Climate Change Analysis Predicts Losses for South
Scientists and economists have put together a detailed new analysis of potential economic damage from climate change in the United States. The study, published in the journal “Science,” uses decades of data to make predictions down to the county level. One takeaway: Alabama and the rest of the South could suffer more than other parts of the country. Higher energy bills, crop failures, and heat strokes are just some of the factors that will hurt economies across the South, according to the study.
The University of California at Berkeley’s James Rising, who co-authored the report, says, “Alabama stands to lose about three times the national average in its income, and that’s mostly driven by big increases in death rates.”
That can include mortality from heatwaves and associated diseases and accidents. The study predicts climate-change-related deaths in Alabama will roughly double those from car accidents by the end of the century. It also forecasts that the wealth gap between North and South will widen.
“What we find is that climate change is going to exacerbate inequality,” says Rising, “both because the South is already hotter and poorer, and because the North is actually going to, in some areas, get benefits from milder winters.”
But in Alabama, addressing climate change is not a political priority.
John Christy, Alabama’s State Climatologist, explains to companies thinking about moving to Alabama how the local climate can work to their advantage. And he says the study is just wrong.
“Climate models just aren’t reliable in terms of telling us about what’s going on now and what’s going on in the future,” he says. “The evidence for a disastrously changing climate is pretty thin.”
One thing Christy and the study authors agree on is the need to be prepared for hot and extreme weather. James Rising says there are many ways to do that. “Cities can paint the tops of their buildings white. They can plant more green spaces, make sure that they have plenty of water and air conditioning. And farmers can make sure that they invest in irrigation,” he says.
Rising says the new study is meant to help businesses, government, and other institutions better assess climate risks and make “more rational policies … We’re not trying to describe some kind of catastrophe that’s going to at some point just ‘click on.’ Climate change is going to become progressively more and more damaging and going to impact more more people, and having in hand the kind of kind of understanding that lets you choose as a society how much you’re willing to lose can really help make for better policy making.”
The ‘Beyoncé Bowl’ halftime show was a massive hit for Netflix. The football was too
Netflix says more than 200 countries tuned into the "Beyoncé Bowl" and its two NFL games. We may just be starting to learn what that ultimately means for the future of television and sports media.
Bird flu has killed 20 big cats including cougars at a U.S. wildlife sanctuary
The sanctuary in Washington state said it was working with officials to determine the cause of the outbreak, which has killed over half of its cats in recent weeks.
Israel strikes Houthi targets in Yemen’s capital. WHO chief says he was nearby
A round of Israeli airstrikes targeted the Houthi rebel-held capital and multiple ports. The head of the World Health Organization said the bombardment occurred as he prepared to board a flight.
Public Radio’s Favorite Live Sessions of 2024
Watch in-studio videos from Rosanne Cash, Nathaniel Rateliff and more.
Giving a kidney to a stranger? Researchers call it ‘extraordinary altruism’
Only about 300 to 400 people a year give a kidney to someone they never met. It's an act of generosity so unusual, a neuroscientist studies the people who do this.
Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister from 2004 to 2014, has died
Singh was known as the father of economic reforms in India. He served as finance minister in the early 1990s, and his policies then set India on the path of economic liberalization and globalization.
