1945 cooling, methodological issue

2008/09/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Klima

Since 1860 we have a continuous record of temperatures on land and in the ocean. This record includes, among others, periods of warming and cooling of the Earth. Scientists have found explanation for most of them, but there is a fact that so far has had no explanation: The record indicates that in 1945, when World War II ended, the sea temperature decreased by 0.3°C. On land, however, no changes were detected and no climate or geological phenomena have been found that could explain this cooling.

A group from the United States and Britain have once and for all discovered the explanation that the data obtained is due to the different measurement methodology.

During World War II, the vast majority of temperature measurements at sea were performed by US ships. At the end of the war, however, the English ships retook the measurements. The American crew drank the water to cool the boat's engine from the sea, while the English threw them into the sea in the water caught by the broths. Thus, it is very likely that the water captured in one way or another present this temperature difference.