Richard Tafoya
Mar 27th, 2008, 11:34 PM
LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/la-na-climate28mar28,0,4364705.story
The American West is heating up faster than any other region of the United States, and more than the Earth as a whole, according to a new analysis of 50 scientific studies.
For the last five years, from 2003 through 2007, the global climate averaged 1 degree Fahrenheit warmer than its 20th century average.
During the same period, 11 Western states averaged 1.7 degrees warmer, the analysis reported.
The 54-page study, was released Thursday by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization -- a coalition of local governments, businesses and nonprofits. It was based largely on calculations by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The report reveals "the growing consensus among scientists who study the West that climate change is no longer an abstraction," said Bradley H. Udall of the University of Colorado, whose work was cited in the study. "The signs are everywhere."
Carbon dioxide pollution from vehicles, power plants and other industrial sources is a major contributor to global warming. The Environmental Protection Agency is under court order to address cutting greenhouse gases, and Congress is considering legislation to curb them.
The consequences of Western temperature increases, the report said, are evident in a rash of heat waves. Montana, Idaho and Wyoming had their hottest Julys on record last summer, while Phoenix suffered 31 days above 110 degrees.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/la-na-climate28mar28,0,4364705.story
The American West is heating up faster than any other region of the United States, and more than the Earth as a whole, according to a new analysis of 50 scientific studies.
For the last five years, from 2003 through 2007, the global climate averaged 1 degree Fahrenheit warmer than its 20th century average.
During the same period, 11 Western states averaged 1.7 degrees warmer, the analysis reported.
The 54-page study, was released Thursday by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization -- a coalition of local governments, businesses and nonprofits. It was based largely on calculations by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The report reveals "the growing consensus among scientists who study the West that climate change is no longer an abstraction," said Bradley H. Udall of the University of Colorado, whose work was cited in the study. "The signs are everywhere."
Carbon dioxide pollution from vehicles, power plants and other industrial sources is a major contributor to global warming. The Environmental Protection Agency is under court order to address cutting greenhouse gases, and Congress is considering legislation to curb them.
The consequences of Western temperature increases, the report said, are evident in a rash of heat waves. Montana, Idaho and Wyoming had their hottest Julys on record last summer, while Phoenix suffered 31 days above 110 degrees.