Thursday, November 30, 2006

Autumn temperatures to hit new high

More evidence of global warming (as if we needed it) from Mondays Guardian.

Apparently average UK temperatures for September, October and November look set to break the 12C mark for the first time.

The previous highest temperature for autumn in central England was 11.8C, set in 1731.

A spokesman for the Met Office said it is "virtually certain" that this autumn will be the warmest for 300 years, and the forecast for the next few days is for further mild weather.

The spokesman also said it is "possible" that 2006 could be the warmest year on record, despite the cold spring.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Firstly, I am certain global warming is taking place (just so I'm clear).

However, I don't like taking broken records as being signals of global warming. They are statistically irrelevant and could be freak peaks due to local conditions or random global conditions, they may not be part of a trend.

This autumn has been strange, I don't think I've seen leaves on a tree this late in the year, but that is purely subjective and anecdotal. For all I know a year when I was a baby or before I was born was similar... I can't accept it as evidence.

The scientific evidence however does point towards a trend of global warming, it is that which we should be looking at.

Tony Ferguson said...

Scientific evidence should certainly take priority when determining whether or not global warming is occuring.

However, in terms of much of the population it is easier to communicate via things that they can see and relate to rather than non visible scientific measure such as the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere - I too has noticed the leaves and had discussed this with my mother who is 80 and cannot remember the leaves staying so late in her lifetime