Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Improving Air Quality
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An increase in the global average temperature has the most direct negative impacts on people in places around the world where the temperature
is already above the typical temperatures for human comfort. Places such
as deserts, which are already a challenging human environment, have the
potential for local outdoor temperatures that exceed human tolerance levels
and start killing through heatstroke. Recall also that climate change will tend
to increase humidity, which interacts with temperature to create even greater
risks (Coffel et al., 2018). There are already areas in the world where summer
heat can be deadly, and even higher temperatures and higher humidity due
to climate change will impact the health of humans, pets, livestock, and other
living creatures in those places.
Sea level rise is reducing the amount of land that is available for productive
use. Flooding is also becoming a greater problem due to more substantial
rainfall events because of climate change that result in larger floods. To understand the breadth of the impacts from sea level rise and flooding events, consider just one problematic area. In and around Houston, Texas there were
major rainfall events with significant flooding on Memorial Day in 2015, in
April 2016, and with Hurricane Harvey in 2017 (Kimmelman, 2017). Each of
these three events was expected to occur only once in every 500 years prior
to climate change. After these flooding events, some people decided to move
to higher ground, and others have moved because of incentives to relocate.
The total estimated recovery cost for Hurricane Harvey alone is $81 billion
(Kimmelman, 2017). Houston is not alone. In just the United States there
have been similar situations all along the Gulf of Mexico, across Florida, and
running up the East Coast.
These repeated and severe floods reduce the desirability to build on
lower land sites. In Houston, there is an effort to respond to the very large
rainfall associated with Hurricane Harvey by improving the infrastructure for run- off and not rebuilding on some lower elevation sites. When
a large number of homes are destroyed by weather events, some people
migrate to other communities where housing is available. Although
the climate change- induced sea level rise is presently still small, it has
already begun to show up in the prices of coastal properties in anticipation of expected future changes (Keenen et al., 2018). Keenen et al. found
that the perceptions of flood risk due to climate change are impacting real
estate prices in Florida, with the greatest impact happening for the lowest
elevations – coastal properties that are most likely to be impacted negatively by future sea level rise.
Climate change has impacts on water supplies which affect quality of life
and public health. There are many places in the world where snow in the
mountains is an important source of water for the next spring and summer.
When the precipitation comes as rain, this changes the dynamics and impacts
water supplies. Climate change is impacting temperature and precipitation,
which has effects that change water supplies in many locations. Sea level
rise may have impacts on coastal water supplies because of salt water in
14
14
An increase in the global average temperature has the most direct negative impacts on people in places around the world where the temperature
is already above the typical temperatures for human comfort. Places such
as deserts, which are already a challenging human environment, have the
potential for local outdoor temperatures that exceed human tolerance levels
and start killing through heatstroke. Recall also that climate change will tend
to increase humidity, which interacts with temperature to create even greater
risks (Coffel et al., 2018). There are already areas in the world where summer
heat can be deadly, and even higher temperatures and higher humidity due
to climate change will impact the health of humans, pets, livestock, and other
living creatures in those places.
Sea level rise is reducing the amount of land that is available for productive
use. Flooding is also becoming a greater problem due to more substantial
rainfall events because of climate change that result in larger floods. To understand the breadth of the impacts from sea level rise and flooding events, consider just one problematic area. In and around Houston, Texas there were
major rainfall events with significant flooding on Memorial Day in 2015, in
April 2016, and with Hurricane Harvey in 2017 (Kimmelman, 2017). Each of
these three events was expected to occur only once in every 500 years prior
to climate change. After these flooding events, some people decided to move
to higher ground, and others have moved because of incentives to relocate.
The total estimated recovery cost for Hurricane Harvey alone is $81 billion
(Kimmelman, 2017). Houston is not alone. In just the United States there
have been similar situations all along the Gulf of Mexico, across Florida, and
running up the East Coast.
These repeated and severe floods reduce the desirability to build on
lower land sites. In Houston, there is an effort to respond to the very large
rainfall associated with Hurricane Harvey by improving the infrastructure for run- off and not rebuilding on some lower elevation sites. When
a large number of homes are destroyed by weather events, some people
migrate to other communities where housing is available. Although
the climate change- induced sea level rise is presently still small, it has
already begun to show up in the prices of coastal properties in anticipation of expected future changes (Keenen et al., 2018). Keenen et al. found
that the perceptions of flood risk due to climate change are impacting real
estate prices in Florida, with the greatest impact happening for the lowest
elevations – coastal properties that are most likely to be impacted negatively by future sea level rise.
Climate change has impacts on water supplies which affect quality of life
and public health. There are many places in the world where snow in the
mountains is an important source of water for the next spring and summer.
When the precipitation comes as rain, this changes the dynamics and impacts
water supplies. Climate change is impacting temperature and precipitation,
which has effects that change water supplies in many locations. Sea level
rise may have impacts on coastal water supplies because of salt water in