Slashdot has a writeup explaining the controversy over some global warming observations having needed to be corrected because of a data error. Some sites and critics of global warming claim that this correction shows that the claim that temps are rising faster today than before is simply a form of alarmism:

“‘In response to earlier reports, Dr. James Hansen, top climate scientist with NASA, has issued a statement on the recent global warming data correction. He points out ‘the effect on global temperature was of order one-thousandth of a degree, so the corrected and uncorrected curves are indistinguishable.’ In a second email he shows maps of U.S. temperatures relative to the world in 1934 and 1998, explains why the error occurred (it was not, as reported, a ‘Y2K bug’) and, in response to errors by ‘Fox, Washington Times, and their like,’ attacks the ‘deceit’ of those who ‘are not stupid [but] seek to create a brouhaha and muddy the waters in the climate change story.””

Read the rest here: James Hansen on the Warmest Year Brouhaha