Climate Change Won't Be Kind to the Carolinas

Charles Duncan and Abbie Bennett provide regional details of the effects of climate change for the Carolinas, as predicted by the 4th National Climate Assessment, released by the federal government over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

"Climate change will cause more heat waves, flooding and worse storm impacts, and change life for people in the Carolinas," according to the article. "Higher sea levels will bring more and worse coastal flooding, a warming ocean will bring stronger storms, and extreme heat waves will become longer and more frequent in the Southeast," more specifically.

As detailed by the article, the recent history of the Carolinas and the rest of the Southeast is one of a changing climate, with recording flooding caused by hurricanes Matthew and Florence, records for costs incurred by weather events, and record tides just last week in Charleston.

The article stops short, however, of connecting the dots between the predictions of the report and any of the policies in place in southeastern states to mitigate the causes or the effects of climate change.North Carolina in particular has provided a compelling example of a state adjusting its approach to climate change in recent years, with mixed results from an environmental perspective in a period of rapid growth.

For more regional assessment of the predictions included in the 4th National Climate Assessment, see an article by Grist also shared on Planetizen recently.