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  • CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON TENNESSEE - … WILL CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT TN? It is difficult to link any one event directly to climate change, and it is important to recognize that most
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HOW WILL CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT TN? It is difficult to link any one event directly to climate change, and it is important to recognize that most climate data is regional or even global in scope. However, decades of expert research and centuries of historical records can be compared with recent trends to illustrate how climate change is already impacting parts of the Southeastern United States. These impacts, combined with possible future impacts, are both cause for concern and the imperative for action. • The May 2010 deluge that flooded much of Middle and West Tennessee is one of the more recent examples of the dangers posed by increasingly common extreme weather events that experts believe may be attributable to climate change, such as severe storms, heat waves, and crop-killing cold snaps. These events take a large toll in terms of physical damage, lost economic productivity, higher insurance costs, and public health disasters. • Hotter temperatures also means increased incidence or severity of drought events. The 2007 Tennessee drought was the worst in recorded history. One town (Orme, TN) completely ran out of water and 500,000 Tennesseans were forced to comply with mandatory water restrictions. Droughts like these may occur with more frequency in a warmer climate. • Drought and heat waves have a particularly negative effect on Tennessee’s dirty, high-risk energy generation resources. During heatwaves—and high electricity demands—TVA’s Brown’s Ferry nuclear plant and Cumberland coal plant have repeatedly had to cut generation due to the short supply of water. Both nuclear and coal plants require millions of gallons of water a day to operate. If Tennessee continues to rely on water-intensive, dirty power plants, dramatic drops in power production during heatwaves are projected to triple in frequency by 2060. • Farmers are expected to lose more crops to heat stress, drought and unreliable winter weather, which is expected to become more frequent in a warmer world. For example the entire state of Tennessee was designated a disaster area twice in 2007—once for the “Easter freeze,” and once for the crippling drought. The devastating May 2010 flooding of Nashville, Middle and West Tennessee is an example of the kinds of extreme weather becoming more common in a warming world. CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON TENNESSEE Over the last decade, TN coal-fired power plants produced an average of 47,700,000 tons of carbon pollution each year. WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE? The earth’s climate is changing because of excess carbon dioxide pollution in the atmosphere, generated when fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas are burned. This extra carbon traps more heat, like a greenhouse, which explains why 2000 to 2009 was the hottest decade ever recorded and there have been over 390 consecutive months with hotter-than-average global temperatures. Modern civilization developed in a stable climate and we have built our economy and way of life accordingly. Changes to our climate means that we are facing emerging hardships and vulnerabilities as the impacts of climate change unfold. Some impacts from climate change include extreme storms, heat waves, and drought. These impacts have consequences for public health, safety, the economy, the environment, and our way of life. Fortunately, we can protect against the worst impacts by limiting carbon pollution with energy efficiency and using clean renewable energy, like solar and wind.

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Page 1: CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON TENNESSEE - … WILL CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT TN? It is difficult to link any one event directly to climate change, and it is important to recognize that most

HOWWILLCLIMATECHANGEIMPACTTN?

Itisdifficulttolinkanyoneeventdirectlytoclimatechange,anditisimportanttorecognizethatmostclimatedataisregionalorevenglobalinscope.However,decadesofexpertresearchandcenturiesofhistoricalrecordscanbecomparedwithrecenttrendstoillustratehowclimatechangeisalreadyimpactingpartsoftheSoutheasternUnitedStates.Theseimpacts,combinedwithpossiblefutureimpacts,arebothcauseforconcernandtheimperativeforaction.

• TheMay2010delugethatfloodedmuchofMiddleandWestTennesseeisoneofthemorerecentexamplesofthedangersposedbyincreasinglycommonextremeweathereventsthatexpertsbelievemaybeattributabletoclimatechange,suchasseverestorms,heatwaves,andcrop-killingcoldsnaps.Theseeventstakealargetollintermsofphysicaldamage,losteconomicproductivity,higherinsurancecosts,andpublichealthdisasters.

• Hottertemperaturesalsomeansincreasedincidenceorseverityofdroughtevents.The2007Tennesseedroughtwastheworstinrecordedhistory.Onetown(Orme,TN)completelyranoutofwaterand500,000Tennesseanswereforcedtocomplywithmandatorywaterrestrictions.Droughtslikethesemayoccurwithmorefrequencyinawarmerclimate.

• DroughtandheatwaveshaveaparticularlynegativeeffectonTennessee’sdirty,high-riskenergygenerationresources.Duringheatwaves—andhighelectricitydemands—TVA’sBrown’sFerrynuclearplantandCumberlandcoalplanthaverepeatedlyhadtocutgenerationduetotheshortsupplyofwater.Bothnuclearandcoalplantsrequiremillionsofgallonsofwateradaytooperate.IfTennesseecontinuestorelyonwater-intensive,dirtypowerplants,dramaticdropsinpowerproductionduringheatwavesareprojectedtotripleinfrequencyby2060.

• Farmersareexpectedtolosemorecropstoheatstress,droughtandunreliablewinterweather,whichisexpectedtobecomemorefrequentinawarmerworld.ForexampletheentirestateofTennesseewasdesignatedadisasterareatwicein2007—onceforthe“Easterfreeze,”andonceforthecripplingdrought.

ThedevastatingMay2010floodingofNashville,MiddleandWestTennesseeisanexampleofthekindsofextremeweatherbecomingmorecommon

inawarmingworld.

CLIMATECHANGEIMPACTSONTENNESSEE

Overthelastdecade,TNcoal-firedpowerplantsproducedanaverageof47,700,000

tonsofcarbonpollutioneachyear.

WHATISCLIMATECHANGE?Theearth’sclimateischangingbecauseofexcesscarbondioxidepollutionintheatmosphere,generatedwhenfossilfuelslikecoal,oil,andnaturalgasareburned.Thisextracarbontrapsmoreheat,likeagreenhouse,whichexplainswhy2000to2009wasthehottestdecadeeverrecordedandtherehavebeenover390consecutivemonthswithhotter-than-averageglobaltemperatures.Moderncivilizationdevelopedinastableclimateandwehavebuiltoureconomyandwayoflifeaccordingly.Changestoourclimatemeansthatwearefacingemerginghardshipsandvulnerabilitiesastheimpactsofclimatechangeunfold.

Someimpactsfromclimatechangeincludeextremestorms,heatwaves,anddrought.Theseimpactshaveconsequencesforpublichealth,safety,theeconomy,theenvironment,andourwayoflife.Fortunately,wecanprotectagainsttheworstimpactsbylimitingcarbonpollutionwithenergyefficiencyandusingcleanrenewableenergy,likesolarandwind.

Page 2: CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON TENNESSEE - … WILL CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT TN? It is difficult to link any one event directly to climate change, and it is important to recognize that most

IT’STIMEFORSOLUTIONS!PROMOTECLEANENERGY

Cleanenergy,suchassolar,wind,andenergyefficiency,producesnopollutionandprovidesjobsinourstrugglingeconomy.StudiesshowthattheUnitedStatescouldeasilygenerate80%ofitspowerfromcleansourcesby2050.Energyefficiencycandramaticallyreducetheamountofpowerweuseinourhomesandbusinessesandlowerourbills.Solarpowerisunlimitedenergyfromthesun,freeforthetakingifourstatepoliciesarerevisedtoleveltheplayingfieldbetweensolarandmoretraditional,pollutingpowersourceslikecoalandnuclear.Meanwhile,Tennesseehasahugewindresourcethatcouldbetappedforaffordableandreliablepower.

OPPOSEHIGHRISKENERGYSomeenergysourceshavegreaterrisksassociatedwiththeiruse.Old,inefficientanddirtycoalpowerplantsmustberetiredtoreducelevelsofpollutionthattriggerasthmaattacksandheartandlungdisease,putmercuryinourwater,andcauseclimatechange.Nuclearpowerplantsemitlesscarbonthancoalbutareextremelyexpensivetobuild,requirelargeamountsofwatertooperate,generatedangerous,highlyradioactivewasteandcanhavedevastatingconsequencesshouldanaccidentoccur.Cleanenergyisapositivealternativetotheseriskyenergysources.

TAKEACTIONTODAY!

Find&ContactYourElectedOfficialswww.bit.ly/legislator-search

SupportOurWork&BecomeaMemberofSACEToday

www.cleanenergy.org/donate

CONTACTYOURELECTEDOFFICIALS

Nationalandstate-levelclimateandenergypoliciesareimperativetoensureprotectionfromtheworstimpactsofclimatechangeandtosecurethebenefitsofcleanenergy.ContactyourelectedofficialsinWashingtonD.C.andNashvilleandtellthemwemusthaveclimateandenergypoliciesthat:

Referencesandlinksavailableontheonlineversionofthisfactsheet:http://www.cleanenergy.org/tn-climate-impacts

•Investinjob-creatingenergyefficiencyandcleanenergy•Limitcarbonpollution •PreserveandstrengthentheCleanAirAct

•Holdpollutersaccountableandendfossil-fuelsubsidies


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