Mountain Town News
Hot time in California
It was among the coolest years on record for the interior of the United States, but not so in California.
Temperatures last year averaged 61.5 degrees Fahrenheit in California—4.1 degrees hotter than the 20th century average, reports the San Jose Mercury News, citing a new report issued last week by federal scientists.
Three other Western states – Alaska, Arizona and Nevada – also experienced their hottest years since 1895, when modern instrumentation became widespread. And Anchorage, Alaska, didn’t have a single day in 2014 in which the temperature dropped below zero, the first time in 101 years of record keeping.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is expected to release new reports this week showing that 2014 was the warmest year ever recorded for the globe as a whole.
There’s widespread agreement among scientists that the burning of fossil fuels, putting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, explains most of this rise in the greenhouse heat. Jim Hansen, one of the most vocal of scientists in this regard, was at Lake Tahoe recently to speak.
“If you add C02 to the atmosphere, it’s like putting a blanket on the planet,” he explained.
The Lake Tahoe News reported that Hansen, former direct or the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, argues that the only way to solve the problem is to levy an across-the-board fee on carbon. He predicts that 70 percent of people would get a dividend back, in the form of reduced taxes, if a revenue-neutral carbon fee were levied.
In ski towns of Colorado, talk continues about how to advance local efforts. In Telluride, the town planning director, Michelle Haynes, produced a climate action plan. She triumphantly reported to the Telluride Town Council last week that the community is on track to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent by the end of 2015, five years ahead of a goal set in 2009.
This, it should be noted, is for the town government only, and it relies heavily on purchase of renewable energy certifications, a controversial financial instrument.
In Aspen, town officials are calculating their next steps. The city’s electricity utility is well on the way to being able to claim 100 percent renewables by year’s end. But city officials are also talking about creating resilience for increased heating. A report by the Aspen Global Change Institute, a non-profit, finds that the temperature in Aspen has increased during all seasons since 1940, although precipitation and snowfall have increased.
If emissions continue at current levels, Aspen’s temperatures could rise by as much as 2.9 degrees in the next 24 years and 9.7 degrees by the end of the century.
Still wild?
CRESTED BUTTE, Colo. – In his ruminations on the the local news, Crested Butte News editor Mark Reaman points out that many in his town would argue that Crested Butte has lost some of its charming weirdness.
“There are still flashes, but flashing now would likely get you arrested, whereas 30 years ago it might have gotten you married,” he says.
He reports that a filmmaker is in town to document Crested Butte’s transition from mining to ski town. “That included some weirdness. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with. Hopefully, it will be a little weird,” adds Reaman.
Crested Butte was the place where people used to take off their clothes to go skiing on the final day of ski season. If it happens now, it doesn’t get any ink.
