Well, we're all thinking this

In an article in Mother Earth News, Chris Mooney lays out what all of us versed in the climate change science vs. denier discussions are thinking -- that the potential of a real El Niño out in the Pacific makes it likely (I wanted to say 'very likely' but desisted) that 2014 could be the warmest year ever.  Now, what deniers who claim that there hasn't been any warming since that way-ahead-of-its-time 1998 temperature (caused by a definitely major El Niño) won't admit is --- there have been a couple of years deemed as actually higher (2005 and 2010), but since the honest scientists doing the work called it a statistical dead heat, they've maintained their dubious claim.  But with everything clearly warming up generally globally, this El Niño year could really go clearly higher than all the rest.  This is bad for the Earth but good for the debate, because it will take away a denier talking point. 



Temporarily.


However, it's already been pointed out that the denier strategy on this is to bide their time for a year, take the hit in 2014 and wait for 2015, which will very likely be cooler than 2014 if the El Niño subsides as it usually does, and then with 2015 cooler than 2014, they will claim that the Earth is cooling down again, and try to convince the public that a record 2014 was a fluke...

... because of El Niño!  Whilst we who know something will try to point out that since most of trapped greenhouse heat is going into the oceans, El Niño(s) may be the mechanism that releases some of that heat back into the atmosphere, such that global warming will proceed as a step function. 

So hold on to your pants, cognoscenti.  El Niño is coming.