GPD, not GDP

This post originally appeared Feb. 27, 2007, on my recently deleted blog, Faux-Pen Space:

Found this trolling around the news world today. We at Faux-Pen Space play golf (we stop short of saying we're golfers), and we know a study like this has all sorts of ripple effects, including the need to mow more (and put more pollutants from gas mowers into the air), the need to fertilize more (and put more pollutants into the ground) and the need to drive to the golf course (putting more pollutants from our cars into the air). It ain't just about golf, or the faux-pen spaces they take up:
Study Examines Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Golf IndustryANAHEIM, Calif., Feb. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — WeatherBill, Inc.published a study today at the National Golf Course Owners Association annual conference analyzing historical weather data to determine changes and trends in annual Golf Playable Days* (GPD). The study concludes that U.S. GPD are increasing in 95 cities, primarily due to higher average temperatures. The study also identifies increasingly rainy trends in the Northeast and Southeast, a drier Southwest and West and increasingly uncertain weather in 33 cities. The free study can be downloaded at http://www.weatherbill.com/golfstudy."The average number of Golf Playable Days across the U.S. is 268 a year," says David Friedberg, CEO of WeatherBill. "In the West and South, given the extended season, the average golf course can expect 297 playable days a year vs. the 226 days in the Northeast and Midwest." The study includes a reference table showing the range of GPD in 195 cities as well as the 30 year trend in both GPD and weather certainty. The guide should be a useful financial planning tool for golf course owners and managers."Warming temperature trends during January, February and March were the most impressive weather change we observed," says Friedberg. "Half the cities in our study showed significant increases in temperature, particularly in the Southeast and Southwest. Rainfall changes were more widespread across the year and across cities, with about 1/3 of the nation showing a change in rainfall trend in any given quarter. Raleigh, North Carolina, Miami, Florida and Portland, Oregon showed a very challenging combination of more rain and more variability, which makes revenue planning for the weather sensitive golf business more difficult."WeatherBill published this first of its kind study to create awareness that climate change is starting to have an impact on the business of golf. "Golf course owners and managers will find it more challenging to predict golf playable rounds, product demand, revenue flows and maintenance expenses in many cities. WeatherBill hopes to adequately address these issues by providing the first online service for protecting revenue and earnings from unpredictable weather," adds Friedberg. Golf businesses can also use the free tools on http://www.weatherbill.com/ to compare their financials to historical weather data for a more detailed understanding of how weather may affect their business.WeatherBill, Inc. (http://www.weatherbill.com/) provides the only online service that allows businesses to protect revenue and earnings from the impact of bad weather. Founded by David Friedberg and several other former key members of the Google team, WeatherBill, Inc. is funded by New EnterpriseAssociates and Index Ventures. WeatherBill, Inc. is headquartered in San Francisco, California.*Golf Playable Days are defined as the number of days that the max dailytemperature is between 45 degrees and 105 degrees F, and the precipitationlevel is less than 0.25 inches (i.e. dry and warm enough to play golf).