Climate Catastrophe? Here's What the U.S. Could Look Like in 2100

We can still turn it around, but here is the world our grandchildren will live in if we don't.      By Jean Weiss

Jonathon Blair, Corbis

Rocky Mountains: Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Montana

What we could see in 2100: Shorter snow season, early snowmelt, drought, wildfire and water issues

 

Scientists predict that by 2100 increasingly early snowmelts will put a strain on water supplies in Denver, Salt Lake City and other communities fed by Rocky Mountain rivers. Winter snowpack is a vital part of life in the Mountain West, says Trenberth. "Snow piles up in the winter, melts in late spring and summer, and rivers flow, providing water everywhere." But global warming is changing all that. "In the future, the snow season will get shorter, the snow pack will be less, and runoff could easily occur a month or two earlier," says Trenberth. "Instead of having peak runoff in June, it could happen in April. Then, by the time you get to June, [the entire region] is a lot drier" [than it is now]. The ski industry, now a main source of revenue for Rocky Mountain ski towns, will no doubt be put on notice, as will states downstream from the mountains. Less water in the Southwest will lead to drought conditions, more wildfires and stressed fish and other aquatic species, says Hoerling.

 

An earlier spring disrupts natural systems in ways that lead to human health issues, says Knowlton. Trees and plants leaf out earlier, the pollen-producing season lasts longer and higher aeroallergen concentrations exacerbate asthma and allergies. Some plants, like poison ivy, become more toxic when there are higher levels of Co2. A longer summer and short winter also allow insects like the pine bark beetle to thrive, threatening the health of trees and contributing to the risk of forest fires.

 
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Tuesday, April 14, 2009 7:29:27 AM
What a crock. Perhaps you have missed the last 10 years of cooling. This is the most hyped lie of our times and you who propogate it are going to become the fools and charlatins of our time.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 10:26:47 AM

Notice how everything is doom and gloom?  Carbon Dioxide is NOT a pollutant, and comprises less than one per cent of our atmosphere (0.0036%).  So, "an increase of 35% in the level since pre-industrial times and over half of that since 1970," is statistically insignificant.  What if the Earth becomes warmer, how much is too warm?

 

You got to love these environmentalists; to them the Earth isn't a planet, it's our terrarium to manipulate as they see fit.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 10:54:00 AM
Quit lying u chicken littles the sky is FALLING
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 11:03:24 AM

Let me point out some contradictions these scientists make in this article:

 

"We can still turn it around, but here is the world our grandchildren will live in if we don't."By Jean Weiss

And in the next paragraph, she writes, "This change is irreversible,"

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"areas within the U.S. have not had similar rates of change," says Hoerling.

they continue to call it Global Warming, but its not affecting the whole globe...hmmm

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"researchers predict it may be worse than the depressing situation Al Gore foretold"

I must agree, there is nothing more depressing than ALGore.....Open-mouthed

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The only thing constant about our climate is CHANGE. Without it, the Seasons would not exist and we wouldn't, either.

 

 

 

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 12:00:36 PM

those who believe global warming is a serious threat (despite the cooling trend) should ask themselves: who will be responsible for regulating global warming and how will they fund its regulation?

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 12:49:15 PM

What makes people think that they can predict the weather 90 years from now when they can't even accurately predict the weather one day from now????

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 11:51:04 PM
The end is near and genocide either by man or nature is a constant over the history of the world.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009 2:11:44 AM

So you're telling me that a trace gas, carbon dioxide, that only comprises 0.038% of the Earth's atmosphere is causing this "global warming?"  Was this person in a coma with all the snowstorms and frigid weather in the northern U.S. during this past winter?  This report is lunacy and junk science to the extreme!  Go write for Weekly World News!  Is global warming being caused by the incredible "bat boy?"  I want to challenge the writer of this article to a debate!  Bring it on!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009 9:48:23 AM
Until someone starts monitoring the variation of temperatures in the other planets around the sun, I wish the news production would just stop the Global Warming trash.  I believe that we are seeing nothing more than normal variations caused by the sun.  We may think we have a lot of influence over the global climate, but that is just arrogance.
Thursday, April 16, 2009 7:17:45 AM

I'm a geologist, and what people have to realize is that humans have only been around about 10,000 years (which coincidentally was the last ice age).  The earth is about 3.5 billion years old, these wet/dry and hot/cold cycles have been going on a long time, so let's stop pretending we know what were talking about when we have only been around for a blink of an eye in the grand scheme of things.

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