Tsk, tsk

What will they say at the next drum circle:

This year is set to be the coolest since 2000, according to a preliminary estimate of global average temperature that is due to be released next week by the Met Office. The global average for 2008 should come in close to 14.3C, which is 0.14C below the average temperature for 2001-07.

Lest you think that more cooling means less warming (even writ small):

The relatively chilly temperatures compared with recent years are not evidence that global warming is slowing however, say climate scientists at the Met Office. "Absolutely not," said Dr Peter Stott, the manager of understanding and attributing climate change at the Met Office's Hadley Centre. "If we are going to understand climate change we need to look at long-term trends."

Of course the (publicly-funded) scientific community now is into the nuance game (eg. the facts are not fitting the models afterall). When it was time to pin the blame for Hurricane Katrina, natch ......... immediate pronouncement that it was AGW. It must be true, there is even a powerpoint.

One wonders with the scientific community, which is more important: long-term trends related to scientific facts -or- long-term trends related to funding.

Hmmmmmmm