[troutman]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20060...warmest_winter

Canada is in the closing stretch of its warmest winter in recorded history, another upswing in an apparent warming trend that supports the notion that global warming is upon us, an Environment Canada climatologist said Monday.

Winter hasn't been so warm since 1987, and this year's temperatures broke that record by 0.9 degrees.

"That's quite remarkable," Whitewood said. "We normally talk about tenths of degrees and this was almost one full degree past the previous record."
Environment Canada will spend the next year studying weather data because there's no conclusive explanation for the mild winter, he added.

Whitewood said the last 10 winters have been warmer than normal and along with this winter reflect what could be explained as global warming.
"When you talk about this kind of trend, it's sitting in very well with what our models would forecast for climate-change scenarios," he said.
"We're obviously a signatory to Kyoto so we are definitely recognizing it as a concern."


A recent international project called the Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study suggested global warming has already caused irreparable damage and has left polar ice melting at a rate of about 74,000 square kilometres each year - an area about the size of Lake Superior - and has been for the last 30 years.
About 120 scientists from 11 countries were involved in the Canadian-led research project and said there should be a focus in Canada and internationally on coping with the reality of global warming and minimizing the damage.