I share your outlook. I like that mention of the records. Isn’t it strange that you could notice that, but none of the enviro whack-jobs could.
There have been numerous studies of the effects of changing technology and measurement methods -- even such simple things as when the daily temperature readings were taken. Just last May a previously-unexplained short term drop in temperatures in the 1940s was explained by a switch in sea surface temperature measurement techniques occurring after WWII.
Such things generate a lot of traffic.