Monday, July 27, 2009

Climate Change Released

Warm weather and more precipitation may be in store for Pennsylvanians over the next century. A study conducted by Penn State researchers examined the affects of climate change on areas including agriculture, forests, snowfall, and ozone concentrations.
Jim Shortle, a professor of Agriculture and Environmental Economics, says global warming could have both positive and negative effects on human health...

"Warmer weather will influence the level of certain kinds of air pollutants like ozone that could be harmful to people. On the other hand, warmer weather could reduce certain kinds of cold weather diseases."

Shortle says the research looked at long-range changes, and not so much year-to-year fluctuations.

"Weather is always variable, and so you're going to experience variable weather no matter what. So really when you think about climate change, what you need to think about is what the averages of weather are going to be."

The study was conducted for the state Department of Environmental Protection.

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