From Texas A&M University: By Robert Burns,
firstname.lastname@example.org COLLEGE STATION – There's very
good evidence the same factors contributing to the drought – the
El Niño-La Niña cycle — have temporarily stalled global warming,
according to a Texas A&M University climatologist. During the
last two decades of the 20th century, climatologists recorded a
rapid rise in average temperatures. But in the last decade the
rise has leveled off, said Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas State
Climatologist, College Station. "Global temperatures have been
relatively flat for the past several years, Nielsen-Gammon said.
"Some people use that information to try to imply that global
warming has stopped. But it turns out that the factors causing
global warming are still there, it's just that the El Niño-La
Niña cycle has temporarily trended cooler and has partially
masked the warming." Nielsen-Gammon compared a strong La Niña's
effect on atmospheric temperatures to that of leaving a
refrigerator door open. "In the tropical