GLOBAL SURFACE TEMPERATURE CHANGE

(GISS) analysis of global surface temperature change, compare alternative analyses, and address questions about perception and reality of global warming. Satellite‐observed night lights are used to identify measurement stations located in extreme darkness and adjust temperature trends of urban and periurban stations for nonclimatic factors, verifying that urban effects on analyzed global change are small. Because the GISS analysis combines available sea surface temperature records with meteorological station measurements, we test alternative choices for the ocean data, showing that global temperature change is sensitive to estimated temperature change in polar regions where observations are limited. We use…