Wildfires , Climate Change Symptom?

SENATE Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., commented: “One reason we have the fires in California is global warming.”

Dr. John Holden, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said: “We are experiencing an increased incidence of heat waves, an increased incidence of drought, an increased incidence of wildfires, and more intense tropical storms.”

Lt. Gov. John Garamendi said California’s temperatures have been 10 degrees above normal, which made the southern region even more a tinderbox than it usually is.

“There is growing scientific evidence that climate change will increase areas burned,” U.S. Forest Service researcher Ann Bartuska testified before Congress last month. Forest Service chief Gail Kimbell added: “Each year, the fire season comes earlier and lasts longer.”

This week’s horror in southern California stunned America – and raised the obvious question: How much did climate change contribute to the conflagration? Most scientists hesitate to leap to conclusions, but several are speculating.

The journal Science reported last year that seven times more western forestland burned between 1987 and 2003, compared to the previous 17 years, and blamed the upsurge at least partly on climate warming. Another study found that worsened Santa Ana “devil winds” roaring up to 80 mph from California mountains are linked to global warming.

When California emerges from the ashes of this week’s disaster, top climate scientists should undertake a mammoth inquiry to learn the best possible answers to this profound, far-reaching question.

Meanwhile, “The Perfect Drought,” a report in the Oct. 21 New York Times Magazine, covers broader damage that global warming is likely to inflict on western states. Author Joe Gertner documents a growing threat posed by the loss of major snowfalls every winter in the mountains.

Every spring, melting snow provides western states with much of their water for the rest of the year. But a catastrophic loss of snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains could further reduce flow of the Colorado River, already at its lowest level since measurements began 85 years ago, he says. A continuing loss in the Colorado could mean chaos in seven states: Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California.

Population increases could make things worse. Between now and 2050, Colorado is expected to grow from less than 5 million people to 8 million people. California’s population will jump from 36 million to 60 million.

The United States, already the world’s most voracious consumer of natural resources, will probably have 100 million more people within the next 30 years.

Today, the nation’s driest areas are its fastest-growing areas. But there is no realistic chance that any additional water reserves will be found. Lake Mead, the huge reservoir that provides half of the water to Las Vegas, is already half-empty. Scientists predict the manmade lake will never be full again.

Bradley Udall, an environmental engineer, is working to bring a wide variety of people together to address the menace, including utility executives, scientists, environmental activists, farmers, other businessmen and political leaders. (Morris Udall, his father, was a longtime Arizona congressman, while Stewart Udall, his uncle, was interior secretary under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.)

“We have a very short time here to get people educated on what this means,” Udall remarked. Coming shortages could become so intense that some areas would face a stark choice between agriculture and people.

Droughts could force mass migrations out of arid areas and spark major court battles over which states own water sources. Farm towns could wither. Tourist areas could attract far fewer vacationers.

Climate change from declining rainfall and global warming is taking place at a growing rate, the article warns.

California’s current tragedy – the worst fire wipeout and mass evacuation in U.S. history – should focus America on the need for a clear understanding of what is occurring.

(c) 2007 Charleston Gazette, The. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.