Warming in the western mountains

Decline in Snowpack Is Blamed On Warming:
Water Supplies In West Affected

By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 1, 2008; Page A01

The persistent and dramatic decline in the snowpack of many mountains in the West is caused primarily by human-induced global warming and is not the result of natural variability in weather patterns, researchers reported yesterday.

Read the rest here.

My note: We need to look hard at how changing precipitation patterns may affect water in North Carolina. If we continute to assume that future growth can depend on past water conditions we may be in for some very rude surprises. I note that electric utilities announced recently that if the current drought continues, nuclear power plants in the southeast will be forced to cut back or shut down completely.