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Show Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, March 29-April 1, 2008 The Park Record A-24 West sees signs of climate change ICB By PAUL FOY Associated Press Writer SNOW AND ICE REMOVAL SPECIALISTS REMOVING SNOW AND ICE DAMNS OFF ROOFS AND DECKS FAST PROFESSIONAL SERVICE 435.649.9884 435.731.0104 • LOCALLY OWNED • GRAND OPENING I Park City's Drop-in Childcare F«Mf •FFI Ejdecatf eita! Special Activities All Week Long March 28-April 5 THE ARK Quarry Village at the Jeremy Ranch exit 435.655.7205 Mon-Fri 8A-6P $8/Hr $6/Hr Siblings www.theQrkchildcQre.eom SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Around the same time the American West started heating up five years ago, Colorado started losing its lodgepole pine forests to a beetle infestation. "The population built up rapidly and exploded. It takes out the mature trees," said Ingrid Aguayo, an entomologist for the Colorado State Forest Service, which estimates that about 60 percent of the lodgepole pines have turned red and brown. "Now we're seeing a new carpet of forest coming up," she said. Scientists can't be certain global warming is to blame, but the evidence is damning. Now, a new calculation of government temperature data shows that over the past five years, average annual temperatures in the Colorado River basin - the heart of the West - have risen by 2.2 degrees, or about twice as fast as the global rate. The forthcoming report isfromthe Rocky Mountain Climate Organization, a coalition of local governments, businesses and others working to protect the climate. It says the West is heating up faster than any other region in the continental U.S. with more catastrophic wildfires among the consequences. 'it's already begun. We are already seeing the effects, and scientists are telling us it's going to get markedly worse," said Stephen Saunders, the organization's president in Louisville, Colo. The Natural Resources Defense Council funded and helped compile the 55-page report. Climate change researchers are hesitant to ascribe a single cause for the wanning, but they agree it's happening. "By and large, there is a very detectable warming in this region," said Martin Hoerling, a meteorologist at the NOAA-funded Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo. His own research suggests the West could heat up a lot more, possibly by 5 degrees by the midpoint of the century, depending on the level of greenhouse-gas emissions. The report, "Hotter and Drier The West's Changed Climate," crunched numbers kept by NOAA's Western Regional Climate Center in Reno, Nev. "That sounds about right," the center's acting director, Kelly T. Redmond, said. "It's been warming in this region for the past 35 years, after a cool period in the 1970s. We've been decidedly above average. You could put an exclamation on it," he said. Redmond has made calculations similar to the report's 2.2-degree rise., which has meant fewer subzero nights to control the population of mountain pine beetles devastating Colorado's lodgepole pines. At first, he said, "I didn't know whether to trust these numbers or not." They came from a network of about 2,000 thermometers across the West - from airports to weather hobbyists' backyards - recording lows and highs since the late 1800s. But other recent patterns - earlier snowmelt in spring, earlier lilac and honeysuckle blooms - convinced Redmond the recordings were accurate. "In 100 years, this is the largest change we've seen, so it catches your attention," he said. "We can't definitely attribute it to human causes, but my suspicion is at least part of it is due to climate change." The West also is in the grip of a decade-long drought, which tends to raise temperatures, said Hoerling, who likewise is hesitant to attribute the wanning of the West solely on carbon emissions. He believes cyclical changes in sea-surface temperatures also are to blame. The consequences, though, are plain to see. In Yellowstone National Park, aerial photographs show vast orangeneedled forests of whitebark pine that were greenjust three years ago.Yellowstone grizzly bears depend heavily on the fatty seeds of the whitebark pine for food. Colorado's signature aspen stands also are drying up, leaving them vulnerable to fungus. The Rocky Mountain snowpacks that melt earlier in spring leave less water for summer irrigation and heat up trout streams. Glaciers, which provide consistent stream flows during summer, are melting. The glaciers at Montana's Glacier National Park could meJt entirely by 2022, U.S. Geological Survey researchers have calculated. Montana, Idaho and Wyoming had • their hottest Julys on record last summer, while Phoenix had 47 days of 109 degrees oi hotter, according to the National Weather Service. Powell and Mead reservoirs, meanwhile, are half-empty. The reservoirs collect water from the Colorado River, supplying much of the booming Southwest. If they keep drying up, it coutd shred the Colorado River Compact of 1922, an agreement that allocates fixed amounts of water among seven states. The upper basin states have the water, but lower basin states including California have senior waterrights-'a crisis in the making, said Bradley H. Udall, director of the Western Water Assessment Cooperative at the University of Colorado. 'There's an old saying, T d rather be upstream with a shovel and a ditdh that downstream with a decree,'"' he said. Ambulance data helps patients The Utah Department of Health (UDOH), Bureau of Emergency Medical Services (EMS), has been honored for being among the first 10 states to provide ambulance statistics to the National EMS Database. "Improving patient care and health outcomes are and will continue to be a focus of the Utah Department of Health," said Paul R. Patrick, Director of EMS and the Public Health and Hospital Preparedness Program. "There are important benefits in sharing our data with the National EMS Database System. With the valuable- information provided to us from the collection of other states' ambulance data, we'll be able to evaluate our patient care systems full-circle, and make the necessary improvements to strengthen our emergency services, ambulance transports, and hospital care." Using ambulance data, EMS providers can evaluate the effectiveness of their medications and treatment protocols. Traffic accidents are the leading cause of EMS calls in Utah and EMS responders can use data to identify the best practices for treating accident victims. Sixty percent of Utah EMS providers transmit their ambulance data to the Bureau of EMS, in compliance with Utah administrative rule. The Bureau of EMS then strips private information from the data and submits it to the National EMS Database, where it is combined with ambulance statistics > from other states. "We are much stronger as one voice than we will ever be as many different ones," said Dr. Ed Racht of Austin-Travis EMS of Texas. . "This represents a significant effort made by the Bureau of EMS and local EMS providers across Utah," said Dr. Gay Mann of tlje National EMS Information System Technical Assistance Center (NEMSISTAC). Further information about the National EMS Information System is available at www.nemsis.org. Submitted by Charla Haley, Public- Information Specialist for Utah Department of Health. ^S i See this property on PARK CITY TELEVISION'S HOUSE AND HOME !?ifciV"i~S:*/i!--""" ' 1 -.*'. '-' '':Y- • * ^ & & •fe^-i m -X-r-^-;-.i, llSPlK v-"^•'jiji'J&iS^s ng sk. property is located on L7 acres, has breathtakin; ^^f!f!tt!S^ i1UhU c "i / ,. , , n i_- r ^ . m i o i vitf.hr*n ticn master suite; y 11/2 bathrooms, private theatre, ai Si back, relax and enjoy your home after a day of skiing, golfing orjust horsing around. You have more then enough room for family and friends to enjoy the comforts o f this wonderful home Walking distance to Bus Route, Deer Valley Ski Resort, Summer Concerts and many more activities! r y0UT $4,495,000 UNFORGETTABLE MEMORIES BEGEV WITH AN EXTRAORDINARy VIEW $2,495,000 \t' l"?f.?EWS •--•••>* •'fi££ s>^^r '»$m MOOSE KNOLL This beautiful, secluded home is situated on n acres in Goshawk Ranch. Tnis family retreat boasts both privacy and panoramic mountain views. 6 Bedrooms. 7 Bathrooms, 5 fireplaces, Gourmet Knchcn. Fitness room with pool and more! Call today to see this home! $3,730,000 yOXJH DREAM HOME ON THE RANGE! Breathtaking Wasatch Back Views demand your attention on this beautiful 4a acre Homesite on private road off desirable Old Ranch Road. This fenced property adjoins protected Swiner Pre,'c and is the perfect spot for your very own Dream Home on the Range A must see to capture serve the true beauty of the property. Call today to walk your new homesite. $1,273,000 To view these properties aad for access to die.Patk.City JylLS, visit Ww:Wmsteadparkcity;com •• -," ^ : ^ > t # f e ^ ^ ^ ^ # / # ^ : Saddlcvicw Office Cell: 435-640-1900 Fax: 435-214-Q283 ww.winsteadpafkcicy.com william@winsteadparkcity.com 2200 Park AvcSuUding B, Parfc City, Utah 84060 Prudential I Utah Real Estate ^ omca independento^med a n d Opened RACHEL D E W I T T REALTOR* Cell-4=iS *)m 9907 Offlrp 4 ^ to 435-21^0283 ^ l i\ |