I was recently reminded that all activities of humanity, which impact all areas of science, are much more complex than scientists have learned to deal with. Shortly thereafter I read an article that was within one of the areas that I write about: climate change (a.k.a. global warming), and sure enough, the same story.
For the past year, alarm bells have been going off in climate science: Last year’s average global temperature was so high, shooting up nearly 0.3°C above the previous year to set a new record, that human-driven global warming and natural short-term climate swings seemingly couldn’t explain it. Now, a new series of studies suggests most of the 2023 jump can be explained instead by a familiar climate driver: the shifting waters of the tropical Pacific Ocean…