SPIEGEL: Germany's hot 10000-year autumn

[Celefin]

Already since September the mean temperatures in central Europe
are diverging completely from their normal level - that is
half a year by now.

The overly warm autumn is documented by one number: In Germany,
Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland the mean
temperature between September and December reached a 10000-
year high compared to the normal statistical values of the 20th century.

Regionally the temperature was more than 5 degrees centigrade
above the seasonal mean. The autumn 2006 set a whole range of
new records despite the statistics reaching as far back as 1706
in the Netherlands and 1659 in England.

The scientists have not been able to fully explain the scale
of the temperature deviations and conclude: global warming
is probably producing unknown positive feedback loops leading
to an unprecedented heat build-up in Europe. Had this anomaly
occurred in summer it would likely have had the same effect as the
disastrous summer of 2003: according to the latest estimates
50000 Europeans died of heat-related causes.

http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/0,1518,469296,00.html
(SPIEGEL, German site)

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I have a feeling that the global climatic systems have a few
more surprises like this in store. The North Sea is warmer than
it ever was and the wind currents have already changed massively
in central Europe.

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. And the European winter (Dec-Feb) temperature anomaly

and that's just compared with 1971-2000 - when warming had already begun to be felt.

[Kagemusha]

2. Uh, but the normal statistical values of the non-20th centuries may be different?

That's a pretty odd statistic to be throwing out.