N. Atlantic Ocean Temps Rise

Highest On Record From Newfoundland To Greenland

(AP) 
Meanwhile, ocean temperatures have risen around the globe, and species are already dying, said Bill Wareham, acting director of marine conservation for the Vancouver-based David Suzuki Foundation.

"I don't think there's a question about whether these changes are happening," Wareham said.

But "everyone's quite shocked at the speed at which these things are changing."

Air temperatures in the Newfoundland region were also higher than normal, but Colbourne said the results are not conclusive.

Water temperatures in the cold Labrador current were actually below normal levels. And while the other temperatures were record highs, a similar warming trend occurred in the 1960s, Colbourne said.

"We really can't say for sure if what we're seeing in Newfoundland waters is a consequence of global warming, when we've only got 50 years of data or so," Colbourne said.

"It may be related to global warming but, then again, it may be just the natural cycle that we see in this area of the world."

Still, climate change is high on the agenda this week at the G8 meeting in Scotland, where British Prime Minister Tony Blair hopes to persuade the world's wealthiest nations to sign a deal on climate change despite bitter opposition from the United States.

Going into the meetings, U.S. President George Bush ruled out any Kyoto-type deal but did say that global warming is an issue that needs to be dealt with.

In an interview with a British television station, Bush conceded, for the first time, that human activity was "to some extent" to blame.