Helena has the dubious honor of ranking high on the list of cities with the greatest above-normal temperatures in the past five years, according to a study released Thursday by the Montana Public Interest Research Group.

The national study reports that the average temperature in Helena is up 2.2 degrees since 2000, compared with the previous three decades, from 1971-2000. That puts Helena 16th -- and the only Montana city -- on the nation's top 30 list.

The Queen City also is eighth on the list of cities experiencing the warmest average year for the past five years, compared to the previous 30.

University of Montana Forestry Professor Steve Running says he doesn't know why Helena appears to be warming faster than other cities in Montana. However, he theorized that Helena's proximity to the mountains, and the early snowpack melt in recent years, may have something to do with it.

"I suspect that a lot of these trends are real sensitive to the snowpack and the snowpack duration," Running said.

The study puts Helena as eighth in the nation both for warmer than normal average temperatures for the first six months of the year, and for cities whose average minimum temperatures -- typically nighttime readings -- that were warmer than normal during the past five years, compared to the previous 30 years.

That means daytime temperatures averaged 5 degrees warmer for the first six months of this year than the same period for the past 30 years; and nighttime lows were 2.7 degrees warmer during the past five years than the preceding 30 years.

"One or 2 degrees above normal may not seem like much on any given day -- 70 degrees and 71 aren't very different -- but over the course of a period of time, that can have a serious impact," said Matt Loew, MontPIRG executive director. "For example, look at Glacier National Park; they expect the glaciers to be completely gone by 2030. They're one-third the size they were in 1850, and that's happened in a period of time when the daily temperature during the summer months increased by an average of only 1.8 degrees."

MONTANA'S NOT ALONE

Leow said the study shows that throughout the world, the 10 warmest years on record have happened since 1990. He adds that 2006 is continuing the trend, although it's not over yet.

"Global warming is happening, and Montanans are feeling the heat," Leow said on Thursday. "Temperatures will continue to rise unless we quickly and significantly reduce global warming pollution from power plants, cars, and SUVs."

The study cited by MontPIRG used information compiled by the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and contained weather information from 255 locations in 50 states.

In the continental United States, the first seven months of 2006 were the warmest January-July of any year on record. The average temperature was 55 degrees or 3 degrees greater the 20th century (1901-2000) average.

"The record temperatures of 2006 cannot be dismissed as an anomaly," Loew said, adding that 2005 is the warmest year ever recorded.

The city showing the highest jump in average temperatures in the past five years was Talkeetna, Alaska.

"Overall, we found that temperatures were above normal across the country, indicating pervasive warming," the study notes, with average temperatures during the past five years being above normal at 95 percent of the locations.

In addition, nights nationwide are getting warmer, with the average minimum nighttime low temperature above normal during the past five years at 92 percent of the locations reviewed.

Reno, Nev., placed first in having the highest minimum average temperature for the past five years. Nighttime temperatures also were particularly mild on average in the upper Midwest, with temperatures around 6 degrees above normal in Sioux Falls, S.D., in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Duluth, Minn., and Rochester, Minn.

Alaska experienced the most warming on average, with the small town of Talkeetna reporting average temperatures of 4.6 degrees above normal, and three other cities having average temperatures almost 3 degrees above normal. Other cities in the top 10 positions included Alamosa, Grand Junction and Colorado Springs in Colorado; Marquette and Sault Sainte Marie in Michigan; Helena; Reno; and Cheyenne, Wyo.

The report theorizes that the greater warming occurred at high elevations in part due to what's known as a "albedo (reflectivity) feedback loop." This phenomenon occurs when snow or ice, which typically reflects sunlight, melts to expose dark ground or water that instead absorbs the sunlight. The extra heat it gives off accelerates further snow and ice melt.

changes urged

The report recommends that the United States should set science-based limits on carbon dioxide and other global warming pollutants; to improve fossil fuel efficiency and an increase in the use of clean, renewable energy; and to push states to develop their own policies that go above and beyond the federal government commitments.

Those can seem daunting goals for individuals, and with Montana's small population, many people might think they don't n or can't n make much of a difference.

But Loew notes that per capita, Montana ranks eighth in the nation for carbon dioxide emissions, and the state also burns a lot of coal for export.

"We drive a lot, living in a big state. We think nothing of driving for three hours to visit a friend," Loew said. "A lot of our cars aren't fuel efficient, either; we drive trucks and SUV's instead of compact cars.

"On the positive side, there's a lot of ways to change."

He believes the public could make homes, cars and businesses more energy efficient, and adds that the use of biofuels would help.

"We can produce, right here in Montana, the fuel to run our vehicles and reduce our dependence on foreign oil," he said.

Earlier this year, Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont introduced legislation known as the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act (S. 3698), which strives to harness clean energy solutions and reduce U.S. global warming emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

"To protect future generations, MontPIRG strongly urges Montana Senators Baucus and Burns to co-sponsor the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, the long-term solution to global warming," Loew said.