According to a new study, coral proxy sea surface temperature (SST) evidence suggests the northern South China Sea (nSCS) naturally warmed and cooled at rates of 1 to 1.5°C per decade from about ~5300-5100 years ago.

Image Source: Wu et al., 2026
In contrast, the nSCS temperature record has been flat to slightly declining in recent decades (Ma et al., 2021).

Image Source: Ma et al., 2021
A 2021 coral proxy study indicates from ~6000 to 2000 years ago nSCS annual SSTs were 3-4°C warmer than they were from 1994 to 2004, with the modern SSTs the coldest of the last ~6000 years.

The South China Sea Has Not Been Cooperating With The Climate Change Narrative
I think it’s fair to say that only the politico-media nexus through various organisations like the Climate News Network and its ilk, and now the Trusted News Initiative have been cooperating with the narrative:
The Trusted News Initiative is a partnership, founded by the BBC, that includes organisations from around the globe including; AP, AFP, BBC, CBC/Radio-Canada, European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Financial Times, Information Futures Lab, Google/YouTube, The Hindu, The Nation Media Group, Meta, Microsoft, Thomson Reuters, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Twitter, The Washington Post, Kompas – Indonesia, Dawn – Pakistan, Indian Express, NDTV – India, ABC – Australia, SBS – Australia, NHK – Japan.
TNI members work together to build audience trust and to find solutions to tackle challenges of disinformation. By including media organisations and social media platforms, it is the only forum in the world of its kind designed to take on disinformation in real time. – BBC
It’s a desperate attempt to maintain control of the narrative. And they are losing it day by day.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/09/mollie-hemingway-democrat-ai-fearmongering-top-ai-oligarchs/
Terrorism comes in third…
And I bet just about all of these outlets are in some way and to some degree recipients of government or ‘non-profit organization’ “guidance”. (And taxpayers’ $$$$$$s of course).
Off Topic: The WUWT RSS feed seems to be not working again (with Feedly, anyway).
Feedly is working with WUWT again. Thanks!
There will be no way to know how much the modern warm period of the last 45 years is going to matter until long into the future. It may be a blip, a rounding error showing up in proxy data. In the past, there were almost certainly decades-long periods of warmth or cold that deviated from the longer baselines.
But it disagrees with His Holiness, Michael
Mann!!
My question is what have the climate cultists been right about?