Happy New Year. And just for another thing to celebrate, Dr. David Whitehouse, the British astronomer and former science editor of the BBC, tells us:  

"'The fact is that the global temperature of 2007 is statistically the same as 2006 and every year since 2001'

"Global warming stopped? Surely not. What heresy is this? Haven't  we been told that the science of global warming is settled beyond doubt and that all that's left to the so-called sceptics is the odd errant glacier that refuses to melt?

"Aren't we told that if we don't act now rising temperatures will render most of the surface of the Earth uninhabitable within our lifetimes? But as we digest these apocalyptic comments, read the recent IPCC's Synthesis report that says climate change could become  irreversible. Witness the drama at Bali as news emerges that  something is not quite right in the global warming camp.

"With only few days remaining in 2007, the indications are the global temperature for this year is the same as that for 2006 - there has been no warming over the 12 months. But is this just a blip in the ever upward trend you may ask? No. The fact is that the global temperature of 2007 is statistically the same as 2006 as well as every year since 2001. Global warming has, temporarily or permanently, ceased. Temperatures across the world are not increasing as they should according to the fundamental theory behind global warming - the greenhouse effect." (italics added)