The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a UN body charged with
assessing the scientific record on global warming, recently concluded
that the evidence that the climate is warming is "unequivocal."
This
warming has local, regional and global effects. The impacts of global
warming in Nevada are likely to include less available drinking water
due to increased evaporation and changing weather patterns; an increase
in heat waves and extreme high-temperature days resulting in an
increased risk of heat related illness and death; more fuel for
wildfires during hotter drier summers; and a decline in the number of
farmed acres and other adverse affects on Arizona's agricultural
economy.
In fact, average annual temperatures are rising in the Southwest. The result: smaller snowpacks, less drinking water, and a greater risk of spring flooding, summer droughts and wildfire.
Scientists say that we need to reduce global warming pollution 80 percent by 2050 to prevent the worst effects of climate change. But Nevada’s emissions are still on the rise.
The good news is that the solutions to reduce global warming pollution are at our fingertips: more energy efficient homes and businesses, cars that go farther on a gallon of gas, and renewable energy like wind, solar and biomass. Plus, these solutions will reduce our dependence on oil, save consumers money, create jobs, and reduce air pollution.
Environment Nevada is working to convince leaders here in Nevada and the federal government to reduce global warming pollution quickly enough and deeply enough to protect future generations. Read more.
President Bush and his political appointees took another backward step on global warming in December, when his EPA denied California and 12 other states the right to adopt clean car standards that we helped states pass to cut global warming pollution. Read more.
