Remember last Summer's weather absolutes

I know I blogged about this before but I think, bearing in mind heavy rainfall and consequent flooding, it bears repeating.

Here are some of the statements made last summer as to how the existence of Global Warming would mean such weather would be the norm, the emphasis is mine, and my comments as to how I might have reacted then if I took these fools seriously.

1) From the BBC 20 March 2006:
"Paul Kent, regulatory manager for Southern Water, said: "We are not entering into this lightly. We are in the driest period we have had for 70 or 80 years and we need to conserve the water so that it is sufficient for basic hygiene throughout the rest of the year." He said it was "possible" that similar bans would be necessary next year and said water companies were ready to change their long-term policies if it seemed that global warming was permanently reducing rainfall in the UK."
Rainfall "permanently" reduced, wow that's serious, how will we cope in 2007?

2) From The Guardian 22 July 2006:
"Peering into the future is a tricky business, especially for something as volatile as weather and climate. But scientists know a lot about how events will unfold. They use giant computer programs, evolved from those that make weather forecasts, to work out how the atmosphere will react to the blanket of carbon dioxide we humans are steadily wrapping around the planet. As we do, and as more of the sun's heat is unable to escape, the air and the sea warm. But that takes time, which means that whatever we do, our climate destiny is fixed for the next few decades."
So it's a tricky business but the scientists with their clever computers can tell us what will happen, I'm interested and convinced, do tell what the future holds... "Here, we present a picture of what might happen in Britain over the next century if the world fails to take serious action, and global emissions continue to rise at about the same, or a slightly slower, rate. So what does it reveal?"
Yes, yes go on
"Rainfall will decline in the summer and the increased deluges in winter will struggle to replenish thirsty reservoirs because much of the water will run off the baked ground."
Oh no, I must go and buy water butts and Mediterranean type plants and cut back on water usage because summer rainfall is a thing of the past. Thank heavens this is so because Wimbledon have taken the roof off of Centre Court as they start to build the new movable roof. At least Wimbledon will be unaffected by rain in 2007!

Of course since 2006 Global Warming has become Man Made Climate Change, so any severe weather at all can be blamed on human actions and not on the general variability of the weather, especially in the UK. The UK has a temperate climate and floods in the summer, snowfall in July, hot weather in January are all unusual but not unprecedented happenings. This will of course be ignored by the campaigning bodies and the Government as there is sanctimonious control and tax raising opportunities to be enjoyed here...