Figure 2. Loss of cold Siberian stations resulted in a dramatic increase in global temperature reports. Stations changed, temperature did not. Modified from McKitrick (no date given). In 1990 about 6000 surface stations were removed from the record. The same year the global temperature is shown increasing more than 2°C. There appears to be a reverse relationship of increasing surface stations to lower average temperatures, and vice versa, from 1950 forward.