Scientists have predicted that unless greenhouse gas emissions are substantially stemmed by the end of the century, climate change will become irreversible. Almost every action we take has an impact on the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. As a result, our climate change strategy is the sum of all the initiatives in PlaNYC. All of the plan’s strategies – from reducing the number of cars to building cleaner, more efficient power plants to addressing the inefficiencies of our buildings – will contribute to achieving our emissions reduction target. In addition we will embark on a long-term effort to develop a comprehensive climate change adaptation strategy, to prepare New York for the climate shifts that are already unavoidable.
Greenhouse gases are a key element of the Earth’s atmosphere
because they trap energy from the sun, creating a natural “greenhouse
effect.” “Without this effect, temperatures would be much lower
than they are now, and life as known today would not be possible.
This natural balance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,
however, is being disturbed by human or anthropogenic activities
such as industrial processes, fossil fuel combustion, and changes
in land use-actions that release large amounts of certain greenhouse
gases into the atmosphere. This increase in greenhouse gas concentration
traps additional energy in the lower atmosphere, thus warming
it beyond its normal temperature. Industrial activity has contributed
to a 30% increase in the global CO2e level since the beginning
of the Industrial Revolution through the combustion of fossil
fuels for energy. Other anthropogenic contributions include
the clearing of forests for development and agriculture, methane
production from the decomposition of solid waste, and the manufacturing
of chlorofluorocarbons.
The term “global climate change” refers to the destabilizing
impact on climate and weather patterns that result from continuous
addition of these gases, the subsequent increase in heat energy
in the earth’s atmosphere, and the associated changes that follow.
Even small changes in the average temperatures can be accompanied
by an increase in severe weather events such as storms and droughts,
ecosystem change, loss of animal and plant species, stresses
to human health, and alterations in regional agricultural productivity.
Although climate change is a global issue, the effects of rapidly
rising temperatures will be felt in every local community. Average
temperatures in New York State are projected to increase by
between 2°F and 8°F by 2100, with the largest increases in the
coastal regions such as New York City.1 Average precipitation
is also expected to rise by 10 to 20 percent, with extreme wet
snowy days becoming more frequent.2 Intense weather trends will
be felt on the opposite end of the temperature spectrum, as
the occurrence of summer days with temperatures above 90ºF are
expected to multiply from 14 days in 1997-1998 to 40-89 days
by the 2080s.3 Climate change will impact human health, coastal
areas, water supplies, agriculture, ecosystems, demand for energy,
and infrastructure.
3 Rosensweig, C. and W.D. Solecki (Eds). 2001 Climate
Change and a Global City: The Potential Consequences of Climate
Variability and Change-Metro East Coast. Report for the US
Global Change Research Program, National Assessment of the
Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change for
the United States, Columbia Earth Institute, New York. 224
pp.
