Tropical belt 'widens'
Source: InTheNews.co.uk ()
Tropical belt ‘widens’
Tuesday, 04 Dec 2007 15:18
The tropical belt is extending towards the poles at an unexpected rate.
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The effects of global warming are to becoming increasingly noticeable with a widening of the tropical belt, according to new research.
Climate change in the last 25 years has caused the tropical belt - generally thought to stretch from the Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn - to have expanded by between 140 and 330 miles, scientists have found, with the potential for dramatic changes in global temperatures.
Meteorologists typically define the tropical belt in terms of atmospheric changes and the long-term climate of the region, with the new study revealing an expansion of between two and 4.8 degrees latitude since 1979.
"The edges of the tropical belt are the outer boundaries of the subtropical dry zones, and their poleward shift could lead to fundamental shifts in ecosystems and in human settlements," the researchers write in the journal Nature Geoscience.
"Shifts in precipitation patterns would have obvious implications for agriculture and water resources, and could present serious hardships in marginal areas."
The report shows the ongoing growth of the tropical belt could see it eventually encompass the Mediterranean, the southwest of the US, southern Australia, South Africa and parts of South America.
Dian a research meteorologist with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and author of the study, …