Has the 'hotspot' still not been found?

It has been some time since I learned about this and it is something that I personally haven't seen shot down. From what I remember there were computer models which had detected a 'hotspot'. This was supposed to be proof that the current global warming was caused by humans. To provide actual emperical evidence of this some special weather balloons (which had thermometers) were used and it seemed many considered this to be the 'smoking gun'. I think they were also called radiosones or something but anyway it turned out no actual hotspot was found from these.

I had seen an attempt or two to try and discredit the findings but I thought they were poor. One of them was that 'we needed more/lacked data'. I found this quite laughable at the time really because the balloons were basically conclusive proof that one could see with their own eyes and even a layman could understand. While more data is important I didn't really hear about a whole lot being conducted (but that is natural considering I don't follow every single piece of the details). I recall something about using 'wind shear' as another method but I don't recall if they actually did find anything useful. I had also heard some people say that the thermometers were the true gauge to find this hotspot in the end because they are built to find temperature (and this hotspot) after all.

So basically my question is the following - has the hotspot been found and if it still hasn't then doesn't this deal a big blow to the theory of an anthropogenic cause to the current global warming?

2010-03-09T21:09:53Z

Nice link spam linlyons. It's interesting that you have been reading on all this global warming information for so long and have no idea what this hotspot is.

I'll even provide a source (which I consider very biased) in favour of AGW that talks about it:

http://www.skepticalscience.com/tropospheric-hot-spot.htm

Note that their response to the argument is poor, essentially being a paragraph that concludes 'uncertainty' and possible 'data errors'.

2010-03-09T22:49:42Z

lmao linlyons.

http://www.skepticalscience.com is IN FAVOUR of AGW. It is far from a 'denier' site. Perhaps you should read it?

2010-03-09T22:52:34Z

http://www.skepticalscience.com does quote Monckton but all you are doing is stressing my point more. The talk of hotspots and radiosondes is true and there are plenty of sources talking about it - even the IPCC talks about hotspots.

2010-03-09T23:00:57Z

You owe me an apology linlyons.

2010-03-10T16:35:43Z

It was silly of me to use skepticalscience.com as a source. I thought that by quoting a biased website in favour of anthropogenic global warming (AGW), it would show that this talk of hotspots was true because THEY were talking about it. I didn't realise Monckton was quoted and I could see why you didn't like it - because you are biased. Just because Monckton said something doesn't mean it automatically isn't true. It didn't stop you from labelling an entire site in favour of AGW as 'denier' though.

I gave you the source of ecohuddle in the e-mail because I wanted to show you something familiar. A known person that is on Yahoo Answers (that thinks AGW is true) who talks about hotspots. Despite all your reading on global warming, you didn't know anything about this and claimed that I just basically made it all up. I gave you this source as proof for your biased self that hotspot prediction by models was something that DOES exist.

2010-03-10T16:38:07Z

You don't deserve an apology. You deserve to be ridiculed. You DID link spam me and it was with material that had nothing to do with my question. It isn't a matter of whether it is correct or not.

2010-03-11T17:46:40Z

I guess we are done. Do you honestly believe you were civil? What a joke. You insult me by claiming I just make things up? By trying to label me as a 'denier'? Your attitude throughout all of this has angered me.
The only time you have begun to be 'civil' has been in a BIT of your newest post update but even then you go and ruin that. You admit at the end of it all that there are many things about global warming you don't know and that is fair enough. I am in the same boat. This is really the only time you tried to speak honestly but it is still quite a change of tune from your original answer which made you out to be 'all knowing'. I really wonder if you were even honest with that....

There isn't even a point of trying to have a dialogue with you. You already have your mind made up about everything. I am just a 'denier' in your eyes. You pretty much implied that throughout - even in your newest answer.

2010-03-11T17:47:15Z

In the end, while your links may be trying to address global warming as a whole, the hotspot issue I think is important because it was essentially 'emperical evidence' (easily understandable to a layman) of the existence that man has been causing this 'global warming'.

bob3262010-03-10T10:46:07Z

Favorite Answer

The hotspot in the tropical troposphere was predicted by models, but is not specific to manmade warming. Instead it is a predicted result from all warming, period. It has to do with the fact that the observed tropospheric lapse rate in low-latitudes remains close to the saturated adiabatic lapse rate, and as the surface warms, the saturated lapse rate decreases due to the increase in latent heat release during moist adiabatic ascent. Thus the surface will tend to warm slower than higher altitudes.

I believe more recent studies have shown that the warming rate is not inconsistent with model runs, but warming is still slightly below what is predicted.

Anonymous2010-03-09T21:37:41Z

I don't know if this so-called "hotspot" has been found or not.

Probably not. Global warming is not a theory, it is a proven fact.Real scientists are not wasting time or money to"prove" what is already proven. They are working on better understanding the process of global warming--and finding solutions.

Anonymous2010-03-09T20:52:00Z

The hotspot can be found in Al Gores furnace which is cranked to max year around.

Andrew2010-03-09T20:46:48Z

You should follow the trend more closely. It now proven that AGW is fake. Especially man made one.