cold it is today, are making a more subtle point: For all the precision of pronouncements on global warming the underlying error terms in these measures are seen to be so large for so many reasons that the whole enterprise appears to be basically stupid.
I just was prompted to look at the data associated with UHI (Urban Heat Island). The data is stunning in that it shows that for many locations in and around large cities in the United States the local temperature has been increasing while for remote rural locations the trend is either clearly flat or downwards. A dramatic example is West Point and New York City.
It is entirely unclear to me how these very pronounced effect are controlled for in the climate models.
Sorry, here is the link:
http://www.john-daly.com/stations/WestPoint-NY.gif
Daly's entire site is worth scanning.
