Expert says climate cooling misinterpreted

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CANBERRA, Australia, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Recent short-term cooling of global temperatures shouldn't be misinterpreted as meaning an end to global warming, an Australian expert says.

Barrie Hunt of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization says overall global warming is happening despite natural variability that can bring periods where the global climate can be either cooler or warmer than usual

"Conclusions that climate is not changing are based on a misunderstanding of the roles of climatic change caused by increasing greenhouse gases and climatic variability due to natural processes in the climatic system," he said.

Seasonal cold spells can still be expected under enhanced greenhouse conditions, he says.

"Future changes in global temperature as the concentration of greenhouse gases increases will not show a simple year-on-year increase but will vary around a background of long-term warming," he says.

This underlying warming trend, he says, will highlight the need to both adapt to what is now inevitable change and mitigate even greater changes.