Posted on 02/05/2007 8:04:30 PM PST by NormsRevenge
BEIJING (AFP) - Beijing is experiencing its warmest February on record, leading to a skating ban on the Chinese capital's normally frozen lakes and an early blossoming of trees, state press has reported.
Temperatures are rising to levels not seen for at least 167 years, with the mercury hitting 16 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday, the Beijing Daily Messenger newspaper cited the local observatory as saying.
"This is the highest level since meteorological records started being taken in 1840," Guo Hu, the head of Beijing Municipal Observatory, told the paper.
At the weekend, which marked the official start of spring, according to the traditional calendar, the temperature reached 12.8 degrees compared with average historical highs of just below freezing, according to the paper.
Aside from skating being banned on the city's melting lakes, the China Daily said magnolia trees had started blossoming as conditions in the city resembled a typical balmy day in April.
The rest of China had also experienced warmer weather than normal, with some rivers in the usually colder northern part of the country thawing early, the report said.
Similar phenomena have been seen throughout the northern hemisphere in recent months, which scientists have attributed to human-induced global warming.
A report released last week by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said Earth's average surface temperatures could rise by between 1.1 and 6.4 degrees by 2100.
China is one of the world's biggest emitters of carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas responsible for global warming, which is released into the atmosphere through the use of coal, oil and other fossil fuels.
China's output of the gas is growing exponentially as it uses mainly fossil fuels to meet the energy needs of its fast-modernising population of 1.3 billion people.
The sun sets over a hazy and polluted Beijing. According to state media reports, Beijing is experiencing its warmest February on record, leading to a skating ban on the Chinese capital's normally frozen lakes and an early blossoming of trees.(AFP/File/Frederic J.Brown)
The "heat" wave is from all the pollution Beijing generates. Make them sign the Kyoto Agreement. We all know THAT won't be happening anytime soon.
Likewise, "current temperature levels highest seen in 167 years" simply indicates that such an event is rare..
It in no way indicates anything else..
And in reality
SEE http://vortex.plymouth.edu/uschill.gif
I'm in Chicago and
BITTER COLD ARCTIC AIR WILL REMAIN IN PLACE ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT.
WHILE WIND SPEEDS HAVE DROPPED OFF SIGNIFICANTLY IN MANY AREAS...WINDS WILL REMAIN IN THE 10 MPH RANGE ACROSS NORTHEAST ILLINOIS ALLOWING ONE MORE NIGHT OF WIND CHILLS IN THE 20 BELOW ZERO RANGE.
There is always somewhere in the world seeing record highs or record lows. Most of the US is seeing near record lows.
I doctor'd that 167 years comment in, Good point. 1840 is when they started keeping meteorological records and such formally.
Think I'll go lay out in my shorts to take the chill off...
We are in a "transitional" weather pattern..
In other words, the planet is going through a transitional weather pattern from warming to cooling..
It is my contention we have hit the "peak" of the warming trend..
Over the next 50 to 100 years we will experience a drop in "average" global temps as we start the move to another ice age event..
It's unlikely to be a 5,000 year thing.
More likely a 300 to 400 year "dip" in temps..
Of course, followed by "Global Warming"..
Your body will adjust to it if it stays cold long enough. I spent a few winters in Kansas. Just put some clothes on. HA!
Lung eroding pollution can effect weather like that.....
Latest Weather Channel Headline:
GORE'S GLOBAL FLATULENCE INVADES CHINA!
Smog over Beijing.
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