May 1, 2015

expert reaction to new research on exceptionally warm years in England

The weather in central England is the focus of research published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. The authors report an increase in the likelihood of exceptionally warm years in the region, and attribute some of the blame for these changes in climate to the influence of human activities.

Dr Peter Stott, Head of Climate Monitoring and Attribution at the Met Office Hadley Centre, said:

“This new research adds another piece of evidence that human-induced climate change is increasing the chances of record-breaking temperatures around the world including in the UK.

“At the Met Office we produced similar research late last year showing how climate change had made UK record breaking temperatures about ten times more likely. The fact that what might seem relatively modest rises in temperature around the world are causing quite dramatic increases in the likelihood of extreme temperatures may seem surprising but this is a well understood feature of how changes in mean temperatures affect extremes.”

‘Attribution of the record high Central England Temperature of 2014 to anthropogenic influences’ by Andrew D King et al. published Environmental Research Letters on Friday 1 May 2015. 

Declared interests

None declared