Speaking of Norwegian agriculture having a bright future, temp. has inc. so much in Britain, that olive groves have been planted in the South.Will Mediterranean Olive Trees Flourish in Britain Now?
Furthermore, the warming of England is proceeding much more rapidly than the warming of the Earth as a whole, which has warmed by about 0.6C over the last century. England’s average temperature has increased by nearly double that rate, in less than half the time. This is because the land is warming more quickly than the sea, and land at high latitudes – nearer the Poles – is warming more quickly than at low ones.
The new findings, which represent the first time that man-made climate change has ever been identified at such a local level, were unveiled yesterday at the Climate Clinic at the Liberal Democrat party conference in Brighton.
Created by Britain’s major environmental group – with The Independent as media partner – the Climate Clinic is a roadshow-cum-think tank formed to press for tougher action on climate change. It will be lobbying hard at all three party conferences.
The new research was set out in Brighton by one of Britain’s leading climate scientists, Dr Peter Stott of the Met Office’s Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research. It is based on close analysis of the Central England Temperature record (CET), which is the longest-running series of temperature data in the world, dating back to 1659. (By comparison, the global temperature record dates back only to 1860.)
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Britain’s first olive grove has been planted in Devon. Temperatures have risen so far in recent years that it is now considered possible to grow the iconic fruit of the Mediterranean countries commercially in southern England. Mark Diacono, a Devon smallholder, has planted a grove of 120 olive trees on the banks of the river Otter near Honiton. He hopes for a commercial crop which will produce Britain’s first home-grown olive oil in five to seven years.
But what is a newspaper doing forming an alliance w/environmentalists?

Posted by: jj | Sep 20 2006 18:51 utc | 3

The story Billmon cites quotes Mark Drinkwater of ESA’s Oceans/Ice Unit. He has an oddly apt name.

Posted by: mistah charley | Sep 20 2006 21:13 utc | 5