Climate Change

New Yorkers are Working on Many Fronts

Climate change touches every New Yorker, and every facet of our lives.

Whether you are a government official, in business, affiliated with an institution, or a private individual, you have a role to play in reducing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and the other greenhouse gases, and in preparing for climate change that cannot be avoided.

This website tells how the New York State government is working to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt as the climate changes. It also gives information about how New Yorkers can move toward a climate-friendly economy and lifestyle.

What is Happening to Our Climate

Scientific evidence says that the earth's climate is changing. New York is experiencing this change in numerous ways, including:

Average temperatures in the state are 2 degrees Fahrenheit higher than they were as recently as 1970.
New York's winter temperatures are almost 5 degrees higher than in 1970.
Plants in New York now bloom as much as 8 days earlier in the spring than they did in 1970.
Diseases from the tropics, such as West Nile disease and Lyme disease, are appearing further north.

Scientists predict that New York could see additional impacts as the planet's climate warms. These include:

Additional warming, estimated at 2 to 3 degrees Fahrenheit, because of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere.
Dry spells of several weeks' duration, punctuated by extreme rains and storms.
Winter snow cover reduced enough to affect the recreation industry.
Loss of cool-weather plants and animals that have traditionally lived in New York, such as sugar maples and some marine species.
Sea levels rising by between 4 inches and 33 inches, depending on how successfully nations are able to bring greenhouse gas emissions under control.

Why the Climate is Changing

While earth's climate is always subject to natural variation, at least part of the change we currently see in our climate results from people emitting more carbon dioxide (CO₂) and other greenhouse gases than the earth's natural processes can handle. These excess greenhouse gases cause the atmosphere to retain too much heat.

Many human activities contribute greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Whenever fossil fuel (coal, oil or gas) burns, CO₂ is released to the air. Other processes generate methane, nitrous oxide and halocarbons and other greenhouse gases that are less abundant than CO₂, but even better at retaining heat.

In 2005, the last year for which complete measurements are available, all the greenhouse gases released by human activities in New York State had the heat-retention capability of nearly 280 million tons of CO₂. Most of the greenhouse gas emissions came from burning fossil fuels for basic economic and social needs:

Some 84 million tons from transportation and shipping
Approximately 78 million tons from heating and cooling homes, stores, institutions and other buildings
About 61 million tons from electric power generation
Approximately 23 million tons from manufacturing.

In addition, processes other than fossil fuel combustion produced non-CO₂ greenhouse gases able to retain more heat than 30 million tons of CO₂.

Other states and western nations emit comparable amounts of greenhouse gases. Together, we produce much more greenhouse gas than our natural systems can accommodate. And developing nations are eager to expand their own economies, which will cause levels to rise still more.

Combating Climate Change

Because so many aspects of our lives rely on fossil fuel-based processes that emit CO₂, solving climate change requires us to produce and use energy in new and different ways. Reductions in emissions of the non-CO₂ greenhouse gases, such as methane and nitrous oxide, also are necessary to mitigate climate change. And, realistically, some solutions must aim at adapting to the effects of warming that we will not be able to avoid.

New York State is working on many fronts - with communities, industries, organizations and individuals - to create the portfolio of actions needed to combat climate change and to deal with effects that cannot be avoided. This website will report these actions and give New Yorkers access to their state's ongoing climate change picture.

More about Climate Change:

Sea Level Rise Task Force - The Sea Level Rise Task Force was created in 2007 by the New York State Legislature, to assess impacts to the state's coastlines from rising seas and recommend protective and adaptive measures. The task force held its first meeting on June 27, 2008; its report is due to the Legislature by December 31, 2009.
State Programs - New York State programs and policies related to climate change.

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative - The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, is a cooperative effort by Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states to reduce carbon dioxide emissions

Climate Change for Students and Educators - Climate change information, resources, activities, and curricula for students, formal teachers, and non-formal educators.