Does a Global Temperature Exist?
Christopher Essex, Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Western Ontario
Bjarne Andresen, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
Ross McKitrick, Department of Economics, University of Guelph
ABSTRACT:
Physical, mathematical and observational grounds are employed to show that there is no physically meaningful global temperature for
the Earth in the context of the issue of global warming. While it is always possible to construct statistics for any given set
of
local temperature data, an infinite range of such statistics is mathematically permissible if physical principles provide no
explicit basis for choosing among them. Distinct and equally valid statistical rules can and do show opposite trends when applied
to the results of computations from physical models and real data in the atmosphere. A given temperature field can be
interpreted
as both "warming" and "cooling" simultaneously, making the concept of warming in the context of the issue of global warming
physically ill-posed.
PREPRINT
Does a Global Temperature Exist?
This is a pre-print of an article in
Journal of Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics,
Volume 32 No. 1
DATA and CODE:
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