Global Warming

Raleigh, Asheville, and Wilmington Among 10 U.S. Cities Cited

 

Raleigh—A new study released today by Environment North Carolina and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) projects that residents in Raleigh, Wilmington, and Asheville will see bad-air days double by mid-century if no action is taken to curb global warming pollution.

 

"The air in North Carolina is already unhealthy too much of the time,” said Elizabeth Ouzts, State Director for Environment North Carolina.  “The prospect of even more bad air is another compelling reason to limit global warming pollution.”

 
The study, Heat Advisory: How Global Warming Causes More Bad Air Days, confirms that hotter temperatures mean more smog. Smog, or ozone, is formed when pollutants from cars, factories, and other sources mix with sunlight and heat.  This means more people would be forced to restrict outdoor activities, while those with asthma and other respiratory illnesses face serious threats.

 

Scientists say average temperatures will warm as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century unless we start cutting global warming emissions soon.

 

Researchers project that “orange-alert” days, when smog levels are high enough to pose health threats, are expected to double by mid-century in Raleigh, Asheville, and Wilmington, unless action is taken to curb global warming. 

 

The analysis[1] was prepared by researchers at Yale University, Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University, in collaboration with researchers at State University of New York at Albany, University of New York, and University of Wisconsin-Madison, and looked at the following cities located in the eastern and southern half of the U.S.:
 

·       

·        Philadelphia, PA ·        Raleigh, NC ·        Virginia Beach, VA ·        Washington, DC ·        Wilmington, NC

Asheville, NC

·        Cleveland, OH

·        Columbus, OH

·        Greenville, SC

·        Memphis, TN

·        Philadelphia, PA

·        Raleigh, NC

·        Virginia Beach, VA

·        Washington, DC

·        Wilmington, NC

  

By 2050, researchers found residents in a total of 50 cities in the eastern United States will see:

 

·      A doubling of the number of unhealthy “red alert” days;

·      A 68 percent (5.5 day) increase in the average number of days exceeding the health-based 8-hour ozone standard established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and

·      A 15 percent drop in future summers in the number of summer days with “good” air quality based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) criteria because of global warming.

 

Changes from year to year in the severity of smog pollution are thought to result largely from variations in weather. For example, the relatively high levels of ozone in the United States during 1988 and 1995 were likely due in part to hot, dry, and stagnant conditions. Conversely, in 2003 we experienced one of our cleanest ozone years, coinciding with an unusually cool, wet summer in the East.

 

Scientists say the Earth is warming faster today than at any time in history. Globally, eleven of the last 12 years rank among the 12 warmest on record since 1850. Better technology in our cars, trucks and SUVs, and cleaner, more efficient energy choices like wind and solar power will help reduce carbon emissions that cause global warming as well as smog forming emissions like nitrogen oxide (NOx) gases, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), sulfur oxide (SOx) gas and particulates.

 

“We must commit to cutting our global warming pollution by 80% by 2050 to avoid the worst effects of global warming,” said Elizabeth Ouzts, State Director of Environment North Carolina. “We’re calling on North Carolina Representatives to cosponsor the Safe Climate Act, which will do just that.”

 

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Environment North Carolina is a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization.

 

The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has 1.2 million members and online activists, served from offices in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Beijing. More information on NRDC is available at its Web site: www.nrdc.org.