Think that's bad?
Take a look at this forecast from the UK Met Office Hadley Centre--a leading authority on global warming--for the average highest temperatures fifty years from now in the eight capitals of the G8 nations. (Hat tip to Capitalweather.com for this one.)
To put this is perspective, the average hottest day in Washington since 1987 has been 37 degrees C--or a toasty 99 degrees F. If global temperatures rise 2 degrees centigrade over the next 50 years, as forecast by the IPCC, then the average hottest day in DC will be 42 degrees C--or 108 degrees F.
(Why, you ask, would the temperature in DC rise more than 2 degrees C if worldwide temps rise an average of 2 degrees C? The answer is that warming is uneven--less at the equator, more in higher latitudes.)
Better hope the old folks home has some good A/C.
Or, maybe we'll all be living in Greenland by then. Today's Washington Post reports on how Greenlanders are rather happily adapting to the warmer temperatures. Turns out that like the rest of us, Greenlanders would just as soon have it be not quite so cold in the winter. With a longer growing season and the opportunity to fish nearly year round, the residents of the not-so-green land are finding better economic prospects up north.
So here's our suggestion to the enterprising Greenlanders: retirement homes. Could be the new Florida!
No comments:
Post a Comment