Climate change spares no region
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
By: Kerry Grens
kgrens@whyy.org
Climate change will spare no area of the country. That's the message from the federal government's latest report on global warming that breaks down the impact by region. Here's what scientists expect to happen. (Photo: Flickr/Mr. T in DC)
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Here in the northeast, the maple syrup and ski industries will have to seek colder weather up north by the end of the century. Floods and poor air quality will also become more common. Penn State professor Mike Mann says Pennsylvania's four seasons have protected residents from some of the problems associated with warm climates. But he says much of the temperature rise will occur during winter.
Mann: That makes us then potentially susceptible to the sorts of pests and infectious disease and other afflictions that they have to deal with further to the south.
Flooding is another concern, along with rising sea levels, which will increase the salinity of the Delaware Bay. Danielle Kreeger is the science director for the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary.
Kreeger: That's a factor not just for plants and animals that rely on the balance of salt and freshwater, but it's also a factor for Philadelphia for drinking water because the drinking water intakes are in that freshwater zone of the river.
Scientists expect winters in Pennsylvania to resemble Virginia or North Carolina if greenhouse gas emissions do not abate. The effects of climate change will be magnified in cities. The government's report predicts that by the end of the century, about 30 days each year will reach 100 degrees. This is the worst case scenario, based on assumptions that there will be no change in greenhouse gas emissions.
