Germany's Leading Meteorologist - "Temperatures Are Continuing To Move In One Direction - Higher"

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Wolfgang Kusch, president of the German Meteorological Service (DWD), said it was a mistake to interpret the harsh winter of 2009/10 as a sign climate change is abating. A German opinion poll recently found fears of climate change falling sharply. "Despite fluctuations, temperatures are still moving in one direction -- higher," he said. "Climate researchers have to look at least 30-year periods when talking about trends...At the same time the last decade was the warmest in Germany in 130 years."

Skepticism about climate change has been growing in Germany, one of the world's four largest industrial countries, after an unusually long and cold winter in northern Europe.

An opinion poll by the Infratest institute in Der Spiegel magazine found 42 percent of Germans are concerned about climate change, down from 62 percent in 2006. A third do not think the climate change research is reliable and a quarter believe Germany will actually profit from climate change.

Scientists say global warming could upset weather patterns, bringing flooding to low-lying areas throughout the world and disrupting agriculture in many regions, not least in the poorer, developing world. DWD officials said on Tuesday rising temperatures in Germany could indeed turn out to be a boon for local farmers. They said the average annual temperature in Germany has risen by 1.1 degrees Celsius over the past 130 years.

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