Asheville Scientist Explains Economics of Global Warming
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We’re going to see Asheville’s Tom Karl mentioned more and more. Asheville can turn the corner and lead the way on reducing carbon emissions. By implementing energy efficiency standards in the UDO and helping homeowners pay for needed retrofits, Asheville can begin to live up to the environmental aspirations we have for it. These reforms will mean that Ashevillains can play their part in reducing the impact of carbon on our environment and our economy.
“By comparing impacts that are projected to result from higher versus lower emissions of heat-trapping gasses, our report underscores the importance and real economic value of reducing those emissions,†Tom Karl, a report co-chair and director of NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. , said in a statement. “It shows that the choices made now will have far-reaching consequences.â€
Here are some of the ways in which climate change will impact various business sectors:
• Insurance: The industry is particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts, such as damage to property, crops, infrastructure, loss of life, and supply chain disruptions from weather events. Weather-related losses have been steadily increasing, driving up the price of insurance and forcing some to rely on state-mandated insurance pools because premiums are no longer affordable.• Agriculture: Climate change will impact agriculture in good and bad ways. Some crops in California, for example, such as wine and table grapes, almonds, oranges, walnuts and avocados, could see production fall as much as 40 percent in a higher emissions scenario; the impacts in a lower emissions scenario, however, may be negligible. Livestock productivity will likely take a hit from more heat, disease and extreme weather. Warm weather crops such as sweet potato and okra may do well with a longer, hotter growing season. Others will suffer from rising temperatures, such as corn, wheat and rice. Too much or too little water also impacts crops.
• Energy: Warmer temperatures mean fewer heating days and more cooling days, leading to a net increase in energy demand. But power generation will also be impacted by water supplies in some regions; precipitation and river discharge will impact hydropower generation, while other types of energy, especially fossil fuel-based generation, require water for cooling. Sea level rise and extreme weather events also threaten energy infrastructure.
• Transportation: Airports and airlines may lose money from warmer temperatures and canceled flights. Hotter air is less dense and reduces airplanes’ lift, especially in regions with high altitudes, so planes will need higher take-off speeds and longer runways. Extreme weather and rising sea levels will impact the transportation infrastructure on which the U.S. economy depends, as well as cause delays in air, rail and road transport.
• Tourism and Recreation: Shorter snow seasons and end-of-season snowpacks that are between 40 percent and 90 percent smaller will impact ski resorts, forcing some to shut down. The winter snow season may be reduced to a few weeks in some regions of the Northeast. Hunting and fishing in some areas will decline as species migrate.
The Union of Concerned Scientists has compiled several fact sheets of the report’s findings, which contributed to this summary.
13 Comments
June 19th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Why do people like this always look crazy?!
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June 19th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Umm, because they aren’t trained to look telegenic when someone sitting at their feet snaps their picture with a cellphone camera while they’re trying to speak intelligently to a roomful of people?
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June 19th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Those crazy internationally renowned scientists leading a global effort to save the planet!
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June 19th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Yeah, nothing drives people crazy like trying to tell the truth when people don’t want to hear it. It’s even harder than it looks.
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June 19th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
I’d like to see a study on how many people who biked, walked and/or rode the bus during strive not to drive week are still doing so…
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June 19th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Dave,
You’re a climate change denier? Do tell.
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June 19th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Climatologists have long predicted that global warming would create extreme weather patterns. We had drought for the past two years and a severe storm yesterday. The drought compromised the root structure of trees and the intense storm yesterday knocked down many large trees in West Asheville at their roots causing widespread power outages. My power was out for over 24 hours.
The climate shift deniers will predictably say that, “no one could have anticipated this”.
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June 20th, 2009 at 1:06 am
What website, Dave?
You’re saying humans have no role in climate change despite pouring CO2 into the atmosphere since the dawn of the industrial revolution. Despite the thousands of peer reviewed scientists who have made it plain to all but the most stubborn, you’re clinging to the idea that humans can’t effect changes in the environment?
Make your argument if you have one. Please! And, if you can work it in, explain how it’s conservative to gamble with the future of our planet if you’re wrong.
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June 20th, 2009 at 8:29 am
You want the subject to be your fun petition? O.K., but let’s not pretend that talking about CO2, peer reviewed science, and the caprice of gambling with the planet’s future isn’t germane.
Here’s a great response to your petition.
I’ll excerpt a few bits for you:
Sounds very sciency!
41% with bachelor’s degrees making a decision on the future of our planet based on a 12-page brief from some climate change deniers? I’m sold!
Please, Dave. While I understand that there will always be a minority who will insist that climate change has nothing to do with human beings, I’m also aware that there will always be people who think TruckNutz are cool. I’m not going to take either group too seriously.
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June 20th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Dave,
Humane Letters is an honorary degree, the sort of thing you get for distinguished service in your field. So, no, that alone doesn’t qualify him, though it’s probably an indicator of his qualifications that he was chosen to receive such an honor.
On the other hand, I’m guessing that a PhD in meteorology qualifies one to talk about how predicted global warming will affect weather patterns.
Gordon, seven percent of the signers were DVM’s? Wow, that’s amazing. So there’s no consensus on global warming among veterinarians, apparently.
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June 20th, 2009 at 10:11 am
Dave,
I thought ‘the subject’ was the fun petition.
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June 20th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
TruckNutz?
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June 20th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
TruckNutz
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