Just an illusion: The supposed warming pause at the beginning of the 21st century is a myth. Ocean temperatures continued to rise unabated between 1998 and 2012, as new analyses now show. They confirm the suspicion that changes in a measurement method had previously caused falsified values. Therefore, there simply was no climate change pause, the researchers conclude in the journal "Science Advances."

2. On the problem of data integrity

The results of the study on the climate break clearly demonstrate the importance of the influence of the measurement method on the quality of the data.

The problem of methodological comparability of the data base also arises when considering temperature measurements. Even within Europe, different national standards apply to the installation of weather shelters and radiation shelters (2 m, 3 m, and sometimes 5 m).

The choice of material for radiation shelters and the associated measurement errors are also diverse. In addition, there are site-specific influences resulting from the choice of installation location and the temporal changes in conditions at the measurement site.

The named influencing factors cannot be accounted for using systematic corrections. Therefore, in the author's opinion, the statement for an average warming of, for example, 1.5 or 2 K/a appears untenable, given the quality of the data basis.