> Am I interpreting that right? Yes. > How is that possible, and what am I failing to take into account? There are factors like that most of the landmass i

> Am I interpreting that right? Yes. > How is that possible, and what am I failing to take into account? There are factors like that most of the landmass is in the northern hemisphere, we are in a strong El Nino, ships have to burn fuel with less sulphur and so on. Right now the factors involved are unclear but there is an unsettling possibility: The Earths climate might drastically and quickly change at so called tipping points, after which a new balance becomes the norm. This new balance may or may not be hospitable or even habitable for us. > Does it have something to do with the elliptical orbit of the earth, and possibly that our closest yearly approach to the sun just happens to align with summer months in the northern hemisphere? Nope, our orbit is very round and if this was a major factor we'd see it in historic data.