My Dad grew up in Brooklyn back in the 40s and 50s. He remembers longer winters, actual seasons (not two week periods) called spring and fall with a few really hot days here and there in the summer. Nowadays we get a lot of snow within a couple days but remain snowless for most of the rest. It gets cold, but its not that bad overall as compared to winters past. On top of that the seasons stop and start at will and screw up the blooming of trees, or the trees just vanish from the local ecosystem. But if you think 2007 is bad, just imagine 2107.
From The New York Times:
“The Northeast can anticipate substantial — and often unwelcome or dangerous — changes during the rest of this century,” concluded the report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, which examined the impact of global warming on the region. “The very character of the Northeast is at stake.”
The report, which covers nine states, is the product of a two-year collaboration between the Union of Concerned Scientists, an advocacy group, and a team of several dozen independent scientists and economists.
Speaking at a news conference at the New York Botanical Garden, one of the authors of the report, James L. McCarthy, professor of biological oceanography at Harvard University and president-elect of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said there could be droughts every summer in the Catskill Mountains, which supply drinking water for 9 million New Yorkers. At the same time, there could be heavy downpours that could turn the city’s water more turbid and cause flooding.
Climate change means so many different things for the region. Flooding is one issue, which locally can submerge low-lying parts of the city and completely shut down the subway system. Floods from recent violent storms have knocked power out in the suburbs and caused millions in damage.
Agriculture is also at stake. Warmer weather will increase pests that destroy crops, decimate the world-famous apple crop without having a decent frost, drive Long Island lobsters out of the region completely and make dairy cows produce less milk in hot summer months. Those few hot days we experience now could turn into having an average of one month full of 100 degree days.
Sounds bad, eh? Well the good news is that we can do something about it. Start being a "tree-hugger" and use more energy-efficient lights and appliances. Go carbon-neutral. Choose mass-transit over a car. Make re-using and recycling a habit. Whatsa matter? Is machismo stopping you? Perhaps laziness or general apathy to the plight of the planet? It's time for everyone to get off their ass and do something, or else the Northeast that we love will become an entirely different place for our children.
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