The lede from ScienceDaily:
The American West has warmed 70 percent more than the planet as a
whole, according to a new analysis in a new report released by the
Rocky Mountain Climate Organization (RMCO) and the Natural Resources
Defense Council (NRDC). The West’s most pronounced temperature increase
is in the Colorado River basin, which has warmed more than twice as
much as the global average, with effects that put at risk a major water
supply for over 30 million people from Denver to Los Angeles.
Some deniers will dismiss any such analysis, even by an association of Western governments, as slanted, but Kelly T. Redmond, who oversees climatological analysis for the Desert Research Institute, told the AP:
That sounds about right. It’s been warming in this region for the past 35 years, after a cool period
in the 1970s. We’ve been decidedly above average. You could put an
exclamation on it," he said.Redmond has made
calculations similar to the report’s 2.2-degree rise, which has meant
fewer subzero nights to control the population of mountain pine beetles
devastating Colorado’s lodgepole pines.
Another report to read — although this one looks well-laid out and written. In the meantime, a graph for your viewing displeasure:
Kit Stolz 