Local scientists using a regional climate model predict that the western midwest won’t warm as much as the rest of the world:
“The so-called “hole” in global warming will stretch for hundreds of miles and include Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and Oklahoma, Saint Louis University officials said. The findings are published in the current issue of Geophysical Research Letters.
The modeling showed that warming in the United States will be stronger in winter than summer and stronger at night than during the day,” said Zaitao Pan, an assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Saint Louis University. “But we found what looked to us like a ‘hole’ in the daytime warming in summer, which was a surprise.”
Good, because I couldn’t take it if the high temperature got any higher during the summer, and I’m a native. Having the nights and winters warmer I can handle. The news isn’t all good though:
Ray Arritt, agronomy professor at Iowa State, said to expect more rainfall and wetter soil in the future. As a result, more of the sun’s energy will go into evaporating water than heating the air, he said.
Oh great, we’ll have higher humidity. The plants will love it, but I’ll be wilting.
