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

NASA, Corbis

Southwest: Arizona, New Mexico, California and Nevada

What we could see in 2100: Drought and water shortages, heat waves and wildfire

 

The Southwestern states, which in the global warming equation include California and Nevada, will experience intense heat waves, poorer air quality, wildfire, water shortages, drought and expanding risks to agriculture. "In general, the main worry in the Southwest is water resources," says Trenberth. "The area is already semi-arid. Water is already a scarce resource what with increasing population demands. These areas are already quite dependent on water flowing from the mountains, so any changes in snow pack ultimately affects the flows in the Colorado River basin and water sources in places like California."

 

Dry conditions and high temperatures will increase risk for heat waves and wildfires, says Trenberth. "Along with that come issues with insects and diseases. Some insects, such as the Pine Bark Beetle, flourish with a longer summer season, and the dead trees they create lead to higher wildfire risk.

 

And then there are the water issues. "The increased heating of the earth's surface not only raises temperatures, but it increases evaporation which makes dry soils even drier," says Hurrell. "Droughts will become more severe, frequent and longer lasting."

 

"We're already seeing the impacts of climate change on public health," says Knowlton. "Heat waves are just one example. They send thousands of extra people to emergency rooms and hospitals, as our study of the 2006 California heat wave showed." Knowlton says that during that particular episode more than 16,000 excess emergency room visits and 1,200 additional hospitalizations happened in a 2-week period, costing the state of California $133 million.

 

California will also see a two- to three-foot rise in sea level, while San Francisco will see slightly more than that.

 

Jean Weiss is a regular contributor to MSN Green.

 
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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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