"This is a problem that knows no borders."
By Chris Conway Senior Staff Editor, Opinion |
The fires burning in Oregon are so vast and persistent that some of them may not be contained until the fall. More than 70 percent of the state is in what the federal government describes as "extreme drought." It is, by any measure, a calamity — one that, climate scientists say, has been worsened by the warming climate. |
And it will get worse, as we all know by this point, unless the world sharply reduces the emissions of greenhouse gases. |
In Oregon, the state's most recent climate assessment, a collaborative effort by scientists across the state released in January, warns that the annual temperature there, which rose by about 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit per century since 1895, will increase on average by 5 degrees by the 2050s and by 8.2 degrees by the 2080s, if greenhouse gas emissions continue at current levels. And you thought this summer, with its record heat, was bad. |
In a state that is already aflame, the scientists add that "over the next 50 to 100 years," the "area burned and fire frequency are projected to increase substantially." |
That's only some of the bad news. Which is why Oregon has been among states leading the way to decarbonize their electric grids and usher in a new age of electric vehicles. But climate change — as Oregon's governor, Kate Brown, notes in a guest essay this week — knows no borders. That's why, she argues, "what we need now is bold action from Congress." |
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