Report details global warming's impact on Indiana

[IndianaGreen]

Report details global warming's impact on Indiana

Indianapolis - A new report by a science advocacy group warns that global warming could bring scorching summers, more flooding and lower crop yields to Indiana in the coming decades.

The nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists says its report released Wednesday is the first peer-reviewed analysis of what unchecked greenhouse gas emissions could mean for Indiana.

The group's Midwest office director, Ron Burke, says Indiana could face scorching summers with up to a month of 100-degree days each summer by the end of the century. He says that heat, along with spring flooding and summer droughts, would damage Indiana's crop production.

The report comes two days before the U.S. House is scheduled to vote on a climate change bill that would set limits on greenhouse gas emissions.

http://www.wthr.com/global/story.asp?s=10591639

June 24, 2009

Unchecked Climate Change Would Result in More Heat Waves, More Flooding, and Reduced Crop Yields in Indiana, New Report Finds

The report finds that, under the higher, business-as-usual emissions scenario:

CLIMATE: Average summer temperatures in Indiana would be as much as 3 degrees Fahrenheit (°F) higher in the next several decades and as much as 13°F higher by the end of the century. Indianapolis would experience more than 80 days per summer with highs over 90 °F compared to about 20 days per summer currently, and almost a month of days per summer over 100°F compared to about two days per summer currently. Indianapolis also would face at least two heat waves per summer like the one that killed hundreds in Chicago in 1995.

AGRICULTURE: Crops and livestock would experience substantially more heat stress, depressing crop yields and livestock productivity. Warmer winters and a growing season up to six weeks longer would enable pests such as the corn earworm to expand their range. Crop production would be inhibited by changing rain patterns, ranging from wetter springs (which delay planting and increase flood risk) to almost 10 percent less rain during the increasingly hot summers.

EXTREME WEATHER: Heavy rains would become more common throughout the year, leading to a greater incidence of flash flooding. Winters and springs, when the flood risk is already high, would become 30 percent wetter.

HEALTH: Hotter weather causes more severe smog problems (assuming similar levels of tailpipe and smokestack emissions). This would have serious consequences for public health, including a greater incidence of asthma attacks and other respiratory conditions.

The UCS report on Indiana comes a week after the release of a comprehensive national report by 13 federal agencies (www.globalchange.gov). The U.S. government report reviewed the same higher and lower emissions scenarios and similarly found that we can make choices today that will enable the nation to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.

http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/climate-change-indiana-0254.html