1980 - 2000
Globalisation: collapse of the 'Evil Empire' . . .
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End of consensus politics . . . Falklands campaign (1982) . . . Thatcher vs. Miners (1984) . . . PC's to the masses & the Internet . . . universal Computer Age - US global domination . . . consumer power . . . awareness of mankind's influence on climate change, though with sceptics too . . . Kuwait invaded: the Gulf war (1990/91) . . . Germany re-united & the fall of the Soviet Union . . . conflict & massacre in the Balkans . . . multi-channel & satellite tv . . . Scottish & Welsh devolution (1999) . . .
Return to rising mean temperatures * increased rate of global warming * approaching warmth of about 1000 years ago [some say warmer] * some notably warm years, with records for high temperatures set * 5 of the warmest years in central England in this period * the rate of warming during this period was much higher than is thought to have occurred in the past 2000 years or more * steady decline in land-based ice [glacier retreat] * reduced arctic ice extent * decline in marginal winter-snow fields * sharp variability in rainfall - droughts & notable wet spells * despite above, some severe / snowy winters.				Weather Log
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