NASA Scientists Say Earth Is Still Warming

(March 26) -- The winter was cold and fierce for much of the United States, but the planet is still getting warmer, according to a
new draft analysis from NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

"We conclude that global temperature continued to rise rapidly in the past decade, despite large year-to-year fluctuations associated with the El Nino-La Nina cycle of tropical ocean temperature," says the report, which has not yet been published or submitted to peer review.

Stan Nevgloski takes his dog out for his morning walk as the sun rises over snow-encrusted trees in Haddonfield, New Jersey, Feb. 11.

Tom Gralish, Philadelphia Inquirer / MCT

Proponents of climate change argue that erratic weather patterns could actually be proof of global warming. Here, a man walks his dog in Haddonfield, N.J., last month.

Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, told the Daily Climate he believed the data was good.

"Essentially [it's] just pointing out that we've come out of this short-term, relatively cool period," he said. "The globe clearly continues to warm."

In the report, Goddard Director Jim Hansen and his fellow researchers address the problem that they find in dealing with public science in the face of snowstorms and record lows. In October, a Pew Research Center poll found only 57 percent of Americans believed in global warming, down from 77 percent in 2006.

"Communicating the reality of climate change to the public is hampered by the large natural variability of weather and climate," says the draft.

Proponents of climate change argue that erratic weather patterns could actually be proof of global warming.

The Goddard analysis predicts that 2010, winter and all, will "likely" be the hottest year on record.