"Hotter and Drier: The West’s Changed Climate " is our site of the day

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization (RMCO) have released a report, “Hotter and Drier: The West’s Changed Climate” which analyzes temperature data from Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. The full report runs to 64 pages and has an appendix with state-by-state figures. There also is a 4 page Fact Sheet that has also been released.

This is not just about global warming as some isolated concept—this report shows the effects of what is happening on water—the subject of much discussion in California.

Read this and you’ll find out that the American West is heating up more rapidly than the rest of the world. This new finding is based on an analysis of the most recent federal government temperature figures. The news is especially bad for some of the nation's fastest growing cities, including Los Angeles and San Diego, which receive water from the drought-stricken Colorado River. The average temperature rise in the Southwest's largest river basin was more than double the average global increase, likely spelling even more parched conditions.

For the report, the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization analyzed new temperature data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for 11 western states. For the five-year period 2003-2007 the average temperature in the Colorado River Basin, which stretches from Wyoming to Mexico, was 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the historical average for the 20th Century. The temperature rise was more than twice the global average increase of 1.0 degree during the same period. The average temperature increased 1.7 degrees in the entire 11-state western region.

So, when you read in today’s newspapers about smaller snow packs being measured in the Sierras or stories about California that discuss less snowfall, earlier snowmelt, reduced stream flow, effects on reduced agricultural productivity, declines in fishing, and shorter and less profitable seasons for skiing and winter sports--and want to know more, take a look at this report.

All is not lost and there are chapters on the immediate action that can curb global warming, national, regional, and state climate initiatives, and policy conclusions and recommendations.

The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has 1.2 million members and online activists, served from offices in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Beijing. The Rocky Mountain Climate Organization is a coalition of 17 local governments, Colorado's largest water provider, 17 businesses, and 11 nonprofit organizations.