[Texgreen] How global warming is going to affect Texas weather

[Roger Baker]

<http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5243326.html>

Oct. 25, 2007, 6:46AM
Climate expert says drought, flooding threaten Texas

By ERIC BERGER
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

A top climate scientist warned Wednesday that Texas faces a dual =20
threat from floods and drought if global warming is left unchecked.

James Hansen, in Houston to speak before the Progressive Forum on =20
Wednesday night, said predictions made two decades ago about the =20
effects of a warming world are now beginning to come true.

"Texas is in the line of fire for double-barreled climate impacts," =20
said Hansen, who heads the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. =20
"What we said in the 1980s, and is beginning to come true now, is =20
that both ends of the hydrological cycle get intensified by global =20
warming."

A warmer climate increases evaporation, he said. It both sucks =20
moisture from the ground, intensifying drought, and increases =20
atmospheric humidity, which causes more rain to fall during extreme =20
events.

Hansen gained attention in the 1980s by testifying to congressional =20
committees about the perils of global warming and again in 2005 and =20
2006 by claiming that NASA administrators sought to influence his =20
public statements about the causes of climate change. Because of =20
this, he is arguably the world's most well-known climate researcher.

On Wednesday, Hansen again spoke out on a political issue. He =20
expressed concerns about an Associated Press report that the White =20
House had significantly edited a draft of testimony prepared for a =20
Senate hearing on the impact of climate change.

The White House denied that it had "watered down" the congressional =20
testimony that Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease =20
Control and Prevention, had given Tuesday to the U.S. Senate =20
Environment and Public Works Committee.

"The whole idea of democracy that our Founding Fathers had was that =20
the public is educated, and that they are informed honestly," Hansen =20
said.

'Offices of propaganda'
He said the White House review of statements by government scientists =20=

testifying to Congress does no good, adding that the unneeded =20
oversight exists elsewhere in government as well.

"The public affairs offices have become offices of propaganda," he =20
said. "They should be under professional civil servants, not =20
political appointees who change each time a new election occurs"

Hansen said it remains possible =97 and not entirely painful =97 for =20
nations to tackle global warming.

The most important step, he said, would be to prohibit the =20
construction of coal-fired power plants until technology is developed =20=

to capture carbon dioxide produced during the coal-burning process.

Coal remains a popular energy source with electricity providers, =20
because it is a cheap source of power and the United States has =20
abundant supplies. However, coal burning is also the worst producer =20
of the greenhouse gases that, scientists say, are causing the planet =20
to warm.

A second step, Hansen said, would be to gradually adopt a fee for =20
carbon dioxide emissions. Although this would raise the price of =20
energy, he said, it would spur companies to develop alternative =20
energy sources such as wind and solar.

'More extreme events'
Hansen declined to blame global warming directly for recent =20
disasters, such as the present wildfires in Southern California or =20
hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma in 2005.

"There is a connection only in a statistical sense," he said. "You =20
can't attribute individual events to global warming, but you can look =20=

at the statistics. We expect more droughts and fires with global =20
warming.

"And another thing, physics tells us that storms which are driven by =20
latent heat will tend to get stronger, will tend to have more extreme =20=

events. Storms driven by latent heat include thunderstorms, tornadoes =20=

and tropical storms."

eric.berger@chron.com