http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2008/2008-07-01-01.asp

Last month, the U.S. Climate Change Science Program's Subcommittee on Global Change Research released a report on the changing weather patterns of North America. Their conclusion? We will see more "extreme" weather patterns in our nation which could cause significantly more damage than natural disasters already occuring.

Droughts, heavy downpours, excessive heat, and intense hurricanes are likely to become more common as humans continue to increase concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, according to first comprehensive analysis of observed and projected changes in weather and climate extremes in North America. 

"This report addresses one of the most frequently asked questions about global warming - what will happen to weather and climate extremes? This synthesis and assessment product examines this question across North America and concludes that we are now witnessing and will increasingly experience more extreme weather and climate events," said report co-chair Tom Karl, PhD, who directs the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina. 

The report is based on scientific evidence that a warming world will be accompanied by changes in the intensity, duration, frequency, and geographic extent of weather and climate extremes.

The Midwest floods already ruined a large batch of agricultural products. Should our modeling and futures trading incorporate these new predictions? Will it raise food prices even further?

Environmental News Service; July 1, 2008

Submitted by B.Shapiro