Low Rainfall Prompts Drought in California Mountains.

Conservation Scientist Predicts Early and Long Fire Season for 2007

LOS ANGELES -- Despite the recent two inches of rain across Southern California in mid-April, the increasingly dry weather is expected to trigger what will be an early and long fire season for 2007 in the Los Angeles area, according to Dr. Reese Halter, award-winning conservation scientist and author of Wild Weather - The Truth Behind Global Warming.

"As we move into the summer months, low rainfall in the Colorado River Basin, Sierras and Southern California Mountains have surrounding areas bone dry and extremely stressed, leaving the landscape like a sitting duck and ripe for wildfires," said Dr. Reese Halter. "The projected drought across the Los Angeles basin fuels the chance of wildfire and with rising temperatures and strong winds, this is a very real threat," he added.

With just under three and a half inches of rain since last July, Southern California is on course to eclipse the driest yearly rainfall ever recorded in more than 100 years and wildfire occurrence is at an all-time high. Although the global amount of rainfall is expected to increase as warmer temperatures lead to more evaporation of water from the sea, Dr. Halter predicts the same warmth will also dry out the land causing droughts to occur at a higher intensity.

The fire season has already begun with fury this year. "We've already seen an example of this with the recent Las Flores fire that blackened 4,100 acres in San Bernardino County, an area that is becoming increasingly dry without the Los Angeles basin's normal yearly precipitation of more than 15 inches," Dr. Halter added.

A forest biology scientist and founder of Global Forest Science, a non-profit research organization dedicated to short circuiting ecological disasters of Earth's fragile ecosystems, Dr. Halter studies how ecosystems are reacting to global warming and rising levels of CO2. Warm, dry weather directly affects our forests by melting snow packs earlier, drying the forest out and exposing it to a much longer fire season. Many of the southwestern forests, including most of Southern California's forests, are tinder dry. Dr. Halter believes this is a great concern since forests should not be this stressed at the beginning of the fire season, which commonly lasts well into November.

Human-induced climate change has become widely acknowledged and Dr. Halter recommends that citizens become more informed on the effects of global warming and take the necessary steps needed for protecting our environment. His latest book, Wild Weather - The Truth Behind Global Warming is available in select bookstores across North America, or online through www.Amazon.com or www.DrReese.com for $9.95.

About Dr. Reese Halter

Dr. Reese Halter is an award-winning conservation scientist, best-selling children's author, syndicated science writer, host of the PBS nature series "Dr. Reese's Planet," and professor of botany at Humboldt State University. As founder and president of Global Forest Science, a non-profit international forest biology research institute, Dr. Halter works with a team of 140 scientists to bypass ecological disasters and identify and protect fragile ecosystems. With offices located in Rancho Mirage and San Francisco, California, Global Forest Science is a world leader in science-based conservation that works to protect the environment and encourages children to embrace conservation, science and learning. For more information, visit Dr. Halter's Web site at www.DrReese.com or www.GlobalForestScience.org.