Global Warming...New Report...and it ain't happy news

If you're in the business of leading folk to safety George it is necessary to be morbid and to exaggerate. You're criticising a leopard for having spots.

BTW; I'm constantly amazed at the public credulity of Brits on these matters. It's almost German.

if rising levels screw things

Just to take one example, if rainfall patterns, snowmelt runoff and river and aquifer levels change drastically, which is one of the consequences of global warming (and already seems to be happening),

which will see less rainfall on our most fertile cropland

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36020131/
NEW DELHI - For nearly 30 years, India and Bangladesh have argued over control of a tiny rock island in the Bay of Bengal. Now rising sea levels have resolved the dispute for them: the island's gone.

New Moore Island in the Sunderbans has been completely submerged, said oceanographer Sugata Hazra, a professor at Jadavpur University in Calcutta. Its disappearance has been confirmed by satellite imagery and sea patrols, he said.

"What these two countries could not achieve from years of talking, has been resolved by global warming," said Hazra.

Scientists at the School of Oceanographic Studies at the university have noted an alarming increase in the rate at which sea levels have risen over the past decade in the Bay of Bengal.

Until 2000, the bay's sea levels rose about 3 millimeters (0.12 inches) a year, and erosion and mangrove destruction were also other contributing factors reshaping the bay.

But over the last decade sea levels in the bay have been rising about 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) annually, he said.

Another nearby island, Lohachara, was submerged in 1996, forcing its inhabitants to move to the mainland, while almost half the land of Ghoramara Island was underwater, he said. At least 10 other islands in the area were at risk as well, Hazra said.

"We will have ever larger numbers of people displaced from the Sunderbans as more island areas come under water," he said.


Bangladesh, a low-lying delta nation of 150 million people, is one of the countries worst-affected by global warming. Officials estimate 18 percent of Bangladesh's coastal area will be underwater and 20 million people will be displaced if sea levels rise 1 meter (3.3 feet) by 2050 as projected by some climate models.

India and Bangladesh both claimed the empty New Moore Island, which was about 2 miles long, 1.5 miles wide and never stuck out more than six feet above water. Bangladesh referred to the island as South Talpatti.

There were no permanent structures on New Moore, but India sent some paramilitary soldiers to its rocky shores in 1981 to hoist its national flag.

The demarcation of the maritime boundary " and who controls the remaining islands " remains an open issue between the two South Asian neighbors, despite the disappearance of New Moore, said an official in India's foreign ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on international disputes.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36017029/ns/weather/
DENVER - A heavy, wet spring snowstorm forced airlines to cancel scores of flights at the Denver airport on Wednesday and left thousands of people without power.

Tree branches sagged and snapped under the weight of the snow. Dozens of schools canceled classes and the state Legislature declared a snow day, canceling House and Senate sessions as well as committee meetings.

By evening, the storm was headed east into the Oklahoma Panhandle and north Texas. Farther south, the system was expected to bring thunderstorms Wednesday night in Dallas.

Denver International Airport estimated up to 5,000 people spent Tuesday night there after their flights were canceled.

"This is my last time flying unless I grow wings," said Elizabeth Kinder of Great Falls, Mont., who slept in the airport's chapel.

She and her husband were flying home from San Jose, Calif., when they got stranded in Denver Tuesday night.

The airport's three busiest airlines " United, Frontier and Southwest " together canceled nearly 160 arrivals and departures Wednesday.

NBC affiliate KUSA-TV reported that the flight disruptions began Tuesday when planes were sitting too long on the tarmac after getting de-iced so they had to return to terminals and get de-iced again. That, in turn, caused the airport to put a hold on arrivals until the departure backlog was cleared.

Highway traffic was light for Denver's morning rush.

...

Spring blizzard
March 24: NBC's Leanne Gregg reports from Denver on the white surprise.
The Daily Rundown



"Some folks maybe decided they didn't have to travel, so they just stayed home," said Gene Towne of the Colorado Department of Transportation.

The National Weather Service said 23 inches of snow fell by Wednesday morning in Jefferson County west of Denver and about 9 inches in Denver.

Most major ski areas reported 5 to 7 inches of new snow. Eldora " just west of Boulder " reported 18 inches.

The storm boosted the mountain snowpack, which accounts for much of Colorado's water when it melts during the warm months. As of Wednesday, the snow totals were below average in the northern half of the state and roughly average in the south.

About 36,400 customers lost power at various times after snow started falling Tuesday, Xcel Energy spokesman Tom Henley said.

Most had electricity restored by the end of the business day. Snow dripped from utility poles and tree limbs as soon as the storm moved out.

Barbara Foley, 70, of Englewood rode the bus to work Wednesday in downtown Denver after she woke up to find about a foot of snow on her car. She was happy the bus arrived on time, with a driver in a good mood.

"I told the driver, 'You're just as good as the mailman,'" she said. "He said, 'No, lady, we're better.'"

In the mountains, U.S. 6 over Loveland Pass was closed for avalanche control and because of hazardous conditions. Farther west, Colorado 65 near Grand Junction also was closed for avalanche control.

that's why we call him "ican(when I'm short of facts I just invent them)711m"

Recent Declines in Western U.S. Snowpack in the Context of Twentieth-Century Climate Variability

Gregory J. McCabe

U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado

David M. Wolock

U.S. Geological Survey, Lawrence, Kansas


(Manuscript received 11 December 2008, in final form 8 August 2009, online 16 October 2009)

DOI: 10.1175/2009EI283.1

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ABSTRACT
A monthly snow accumulation and melt model was used with monthly Precipitation-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) temperature and precipitation data to generate time series of 1 April snow water equivalent (SWE) for 1900 through 2008 in the western United States. Averaged across the western United States, SWE generally was higher than long-term (1900"2008) average conditions during the periods 1900"25, 1944"55, and 1966"82; SWE was lower than long-term average conditions during the periods 1926"43, 1957"65, and 1984"2008. During the period 1900"2008, the temporal pattern in winter precipitation exhibited wetter-than-average and drier-than-average decadal-scale periods with no long-term increasing or decreasing trend. Winter temperature generally was below average from 1900 to the mid-1950s, close to average from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s, and above average from the mid-1980s to 2008. In general, periods of higher-than-average SWE have been associated with higher precipitation and lower temperature. Since about 1980, western U.S. winter temperatures have been consistently higher than long-term average values, and the resultant lower-than-average SWE values have been only partially offset by periods of higher-than-average precipitation. The post-1980 lower-than-average SWE conditions in the western United States are unprecedented within the context of twentieth-century climate and estimated SWE.

KEYWORDS: Snow; Climate variability; Western United States