As the new home of NHPIRG's environmental work, Environment New Hampshire may be contacted regarding this release.
Concord,
New Hampshire —The unprecedented heat waves in the past few years are
part of a broader trend of rising temperatures in New Hampshire,
according to a new report released today by the New Hampshire Public
Interest Research Group (NHPIRG).
“Global
warming is happening, and New Hampshire’s citizens are feeling the
heat,” said NHPIRG Environmental Associate Grant Scott. “Temperatures
will continue to rise unless we quickly and significantly reduce global
warming pollution from power plants, cars, and SUVs,” continued Scott.
In the continental United States, the first seven months of 2006 were
the warmest January-July of any year on record, according to the
National Climatic Data Center. In New Hampshire, the average
temperature was 3.5° F above the 20th century average, making it the
second warmest January-July on record.
To examine how these recent temperature patterns compare with
temperatures over the last 30 years, NHPIRG’s researchers analyzed
temperature data from 255 major weather stations in all 50 states and
Washington, DC for the years 2000-2005 and the first six months of
2006. This recent data was compared to “normal” temperatures for the
three decades spanning 1971-2000. Key findings include:
•
Nationally, between 2000 and 2005, the average temperature was above
normal at 95% of the locations, indicating widespread warming. In
addition, nights are getting warmer; the average minimum (nighttime
low) temperature was above normal at 92% of the locations examined.
•
In Concord , between 2000 and 2005, the average temperature was .6° F
above normal. During the first six months of 2006, the average
temperature in Concord was 2.6° F above normal.
•
In Concord , between 2000 and 2005, the average minimum (nighttime low)
temperature was .7° F above normal. During the first six months of
2006, the average minimum temperature in Concord was 3.2° F above
normal.
•
In Concord , between 2000 and 2005, the average maximum (daytime high)
temperature was .04° F above normal. During the first six months of
2006, the average maximum temperature in Concord was 1.4° F above
normal.
“Two
or three degrees may not seem like much, but just like in people, a
small, relatively rapid temperature rise can have serious
consequences,” continued Scott. Scott pointed to numerous studies
showing that sea levels are already on the rise, ice and snow cover are
declining, and hurricanes are becoming more powerful. In New Hampshire,
unchecked global warming threatens to intensify extreme weather events
such as the flooding that occurred last spring.
To avoid the worst consequences of global warming, the U.S. must
stabilize global warming emissions within the next decade, begin
reducing them soon thereafter, and cut emissions by 80% by the middle
of this century.
“
New Hampshire already being economically hobbled by our failure to take
political action on global warming. We are exporting jobs, paying
higher prices and higher taxes and loosing our edge in technology,”
said Jim Rubens, a former Republican state senator and state platform
committee chair, now working as a consultant to the Union of Concerned
Scientists.
“The
good news is that we already have the tools to substantially reduce
global warming pollution. We just have to put the solutions to work,”
said Scott.
We know that the U.S. could cut global warming pollution by nearly 20%
by 2020 by making our homes, cars, and businesses more efficient,
switching to renewable energy sources, and giving Americans more
alternatives to driving, paired with strong, mandatory limits on global
warming emissions.
“These
are win-win solutions because they also will improve America’s
long-term economy and energy security by reducing U.S. dependence on
oil and other fossil fuels,” stated Scott.
“While
New England has shown that states can take a lead on global warming
issues, in New Hampshire we must follow through to implement the good
intentions of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative,” said Scott “but
to get the large scale green house gas reductions we need to avoid
global warming, we need federal action.”
“We've
got to start now if we are to forestall the worst of climate change
impacts here and globally. New Hampshire can take many more necessary
steps to do its part to reduce carbon emissions, starting with
instituting a climate action plan and cracking down on power plant
emissions - as neighboring states are already doing,” said Doug Bogen,
NH Program Director for Clean Water Action.
This summer Congressman Henry Waxman introduced legislation, called the
Safe Climate Act (H.R. 5642), to harness clean energy solutions and
reduce U.S. global warming emissions by 15% by 2020 and by 80% by 2050.
“To
protect future generations, NHPIRG strongly urges Representatives Bass
and Bradley to cosponsor the Safe Climate Act, the long-term solution
to global warming,” concluded Scott.
