UPPERWEATHER.COM _{-Meteorological Musings}

There is a new campaign announced by the American Public Health Association to raise awareness about Global Warming.

The problem is that there is no science involved. All of these warnings are contradictory statements.

•Northwest. Heavy rainfall may lead to flooding and overflow of sewage systems, causing an increase in the spread of disease.

•Southwest. Higher temperatures and decreased rain are likely to strain already limited water sources, increasing the likelihood of wildfires and air pollution.

•Great Plains. Increased temperatures could mean scorching summers and more mild winters — which would significantly hurt food production.

Most of these problems will occur, but not because of Global Warming. If they were all attributed to only Global Warming it would be quite a contradiction of effects.

First off if you have heavy rain in the Northwest then you will have an increase in rain in the Southwest and on the Great Plains. How would more rain hurt food production? How would an increase in CO2 hurt plants, and therefore food production? Plants thrive on CO2.

Second more rain causes an increase in devastating fires. Fires need fuel. If Global Warming is true then it will cause more rain and more fuel for fires. That makes this a true side effect, but not for the reasons cited here.

They are also trying to link the water resources to wildfires, is that because it hurts the ability to fight them? I can't think of any other way that limited water sources increases the likelihood of wildfires. I have news for you... Wild land firefighters do not use water to fight fires. We use dirt.

Third the problems with food production on The Great Plains comes from limited water in the Ogallala Aquifer which is because of bad groundwater usage practices. I do have strong opinions about this, but we are talking about global warming. Global Warming at first refills (or really stalls the usage of) the aquifer. More precipitation on high elevations where the temperature is still going to be below freezing most of the year causes snow pack to grow. This in turn gives more water to the Great Plains.

I am all about conserving, and I am all about educating the public. Please do it in responsible ways.