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Ed Yeates ReportingScientists are publishing yet another study today showing dramatic climate changes around the globe, and this one is really hitting close to home. Utah is already a desert state, but with the release of this latest study, we may be evolving to an even hotter and drier climate here.
Researchers at the University of Utah and the University of Washington say the latest evidence collected from satellites and computer modeling indicates the tropics have been expanding farther from the equator since 1979. How much? Thomas Reichler at the University of Utah says as apparent widening in latitude south by one degree and another one degree north, or up to 140 miles.
Thomas Reichler, Meteorology Research, University of Utah: "We see now a one degree expansion. But this expansion may be five degrees 50 years from now."
If true, that means the sub-tropic jet streams are also moving somewhat towards the poles, producing a gradual but dramatic shift in climate patterns.
Thomas Reichler: "It simply means that there will be a gradual decrease in rainfall and a gradual increase in temperature if you are getting close to those subtropical deserts."
And guess, geographically, who's close to that zone? Utah!
Thomas Reichler: "If you think about Salt Lake City, which sits just north of the subtropical deserts, it likely will mean we will have less precipitation in the future, if this expansion trend continues."
At this early stage, the research team doesn't know for sure whether its global warming or cyclical. But Reichler says modeling so far is certainly leaning in one direction.
Thomas Reichler: "It may be a little premature, but I think it's global warming related."
This is the second study to come out in the past three months from the University of Utah, documenting climate changes.
