Wires, Local Press, UK too: New York’s state climate watchdog agency says: Watch Out, NY!
If you too never heard of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, it has been around since 1975, created under Article 8, Title 9, of the state public authorities law, when the agency was formed via “reconstitution” of a forerunner whose name suggests it seriously needed update: the New York State Atomic and Space Development Authority.
Its first purpose was to reduce the state’s petroleum consumption. Its portfolio is now considerably broader. Yesterday it released a giant report on what the Empire State can expect from the weather and rising sea level (relative – the state’s shore is getting closer to the planet’s core, says here, compounding the ocean’s volumetric expansion) and it is not a pretty picture. Links to all that in Grist below.
Bigger storms including snowier winters no matter what global warming may evoke in the mind, a chance that sea water will be making regular full-flood visits to the platforms in the subways of NYCity, and so on. Oddly, the agency itself has no press release on this at its own site this morning; its most recent announcement trumpets a grant to a company for a study of Electric Trailer Infrastructure, whatever that is. It does post the report. But two of the subcontracting organizations whose professors and such did the real work – Columbia University’s Earth Institute and Cornell University – University of New York – boosted the news.
Stories:
- Buffalo News – Tom Precious: As global warming alters ecology, economy will change, report says ; Odd choice in hed, to say “alters ecology” as though this is mainly about coyotes, maple trees, and pond algae out beyond city limits. More people will sit up if it’s about snow days, blackouts from fallen trees, homelessness due to flood, and heat waves that go on and on. Story itself gets into all that.
- NYTimes – Leslie Kaufman: From Shore to Forest, Projecting Effects of Climate Change ; Some of the little things she (and a few other reporters) highlight. Such as that, if projections are correct, not a single variety of apple now grown iin NY will remain a viable crop.
- AP – Mary Esch: New York state must prepare for climate change now ;
- Guardian (UK) Suzanne Goldenberg: Major storms could submerge New York City in next decade ; Hmm, seems like just plain flood is better than submerge. It’ll only submerge it to the top of the basement steps – first floor, tops. Either way, the commute will be really slow.
Related News Analysis from the US Congress:
- Huff Post Green – Bill Chameides (Duke U. dean of enviro school): A Changing Climate About Climate Change in DC? ; Dems get three scientists to run a “briefing” on climate change, so-labeled because the GOP won’t let them call it a hearing. Nobody shows up from Congress except the two liberals who organized it. And Chameides, a panelist, has some choice words about co-panelist and semi-sceptic iconoclast physicist Rich Muller of UC Berkeley, whose highly publicized confirmation that global warming is real was delivered with, to many colleagues according to this reading, insufferable self-importance.
Tomorrow, more related news, one presumes, as IPCC tries to sort out how reliably it can forecast and assign responsibility for extreme weather events.
Grist for the Mill: Cornell University Press Release ; Columbia University Press Release ; NYSERDA ClimAID report page ; full pdf ;
- Charlie Petit
