evidence: Why did Earth’s surface temperature stop rising in the past decade? [...] During the last decade, a longer than usual solar minimum cycle, several volcanic eruptions, and relatively low amounts of water vapor in the stratosphere may have helped cool the atmosphere temporarily. But recent research suggests that the Earth’s natural climate variability—natural, short-term fluctuations in the climate system that occur on a year-to-year basis or longer—may have played the most pivotal role of all by transferring excess heat from the Earth’s surface into the deep ocean. [...] Kosaka Y., and S-P. Xie (2013) Recent global-warming hiatus tied to equatorial Pacific surface cooling. Nature, 501, 403-407, doi: 10.1038/nature12534