On June 19, the day President George Bush and presidential hopeful Barack Obama, in separate trips, toured flood-ravaged areas in Iowa and Illinois, the U.S. Climate Change Science Program released the most comprehensive government assessment yet of the consequences of global warming for North America.
The conclusion: Rains heavier than normal, hotter heat waves, longer droughts and fiercer tropical storms “are attributable to human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases.” In short, we may be bringing the extreme weather on ourselves.
The report, “Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing Climate,” synthesizes more than 100 individual studies. That the report was released as Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri filled with floodwaters and amid the deadliest tornado season in at least a decade was a coincidence. However, its conclusions seemed to provide some timely answers to questions that arose as the Midwest experienced its second 500-year flood in 15 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment