In the wake of a recent report which warned that the effects of climate change are already being felt across the country, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin called for a wider acknowledgement of the problem and stronger political response to it.
“Global climate change is real and we must act now to confront this fact because public health and our economy is threatened,” said Senator Baldwin in a statement Thursday. “The impact of climate change can be seen on agriculture, biodiversity, extreme weather and our Great Lakes. We have a moral obligation to act on climate change so we can keep our promise to future generations to confront today’s challenges and pass on a world better than we found it. ”
According to the National Climate Assessment, the earth will warm as much as 2.7°F over the next 20 years, but Wisconsinites may already be feeling the effects of a changing planet in the form of more intense and more frequent flooding.
The report also cautioned that 3.6 degrees of warming could result in a 15 percent decrease in corn and soybean yields nationally, and that the U.S. economy will lose over $500 billion annually from lost labor, crop failure, and damages related to extreme weather if it continues on its current course. By 2100, climate change could cost the U.S. up to a tenth of GDP, more than double the losses of the Great Recession.
