2007 Warmest Year Ever Recorded For Central Europe - Prague Post

[hatrack]

Anyone who was in Prague this time last year remembers the oddly tepid winter weather. In January 2007, parts of the country experienced springlike days of 18 degrees Celsius (64 Fahrenheit). The warm spell set the tone for the year to follow, with July temperatures soaring to tropical levels. Now, a new hydrometeorological report has confirmed that last year was, in fact, unusually warm. Climatologists say that over the whole of Central Europe, 2007 was the warmest year on record — a fact that points to a worrisome trend.

The report by the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute refers to last year’s temperatures as “very above-normal,” with an average of 9.1 degrees, or 1.6 higher than usual.“The weather situation in the individual months of the year only confirms the words of climatologists about the rising changes in climate,” the report stated. “After the warmest winter in history , the warmest spring and an exceptionally hot summer .” The 12-month period between September 2006 and August 2007 was the warmest on record in Europe, according to the institute. The first summery day (temperatures above 25 degrees) was recorded in April. That month was also unusually dry, getting only 10 percent of its normal rainfall.

The changes have already had impacts in much of Europe. Italian doctors, for example, are treating patients who’ve contracted diseases such a virus called chikungunya, once only found in the tropics. In recent years, apricots, almonds and some tea are being grown for the first time in southern England.

In the Czech Republic, the Environment Ministry considers the findings in the institute’s report to be part of an overall pattern.“The fact that 2007 was the warmest year in Czech history cannot be interpreted as proof of climate change itself, but the trend is clear,” said Jakub Kašpar, spokesman for the ministry. “Ten of the past 12 years were the warmest in the history of exact measurement.” Measurements have been taken regularly since 1775.Last year, the Czech Republic experienced 48 days of tropical weather, up from the normal of 31. “The Czech Republic experienced its first tropical day May 14,” the hydrometeorological reports stated. “In an 11-day period from July 14 to July 24, temperatures rose every day above the tropical 30 degrees. However, the highest temperature in history was not measured.” That record was set in Prague July 27, 1983, when the mercury hit 40 degrees.

EDIT

http://www.praguepost.com/articles/2008/01/23/2007-warmest-year-on-record.php

[NNadir]

1. Qualitatively I expect the same is true in New Jersey.