A UC Berkeley physicist who has questioned previous studies showing a warming of the earth’s climate told a Congressional committee his own research has confirmed the trend, Andrew Revkin reports at the Dot Earth blog in the New York Times.
Some critics of previous climate change findings have questioned the quality of historical data collected at weather stations, arguing, for example, that stations established in rural areas decades ago might now be surrounded by development and be influenced by the urban “heat island.” But Muller told the House Science, Space and Technology Committee that the warming seen at stations identified as being suspect “is virtually indistinguishable from that seen in the ‘good’ stations.”
“We see a global warming trend that is very similar to that previously reported,” he said.
Funders of Muller’s study include the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, which has supported efforts challenging mainstream climate change science.