🚀 go-pugleaf

whats the epa been doing to target this area since its most affected so 
often from pollution and globla warming? NADA much that would change the 
horrible predictions. Some Protection rigth? -----Its already a tale of two 
cities between west and east coast. ..
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Report predicts environmental disaster for US Northeast

Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit

World Socialist Web Site - Jul 19, 2007
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jul2007/clim-j19.shtml

Report predicts environmental disaster for US Northeast

By Alan Whyte

A two-year study published this month entitled Confronting Climate
Change in the U.S. Northeast analyzes the impact of global warming on
the environment and the threat it poses to human survival in the
northeastern US states along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.

The report issued by the Northeast Climate Impacts Assessment was
conducted in collaboration with the Union of Concerned Scientists and
involved no less than 100 scientists and technical experts in such
fields as geology, atmospheric and oceanic research, biology, the
forest service, agriculture and economics. The study can be found at:
www.ucsusa.org.

The authors refer to a report published earlier this year in which the
worlds leading climatologists, working through the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change, concluded that the burning of fossil fuels, as
well as other human activities, such as deforestation, were responsible
for an increase in the earths temperatures over the last half century
to the highest point in more than 650,000 years.

By focusing on the Northeast"where 57 million people or about one fifth
of all Americans live"the study revealed the consequences of climate
change on densely populated areas. In this regard the report is a
development of the findings of a 1999 study done by the advocacy group
Environmental Defense Fund, which projected environmental changes for
New York City in the next 100 years. (See Hot nights in the city: New
York Citys environmental future).

Since 1970, the Northeast has experienced increasing temperatures of
0.5 degrees Fahrenheit per decade, with the rate of increase even
higher in the winter with an increase of 1.3 degrees per decade. The
study projects two scenarios"one in which fossil fuel emissions
increase and another where they are reduced. The authors have concluded
that due to the damage that has already been done, temperatures will
rise 2.5F to 4F in the winter and 1.5F to 3.5F in the summer over the
next few decades, irrespective of what measures are taken to improve
the situation.

If nothing is done the next number of decades could see winter
temperatures rise by 8F to 12F and summer temperatures jump 6F to 14F.
In many states, the winter snow season will be cut in half. Summers
will start three weeks earlier and end three weeks later. Also, during
the summer, cities that now experience a few days over a 100F, will be
experiencing 20 to 30 such days. This would increase the number of
people suffering and dying from heat exhaustion, especially the most
vulnerable such as the sick and elderly.

Droughts lasting one to three months could occur as frequently as once
each summer in some areas, threatening the water supply. People in the
hotter summer days will experience greater thirst. The decline in the
water supply, combined with an increased need from rising temperatures,
poses a dire threat to human survival.

In addition, the global sea level is projected to increase by one to
two feet. Some parts of the Northeast would be subject to coastline
erosion not only because of the rise in sea level, but also because of
the impact of waves produced by storms. In addition, there will be an
increase in the frequency and intensity of damaging rainstorms
throughout the entire Northeast.

Extreme coastal flooding"which in the past occurred once every century
in New York City"is predicted to happen once every decade. Water would
flow into the citys subway system making the movement of trains
impossible. It is projected that Atlantic City, New Jersey and Boston
will experience coastal flooding once every year or two instead of once
a century.

The ozone level will also increase. For Philadelphia, which now ranks
tenth in the country for cities failing to meet federal air quality
standards, it is projected that the number of such days the citys
inhabitants would experience such intolerable breathing conditions will
quadruple.

Generally speaking, there will be an increase in air pollution, which
would produce a greater frequency of cardiovascular and respiratory
diseases such as asthma. The combination of growing temperatures and
heavy rainstorms will increase pollen-based allergies and increase the
prevalence of mosquitoes, ticks and bacteria that cause such illnesses
such as the West Nile virus and Lyme disease.

The rise in ocean temperatures will play havoc on the fishing industry.
In addition to creating an earlier migration of Atlantic salmon, cod
and lobster are expected to entirely disappear from their traditional
habitats off the coast of Long Island and Rhode Island and move
northward in search of cooler waters. This may increase the number of
lobsters in the most northern state of Maine, but it may also have the
opposite effect if lobsters become more susceptible to lobster shell
disease.

Global warming will also threaten the current ecological dynamic of the
forests. It is expected that some species of trees, such as the Maple,
Beech and Birch, will not survive in their current locations, and the
pulp and paper industry, a key source of income in the state of Maine,
will be seriously undermined. Connected with the danger to the trees is
the threat to associated animal life such as the Snowshoe Hare and the
Canada Lynx. The population of migratory songbirds, such as the song
sparrow and the Baltimore oriole, are expected to decline.

It is also expected that parts of some states such as Massachusetts,
New Jersey, and Pennsylvania will become unsuitable for growing popular
varieties of apples, blueberries and cranberries. The greater heat will
disturb cows, reducing milk production by at least 15 percent in some
areas.

Global warming that will reduce snow pack and snow density will also
threaten the winter tourist and leisure industry, threatening not only
skiing but also snowmobiling, which is even more vulnerable because it
cannot utilize machine-made snow. By the end of the century only
western Maine will have a viable ski industry under the higher
emissions projections.

The report calls for more efficient uses of existing energy supplies
and the utilization of renewable energies such as solar, wind and
geothermal power. Towards the very end of the document, the authors
conclude, The actions highlighted here for meeting the climate
challenge are consistent with and complementary to other widely shared
goals such as enhancing our energy and economic security, creating
jobs, producing cleaner air, and building a more sustainable economy.

While presenting a devastating picture of the human impact of global
warming, the report concludes with an appeal to the economic and
political powers-that-be to change course before they destroy the
planet. Such appeals, however, ignore the real economic and social
relations of modern capitalist society, in which every aspect of
life"including the very environment upon which continued human
existence depends"is subordinated to the enrichment of a financial
elite, including those that control the vast oil conglomerates, which
dominate energy production. The very survival of mankind, therefore,
depends on the reorganization of economic life on the basis of a far
more rational use of the worlds energy, technological and human
resources to meet the needs of society as a whole, not private profit.

                                *
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