No Respite from Heat for Western States
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 07. 8.07
Things are really heating up this summer in some parts of the West. Temperature records are being set left and right with several cities having already attained the triple digit mark early on: Boise, ID (104º F), Phoenix, AZ (115ºF) and Baker, CA (125ºF). It's getting so hot that authorities in several states are warning that outdoor activities could be dangerous except during the cooler period of the early morning hours.
Stanley, ID, which often ranks as the coldest place in the lower 48 states (at a 6,000 feet elevation), saw a record high of 92 degrees last week. While meteorologists are expecting temperatures to cool a bit in Southern California within the next few weeks, the other western states won't be as fortunate. "To be honest, as far as temperatures, for as far out as we can see there's no relief," said Brandon Smith, who is expecting temperatures all across Utah to surpass the state's all-time highs this summer.
Besides for raising fears about lower crop yields and an unstable power supply, the record temperatures are making life harder for firefighters who are anticipating more of the types of wildfires most recently seen ravaging Southern California. "We're really primed to burn right now," said Dennis Winkler, an assistant fire management officer for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. "We're well above average in terms of fire danger for this time of year."
As we've noted before, this scorching heat wave and record highs provide further evidence of a trend of increasing global temperatures that can only be explained by global warming. Though perhaps not the only culprit, global warming has intensified these trends and will likely make life in these western states more difficult over the coming years as its effects continue to worsen.
Via ::Breitbart: Heat Wave Scorches Western States (news website), ::Think Progress: ThinkFast: July 6, 2007 (blog)
See also: ::Floods, Monsoons, Heat Waves, Drought: Climate Change In Asia Now, ::Whats Wrong with Mild Winters, Anyways?
You wrote, "Temperature records are being set left and right with several cities having already attained the triple digit mark early on: Boise, ID (104º F), Phoenix, AZ (115ºF) and Baker, CA (125ºF)."
If Phoenix and Baker hadn't had a triple-digit high by the end of May, well, that would be something different.
I think the problem in these states is so much concrete and a lack of trees for shade. The concrete traps heat which is radiated out at night not giving the air time to cool. Then you have no trees which means no shade for the ground which also absorbs the heat.
I live on the edge of a forest and when you are standing in an empty hot field or yard and a breeze blows out from under the forest canopy it often feels like someone has opened the refrigerator door next to you.
Dragonfly,
That IS interesting. I was in LA last week and I noticed how it was actually cool in the shade, which doesn't happen in the Northeast, perhaps because of the humidity. This steeper gradient (plus the cold at night) might present greater opportunities for Stirling power.
Imagine how much energy is absorbed by a mall parking lot. They should start running water-pipes through the pavement and harvesting thiat heat.
As awful as this sounds, the miserable temperatures and severe drought in some parts of the US might lead to a wakeup call to those blind skeptics who, have all along, attributed global warming and its effects to something not man induced. Although, this may not be the case, because when the worst hurricane in recorded Louisiana history struck, there wasn't much attribution given to global warming. What will it take for us to open our eyes?
In NY I am noticing a lot fewer stores and restaurants blasting the AC, owing to higher utility rates. These establishments just can't afford AC anymore. These things only really become an issue when your pocketbook is backed into a corner.