Global Warming Solutions News

Boston, MA - As the presidential candidates prepare to discuss some of the most important issues facing our country at their final debate tonight, Environment Massachusetts released a new report documenting that the number of recorded days over 90 degrees Fahrenheit more than doubled in Massachusetts compared to the historical average. The year 2007 tied for the second warmest year on record globally and was the 10th warmest year on record in the United States.  These record temperatures are part of a trend toward rising temperatures resulting from global warming.

“The evidence of global warming continues to build up around us.  Temperatures are rising in Massachusetts and across the country,” said Rob Sargent, for Environment Massachusetts.  “While one or two degrees may not seem like much, any parent with a sick child knows that even a small rise in temperature can have a big effect,” he continued.

According to NASA, seven of the world’s eight warmest years on record have occurred since 2001.  These above-average temperatures led Environment Massachusetts to examine temperature trends at the local level more closely. 

“Feeling the Heat: Global Warming and Rising Temperatures in the United States” compares government temperature data for the years 2000-2007 with the historical average, or “normal,” temperature for the preceding 30 years, 1971-2000.  Our data were collected at 255 weather stations in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., using only stations with the highest quality data.

Key findings for Massachusetts include:

•     In 2007, the average temperature at the Blue Hill Weather Observatory near Boston was 1.2°F above normal.

•    Worcester’s above-average temperatures in 2007 are part of a warming trend. Between 2000 and 2007, the average temperature was 1.2°F above the historical average in Worcester.  Nationally, the average temperature during this eight-year period was at least 0.5°F above normal at nearly 90 percent of the weather stations. 

•    Over the course of 2007, the Blue Hill Observatory near Boston   In Worcester, the number of 90° days doubled and the weather station at Logan Airport saw a 50 percent increase in the number of 90 ° days.  experienced 12 days where the temperature hit at least 90°F, which is 7 days more than the historical average.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – the prestigious United Nations body that won a Nobel Prize last year for its work – has concluded the evidence of global warming is “unequivocal” and that human activities are responsible for most of the increase in global average temperatures.  Burning fossil fuels to power cars, homes, and industry produces most U.S. global warming emissions.

A recent Bush administration report said “it is very likely” that more people will die in the United States during extremely hot periods in the future.  In addition, the report identified water shortages from early snowmelt, degraded air quality, heat waves, drought, extreme rainfall with flooding, and sea level rise as particular risks for the New England.

“It’s clear that our energy crisis isn’t just hurting us at the pump, but it’s also causing Massachusetts’ residents to feel the heat.  The good news is that repowering America with wind and solar power will curb global warming. Not to mention, clean, renewable energy is one of the few bright spots in our troubled economy,” said Sargent.

According to the latest climate science, the United States must reduce its global warming emissions by at least 20 percent by 2020 and by 80 percent by 2050 and make energy efficiency improvements and the accelerated development of renewable energy the centerpiece of our environmental and economic development policies.

Massachusetts leaders, including  Governor Deval Patrick and the Massachusetts Legislature, under the Leadership of Senate President Therese Murray and Speaker of the House Salvatore DiMasi, have embraced a strong response to global warming by securing passage  a suite of bills this year,  including a cap on global warming emissions, strong energy efficiency and renewable standards and a green jobs bill that will help transition the Massachusetts workforce into a 21st Century New Energy Economy.

Recently, led by Congressman Edward Markey, all ten Massachusetts Congressmen joined more than 150 members of Congress in endorsing strong principles for action on energy and global warming.  Environment America urged that those principles be the blueprint for action for the next President and Congress.

Energy issues have featured prominently in both presidential and vice-presidential debates this election season.  “We’re at a crossroads on energy, and it’s up to the next President to follow the lead of states like Massachusetts and choose a new path that curbs global warming and helps recharge our struggling economy,” said Sargent.

For more information contact:

Rob Sargent – 617-747-4317

###

Environment Massachusetts is a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization.