Greenhouse pollution: Utah warming faster than anywhere else on Earth. The findings in particular note that:
• The average temperature during the past decade was higher
than observed during any other comparable period during the past
century and about 2 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the 100-year
average.
• The state is expected to warm more than the average for the
entire globe, bringing fewer frosts, longer growing seasons and more
heat waves.
• Greenhouse gas emissions at or above current levels will
result in a decline in mountain snowpack and the threat of severe and
prolonged droughts.
• Emissions in Utah amounted to nearly 80 million tons of
carbon dioxide in 2005, about 1 percent of the nation's total. Each
Utah resident contributes about 29 tons annually, slightly higher than
the national average of 27.5 tons.
• Gross carbon-dioxide emissions in Utah are rising at a
faster rate than the rest of the country. Statewide, emissions
increased 40 percent between 1990 and 2005, compared to 16 percent
nationwide.
• The main source of Utah's greenhouse gases is electricity
use (37 percent), followed by transportation (25 percent) and all
residential, commercial and industrial fossil fuel use combined (18
percent).
[From the Salt Lake Tribune]