Is the climate getting warmer? PolitiFact at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks at a statement from Republican Ron Johnson on global warming.
Earlier this month Senator Johnson said: "First of all, the climate hasn't warmed in quite a few years. That is proven scientifically."
Is it?
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PolitiFact looked at the temperatures monitored by two big federal agencies NASA an NOAA. Johnson argues that temperatures rose sharply from the 1950s to the 1990s, then leveled off.
"To defend his statement he said going back several decades the temperatures have been rising sharply and in more recent years they have leveled off," said Tom Kertscher at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "While there is some truth to that, his statement was there hasn't been any warming in quite a few years."
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PolitiFact says the numbers indicate a warming trend since 2000 and the average global temps have hit record new highs.
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"If you look at 15 of the 16 hottest years, they have occurred since 2001 and all time records were set in 2014 and 2015," said Kertscher. "So we are rated Johnson's statement false."
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And a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric research, tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel temperatures in the first six months of 2016 are even higher.
