The message
from Terry Fields contains these words:

Another way is to check that the data is correct. Since it was
published by major players in the field, I guess character
assassination is the only response available to the GW disciples.

Would you care to point out where on the Met Office site the information
is that 1) the maximum ice extent over the last Southern and Northern
winters was a record high and 2) the latest year on year change in
average temperature fluctuation is minus 0.8C. I can't find either.

Quote from Monckton's paper:

"Since the phase-transition in mean global surface temperature late in
2001, a pronounced downtrend has set in. In the cold winter of 2007/8,
record sea-ice extents were observed at both Poles. The
January-to-January fall in temperature from 2007-2008 was the greatest
since global records began in 1880. Data sources: Hadley Center
monthly combined land and sea surface temperature anomalies;
University of Alabama at Huntsville Microwave Sounding Unit monthly
lower-troposphere anomalies;"

If that page 25 graph is correct Monckton's claim that a pronounced
downward trend dates from late 2001 is patently false.

What makes you think it's on the internet? The Hadley Centre may have
published it as a limited-circulation paper or electronic form, or
made it available on subscription.

If you don't like that, contact them.

In the mean time, try this inconvenient truth, which is in the open
literatu

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2...rctic-ice.html

-----
There's an upside to the extreme cold temperatures northern Canadians
have endured in the last few weeks: scientists say it's been helping
winter sea ice grow across the Arctic, where the ice shrank to
record-low levels last year.

Temperatures have stayed well in the -30s C and -40s C range since
late January throughout the North, with the mercury dipping past -50 C
in some areas.

Satellite images are showing that the cold spell is helping the sea
ice expand in coverage by about 2 million square kilometres, compared
to the average winter coverage in the previous three years.

"It's nice to know that the ice is recovering," Josefino Comiso, a
senior research scientist with the Cryospheric Sciences Branch of
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland, told CBC News on
Thursday.

"That means that maybe the perennial ice would not go down as low as
last year."

Canadian scientists are also noticing growing ice coverage in most
areas of the Arctic, including the southern Davis Strait and the
Beaufort Sea.

"Clearly, we're seeing the ice coverage rebound back to more near
normal coverage for this time of year," said Gilles Langis, a senior
ice forecaster with the Canadian Ice Service in Ottawa.
Winter sea ice could keep expanding

The cold is also making the ice thicker in some areas, compared to
recorded thicknesses last year, Lagnis added.

"The ice is about 10 to 20 centimetres thicker than last year, so
that's a significant increase," he said.

If temperatures remain cold this winter, Langis said winter sea ice
coverage will continue to expand.

But he added that it's too soon to say what impact this winter will
have on the Arctic summer sea ice, which reached its lowest coverage
ever recorded in the summer of 2007.

Right to be cautious wasn't he given that just a few months later the
summer limit was setting a new record low.

That was because the thick multi-year ice pack that survives a summer
melt has been decreasing in recent years, as well as moving further
south. Langis said the ice pack is currently located about 130
kilometres from the Mackenzie Delta, about half the distance from
where it was last year.

The polar regions are a concern to climate specialists studying global
warming, since those regions are expected to feel the impact of
climate change sooner and to a greater extent than other areas.

Sea ice in the Arctic helps keep those regions cool by reflecting
sunlight that might otherwise be absorbed by darker ocean or land
surfaces.
-----

Logic doesn't seem to be your strong point either or you wouldn't quote
in support of a claim that "In the cold winter of 2007/8, record sea-ice
extents were observed at both Poles." an article that clearly refutes
it.

--
Roger Chapman