COLUMBIA — No longer a phenomenon for future Missourians to worry about, climate change is clearly part of the here and now.
Growing conditions in the state have become more favorable for plants previously found farther south. Several species of birds common to Missouri are shifting their ranges northward. And if climate change continues to unfold as some climatologists predict, Missouri can expect warmer temperatures, shorter winters and an overall increase in rain and flooding.
That was the subject of the 2009 Missouri Natural Resources Conference held at the Lake of the Ozarks from Feb. 4 to 6. The conference brought together resource specialists from around the state to explore the impact of global climate change on Missouri.
The stated goal of the conference wasn't to debate the cause of climate change. Rather, the goal was to open a scientific discussion about the possible consequences of climate change on the natural resources in Missouri.
Pat Guinan, an MU Extension climatologist with MU's Commercial Agriculture Program, said there is a "general consensus among the scientific community that temperatures are likely going to increase over the next 100 years."
Guinan, who led a workshop at the conference, said some regional climate models, using different economic scenarios, suggest a range of warming in Missouri over the next 100 years. On the less severe end of the spectrum, he said, increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could raise annual temperatures in Missouri by an average of 3 degrees Fahrenheit. Under that scenario, the climate in the Columbia area would resemble the present climate of southern Missouri. Under the worst-case scenario, he said, average temperatures in Central Missouri could increase by 7 degrees and result in a climate that resembles present-day central Arkansas.
Full story: http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2009/03/09/changing-face-missouri/
