West gets wetter and east gets drier - prediction

[MotherBear]

NZ's changing climate: west gets wetter, east gets drier
And everywhere gets warmer
By PAUL EASTON - The Dominion Post | Tuesday, 27 May 2008

New Zealand could get warmer by two degrees celsius over the next 80 years according to new data on the effects of climate change.

The Niwa study released today in Wellington says New Zealand is already experiencing climate change, with fewer frosts and retreating glaciers in the South Island.

By 2090 the west of the country is expected to get wetter, the east drier, and everywhere will get warmer.

Farmers in areas such as the North Island's east coast can expect more droughts, but other areas, for example Southland, could benefit from increased growing seasons.

From here .

[MonkeyControl]

I have to agree with their findings compared to the recollections of folk I've met who've worked and lived in the BOP for some time. Much drier in the summer, (and nobody could really argue about this summer), and warmer winters, particularly in inland areas such as Kawerau, Rotorua and Tokoroa. No complaints from me, but then I don't work in Agriculture!!

p.s. This is a New Zealand forum, but the spell checker still picked up Kawerau, Rotorua and Tokoroa, or is my spelling as bad as my pronunciation. xx

[MotherBear]

A bit more on the subject.

Niwa: Hotter, wetter, drier, frost-free climate
Page 1 of 2 ..... 5:00AM Wednesday May 28, 2008
By Craig Borley



Hot, dry Auckland summers, a wetter West Coast and plummeting frost-days await us if the latest climate change predictions come true.

The predictions were included in National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research's latest climate change report, released yesterday.

It uses new data and draws on far more climate models than the previous report in 2004. It bases the predictions on the mid-range of expected ongoing greenhouse gas emissions, and draws its predictions out to the end of this century.

It states an unusually warm year today could be classed as very cold by the end of the century.

The expected 2C rise across the country is likely to coincide with a predominantly westerly wind, bringing more rain to the west and leaving less for the east.

More here .