Klimaatverandering 23

De klimaatverandering, als gevolg van de uitstoot van broeikasgassen, begint ingrijpende gevolgen te krijgen ook voor Phoenix in Arizona waar stofstormen de luchtvervuiling verergeren. De New York Times bericht: 'In Phoenix, Even Cactuses Wilt in Clutches of Record Drought. Thursday began like the 141 days before it, sunny and crisp, dust settling everywhere except on the record - set again - for the number of days without rain. Phoenix knows all about dry weather. It is a place where children are drilled throughout elementary school to conserve water, where hotels boast of covered parking areas not to protect from rain, but to offer a bit of shade. Grown men spread lotion all over their bodies every morning. Noses bleed. Newcomers watch in horror as their hands seem to age right in front of them. But even the desert suffers droughts, and this winter has brought a strong one, the fickle air currents pushing approaching storm clouds to the east. Until this year, the record for days without recorded rainfall was set in 2000, a measly 101 days. The recording instrument for rainfall is at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, referred to as "the bucket" by meteorologists, and drier than a Sunday morning during Prohibition. "People are sort of losing their grip," said Gary Woodard, who, as associate director of the University of Arizona Center for Sustainability of Semi-Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas, is an expert on the region's water. " 'Did you hear it's going to rain tomorrow?' Well, actually, there's an 80 percent chance it's not going to rain. People are getting very excited about very slim chances of rain." The drought has wreaked havoc on wildlife, which depend on the scant seven inches of rain that Phoenix gets in an average year, most of it in the three or four winter months. "We have cactus dying from lack of water," Mr. Woodard said. "We have well-established mesquite trees that are in a lot of trouble." Small animals are too dried out to do what comes naturally. "None of the animals, none of the birds are having offspring this spring. No baby quail, no baby bunnies," Mr. Woodard said. An alarming result of the drought is the condition of the air. On Thursday, Arizona's Department of Environmental Quality posted its 25th pollution advisory of the winter, a remarkable number. Last winter - the opposite of this one, with abundant rainfall - there were no such days. There is no rain to knock the dust and particles out of the air and wash them away.' Lees verder: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/10/national/10phoenix.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Of: http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/031006EB.shtml Ondanks de klimaatverandering konden we tijdens de raadsverkiezingen in Nederland de VVD en het CDA horen pleiten voor economische groei. Why not.