Expanding tropics

In yet another indication that climate scientists got it wrong and the problem is worse than anticipated, National Geographic reports on a study from yesterday’s journal Nature Geoscience, that the tropics are visibly expanding faster than anticipated.  So it’s not just near the poles that things are worse than expected.

Over the past 25 years, the tropics have expanded by as much as 300 miles (500 kilometers) north and south—evidence of climate change in action, a new study says.

This not only means that rain-drenched regions near the Equator are growing, experts say, but also that global warming may be pushing deserts poleward in places such as the American Southwest, Mexico, Australia, South Africa, South America, and the Mediterranean.