Southwest to suffer most from global warming.

• Position: Life In America

"It is becoming clear that the Southwest is in the front line of ongoing climate change in the country, and the projections are for a much more serious set of problems if climate change isn't slowed dramatically," asserts Jonathan Overpeck, co-author of a report issued by the U.S. Global Change Research Program.

"The greatest warming and impacts on water supplies are projected to affect the Colorado River Basin with a bull's-eye on Arizona. We have as much at stake as any other state in the country," adds Overpeck, professor of geosciences and almospheric sciences and codirector of the Institute for Environment and Society at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

He points to warmer temperatures in recent decades as a factor in the decline of spring snowpack in the mountains and lower streamflows in the Colorado River. Another issue highlighted in the report is that scarcity will increase demand for water and likely generate conflicts over who gets a share.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Warmer, drier conditions also make the region more susceptible to wildfires and invasive species, which not only threaten property owners but biological diversity in several sensitive areas. Those conditions also tend to increase the dangers...