Western Montana - Spring Now Arrives 2-3 Weeks Earlier Than 50 Years Ago [View All]

[hatrack]

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Climate studies in western Montana show spring is arriving two to three weeks earlier than it did 50 years ago. Missoula's annual average temperature is up 2 degrees over the same period. And the number of frost-free days in the growing season increased by about 16 days.

"As every winter ticks by and we keep not getting the winters we used to, I'm having more people who are saying, 'Uh-oh, there seems to be more to this than year-to-year variability,'" said Steve Running, an ecology professor at the University of Montana School of Forestry.

Five years ago, many in the state shrugged off the notion of global warming or a permanent shift in the climate. They blamed drought or a weather cycle. But as the glaciers in Glacier National Park disappear, and winter makes increasingly abbreviated appearances in Montana, climate change is drawing attention from sectors including agriculture, wildlife and recreation.

Even from government. Gov. Brian Schweitzer asked Montana's Department of Environmental Quality to form a Climate Change Advisory Group to thoroughly study the impact of global warming in Montana. Schweitzer wants a Climate Change Action Plan by next year.

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http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060226/NEWS01/602260304/1002