Extreme floods, storms seen increasing in North America*

20 Jun 2008 20:23:41 GMT
Source: Reuters

NEW YORK, June 20 (Reuters) - Floods, droughts and severe storms are
likely to ravage North America more frequently as emissions of
planet-warming gases rise, according to a U.S. government study.

Extreme weather events, "could seriously affect" human health,
agricultural production, and the availability and quality of water in
the future, according to the report, issued by the Climate Change
Science Program on Thursday.

With the Midwest battered by the worst flooding in 15 years, which has
submerged vast areas of fertile farmland and displaced thousands of
people, the report said future "heavy downpours are very likely to
further increase in frequency and intensity," in North America.

The atmosphere absorbs more water vapor as temperatures rise, raising
the likelihood of rain storms and flooding. The report said total
precipitation in the continental United States has increased 7 percent
over the past century.

Led by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, the
report was the government's widest assessment yet of how global warming
may change the climate in coming decades.

The economic and physical ramifications of the extreme weather events
forecast in the report can already be grasped by the flooding in the
Midwest, said Richard Moss, vice president for climate change at the
World Wildlife Fund.

Moss, who previously headed the CCSP coordination office, said, "the
longer we delay on cutting emissions, the higher the bill will be from
these impacts."

The report said higher temperatures from global warming will also
increase the likelihood of severe droughts in the U.S. Southwest, parts
of Mexico, and the Caribbean. Heat waves are more likely "over most land
areas, most pronounced over the northwestern two thirds of North
America," it said.

Another government report issued on Friday and led by the Environmental
Protection Agency, said some of the effects of climate change could be
mitigated by methods like restoring vegetation along streams, increasing
the resilience of ecosystems.

President George W. Bush's climate change policy has evolved from
skepticism about the science of global warming from greenhouse gases to
calling in April for a halt in the growth of carbon emissions growth by
2025.

But that falls short of targets agreed in the Kyoto Protocol, signed by
all developed nations except the United States. The world is now trying
to form a successor agreement to Kyoto by late 2009. (Reporting by
Timothy Gardner, editing by Chris Wilson)