Time Is Running Out For Our Planet Part 5

Outdoor recreation, tourist economies, and quality of life are reliant on benefits provided by our natural environment that will be degraded by the impacts of climate change in many ways.

 

Climate change poses risks to seasonal and outdoor economies in communities across the United States, including impacts on economies centered around coral reef-based recreation, winter recreation, and inland water-based recreation. In turn, this affects the well-being of the people who make their living supporting these economies, including rural, coastal, and indigenous communities. Projected increases in wildfire smoke events are expected to impair outdoor recreational activities and visibility in wilderness areas. Declines in snow and ice cover caused by warmer winter temperatures are expected to negatively impact the winter recreation industry in the Northwest, Northern Great Plains, and the Northeast. 

Some fish, birds, and mammals are expected to shift where they live as a result of climate change, with implications for hunting, fishing, and other wildlife-related activities. These and other climate-related impacts are expected to result in decreased tourism revenue in some places and, for some communities, loss of identity. While some new opportunities may emerge from these ecosystem changes, cultural identities and economic and recreational opportunities based around historical use of and interaction with species or natural resources in many areas are at risk. Proactive management strategies, such as the use of projected stream temperatures to set priorities for fish conservation, can help reduce disruptions to tourist economies and recreation. 

 

 

 

The report puts the most precise price tags to date on the cost to the United States economy of projected climate impacts and, in a word, it’s  FRIGHTENING:  over $141 billion from heat-related deaths, $118 billion from sea level rise and $32 billion from infrastructure damage by the end of the century, among others. The findings came a month after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of scientists convened by the United Nations, issued its most alarming and specific report to date about the severe economic and humanitarian crises that are expected to hit the world by 2040.

Outcomes depend on how swiftly and decisively the United States and other countries take immediate action to mitigate global warming. The authors put forth three main solutions: putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions, which usually means imposing taxes or fees on companies that release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; establishing strict and enforceable government regulations on how much greenhouse pollution can be emitted by any entity, be it a corporation or state, and spending public money on clean-energy research and development.

Average sea levels along the US coast have increased by around 9 inches since the early 20th century as the oceans have warmed and land ice has melted off. If emissions are not constrained, "many coastal communities will be transformed by the latter part of this century”.

Wildfires have burned at least 3 million acres in the US in all but three years from 2000 to 2016. "More frequent and larger wildfires, combined with increasing development at the wild-land-urban interface portend increasing risks to property and human life,” the report states.