Earth Equity News

Climate Change May Mean Slower Winds. By Michael Moyer, Scientific American, October 2009 Issue. "This summer scientists published the first study that comprehensively explored the effect of climate change on wind speeds in the U.S…Three decades' worth of data seemed to point to a future where global warming lowers wind speeds enough to handicap the nascent wind industry... The [Indiana University] study... found that in most of the U.S. wind speeds appear to be waning, in many locations by more than 1% a year… Although the conclusions are preliminary, global climate models suggest that in the Northern Hemisphere, storm tracks should migrate northward, bringing more gusty storms to higher latitudes. 'The northern part of the U.S. into Canada may see an increase' in peak wind speeds, Pryor says, 'whereas the southern regions may see a decline.'"