Aug 27, 2008 6:50 pm US/Eastern
Climate Change Report Paints A Hotter, Wetter Md.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) ―
If you like your winters mild and your summers red hot and humid, just wait.
Alex DeMetrick reports a new climate study paints a hotter, wetter Maryland if greenhouse gases aren't reduced.
Melting ice may be the flash point of global warming, but it's long-range possibilities like this that may be in Maryland's future.
A state-sponsored report on climate change details what heat trapped by greenhouse gases will mean for Maryland.
"This report is giving us a road map to combat global warming in Maryland," said Shari Wilson, Secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment.
The study suggests Maryland will be three degrees warmer by 2050 and nine degrees warmer by 2100 if greenhouses gases go unchecked.
Sea levels could rise two to three feet along the coast, and especially the Chesapeake Bay.
"Maryland is particularly vulnerable because we have over 3,000 miles of coastline," said Wilson.
Storms will push water further inland, threatening homes and infrastructure.
In Maryland, pollution from power plants, transportation and agriculture produce 100 million tons of greenhouse gas a year. The climate report says conservation and cleaner energy could reduce that by 25 percent by 2020.
The climate study could be used to back new bills, but could still be a tough sell. Maryland produces just three-tenths of one percent of the world's greenhouse gases.
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