Tuesday, June 01, 2010

"I think the sun has come closer to our island"

(why it is warmer and the copra dries faster than in the old days, according to a 97-year old Kiribati unimwane or elder)

The quote came to me second hand, via Kiribati religious leader I met while conducted a field project in the Central and Northern Gilbert Islands. It comes with the usual caveats about translation and the accuracy of anecdotal climate observations.

1 comment:

Caspar Henderson said...

Well, allowing for poetic license, he may not be far wrong. Hansen et al write: "the 12-month running mean global temperature in the GISS analysis has reached a new record in 2010. The new record temperature in 2010 is particularly meaningful because it occurs when the recent minimum of solar irradiance is having its maximum cooling effect." (pdf).