2008 Climate Prediction

The Meteorological Office in the UK predicts that 2008 will be +0.37°C above the long-term (1961-1990) average -- the coolest since the year 2000. Expect skeptics to make a big deal of it.

"The fact that 2008 is forecast to be cooler than any of the last seven years does not mean that global warming has gone away," said Phil Jones, director of climate research at UEA.

"What matters is the underlying rate of warming - the period 2001-2007 with an average of 0.44 degree C above the 1961-90 average was 0.21 degree C warmer than corresponding values for the period 1991-2000."

NOAA has already announced that 2007 is expected, globally, to be the fifth warmest year on record.