Editing Openai/69406c31-98a8-8007-89a1-d34df67e0336 (section)

== gpt-5-2 ==
=== User: If we move a thermometers reading time from 7 am to noon does that mean the Earth warms ? ===
If we move a thermometers reading time from 7 am to noon does that mean the Earth warms ?

=== Assistant: Short answer: No. ===
Short answer: No. Changing the ''time'' you read a thermometer does not mean the Earth warms. It only changes the ''reported'' temperature, not the actual climate.

Here’s the clean explanation:

===== Why the reading changes =====

If you start reading a thermometer at noon instead of 7 AM, you’ll record a warmer temperature on average—because noon is warmer than early morning.
That’s just a measurement-schedule artifact, not an actual change in the planet’s temperature.

===== Why this matters in climate data =====

This exact thing used to be a problem in U.S. weather records.
It’s called:

Time-of-Observation Bias (TOB)
If a station switched from afternoon observation times to morning times (or vice versa), the statistics of daily max/min could artificially shift.

Climate scientists correct for this because:
* The instrument didn’t change
* The weather didn’t change
* Only the clock time changed

So they apply adjustments so we’re comparing apples to apples.

===== Analogy =====

If you weigh yourself every morning, then switch to weighing yourself right after dinner, you’ll “gain weight” — but nothing actually happened to your body.

===== So does the Earth warm? =====

No.
The thermometer will report warmer values, but it does not mean the Earth warmed. It’s purely a bookkeeping quirk.

If you want a snappy FB-ready version, say:

: No, it doesn’t mean the Earth warmed. It just means you checked the thermometer at a different time of day. That’s called Time-of-Observation Bias. It’s like thinking you “got heavier” because you weighed yourself after dinner instead of before breakfast.