Site predicts 2100 to be warmer

This summer may have felt hot, but according to a new scientific Web site, temperatures in Indiana might rise as much as 10 degrees by 2100.

The Web site, www.climatewizard.org, used data compiled by a Nobel Prize-winning panel of climate experts to predict what future temperatures would look like across the United States.

“It basically shows projections of what Indiana could be like temperature-wise for the next 50 to 100 years,” said Chip Sutton, director of communications at the Nature Conservancy. “You can look at the projected temperatures anywhere in America, and soon you’ll be able to look anywhere in the world.”

The Nature Conservancy, an international nonprofit conservation organization, collaborated with the University of Washington and the University of Southern Mississippi State.

“There are lots of problems associated with climate change,” Sutton said. “Problems in the agriculture sector, health issues and greater storm events are all connected with climate change.”

James Randolph, a professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, cautions of the dangers that come with climate change.

“Four degrees would be serious,” Randolph said. “So if we had a 10-degree increase, it would be catastrophic.”

Not only does climate change affect the actual temperature, but it can also have an effect on the weather.

“We don’t know the answer for sure, but most meteorologists would argue that a warmer, wetter climate leads to more intense weather events,” Randolph said. “The intensity of Hurricane Katrina may have been a result of warmer ocean temperatures.”

Randolph said Indiana, a state well known for its farms, would be hit hard by a rise in temperature.

“Agriculture is very susceptible to extreme events, and although much of the agricultural technology is adaptable, extreme rain and drought would cause problems,” Randolph said.

For its part, the Nature Conservancy is hoping the climate wizard Web site will be able to clear up some of the mystery surrounding climate change.

“No one before now has been able to come up with specific predictions of temperatures,” said Karen Foerstel, associate director of policy and media at the Nature Conservancy. “Your average American doesn’t get the data, so this Web site is making it easier for them to understand climate change.”

Randolph said the threat of a 10-degree climate shift is scary, but he is not sure that it will be quite so extreme.

“It depends on the circulation models and climate projections,” he said. “But I hope we as the human species will not let that happen, because even two degrees would be devastating.”