Go Greener Tips

div class=image style=float: left; padding-right: 8pximg alt=impacts of climate change, NOAA report height=205 src=http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/climate411/climate411-635057605-1245259446.jpg?ym2qrbBDHP0q._WW width=250 //divpNOAA just released a href=http://www.globalchange.gov/publications/reports/scientific-assessments/us-impactsa terrific scientific report/a that explains, in plain English, the current and projected effects of climate change on the U.S. /ppThe nonpartisan report, prepared by the 13-agency U.S. Global Change Research Program, tells a grim but important story, clearly and with lots of powerful maps and charts. I encourage you to check it out to see how climate change will affect your area of the country./ppHere are some of the business-as-usual projections that my colleagues and I find most striking and disturbing:/ppstrongYou think August is hot now?/strong/ppBy the end of this century, we could be in for much more severe summers all across the country./pa href=http://l.yimg.com/a/feeds/us/grn/green_climate411/days-100-degrees.jpg title=Days Over 100 Degrees (NOAA)img align=right alt=Days Over 100 Degrees (NOAA) border=0 height=608 src=http://l.yimg.com/a/feeds/us/grn/green_climate411/days-100-degrees.jpg width=250 //aul type=discliIf you live in strongNew Hampshire/strong, summer could feel like it does today in North Carolina (p.107)./liliIf you live in strongMichigan/strong, brace yourself for summers that feel like today’s summers in Oklahoma (p 117)./liliAnd if you live in strongTexas/strong, you now experience 10 to 20 days a year over 100°F. By the last two decades of this century, look for 100 such days — that’s more than three months (p. 90)./liliIn 1995, strongChicago/strong suffered a heat wave that killed more than 700 people. Chicagoans could experience that kind of relentless heat up to three times a year (p. 117)./liliThe strongSouthwest/strong, including cities like Los Angeles and Phoenix, will face worse and more frequent droughts, as spring rains decline by as much as half, snow packs shrink and melt earlier, and water evaporates more rapidly (p. 129-130)./li/ulpstrongPeople who live on the coasts could be a lot closer to the shore/strong/ppSea level is projected to rise up to 3 to 4 feet. Here’s what that means for various parts of the country:/pul type=discliPortions of strongNew York City/strong and strongBoston/strong could be regularly flooded by storms and even high tides (p. 150)./liliOn the strongGulf/strongstrong Coast/strong, approximately 2,400 miles of roads and 250 miles of freight rails are likely to be permanently flooded (p. 62). This area is home to seven of the nation’s ten largest ports and much of our oil and gas industry./liliSome coastal freshwater sources will be strongcontaminated with saltwater/strong, meaning we can no longer use them for drinking water without expensive desalinization (p. 47)/li/ulpstrongYour grandchildren will miss out on local icons and specialties /strong/ppThe foods and activities that define different parts of the country are changing./pul type=discliSome strongwestern ski resorts/strong could face a 90 percent decrease in snow pack, making the country’s most iconic ski locations just shades of what they are today (p. 133)./liliThanksgiving might no longer include strongcranberries/strong produced in the Northeast’s cranberry bogs (p. 73)./liliIn the Northwest, strongsalmon/strong will be driven out of about one-third of their habitat. We could start to see the changes in the next ten years (p. 137)./li/ulpThis very thorough scientific report paints a bleak picture of what life will be like in this country if we let pollution continue at today’s rate. The report’s good news is that if we act now, we can avoid the most severe consequences. /ppBut the more sobering news is that even if we cut emissions aggressively, not everything in this report can be avoided. This is a first step toward understanding how to prepare for the coming changes./ppThe a href=http://blogs.edf.org/2009/05/21/new-momentum-to-pass-a-carbon-cap-in-2009/American Clean Energy and Security Act/a, which would take us off the business-as-usual path, will come in front of the U.S. House for a vote in a matter of days. This report gives our leaders yet another reason to do the right thing for our country’s future./p

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