Research News:
Irrigation might no longer cool the world
LIVERMORE, Calif., Aug. 15 (UPI) -- A U.S. study suggested that while irrigation has masked some symptoms of global warming, it might not make much of a difference in the future.
Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and University of California-Merced said irrigation's influence on climate is often overlooked when studying the human effect on regional climate change.
"Globally we derive 40 percent of our food from irrigated regions, so we'd like to be able to model future climate changes in these regions," said Celine Bonfils, lead author of the study. But a study based on observations of temperature and irrigation trends has demonstrated irrigation-induced cooling in agricultural areas is slowing.

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.