Evening Temperatures Linked to Irrigation
From Times wire reports
Global warming from carbon dioxide emissions may not be to blame for rising nighttime temperatures in the San Joaquin Valley over the last 70 years, according to a study funded by the National Science Foundation.
John Christy, director of the Earth System Science Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, says rising valley temperatures may be caused by an overabundance of irrigated land increasing humidity in the air.
Nighttime temperatures in the study’s six-county region -- Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare -- have risen more than 4 degrees over seven decades, said Christy, a former Fresnan who is leading the three-year study.
