Temperatures in Southeast Found to Fall, Contrary to Warming Fears

NEW ORLEANS —  Despite fears that the planet is heating up, temperatures in the Southeastern United States have actually fallen 1 degree Fahrenheit over the last 30 years, according to a federal study released Saturday.

The data is contrary to the widely held theory that pollution in the atmosphere has already made temperatures start to rise.

“It’s cooling and getting wetter,” George A. Maul said. “This is quite different from what the computer models suggest should be going on with global warming.”

Theories of global warming hold that rising levels of carbon dioxide, methane and other gases are trapping heat in the atmosphere, causing the so-called greenhouse effect.

These gases result from burning fuels and other sources. Computers programmed to run complex mathematical formulas predict that if the gases continue to build up, temperatures around the world will jump between 3 and 8 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century.

Maul, an oceanographer with the Commerce Department’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory in Miami, presented his findings at a meeting of the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science.

He said his work does not definitely prove that global warming is not happening.