It just gets worse and worse, doesn't it? If it's not ocean acidification preventing plankton growth or melting tundra releasing millions of tons of methane gas, then it's some other catastrophic change that has negative world-wide implications. Here's the latest:
Future Western droughts could last an average of 12 years, spanning half of the region and severely reducing Colorado River flows that supply millions of people, according to climate projections from a Boulder scientist.
More good news on page 2.
Currently, the Midwest is in the middle of one of the
worst droughts in our country's history. Many scientists believe this current drought is being exacerbated by global warming and that the current trend is very similar to conditions preceding
the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The Dust Bowl conditions stripped hundreds of thousands of acres of farmlands of their top soil, destroyed all crops in those areas, and created hundreds of thousands of refugees. We're on the cusp of that now, only with higher temperatures and a more volatile climate.
To add fuel to the flame are these new computer models. Yes, the computer models are preliminary, and the work has yet to be published in a peer reviewed journal, but is it so hard to make the leap given all the other negative effects that have been proven to be either caused by or aggravated by global heating?
"The numbers are pretty striking," he (Martin Hoerling, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) said Tuesday at a drought conference sponsored by the Geological Society of America. "Climate change is moving us in the direction of a perpetual state that is of the Dust Bowl type."
Yes, you read that right,
a perpetual state that is of Dust Bowl type. The Midwest is one of the largest food producing areas in the world. What are the ramifications if it fails? Food production is one of the few areas our country is still self sufficient in. If we lose that what will we have left? What will the citizens and countries that depend on that region to provide their sustenance get their food from?
But little or no precipitation increase is foreseen in the West. The result: Increased evaporation and drier soils, leading to more severe and frequent droughts, Hoerling said.
How severe? Some droughts could be 25 percent worse than the 1930s Dust Bowl, Hoerling said.
How frequent? On average, half of the interior West will suffer from severe drought each year, he said.
Worse than the Dust Bowl. Yes, it's that bad. And instead of lasting a few years, it would last
a decade or more. It's time to start taking Global Warming seriously, if you haven't already. It's perhaps the
gravest long-term issue facing mankind today and requires serious, decisive, and massive action. You can bet the Republicans don't care, or they would have taken action when they controlled the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, as they have for the past five years and still do. The Dems understand better, being more focused domestically and less so on invading countries to secure oil supplies, so we need to get them elected. If it seems like your rep or senator doesn't understand the issue, send them a letter. Failure to take action will cause millions of deaths and hundreds of millions of refugees.
Full article here.