Didn’t satellite data show that the air is not warming?
Yes and no. Climate models predict that as the earth’s surface warms, so should the layer of air nearest the earth (the troposphere). Yet, for some time, satellite measurements suggested that there was little to no warming of the troposphere. Since 2003, however, important research has revealed that some of these satellite measurements were unreliable: 1. First, satellites were launched over several decades with different kinds of instruments and technologies. Initially, scientists didn’t correct for these differences when comparing temperatures from one year to the next, nor did they correct for variables that distort the readings, like the tendency of satellites to tip and drift toward and away from the sun’s rays. Now, they do.2. Second, the satellites were taking measurements from the troposphere and part of the stratosphere (the upper air). This skewed the measurements because the stratosphere is actually cooling about five times faster than the troposphere is heating.* Just as im
