The Medway Handyman wrote:

snip

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climatec...xplained5.html

"Furthermore, while the UK Met Office regards 1998 as the hottest
year yet, Nasa thinks it was 2005 (they use the same data but
interpret it differently)."

I said:

1) That they don't use exactly the same data and

2) they are in broad agreement.

The Met Office has 2005 as the second warmest year since records began
but the difference is not great.

They get two completely different years and are in broad agreement? But
that's OK because the difference isn't great? Only a green idiot could
bellieve that.

You really are displaying an appalling lack of scientific (and in this
particular case mathematical) knowledge. The Met Office in their wisdom
show the 95% confidence limits as well as the actual figure for each
year. If you take 95% to be +/- two standard deviations then for the 2
to be equal a reduction of 0.3 of a standard deviation in the higher and
an increase of 0.3 in the lower (or any other combination with the same
sum) is all that is required.