E. N. American Rivers North of 44' Showing Earlier Spring Rise - USGS

[hatrack]

Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have found evidence in eastern North America that the snow is melting and running off into rivers earlier than it did in the first half of the 20th century. According to a USGS study published in the most recent issue of Geophysical Research Letters, winter-spring flows in many rivers in the northern United States and Canada are occurring earlier by 5-10 days.

"We studied rural, unregulated rivers with more than 50 years of USGS and Environment Canada river flow data", explained Glenn Hodgkins, lead author and hydrologist at the USGS Maine Water Science Center. "Some 179 rivers in eastern North America met the criteria of our study with 147 in the United States from the Dakotas to New England and 32 in Canada from Manitoba to Newfoundland. These rivers are sensitive to changes in precipitation and temperature," added Robert Dudley, study co-author.

The scientists compared the dates by which half of the total volume of winter-spring runoff has flowed past a river gaging station in each year. Most rivers north of 44° north latitude—roughly from southern Minnesota and Michigan through northern New York and southern Maine—showed earlier winter-spring streamflows. In contrast, many stations south of this line in Iowa, southern Wisconsin, and northern Illinois had later streamflows. Changes in average monthly flows support these results—there are high percentages of rivers north of 44° north latitude with increases in January, February, and March streamflows and relatively high percentages of rivers with decreases in May and June.

In 2005, researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the USGS found earlier streamflow across large portions of western North America in rivers with significant snowmelt runoff.

The documented changes in the timing of winter-spring streamflows in eastern North America may be important to aquatic ecosystems but the impacts of these changes are not well understood. One possible impact may be on the survival rate of Atlantic salmon.

EDIT

http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1482

MODS - Press release, here in its entirety.

[jpak]

1. Yet another sign of global warming

Old Port brawling gets an early start

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/local/060403oldport.shtml

Portland police broke up a brawl involving a brother, a sister and about a dozen others just after midnight Saturday at the top of Union Street.

Less than an hour later they chased two men who had flashed a handgun and a knife during a fight outside Three Dollar Dewey's. The men knocked a passerby unconscious while running toward Wharf Street.

The two incidents capped a weekend that saw several fights and reports of weapons in the Old Port, the brick-and-cobblestone district that attracts most of the city's tourists.

The weekend brought warmth and big nighttime crowds for this early in the spring. To police officers who generally don't see these types of incidents until summer, it also brought concern about what's to come.

<more>

:evilgrin:

[Dead_Parrot]

4. That rings a bell...

A Highlanders defeat and balmy temperatures stirred up a drunken frenzy by hundreds of rugby fans in Dunedin last night.
...
Sergeant David Scott said the combination of the warm night and the rugby loss led to the trouble.

"If it's cold and raining people don't usually loiter around (after the game), they usually come out of the pub and get a taxi.

"But if it's warm and there are two groups of males – it all turns to custard."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3609218a11,00.html


Global warming? I'll need a six-pack and a length of two-by-four.

[jpak]

5. Global warming hooligans

Oh the Humanity....

:evilgrin:

[AX10]

2. Global warming is a reality.

[Odin2005]

3. Timely article, the Red River is flooding agian because of rapid melt.