Query: But Trenberth’s "lack of warming at the moment" has been going on at least a decade.

Relevant passages:
Hurricane Sandy <=SEP=> Hurricane Sandy ( unofficially referred to as `` Superstorm Sandy '' ) was the deadliest and most destructive hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season , and the second-costliest hurricane in United States history . Classified as the eighteenth named storm , tenth hurricane and second major hurricane of the year , Sandy was a Category 3 storm at its peak intensity when it made landfall in Cuba . While it was a Category 2 storm off the coast of the Northeastern United States , the storm became the largest Atlantic hurricane on record ( as measured by diameter , with winds spanning 1100 mi ) . Estimates as of 2015 assessed damage to have been about $ 75 billion ( 2012 USD ) , a total surpassed only by Hurricane Katrina . At least 233 people were killed along the path of the storm in eight countries .   Sandy developed from a tropical wave in the western Caribbean Sea on October 22 , quickly strengthened , and was upgraded to Tropical Storm Sandy six hours later . Sandy moved slowly northward toward the Greater Antilles and gradually intensified . On October 24 , Sandy became a hurricane , made landfall near Kingston , Jamaica , re-emerged a few hours later into the Caribbean Sea and strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane . On October 25 , Sandy hit Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane , then weakened to a Category 1 hurricane . Early on October 26 , Sandy moved through the Bahamas . On October 27 , Sandy briefly weakened to a tropical storm and then restrengthened to a Category 1 hurricane . Early on October 29 , Sandy curved west-northwest ( the `` left turn '' or `` left hook '' ) and then moved ashore near Brigantine , New Jersey , just to the northeast of Atlantic City , as a post-tropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds .   In Jamaica , winds left 70 % of residents without electricity , blew roofs off buildings , killed one , and caused about $ 100 million ( 2012 USD ) in damage . Sandy 's outer bands brought flooding to Haiti , killing at least 54 , causing food shortages , and leaving about 200,000 homeless ; the hurricane also caused two deaths in the Dominican Republic . In Puerto Rico , one man was swept away by a swollen river . In Cuba , there was extensive coastal flooding and wind damage inland , destroying some 15,000 homes , killing 11 , and causing $ 2 billion ( 2012 USD ) in damage . Sandy caused two deaths and damage estimated at $ 700 million ( 2012 USD ) in The Bahamas .   In the United States , Hurricane Sandy affected 24 states , including the entire eastern seaboard from Florida to Maine and west across the Appalachian Mountains to Michigan and Wisconsin , with particularly severe damage in New Jersey and New York . Its storm surge hit New York City on October 29 , flooding streets , tunnels and subway lines and cutting power in and around the city . Damage in the United States amounted to $ 71.4 billion ( 2013 USD ) . In Canada , two were killed in Ontario and an estimated $ 100 million ( 2012 CAD ) in damage was caused throughout Ontario and Quebec .

Kevin E. Trenberth <=SEP=> Kevin Edward Trenberth ( born November 8 , 1944 ) is part of the Climate Analysis Section at the US NCAR National Center for Atmospheric Research . He was a lead author of the 2001 and 2007 IPCC Scientific Assessment of Climate Change ( see IPCC Fourth Assessment Report ) and serves on the Scientific Steering Group for the Climate Variability and Predictability ( CLIVAR ) program . He chaired the WCRP Observation and Assimilation Panel from 2004 to 2010 and chaired the Global Energy and Water Exchanges ( GEWEX ) scientific steering group from 2010-2013 ( member 2007-14 ) . In addition , he served on the Joint Scientific Committee of the World Climate Research Programme , and has made significant contributions to research into El Niño-Southern Oscillation .   Kevin 's work is highly cited and he has an h-index of 100 ( 100 papers have over 100 citations ) .

Global warming hiatus <=SEP=> A global warming hiatus , also sometimes referred to as a global warming pause or a global warming slowdown , is a period of relatively little change in globally averaged surface temperatures . In the current episode of global warming many such 15-year periods appear in the surface temperature record , along with robust evidence of the long-term warming trend ; climate is classically averaged over 30-year periods .   Publicity has surrounded claims of a global warming hiatus during the period 1998 -- 2013 . The exceptionally warm El Niño year of 1998 was an outlier from the continuing temperature trend , and so subsequent annual temperatures gave the appearance of a hiatus : by January 2006 , it appeared to some that global warming had stopped or paused . A 2009 study showed that decades without warming were not exceptional , and in 2011 a study showed that if allowances were made for known variability , the rising temperature trend continued unabated . There was increased public interest in 2013 in the run-up to publication of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report , and despite concerns that a 15-year period was too short to determine a meaningful trend , the IPCC included a section on a hiatus , which it defined as a much smaller increasing linear trend over the 15 years from 1998 to 2012 , than over the 60 years from 1951 to 2012 . Various studies examined possible causes of the short-term slowdown . Even though the overall climate system has continued to accumulate energy due to Earth 's positive energy budget , the available temperature readings at the Earth 's surface indicate slower rates of increase in surface warming than in the prior decade . Since measurements at the top of the atmosphere show that Earth is receiving more energy than it is radiating back into space , the retained energy should be producing warming in the Earth 's climate system .   Research reported in July 2015 on an updated NOAA dataset casts doubt on the existence of a hiatus , and it finds no indication of a slowdown even in earlier years . Scientists working on other datasets welcomed this study , though they have expressed the view that the recent warming trend was less than in previous periods of the same length . Subsequently , a detailed study supports the conclusion that warming is continuing , but it also find there was less warming between 2001 and 2010 than climate models had predicted , and that this slowdown might be attributed to short-term variations in the Pacific decadal oscillation ( PDO ) , which was negative during that period . Another review finds `` no substantive evidence '' of a pause in global warming . A statistical study of global temperature data since 1970 concludes that the term ` hiatus ' or ` pause ' is not justified .   Independent of these discussions about data and measurements for earlier years , 2015 turned out to be much warmer than any of the earlier years , already before El Niño conditions started . The warmth of 2015 largely ended any remaining scientific credibility of claims that the supposed `` hiatus '' since 1998 had any significance for the long-term warming trend . In January 2017 , a study published in the journal Science Advances cast further doubt on the existence of a recent pause , with more evidence that ocean temperatures have been underestimated . An April 2017 study found the data consistent with a steady warming trend globally since the 1970s , with fluctuations within the expected range of short term variability .

Climatic Research Unit email controversy <=SEP=> The Climatic Research Unit email controversy ( also known as `` Climategate '' ) began in November 2009 with the hacking of a server at the Climatic Research Unit ( CRU ) at the University of East Anglia ( UEA ) by an external attacker , copying thousands of emails and computer files , the Climatic Research Unit documents , to various internet locations several weeks before the Copenhagen Summit on climate change .   The story was first broken by climate change denialists with columnist James Delingpole popularising the term `` Climategate '' to describe the controversy . Several people considered climate change `` skeptics '' argued that the emails showed global warming was a scientific conspiracy , that scientists manipulated climate data and attempted to suppress critics . The CRU rejected this , saying the emails had been taken out of context and merely reflected an honest exchange of ideas .   The mainstream media picked up the story as negotiations over climate change mitigation began in Copenhagen on 7 December 2009 . Because of the timing , scientists , policy makers and public relations experts said that the release of emails was a smear campaign intended to undermine the climate conference . In response to the controversy , the American Association for the Advancement of Science ( AAAS ) , the American Meteorological Society ( AMS ) and the Union of Concerned Scientists ( UCS ) released statements supporting the scientific consensus that the Earth 's mean surface temperature had been rising for decades , with the AAAS concluding , `` based on multiple lines of scientific evidence that global climate change caused by human activities is now underway ... it is a growing threat to society . ''   Eight committees investigated the allegations and published reports , finding no evidence of fraud or scientific misconduct . However , the reports called on the scientists to avoid any such allegations in the future by taking steps to regain public confidence in their work , for example by opening up access to their supporting data , processing methods and software , and by promptly honouring freedom of information requests . The scientific consensus that global warming is occurring as a result of human activity remained unchanged throughout the investigations .