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PAGE 12A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. MAY 20. 2021
Country Kids
participates in
coloring contest
Children in one Country
Kids Pre-K class got artsy and
entered the Pickens Progress
coloring contest last week.
One of their students was this
week's winner and will receive
a free ice cream scoop from
Lollidrops Sweet Shoppe in
Jasper.
The students are pictured
with their coloring page.
(Standing L-R) - Ms. Brittany
Gill, Tavin Tarr, Levi Blalock,
Asher Siniard, Reid Jordan,
Nathan Morgan, Bryce
Thomas, Micah Watson, Bren-
don Bagwell, Rylee Ray, and
Ms. Jannett Duvall. (Seated L
- R) - Braelyn Nawrocki,
Della Tilton, Lawson Davis,
Jamie Hamrick, Edwin Kukla,
Derek Lo, Saydee Rodgers,
Jonathan Scroggins, Ike Low
ery, Liliana Barron, Noah Wat
son. Thank you for your
entries!
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Updated climate data shows rise in average temps across most of nation
Annual Mean Temperature Change
1991-2020 minus 1981-2010 ( 0 F)
Most of the U.S. was warmer, and the eastern two-thirds of the contiguous U.S. was
wetter, from 1991-2020 than the previous normals period, 1981-2010. With 20 years of
overlap between the current normals and the previous iteration (1991-2010), annual
changes between these two data sets were somewhat muted compared to trends over the
same period. Monthly and seasonal changes are more dynamic.
For example, the current normals for the northern-central U.S. are cooler in the spring,
while much of the Southeast is now warmer in October, cooler in November and warmer
again in December. Atmospheric circulation dynamics and surface feedbacks result in
substantial differences from month to month and region to region.
By Maria M. Lameiras
CAES News
Day-to-day swings in
temperature are an accepted
part of the weather in many
areas around the country.
However, when 30-year av
erages of daily temperature
fluctuations from thousands
of stations around the country
indicate a steady change in
average temperatures over
time, there are tangible impli
cations for agriculture, en
ergy consumption and many
other aspects of daily life.
The National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) released its new 30-
year average U.S. Climate
Normals for the 1991-2020
period on May 4, and nearly
all parts of the country saw
average temperatures in
crease. The only exception
was a small area of the north
central Great Plains, which
saw overall average temper
atures drop.
This is not surprising be
cause of the rising tempera
tures we are seeing in the
U.S. as well as the rest of the
world, said Pam Knox, agri
cultural climatologist with
University of Georgia Coop
erative Extension. Director of
the UGA Weather Network,
Knox administers the Cli
mate and Agriculture in the
Southeast blog for UGA Ex
tension and regularly reports
on weather patterns and
events that could impact the
state’s agricultural producers.
“Due to global warming
caused by increasing green
house gases in the atmos
phere, temperatures here in
the Southeast increased by
between 0.25 and 0.75 de
grees Fahrenheit,” according
to the climate normals, Knox
said. “The changes in precip
itation varied quite a bit
across the country. Generally,
the West got drier while the
East got wetter. Here in the
Southeast most areas got
wetter, with only a small area
of southeastern Georgia that
got slightly drier.”
The 30-year normals for
temperature, precipitation,
degree days and several other
variables are updated once
every ten years and now
cover the period from 1991
to 2020. The previous set of
normals was based on data
gathered between 1981 and
2010. NOAA National Cen
ters for Environmental Infor
mation (NCEI) generates the
official U.S. normals every
10 years according to the re
quirements of the World Me
teorological Organization
and National Weather Serv
ice.
This article from the
NCEI describes the process
of calculating the normals,
which are gathered from ob
servations at approximately
9,800 stations across the U.S.
operated by the National
Weather Service. An interac
tive map providing links to
individual stations is avail
able from the North Carolina
Institute for Climate Studies,
which is co-located with the
NCEI in Charlotte.
“When you are averaging
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so many things together and
you have a big change, that is
really indicative of the prob
lem,” said Knox. “When you
think about weather, a change
of 10 degrees from day to
day is a short-term variation
and may not seem like a big
deal. (NCEI) is averaging the
daily weather data at thou
sands of stations every year.”
By averaging data from
stations in so many different
areas, the data reduces errors
caused by individual stations
or localized temperature
anomalies.
“Urban heat islands, like
the one in Atlanta, are really
a very small part of the total
average. You can’t blame the
overall increases in tempera
ture on that. The majority of
these stations are not in cities,
they are in places like Brook
let, Georgia,” said Knox, re
ferring to the southeast
Georgia town of about 1,395
where one of the NCEI sta
tions is located.
While the changes in
overall average temperature
may not be readily de
tectable, the changes have a
cumulative impact on many
economically important
areas, she added.
“In some respects, it is not
going to affect people on a
daily basis, but it does affect
the cost of energy, the kind of
crops we grow, what it does
to the ecosystem and what
can survive — all things that
are economically really im
portant. It is changing and
getting warmer decade by
decade, and all of the things
scientists have been saying
about a warming climate are
really coming true.”
As an example, peach
trees in Georgia require a cer
tain number of cooling hours
over the winter to produce a
good crop each year. When
temperatures warm over a
long time period, the gradual
change can affect crop yields
and producer revenues. If
yields decrease significantly,
producers may have to
change the varieties they are
planting, something that can
cost thousands of dollars and
influence market availability
of certain crops.
“If you have to put a new
tree in the ground, there are a
lot of economic costs that go
along with that. It can also
make a big difference in food
prices and in the livelihoods
of farmers growing the
food,” Knox said. “A lot of
people are divorced from the
process of what farmers have
to do to get food to their ta
bles.”
More information on the
new climate normals is avail
able on the NCEI website. In
formation on the UGA
Weather Network can be
found at weather.uga.edu.
[Maria M. Lameiras is a
managing editor with the
University of Georgia Col
lege of Agricultural and En
vironmental Sciences.]
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CONGRATULATIONS
TO ONE OF OUR OWN.
We'd like to send our congratulations
to Stephen Brownell, the son of one of
our valued employees. All of your
friends and family at Community Bank
of Pickens County are very proud of
your achievements and wish you an
extremely bright future.
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MAIN OFFICE: 15 Sammy McGhee Blvd. • Jasper, GA 30143
COVE ROAD OFFICE: 65 Cove Road • Jasper, GA 30143
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