The message 
from Terry Fields <no.spam.here@thanks.invalid> contains these words:

> >> Another way is to check that the data is correct. Since it was
> >> published by major players in the field, I guess character
> >> assassination is the only response available to the GW disciples.
> >
> >Would you care to point out where on the Met Office site the information
> >is that 1) the maximum ice extent over the last Southern and Northern
> >winters was a record high and 2) the latest year on year change in
> >average temperature fluctuation is minus 0.8C. I can't find either.

> Quote from Monckton's paper:

> "Since the phase-transition in mean global surface temperature late in
> 2001, a pronounced downtrend has set in. In the cold winter of 2007/8,
> record sea-ice extents were observed at both Poles. The
> January-to-January fall in temperature from 2007-2008 was the greatest
> since global records began in 1880. Data sources: Hadley Center
> monthly combined land and sea surface temperature anomalies;
> University of Alabama at Huntsville Microwave Sounding Unit monthly
> lower-troposphere anomalies;"

If that page 25 graph is correct Monckton's claim that a pronounced
downward trend dates from late 2001 is patently false.

> What makes you think it's on the internet? The Hadley Centre may have
> published it as a limited-circulation paper or electronic form, or
> made it available on subscription.

> If you don't like that, contact them.

> In the mean time, try this inconvenient truth, which is in the open
> literature:

> http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/02/15/arctic-ice.html

> -----
> There's an upside to the extreme cold temperatures northern Canadians
> have endured in the last few weeks: scientists say it's been helping
> winter sea ice grow across the Arctic, where the ice shrank to
> record-low levels last year.

> Temperatures have stayed well in the -30s C and -40s C range since
> late January throughout the North, with the mercury dipping past -50 C
> in some areas.

> Satellite images are showing that the cold spell is helping the sea
> ice expand in coverage by about 2 million square kilometres, compared
> to the average winter coverage in the previous three years.

> "It's nice to know that the ice is recovering," Josefino Comiso, a
> senior research scientist with the Cryospheric Sciences Branch of
> NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland, told CBC News on
> Thursday.

> "That means that maybe the perennial ice would not go down as low as
> last year."

> Canadian scientists are also noticing growing ice coverage in most
> areas of the Arctic, including the southern Davis Strait and the
> Beaufort Sea.

> "Clearly, we're seeing the ice coverage rebound back to more near
> normal coverage for this time of year," said Gilles Langis, a senior
> ice forecaster with the Canadian Ice Service in Ottawa.
> Winter sea ice could keep expanding

> The cold is also making the ice thicker in some areas, compared to
> recorded thicknesses last year, Lagnis added.

> "The ice is about 10 to 20 centimetres thicker than last year, so
> that's a significant increase," he said.

> If temperatures remain cold this winter, Langis said winter sea ice
> coverage will continue to expand.

> But he added that it's too soon to say what impact this winter will
> have on the Arctic summer sea ice, which reached its lowest coverage
> ever recorded in the summer of 2007.

Right to be cautious wasn't he given that just a few months later the
summer limit was setting a new record low.

> That was because the thick multi-year ice pack that survives a summer
> melt has been decreasing in recent years, as well as moving further
> south. Langis said the ice pack is currently located about 130
> kilometres from the Mackenzie Delta, about half the distance from
> where it was last year.

> The polar regions are a concern to climate specialists studying global
> warming, since those regions are expected to feel the impact of
> climate change sooner and to a greater extent than other areas.

> Sea ice in the Arctic helps keep those regions cool by reflecting
> sunlight that might otherwise be absorbed by darker ocean or land
> surfaces.
> -----

Logic doesn't seem to be your strong point either or you wouldn't quote
in support of a claim that "In the cold winter of 2007/8, record sea-ice
extents were observed at both Poles." an article that clearly refutes
it.

-- 
Roger Chapman