Just as the majority of people have warmed up to the reality of global warming, one new look into the crystal climate ball calls for some cooling over the next decade.

The forecast, detailed in the journal Nature, calls for a blip in the long-running and presumably ongoing warming trend. It is an effort to look ahead just one decade.

From a NY Times article: The authors stressed that the pause in warming represented only a temporary blunting of the centuries of rising temperatures that scientists have projected if carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases continue accumulating in the atmosphere.

The predicted shift owes to changes in ocean currents, which have long been known to work on years-long and decades-long cycles to alter temps and rainfall patterns. Think El Nino.

The question is, is this a good or bad thing? When my son gets temporary respite from a fever, he’s tricked (as am I, every time) into resuming normal activities, which inevitably seems to exacerbate the illness and bring a return of the fever.

Likewise, might a period of cooling chill efforts to raise awareness of the pickle our planet is in? In this period of rising fuel and food prices, one can imagine long-term climate and pollution issues taking a back seat to economic realities.