Mars in global warming debate

Climate change sceptics have seized on news that Mars is heating up to back their claim that humans are not causing Earthly global warming.
The research comes from US planetary scientists, who suggest the Red Planet warmed by about 0.65C from the 1970s to the 1990s, similar to Earth’s 0.6C average temperature rise during the 20th century.

“It could be coincidental or it might be the needle in the haystack,” said climatologist William Kininmonth, former head of the National Climate Centre in Melbourne.
“It’s an interesting observation, as it’s the same time period as Earth’s temperature has been warming.”

Mr Kininmonth said the research, published in the journal Nature, showed there was enough natural climate variability to account for global warming on Earth.

Not so, claimed Neville Nicholls, a climate scientist at Monash University in Melbourne.

“The paper is interesting but it hasn’t got anything to do with the question of human impact on global warming on Earth,” Dr Nicholls said.

“It’s not an excuse to argue that humans are not causing global warming on Earth.”

The Australian