Recent concern with the rise in global temperatures has focused attention on the level of carbon dioxide 1CO22 in the atmosphere.

Recent concern with the rise in global temperatures has focused attention on the level of carbon dioxide 1CO22 in the atmosphere. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) records the CO2 levels in the atmosphere atop the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii, far from any industrial contamination, and calculates the annual overall temperature of the atmosphere and the oceans using an established method. (See www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/data-info/global.) It is widely acknowledged that global average temperatures have been rising. A politician, arguing that human behavior is not responsible for the rise in temperatures, presents the following regression:

He argues that because the coefficient of CO2 has a large, nonsignificant P-value, we should conclude that there is no effect of rising CO2 levels. You look at the data and find the following correlations:

a) What do you think accounts for the small t-ratios in the regression when there clearly is an association between Average Global temperature and each of the predictors? b) What data formatting operation was performed to focus on these years?