  We fit 12 independent surface temperature time series (zones of latitude), 6
land- and 6 ocean-based, with a Gaussian (centered around WW2) on a quadratic
background. The four polar zones are unusable. Each of the remaining 8 shows
evidence of a 0.2-0.3 degree C bump, although one zone is dropped from the
final analysis because of an aberrant fit. Thus, we find that a surface
temperature increase around WW2 is a robust, statistically significant (5.2
sigma) feature of the data, and must either be a coincidence, due to systematic
error that came and went around WW2, or direct evidence of the effect of human
activity (an increase in combustion of various sorts) on the global climate.
The fact that, at least in that era, the temperature recovered quickly, is
encouraging. On the other hand, extrapolation of the background temperature
rise predicts an increase of 0.5 degree C in the next 20 years if conditions
remain the same.
