Ethiopian Rain Dance Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia

From the AJC…Governor seeks divine intervention to get some rain

Apparently, when La Nina weather patterns don’t favor the Georgia Piedmont, our state government resorts to doing a 21st century rain dance. The Georgia gov will host a prayer service at the Capitol next week to pray for rain.

But don’t just show up on the Capitol lawn next Tuesday at 11:45a! Like any good photo op, this event is invitation only.

I just hope this counts as part of Sonny’s lunch hour and doesn’t take him away from finding real solutions to our water problems.

Update: The AP has picked up this story too. [hattip:Hit & Run - who's post title is "Where Church vs. State Goes to Die"]

Fresh Loaf quotes an article from The Economist about our drought crisis, which suggests that Al Gore’s global warming might be to blame for recent EXTREME weather. I did a little rummaging to see if experts support this theory.

NASA seems to agree.

“Continued global warming could have many damaging effects. It might harm plants and animals that live in the sea. It could also force animals and plants on land to move to new habitats. Weather patterns could change, causing flooding, drought, and an increase in damaging storms. Global warming could melt enough polar ice to raise the sea level. In certain parts of the world, human disease could spread, and crop yields could decline.”

So do environmental groups like the NDRC.

“Warmer temperatures could also increase the probability of drought. Greater evaporation, particularly during the summer and fall, could exacerbate drought conditions and increase the risk of wildfires.”

NOAA is a bit more reserved, but admits that extreme conditions are more prevalent in recent years.

“On a global scale there is little evidence of sustained trends in climate variability or extremes. This perhaps reflects inadequate data and a dearth of analyses. However, on regional scales, there is clear evidence of changes in variability or extremes.

In areas where a drought or excessive wetness usually accompanies an El Niño [does this also apply to La Nina?], these dry or wet spells have been more intense in recent years. Other than these areas, little evidence is available of changes in drought frequency or intensity.”

So, each one of these sources agrees that in an instance of global warming, drought would be one of many extreme weather symptoms attributed to it. Unfortunately, this acknowledgment does little to quell the never-ending debate over global warming’s existence.

Some will write off this drought as another isolated event that can’t be attributed to a broader pattern, while others will eagerly add it to the list of “recent evidence” that already includes the recent torrential rains in the Northeast and the 2005 Hurricane season. Though films like An Inconvenient Truth and comments from the G8 summit have recently had some impact on influencing public opinion on the subject, it is the “consequences” of these extreme conditions that are really beginning to change people’s minds.

Mud Pit Photo Courtesy of the New York Times

What happens when people begin to fear the imminent depletion of a natural resource? Fisticuffs! (of sorts)

While the Governor Sonny Perdue has framed his fight for water against endangered mussels and the Army Corps of Engineers, actual human beings that live downstream are starting to pointing out to Atlanta politicians that there are more than just clams that depend on the water that is released from Lake Lanier.

Alabama’s governor has written a letter in opposition to Perdue’s request to the President that would force the Army Corps of Engineers to stop releasing water from the lake. In it, Gov. Bob Riley points out that the water released from Lanier isn’t just used to cool off the endangered mussels downstream, but also more vital human creations, like nuclear power plants.

Valdosta is also enraged by Perdue’s Atlanta-centric request. A scathing editorial in the Sunday Valdosta Times blames poorly planned Atlanta development for the impending water crisis…

“Gov. Sonny Perdue’s temper tantrums against the Army Corps of Engineers, the state of Florida and anyone else associated with not giving into his demands continued through the weekend, with meetings at Lake Lanier and declaring northern Georgia a disaster area Saturday to further enforce what everyone else has long known — Atlanta is a greedy, poorly designed behomoth of a city incapable of hearing the word “no” and dealing with it. ”

Read the full editorial here.

Hat Tip: Fresh Loaf