by Peter N. Spotts
The Christian Science Monitor
Courtesy USA Today
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The tropics-the globe's most torrid climate belt-have widened during the past 27 years, expanding toward the poles by an average of about 140 miles [about 226 kms], according to researchers.
If the trend continues toward the end of the century, it would drive the rain-–bearing storms toward higher latitudes, depriving heavily populated southern Europe of much–needed winter rain and snow, and expand the world’s subtropical deserts, atmospheric scientists say.