date: Fri, 23 May 2008 20:52:52 +0100 from: David Thompson subject: Fwd: Your Nature paper - press release details to: Phil Jones , Mike Wallace , John Kennedy All, Here is Nature's press release. They note they can't change any of the text, but I've argued they need to change one word at the end of the last paragraph (see my email below, and the release below that). Please also see the warnings about the embargo on this press release. -Dave Begin forwarded message: From: David Thompson <[1]davet@atmos.colostate.edu> Date: May 23, 2008 8:50:23 PM BDT To: "Twinn, Rachel" <[2]r.twinn@nature.com> Subject: Re: Your Nature paper - press release details Rachel, The release looks OK. But I think you should change one word in the first paragraph. Right now the last 4 words of the paragraph state: "from the mid-twentieth century." They should state: "in the mid-twentieth century" The difference is very, very important. What is currently written suggests the record will change from the mid century to now. That's not correct, and it will cause a lot of confusion in the general public. The record will change in the mid century, but not in the recent decades. I hope you can change this one word. Thanks, -Dave On May 23, 2008, at 12:12 PM, Twinn, Rachel wrote: Dear Author, We are pleased to inform you that your paper entitled A large discontinuity in the mid-twentieth century in observed global-mean surface temperature has been featured in this week's press release for Nature. A copy of the press release entry about your paper, which has already been distributed to the media, is included below for your interest and to assist you if you receive any enquiries from journalists. 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From North America Katherine Anderson, Nature New York Tel: +1 212 726 9231; Fax: +1 646 563 7117 E-mail: [5]k.anderson@natureny.com Katie McGoldrick, Nature Washington Tel: +1 202 737 2355; E-mail: [6]k.mcgoldrick@naturedc.com From Japan, Korea, China, Singapore and Taiwan Mika Nakano, Nature Tokyo Tel: +81 3 3267 8751; E-mail: [7]m.nakano@natureasia.com From UK, Europe, other countries not listed Rachel Twinn, Nature London Tel: +44 207 843 4658; E-mail: [8]r.twinn@nature.com Yours sincerely, Rachel Twinn Assistant Press Officer, Nature Featured press release entry: Climate records: A cold snap explained (pp 646-649; N&V) Scientists have spotted a large discontinuity in the record of twentieth-century global-mean surface temperature. A study in Nature this week suggests that an abrupt temperature drop in 1945 previously interpreted to be part of a larger cooling trend is actually due to uncorrected instrumental biases introduced when measuring temperatures at sea. The discovery solves a long-standing mystery in climate change research and will have a significant impact on the historical record of temperatures from the mid-twentieth century. The record of global-mean temperatures from the last 100 years is the most widely recognized time series in climate change research, providing key evidence for global warming and a crucial tool used to distinguish between anthropogenically induced warming and natural climate variability. Until now it was thought to be largely free of substantial uncorrected instrument biases. David Thompson and colleagues reanalysed the record while filtering out background noise from natural events such as El Niņo. They then studied all the prominent drops in temperature and managed to match all except one in late 1945 to a volcanic eruption occurring at the time. This marked drop in temperature was not associated with any known climate phenomenon but did coincide with a significant change in shipboard instrumentation used to collect data. After the Second World War, measurements were transferred from US ships, which relied on engine room intake measurements, to UK ships, which used a different method known as uninsulated bucket measurements. The authors suggest that although correcting this error is likely to change the form of parts of the overall record, particularly in the middle twentieth century, it is unlikely to significantly affect estimates of century-long trends in global-mean temperatures. CONTACT David Thompson (Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA) Tel: +1 970 491 3338; E-mail: [9]davet@atmos.colostate.edu Chris Forest (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Earth, Cambridge, MA, USA) N&V author Tel: +1 617 253 6958; E-mail: [10]ceforest@mit.edu Richard Reynolds (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Asheville, NC, USA) N&V author Tel: +1 828 271 4302; E-mail: [11]Richard.W.Reynolds@noaa.gov ______________________________________________________________________________ Any feedback or suggestions about this service can be sent by email to [12]press@nature.com Nature, the worlds leading scientific journal, [13]www.nature.com/nature ******************************************************************************** DISCLAIMER: This e-mail is confidential and should not be used by anyone who is not the original intended recipient. 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Macmillan Publishers Limited Registered in England and Wales with registered number 785998 Registered Office Brunel Road, Houndmills, Basingstoke RG21 6XS ******************************************************************************** -------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- David W. J. Thompson www.atmos.colostate.edu/~davet Dept of Atmospheric Science Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523 USA Phone: 970-491-3338 Fax: 970-491-8449 -------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- David W. J. Thompson www.atmos.colostate.edu/~davet Dept of Atmospheric Science Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523 USA Phone: 970-491-3338 Fax: 970-491-8449