Comment to "Recent Climate Observations Compared to Projections" by Rahmstorf et al

TL;DR

This comment critiques Rahmstorf et al.'s analysis by emphasizing the importance of considering the full climate data period (1958-2004) rather than only recent years, revealing different results and no correlation in 1988.

Contribution

It highlights the significance of data period selection in climate analysis and challenges previous conclusions about CO2 and temperature correlations.

Findings

Different results when using the full data period (1958-2004)

No correlation between CO2 and temperature in 1988

Misinterpretation risk when only recent data is considered

Abstract

It is shown in this comment that considering the Mauna Loa observation of the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and the mean near surface temperature anomalies for the period from the beginning of the seventies to recent years only is, clearly, a source of misinterpretation. If we consider the whole period of available data (1958 - 2004), we obtain results which differ from those presented by Rahmstorf et al. It is also shown that in 1988 when the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) was established there was certainly no correlation between the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and the mean near surface temperature anomalies, neither on the annual time scale nor on the monthly time scale.