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Las Vegas has gotten hotter mongabay.com July 25, 2007
A new study by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group reports that, as a state, Nevada has seen one of the largest increases in average temperature over the last three decades. Reno lead Nevada cities with last year's June through August temperatures 7 degrees about its 30-year average. The average temperature last summer for Las Vegas was 3.6 degrees above normal. "The scientific evidence of global warming is incontrovertible, and Nevada is feeling the heat more intensely than most of the rest of the U.S.," Stephen M. Rowland, Professor of Geology at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told the Associated Press. "Only a tiny bit of this increase in temperature can be attributed to increased urbanization the so-called urban heat-island effect. "Global warming is here, and we better get serious about confronting it."
Globally, 2006 was the fifth-warmest year in the past century, after 2005, 1998, 2002, and 2003 (in descending order by warmest year), according to NASA, though 2007 is currently on pace to eclipse it in terms of average temperature. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group urged Congress to pass legislation -- The Safe Climate Act in the House and the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act in the Senate -- to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "The heat is on Congress to take decisive action to curb global warming. To protect our environment, our economy, and future generations, we can't settle for less," said U.S. PIRG Federal Global Warming Program Director Emily Figdor. This article used quotes and information from the A.P. and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Comments? News options
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