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New study highlights climate change evidence

13 February 2006

The earth has been warm in the past, but this time its warming is more significant than ever before says a new a study by researchers at the University of East Anglia.

The study, published in the current issue of Science, examined a series of scientific indicators and historical data, revealing that that the late 20th Century was the warmest period since around 800AD. The study is the first to look at a variety of records across the entire northern hemisphere.

Prof Peter Cox, Director for Climate Change at NERC's Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, comments, "This study uses a wide range of indicators of past climate, which confirm that the northern hemisphere is experiencing a sustained period of warmth which is unprecedented in the last millennium. The last warming of similar magnitude, the Medieval warm period, appears to have covered a smaller area. The unusually rapid and widespread nature of recent warming is consistent with human-induced climate change."

The full paper "Spatial Effect of 20th-Century Warmth in the Context of the Past 1200 Years" T.J. Osborn and K.R. Briffa University of East Anglia can be read in Science or at www.sciencemag.org (subscription needed) This research was supported under contract from the European Community.

Dr Osborn and Professor Briffa are currently funded by NERC on two research projects linked to its Rapid Climate Change programme.

Climate Change research is one of NERC's priority funding areas - we spend around £40m each year on this important area of science.

Further information

NERC Press Office
Natural Environment Research Council
Polaris House, North Star Avenue
Swindon, SN2 1EU
Tel: 01793 411561
Mob: 07917 557215

Briefing note: 6/06

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