25 March 2008
Scientists agree: Las Vegas to become a vast lake
The Strip seen as a bass-fishing destination
LAS
VEGAS -- Scientists meeting here at the Twelfth Annual Conference on
Desert Climatology agree that it is
 only a matter of time until the
valley that is known for the famous Las Vegas Strip will become an
immense lake.
Dr. Victoria Teu, one of the most highly regarded researchers in the
field of desert climatology, told her colleagues here, "One of the fallouts of global warming will be an increase
in rainfall in the American southwestern deserts. This is due to
increases in both sea
surface area and sea surface temperature. The combined effect of these
increases
will cause the formation of more frequent and larger rain-carrying
clouds, which will consequently drop more rain as they pass over the
desert."
Most scientists agree that rainfall will increase from about four and
half inches per year to nearly 17 inches, while average humidity will
jump from an average of 11 percent to over 85 percent.
After a couple of decades, it is expected that the water table will return to where it was
in the 1940s, before Las Vegas became "Las Vegas."
According to Teu, "The water table will continue to rise, eventually
forming small ponds in the lowest lying areas of the valley. At the
current rate of global warming, I expect that a lake will begin
to appear in about 2037 and will fill at an average of 430 acre feet per
year until it has completely covered what is now the famous Las Vegas
Strip. If it is still standing at the time, only the top 65 feet of the
Stratosphere Tower will be above water."
At that point, the lake, which scientists are already calling Elvis
Lake, will begin flowing into the Colorado River near Boulder City.
In related news, Travel Fox has learned that foreign investors, under
the syndicate name "Las Vegas Lakefront Partners, LLC," have purchased a
strip of 1750 acres between the elevations of 2300 and 2400 feet near
Turtlehead Mountain.
Related Travel Fox scoops:
© 2008 Applied Psychology
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