In retrospect, nobody predicted that in the age of global warming the annual average global temperature would remain unchanged for so long. The standstill observation was first made in 2006; the global annual average temperature had not increased for the previous five years, even though many climate scientists, and the media, were talking about an ever-warming planet powered by strong anthropogenic global warming.
Seeking an explanation for the standstill has focused many minds on the nature of so-called decadal variability, the study of which is in its infancy. Solar-induced variations, as well as those from oceanic and atmospheric pressure cycles, and natural variations in the stratosphere, are under consideration. This report demonstrates that such variations are eroding the amount of warming that requires an anthropogenic cause.
