This is not a monsoon, but, it is Arizona. Pheonix to be exact. Governor Jan Brewer also knows that while monsoons happen every year in Arizona, there are climate dangers that will accompany this year's season.
..."While most of us delight (click here) in the soaking rains that are synonymous with the monsoon," said Arizona Division of Emergency Management Director Wendy Smith-Reeve, "the season is also full of severe weather dangers that can damage property and threaten the safety of Arizonans."...
The Republic | azcentral.comTue Dec 18, 2012 10:14 PM
...The team, led by an Arizona State University (click here) life-sciences professor, found that shifts in temperature, moisture and species ranges will have profound effects on human activities, from commercial fishing to storm preparedness.
“U.S. ecosystems are undergoing massive change due to climate change,” said Nancy Grimm, a senior scientist with ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability.
Grimm collaborated with officials from the National Wildlife Federation, U.S. Geological Survey and others on a technical report contributing to the ecological segment of the Third U.S. National Climate Assessment, due for release this winter. It’s a four-year report ordered by Congress.
In the Southwest, they said, foresters may have to replant devastated forests with drought-resistant trees. In the Rocky Mountains, threatened fishes such as the cutthroat trout will be pushed to the brink.
The report notes that more than 694,000 acres of forest burned in Arizona and New Mexico during 2011. The ash and dirt that washed into the Rio Grande, the source of half of Albuquerque’s water, clogged treatment plants and reduced withdrawals for months....
The worse the drought the higher incidence of huge dust storms reaching 10,000 feet high. You want to get hit with debris falling 10,000 feet? It isn't fun. You like being blinded while driving or choking on particulate matter in the air? Maybe masks are the style when the Climate Crisis continues to cause droughts, fires and dust storms.
The worse the drought the higher incidence of huge dust storms reaching 10,000 feet high. You want to get hit with debris falling 10,000 feet? It isn't fun. You like being blinded while driving or choking on particulate matter in the air? Maybe masks are the style when the Climate Crisis continues to cause droughts, fires and dust storms.
USGS and partner research shows that there are many causes of dust storms. Two contributing factors are low vegetation cover and disturbance to soil surfaces.
Vegetation contributes to ecological integrity. The presence of plants reduces soil erosion and dust storms, because it keeps the soil intact, reduces wind momentum, and traps moving soil particles (See Figure 1). In spaces between the plants, many undisturbed desert soils are naturally armored by hardened physical and biological crusts.
Low vegetation cover can especially be a problem in drought years in abandoned agricultural fields, which are generally dominated by annual plants. This means that the consequences of dust storms, including motor vehicle crashes, are high in a drought year and low in years with more precipitation (See Figure 2)....
In the face of all the facts, ask Jan Brewer is there such a thing as Human Induced Global Warming.
