Global Warming Exchange update

On the upper right hand corner of this blog, you can find a snapshot and link to the Global Warming Exchange*, which allows you to invest play money in global temperature futures, based on NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Sciences Land-Ocean Temperature Index.

For the first 8 months of the year, the index has averaged 0.52 Celsius over baseline, slightly warmer than 2008's 0.44 Celsius, but still trending lower since the peak of 0.62 in 2005.

Temperatures are rising over the last century. Alarmists claim its our increased carbon emissions; skeptics like me think its more correlated to solar activity. Carbon dioxide is a trace gas compared to water vapor, which is an efficient heat absorber.

*Powered by Inkling Markets.

Intrade has a real money 'Top 5 Warmest' contract (which I am short). Note: It uses a different GISS data series than the Land Ocean Index.