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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

The Warm Moose

It's been snowier than normal this winter. Some people are maintaining this is a sign that global warming is either a mistake or a hoax. I wish it were so. We have to keep in mind that the U.S. is 2% (?) of the earth's surface and our local weather is not a world average. The following is from yesterday's Minneapolis Trib.

By DOUG SMITH, Star Tribune
The bad news continues for Minnesota's moose.
The population of the iconic animal in northeastern Minnesota has declined again, based on the latest aerial survey this winter by the Department of Natural Resources.
Reasons for the decline are uncertain, but researchers continue to believe a warming climate is responsible. Minnesota, already at the southern fringe of the moose range, apparently is becoming inhospitable for the large animals. Moose are extremely heat-sensitive, and temperature readings in Ely show over the past 48 years, average summer and winter temperatures have increased substantially.
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1 comment:

Margadant said...

Thanks for posting the link to the article. I think the comments to the article provide the basis for a pretty interesting sociological study. Damn! That's the kind of stuff we used to talk down at the Hopscotch in Ft. Pierre about an hour before closing.

Good reality check -- grass is always greener/can't go home again, kind of stuff.