New information strengthens the case for global warming, according to a study published in the journal
“Nature.”

Global warming refers to an average increase in the Earth’s temperature of about 1 degree Fahrenheit over the past century, with accelerated warming during the past two decades.

But there’s a scientific riddle: temperatures are indeed rising near the earth’s surface, but, up in the lower atmosphere (troposphere), where the most weather occurs, measurements have apparently shown comparably small increases.

New research suggests that this measurement was contaminated by data from the higher stratosphere, which cools faster. Correcting for that, the researchers found that the rising temperatures were indeed much closer to what the computers predicted: the troposphere has been warming at about one-third of a degree Fahrenheit per decade, which closely resembles measurements of warming at the surface.