No, Kentucky Is Not Safe From Global Warming

At 700 feet above sea level, Kentucky feels safe from the rising sea levels that global warming will bring to drown coastal cities.

And this year's near-constant rains make the California drought seem remote.

But Kentucky is in for some dangerous and economically disastrous effects.

 

Think Progress:

Climate change is set to hit the Southeast United States and Texas hard.

That’s the conclusion of a new report from the Risky Business Project, a nonprofit that focuses on the economic impacts of climate change. The report, which focused on 12 states — 11 states in the Southeastern United States plus Texas — found that the increased heat and humidity that these states are expected to experience as the climate changes will put the region’s recent manufacturing boom at risk.

“While the Southeast and Texas are generally accustomed to heat and humidity, the scale of increased heat — along with other impacts such as sea level rise and storm surge — will likely cause significant and widespread economic harm, especially to a region so heavily invested in physical manufacturing, agriculture and energy infrastructure,” the report reads. “If we continue on our current greenhouse gas emissions pathway, the southeastern United States and Texas will likely experience significant drops in agricultural yield and labor productivity, along with increased sea level rise, higher energy demand, and rising mortality rates.”

Kentucky information starts on page 44 and boils down to this:  

 

Extreme heat leading to severe drops in corn and soybean yields and poultry and beef output. 

 

Higher energy costs, lower productivity and more human mortality from more days of extreme heat. 

 

And that's not even taking into consideration economic losses from more severe storms, tornadoes, flooding and drought.

 

But let's expand hydraulic fracking that will destroy our drinking water supplies and accelerate global warming.

 

It's the proud coal tradition.