Ah, The Good Ol' Days Of 2006

Remember stories like this:

Drought could turn Amazon into desert, researchers warn

The Amazon rainforest -- soon to be called The Artist Formerly Known as the Amazon Rainforest, and then just some weird little symbol -- appears to be undergoing a second year of drought, and that has researchers seriously alarmed. Starting in 2002, scientists at the Woods Hole Research Center simulated drought on a small section of the Amazon and found that after two years, the trees began to die, fall, and release more than two-thirds of their lifetime storage of carbon dioxide.

My God! We are ALL - GOING - TO - DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Or not: Scientists See First Signs of Long-Term Changes in Tropical Rainfall

NASA scientists have detected the first signs that tropical rainfall is on the rise, using the longest and most complete data record available.

The international scientific community assembled a 27-year global record of rainfall from satellite and ground-based instruments. The researchers found the rainiest years between 1979 and 2005 occurred primarily after 2001. The wettest year was 2005, followed by 2004, 2003, 2002 and 1998. The study appeared in the August 1 issue of the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Climate. The rainfall increase was concentrated over tropical oceans, with a slight decline over land.

"When we look at the whole planet over almost three decades, the total amount of rain falling has changed very little. But in the tropics, where nearly two-thirds of all rain falls, there has been an increase of 5 percent," said lead author Guojun Gu, a research scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Let's take a look at the data visually, shall we:



The yellow and red areas are those of increasing rainfall during the period 1979-2005, blue and green decreasing. Of course, we also know that precipitation over much of tropical Africa has been decreasing since the 19th century, long before any impact of anthropogenic global warming was possible.

Additionally, I find it odd that there is no depiction of the rainfall change over land from, for example, 1900-1940 or any other similar length of time so they could establish that we are dealing with unusual variability. We've got the data, why not use it, especially if it will back up your contention. Indeed, as we look at the map we see very little unusual variability anywhere in the world, as only the darkest reds and darkest blues delineate anything unusual. Hmmm....interesting.

And, lo and behold! tropical South America is getting more water, not less. You know what you call "more water?" Whatever its called, it is not "a drought."