MOUNTAINEERING NEWS ITEM

US Gov't Issues Report on Global Warming

THURSDAY, 25 MAY 2006

Bad news for winter sports enthusiasts and mountaineers. The United States' Department of Energy (DOE) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) recently published the findings of their research, which according to the authors call, "an unprecedented picture of climate change."

The research conducted by Steven J. Ghan and Timothy Shippert of the PNNL made full-century forecast of the climate change from 2000 to 2100 using a computer. What they discovered was a shocking revelation of what could happen to the world's snow-capped mountains in a matter of a hundred years. The Himalayas, for example, will only have 68% of its present snowpack by 2100. But the worst hit will be New Zealand which will retain only 16% of the size of its present mountain snowpack by 2100.

While it can greatly affect those who love to ski, snowboard, go mountaineering and the other sports closely-related to snow-capped mountains, it has an even greater effect on everyone in terms of its effects on the world's water supply. According to the PNNL, "the decline in winter snowpack means less spring and summer runoff from snowmelt. That translates to unprecedented pressure on people worldwide who depend on summertime melting of the winter snowpack for irrigation and drinking water."

To read more about Ghan and Shippert's findings, visit the PNNL site at www.pnl.gov and the United States International Information Programs' website at usinfo.state.gov.

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