Global warming has slowed down in the past decade or so: "Some people call it a slow-down, some call it a hiatus, some people call it a pause. The global average surface temperature has not increased substantially over the last 10 to 15 years," notes a scientist. That's true even though the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere keeps speeding up. We have the deep ocean to thank, experts say: It's acting as a massive heat sink.
The heat is shifting from the atmosphere down into the ocean, where it can't be tracked, they surmise. In other words, "It looks like the Earth is continuing to accumulate energy but it looks like it is being rearranged and hidden from view," an expert tells the Independent. Despite this pause, things will keep heating up, though on a slightly delayed schedule: The temperatures forecast for 2015 may not arrive until five or 10 years later, experts say, though the rise in temperatures across the century is poised to remain the same. So is the current East Coast-Midwest heat wave due to global warming, LiveScience asks? Tough to answer, say researchers, but "as the average temperature increases, these types of events become more frequent." (More global warming stories.)
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