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NYT: As climate changes, southern states will suffer more than others

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
Full article here.

Study here.

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As the United States confronts global warming in the decades ahead, not all states will suffer equally. Maine may benefit from milder winters. Florida, by contrast, could face major losses, as deadly heat waves flare up in the summer and rising sea levels eat away at valuable coastal properties.

In a new study in the journal Science, researchers analyzed the economic harm that climate change could inflict on the United States in the coming century. They found that the impacts could prove highly unequal: states in the Northeast and West would fare relatively well, while parts of the Midwest and Southeast would be especially hard hit.

In all, the researchers estimate that the nation could face damages worth 0.7 percent of gross domestic product per year by the 2080s for every 1 degree Fahrenheit rise in global temperature. But that overall number obscures wide variations: The worst-hit counties — mainly in states that already have warm climates, like Arizona or Texas — could see losses worth 10 to 20 percent of G.D.P. or more if emissions continue to rise unchecked.

The greatest economic impact would come from a projected increase in heat wave deaths as temperatures soared, which is why states like Alabama and Georgia would face higher risks while the cooler Northeast would not. If communities do not take preventative measures, the projected increase in heat-related deaths by the end of this century would be roughly equivalent to the number of Americans killed annually in auto accidents.

Higher temperatures could also lead to steep increases in energy costs in parts of the country, as utilities may need to overbuild their grids to compensate for heavier air-conditioning use in hot months. Labor productivity in many regions is projected to suffer, especially for outdoor workers in sweltering summer heat. And higher sea levels along the coasts would make flooding from future hurricanes far more destructive.

Predicting the costs of climate change is a fraught task, one that has bedeviled researchers for years. They have to grapple with uncertainty involving population growth, future levels of greenhouse-gas emissions, the effect of those emissions on the Earth’s climate and the economic damage higher temperatures may cause.

Previous economic models have been relatively crude, focusing on broad global impacts. The new study, led by the Climate Impact Lab, a group of scientists, economists and computational experts, took advantage of a wealth of recent research on how high temperatures can cripple the economy. And the researchers harnessed advances in computing to scale global climate models down to individual counties in the United States.

“Past models had only looked at the United States as a single region,” said Robert E. Kopp, a climate scientist at Rutgers and a lead author of the study. “They missed this entire story of how climate change would create this large transfer of wealth between states.”
 

jchap

Member
The study overlooks the billions that will be spent on engineering projects to keep these places above water! Huge injections of cash! Economic boom.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
The study overlooks the billions that will be spent on engineering projects to keep these places above water! Huge injections of cash! Economic boom.

What are you talking about? There is no such thing as climate change so there is no need to waste that money!
 

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
The study overlooks the billions that will be spent on engineering projects to keep these places above water! Huge injections of cash! Economic boom.

Loss of coastline is only part of the impact, and certainly not one felt in the interior states shown on the map. Drought and heat waves will render arid current crop lands, dry up fresh water supplies, and render some areas uninhabitable especially during summer.
 
What are you talking about? There is no such thing as climate change so there is no need to waste that money!

Man, God must be crying at the sinfulness of this country due to the brainwashing coming out of Hollywood from the liberal elitists! That must be why the ocean is rising!
 

8byte

Banned
This is our natural selection. The people voting against their preservation will be the first to suffer.

This is awful.
 
I feel bad for the large minority populations in those states. I'd imagine people will start moving closer and closer to Canada as the years go on?
 

Eegah

Member
"In all, the researchers estimate that the nation could face damages worth 0.7 percent of gross domestic product per year by the 2080s for every 1 degree Fahrenheit rise in global temperature."

Off topic, but what kind of science publication uses Fahrenheit? I guess they're just trying to make it more accessible to US readers, but man it looks weird.
 

riotous

Banned
"In all, the researchers estimate that the nation could face damages worth 0.7 percent of gross domestic product per year by the 2080s for every 1 degree Fahrenheit rise in global temperature."

Off topic, but what kind of science publication uses Fahrenheit? I guess they're just trying to make it more accessible to US readers, but man it looks weird.

The study uses Celsius; being that the article was for the New York Times they converted to Fahrenheit. They aren't a science publication and the study is about the US; so would be odd to report it in Celsius.
 
It's going to be straight-up unlivable in certain places. I'm not so worried about the temperature where I live, because we'll be under the ocean anyway.
 

jerry113

Banned
The saddest part is that our children will be the ones who suffer the brunt of climate change, not our generation itself. The sins of their parents...
 

tuxfool

Banned
To be fair, most people don't care about climate change. They care about their day to day lives. Humans are notoriously short term thinkers. We're just not great at this stuff.

Weird that most of the world cares. Or at least don't deny its existence when it is explained to them.
 

Snagret

Member
I feel bad for the large minority populations in those states. I'd imagine people will start moving closer and closer to Canada as the years go on?
Hopefully they are able to. The cost of relocating can be really high, especially if some of these states start becoming luxury living locations purely on the fact that they don't experience lethal temperature highs and droughts. Not to mention the butterfly effect that environmental chaos in the south will have on the rest of the country.

There's definitely nothing to celebrate here, especially not from a "haha fuck you conservatives" angle.
 

entremet

Member
Weird that most of the world cares....

They don't either. Many world leaders care, though!

Find me any election where the climate change was the deciding poll winner?

I'm pro-environment myself. We're just really bad at selling it. An estimated 7 million people per year die due to environmental degradation and pollution. That's a huge problem that we can solve right now and will have ripple effects to help abate climate change.
 

tuxfool

Banned
They don't either. Many world leaders care, though!

Find me any election where the climate change was the deciding poll winner?

I'm pro-environment myself. We're just really bad at selling it.

Lets just say "cares" means is worried enough not to descend into a dumb flurry of denialism.
 
The study overlooks the billions that will be spent on engineering projects to keep these places above water! Huge injections of cash! Economic boom.

A lot of cities across the globe did say they already had plans to combat rising sea levels.

It would be foolish for people to assume cities are just going to go under water without a major disasters. Example that land shelf collapse in Africa that nothing will prevent would do more damage than gradual climate change I would think.

Also if it gets hotter maybe we can start growing different crops further north now! New areas becoming tropical and others becoming better for traditional crop growing since those areas will have shorter winters. So many variables can occur.
 
The study overlooks the billions that will be spent on engineering projects to keep these places above water! Huge injections of cash! Economic boom.

don't worry all the details were ironed out during infrastructure week this administration had not too long ago

/s
 
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