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Science/Tech See other Science/Tech Articles Title: CA climate: inland warmer; coast cooler and wetter Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, July 6, 2011 (07-05) 19:54 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Fair weather fans who believe global warming will bathe San Francisco's Sunset District in sun or one day prompt residents of Daly City to don bikinis may be in for a rude awakening. California's coastal regions appear to be getting more rain and cold weather while inland areas such as Fresno are getting hotter, according to an analysis of 40 years of climate statistics. The analysis, by meteorologist Jan Null, showed that average temperatures have increased since 1981 in only two of eight California cities surveyed compared with the 30 years starting in 1971. The information, compiled using National Climatic Data Center statistics, shows more annual rain has also fallen everywhere except in Southern California. The data may appear to bolster the arguments of global warming skeptics, but Null said the findings actually fit in with the predictions of scientists who believe the climate is changing as a result of human-caused carbon emissions. "People say, 'Wait a minute, what about global warming? Shouldn't it be warmer?' " Null said. "Well, if you have more warm days in the Central Valley, you are going to have a stronger sea breeze so you will cool off the coastal areas. That certainly does not contradict any of the models about global warming. This is what is to be expected." Cooling along coast Eureka, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego all cooled down slightly. Yearly temperatures in San Francisco dropped the most, by 1 degree Fahrenheit. Fresno got hotter by 1.1 degree, while annual temperatures in Redding went up 0.7 of a degree. Although Sacramento is inland and mostly hot during the summer, it still feels the effect of the sea breeze, Null said. Yearly rainfall increased 6 percent in both San Francisco and Eureka and 5 percent in San Jose. The only places among the eight cities where rainfall totals went down were Los Angeles and San Diego. "All the Northern California sites have seen a slight increase in rainfall, on the order of 3 to 6 percent," Null said. "Ultimately, if you have a warmer atmosphere, that gives you more precipitation." For comparison's sake, Reno showed a 1.6 degree mean annual temperature increase and 10 percent more rain during the same period, Null said. The climatic data center, which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, releases 30-year temperature and precipitation records for the nation - called climate normals - every decade. It is accepted practice in the United States to release the data in 30-year chunks. The overlapping years presumably lessen the chance that a short-term anomaly will skew the data. Null said he selected the eight cities from that database because they are major population centers and represent different geographic regions where climatic conditions vary widely. He found significant change. Rainfall increased in every city, and annual temperatures were higher everywhere except in Fresno when the 1961-to-1990 period was compared with the 1971-to-2000 period. He did not include Eureka and Redding in that analysis. Null said he believes the big storms that pounded the state between 1995 and 1998 may be causing the differences in average rainfall between the different 30-year periods. "This decade we are losing some incredibly dry years in the 1970s and we have picked up some wet years in the '90s," Null said. "That may be just the randomness of climate rather than anything that is going on on a larger scale." Getting warmer Still, climatologists have long said that a warmer atmosphere would mean more rainfall in certain areas, and studies have shown that the Earth has warmed at least 1 degree Fahrenheit since 1900. The world's foremost scientists, about 2,500 in all, agree that this increase in global temperatures is responsible for the melting of the Antarctic ice sheet, acidification of the ocean, sea level rise and habitat destruction. Scientists say habitats will change over the next century so fast that some plants, trees and less tolerant species will undoubtedly go extinct if nothing is done. The predictions have nevertheless done little to quell the drumbeat of skepticism about global warming, particularly among politicians whose constituents stand to lose money if environmental regulations are imposed. Null said his study should not be used to support either position, given that information from only eight of the thousands of cities in the database was included and snowfall levels and other factors were not analyzed. "You see these subtle changes - warmer temperatures inland, slightly cooler temperatures along the coast, and an increase in precipitation - but this is such a small sample that it really needs to be taken with a grain of salt." Null said. "But I think what we're seeing is probably what we would see if we looked at a bigger sample."
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 3.
#2. To: farmfriend (#0)
lol.
I have a video produced in 88 that says the ice age is not only coming it is caused by CO2.
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