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Coastal flooding from a nontropical low October 2015 at the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Photo: NCDOT
A new report finds that if steps aren’t taken immediately to fight climate change in the state, it will come out of the pockets of North Carolinians over the next 20 to 30 years.
The Environmental Defense Fund commissioned RTI International to look at the short-term financial ramifications if no urgent action is taken to curb climate-warming pollution. The report, “Climate Change in North Carolina: Near-term Impacts on Society and Recommended Actions,” is a 56-page document released Dec. 14 by the independent, nonprofit research and development institute in the Research Triangle Park.
David Boraks / WFAE
A new report says global warming, rising sea levels and other effects of climate change will bring billions of dollars in short-term costs to North Carolina s economy and public health in the years ahead.
The report for the Environmental Defense Fund tallies potential costs of climate change over the next 20 to 30 years in eight areas, including real estate, health and safety, tourism and various industrial sectors.
George Van Houtven of research firm RTI International in Raleigh, who wrote the report, said climate change s effects are already being felt across the state. The evidence shows that these impacts are likely to grow and even accelerate in the next 20 years, especially if the state doesn t act in different ways, in particular, by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but also by doing things to prepare, adapt and protect against these growing hazards of climate change, Van Houtven said.