Climate change to cost Florida $345 bln a yr-study
Pastor Dale Morgan
Climate change to cost Florida $345 bln a yr-study*
28 Nov 2007 21:21:39 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Michael Peltier
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Nov 28 (Reuters) - If nothing is done to combat
global warming, two of Florida's nuclear power plants, three of its
prisons and 1,362 hotels, motels and inns will be under water by 2100, a
study released on Wednesday said.
In all, Florida could stand to lose $345 billion a year in projected
economic activity by 2100 if nothing is done to reduce emissions that
are viewed as the main human contribution to rising global temperatures,
according to the Tufts University study.
That equals about 5 percent of what economists project the state's gross
domestic product will be by the end of the century.
"The status quo, the climate that we have right now, is not an available
option unless we act immediately," said Frank Ackerman, a professor at
Tufts' Global Development and Environmental Institute and co-author of
the study.
"Doing something may seem expensive, but doing nothing will be more
expensive."
Ackerman predicted a temperature increase of 10 degrees Fahrenheit,
lower rainfall, more severe hurricanes and seas rising by as much as 45
inches because of climate change.
Efforts to meet carbon dioxide reduction goals could lessen the global
temperature hike to 2 degrees Fahrenheit while keeping rainfall and
hurricane intensity at current levels, he said.
The Tufts study said the sort of mitigation efforts needed to restrict
sea level rises to 7 inches (18 cm) or less would cost a U.S. state like
Florida between 1 percent and 2 percent of GDP.
Florida, a major tourist magnet that is home to Miami Beach, the swampy
Everglades and Disney World and other theme parks in Orlando, is
particularly vulnerable to climate change because of its 1,350 miles
(2,173 km) of coastline.
The study estimated that tourism revenue alone could drop by $167
billion a year, or 2.4 percent of state income, if beaches disappear,
the Florida Keys, Cape Canaveral spaceport and most of the Miami area
end up under water.
Republican Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is among a growing list of state
officials who have given up waiting for the federal government to take
the lead on cutting greenhouse gas emissions and have passed their own
measures to cap pollution by power plants and cars.
A New York-based environmental group, Environmental Defense,
commissioned the Tufts study.
"It is false choice to say that we have to choose between our economy
and the quality of our environment or our ability to confront global
warming," said Jerry Karnas, Florida climate change project director for
Environmental Defense.
"We believe we can create both new markets and new opportunities while
we protect Florida for our future." (Editing by Michael Christie)