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Late Breaking News |
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| Date: July 23, 1998 4:01 pm Contact: Environmental Defense Fund |
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Latest News Releases
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Analysis Shows Potential Impacts of Global Warming on Washington; Days Over 90 Degrees Could Increase From An Average Of 36 A Year To 60 Or More | ||
| WASHINGTON - July 23 - A recent analysis by the Environmental Defense
Fund (EDF) details the potential impacts of global warming on the Washington, DC area. The
analysis, Global Warming: Our Nation's Capital At Risk, examines how global warming and
sea level rise could increase the risk of flooding, disease, and heat stress in Washington
as well as threaten beaches in Ocean City, Maryland and the islands and ecosystem of the
Chesapeake Bay. The analysis is based in part on data developed by the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which operates under United Nations auspices and draws on
thousands of scientists worldwide to advise governments on the scientific consensus on
climate change. The IPCC projects that the Earth will warm by 2 to 6 degrees Fahrenheit,
and that sea levels will rise by one-half to three feet by the year 2100. "Washington currently averages about 36 days a year above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. While projections of temperature changes for any particular area include large uncertainties, our analysis showed that the Washington area would experience an average of 60 days per year above 90 degrees Fahrenheit given warming of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the IPCC's 'best estimate' scenario of the amount of global warming by the end of the next century. Another scenario, warming of 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit, produced as many as 87 days that hot. Such temperatures would put both young and elderly at risk. An additional health threat is the reemergence or increased incidence of mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and eastern equine encephalitis. Mosquito-control and other public health programs in the Washington area would have to be initiated or expanded to address the additional risks," said EDF scientist Dr. Janine Bloomfield. "For Washington, sea-level rise could increase the risk of flooding from the Potomac during large storms, threatening the Mall, Georgetown, and the Tidal Basin cherry trees. Some beaches in Ocean City as well as historic Chesapeake Bay island communities could be lost to the sea-level rise associated with global warming unless expensive adaptive strategies are vastly expanded. The existing populations of fish, bird and shellfish of the Chesapeake ecosystem may be decimated by the combination of sea level rise and warmer temperatures," said Bloomfield. The report can be found at http://www.edf.org/pubs/Reports/WashingtonGW/ on the World Wide Web. The Environmental Defense Fund, a leading, national, nonprofit organization, represents 300,000 members. EDF links science, economics, and law to create innovative, equitable, economically viable solutions to today's environmental problems. ### |
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