Continued Warm In The West

So sayeth the climatologists. But what's this Indian Ocean connection?:

The West is 2 to 3 degrees warmer than its average annual temperature, calculated using more than 100 years of records, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Many studies peg the rise in the earth's average temperature since 1880 at 1 degree, making it the warmest it has been in the last 400 years.

At a conference Thursday, Overpeck said data from some 30 computer-modeling studies shows that by mid-century annual average temperatures in the West will be up 4 or 5 degrees. By the end of the century, the West could be 7 to 8 degrees warmer, he said.

..."The Indian Ocean is (one) of the key ingredients when I make seasonal forecasts," Wolter said. "(We) shouldn't get panicky that there's runaway warming right now."