By Carol Davidek-Waller
November 10, 2006
We can expect more of this week's deluge of rain Seattle's near record rainfall is no surprise to students of global warming.
Those who heard former Vice President Al Gore's expert presentation recently at KeyArena learned that higher temperatures increase evaporation and result in the sort of deluge we have experienced this week. We can expect a lot more of the same.
Flooding of the sort we are experiencing this week usually occurs in the spring when heavy rain is coupled with rising temperatures and a rapidly melting snow pack.
Flooding at this time of year is unusual.
Unwise and indiscriminate logging, especially at higher elevations where reforestation is slow or fails to occur, has made river systems more vulnerable to downstream flooding.
Washingtonians need to wise up and support measures that cut down on greenhouse gasses.
We need to encourage the use of alternative fuels by government and industry and make better personal choices.
We must support only sustainable logging practices that leave enough vegetation in place to absorb rainfall, protect riparian zones and prevent rapid melting of the snow pack or we're going to be up the creek for the foreseeable future.