A team of scientists said today in Des Moines that they foresee dramatic climate change in the next century. Susanne Moser works for the National Center on Atmospheric Research, and foresees heat waves and heavy rain, that’re not good for people OR crops. She predicts that by the year 2100, Iowa’s maximum daily temperature could rise by five to 14 degrees in winter, and as much as nine to 22 degrees hotter in summertime. Moser predicts climate change in Iowa could include heavier rain in winter and spring, but less in summer. That suggests to her that rivers would flood more frequently and waterlog the fields during planting time, but there wouldn’t be enough rain to grow the crop. To prevent such climate changes, the Union of Concerned Scientists is pushing for more investments in renewable energy. The group’s Steve Clemmer says Iowa is a great place to do that. While Iowa’s a leading producer of ethanol and windpower, he says it’s still barely tapped the amount of renewable energy it could produce, saying windpower could provide 22-times as much electricity as the state currently uses, but it now produces only 3-percent. Clemmer says investing in renewable energy would offer economic benefits for the state as it becomes energy independent and begins to export power to neighboring states. Clean-energy investments in Iowa could not only cut by more than half the emissions from coal-fired power plants, he says by the year 2020 it could create 12,500 new jobs and generate nearly a Billion dollars in new economic activity in the state. Clemmer says Iowa can’t prevent global climate change on its own, but can set a good example for other states.
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