OK Climatologist - State Must Prepare Now On Climate; Whole Months @ 102F Highs By 2050 Possible
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Mark Shafer, a researcher at the Oklahoma Climatological Survey in Norman, was one of 300 experts who contributed to the study. Shafer said Oklahomans could expect to see hotter summers within the next few decades.
By 2050, the state could see an entire month of high temperatures above 102 degrees during the summer. By century’s end, daily high temperatures could top 102 degrees for the entire summer, he said. That extreme heat will intensify evaporation, making droughts more severe, Shafer said. Winters in Oklahoma will be warmer as well, Shafer said, leading to a shorter dormancy period for winter wheat.
Although the report paints a grim picture of the nation’s future, Shafer said it gives state policy makers an opportunity to begin to look at how climate change will affect the state’s economy, ecology and society, and begin to adapt to those changes.
Nationwide, public policy makers and private organizations already are beginning to plan for climate change and adapt to its effects, according to the report. But so far, few of those plans have been implemented, and those that have been enacted are mostly incremental changes, the report states.
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http://newsok.com/oklahoma-must-begin-preparing-now-for-the-impact-of-climate-change-state-climate-scientist-says/article/4747197