Posted on 09/15/2006 6:38:51 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Warmer climes have led to more rain and less snow falling in the Western U.S., a shift that could increase the risk of flooding and affect water supplies, according to a study by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Researchers found that warmer weather in the last half century has led to an average decline in snowfall of about 20% in the 11 Western mountain states -- much of it falling instead in the form of rain. During that period, the average temperature in the region has risen by about one degree Celsius.
Two years ago, a separate group of scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey found that a similar pattern of less snow and more rain had occurred in New England during the second half of the 20th century.
In the Western states, "the shift is pretty widespread. You can view this as a harbinger of changes to come if the climate continues to warm," said Noah Knowles, a hydrologist at the U.S. Geological Survey and lead author of the latest study, which appears in the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Climate.
Average temperatures have risen in many parts of the world. Many scientists believe this is partly due to man-made factors, such as increased emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide and other so-called greenhouse gases. Researchers say it isn't easy to link regional weather anomalies to planetwide changes.
In the mountains of Western North America, relatively lower elevations are believed to be more susceptible to warmer weather. Research has linked the warming trend to a reduction in the snow pack at lower elevations, as well as earlier runoffs in the water basins because of earlier snow melts. In some places -- such as Washington state -- glaciers are shrinking...
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
GW PING!
The weather is more the way it is today than it has ever been before.
I am SO 70's; I thought we were headed for another Ice Age!
May as well throw in the latest UN report on GW -
The United Nations has warned in a report that deserts are turning into sand.
Deserts...“emerge as places of new economic and livelihood possibilities,” said the United Nations Environment Programme report. Deserts, if sustainably managed by applying UN Marxist doctrine, could produce vital food resources, solar energy and really good fishing holes for bass.
But for deserts to realize their potential as centers of population, food production and the fight against evil capitalist poverty, America must stop global warming.
Americans driving SUVs, living in homes and working in the free market are causing the teeming wildlife populations in deserts to disappear, noted the report.
And in a bit of UN magic, the report also said that glaciers in the desert are vanishing, indicating that not only is the groundwater dropping, it is also rising which causes salinization of the watertable.
How about this one -
Pine trees in the southern United States cause global warming, said an associate professor of economics at Ohio State University.
"Not only do journalists not have a responsibility to report what skeptical scientists have to say about global warming, they have a responsibility not to report what these scientists say." - Ross Gelbspan, former editor of The Boston Globe
Actually - younger trees produce more oxygen than older trees.
-- wipe out the "virgin forests" they cause "greenhouse gasses"
Well have somebody come root 'em out, Mr Ass. Prof.
When I moved to Georgia from Oklahoma, I didn't realize I would come to dislike these pines so intensely.
But they prevent you from seening much of anything, much less a couple of days ahead like you could in my native state.
Furthermore, if you have a house anywhere near a pine, there is a 99% probability that the wind will blow the pine down on your house, and these danged pines can flat split a house in two.
Oh, fry me a frickin' liver, crybaby. In 1100 the Vikings were raising livestock and row crops in Greenland. Please explain to me how Global Warming caused that.
When I moved to Georgia from Oklahoma, I didn't realize I would come to dislike
.....
did someone nail your foot to the porch?
The road goes both ways, we need to put a fence at the boarder ,... the GEORGIA boarder .
Naw, I didn't get my foot nailed to the porch.
But my Georgia born and bred second wife wanted to stay in Jawjuh! You know the outcome of that sort of argument.
Besides, there are a few advantages. Very few, but some.
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