U.S. Winds Are Dying Down, Study Suggests

Rock Port Missouri was the first town in the USA to be solely powered by the wind.

We all know the political winds surrounding what to do about global warming are fickle. But nobody planned for the newfound apparent fickleness in Mother Nature.

Wind across the United States seems to be weakening, a new study suggests. The idea is contrary to what computer models predict should happen as the planet warms, and more research is needed to determine what's cooking.

But "it's a very large effect," said study co-author Eugene Takle, a professor of atmospheric science at Iowa State University, according to AP.

We don't need to point this out, but let's do it anyway: What irony if the wind indeed dies down just as billions of dollars are being invested to harvest it in the effort to reduce the carbon emissions that contribute to global warming! Global investment in green energy quadrupled over the past four years and in 2008, wind got the most new money ($51.8 billion).

(Less ironic but still fun to point out: Wind knocked down a tree at the White House today that had stood for 70 years.)