“Climate change is this real variable that we are combatting. It’s not just, it’s a shame that the polar ice caps are melting. That of course is happening too, but there’s stuff at home happening. It’s not just a remote issue. It’s affecting everyone in very dramatic ways.” (Max Lerner, NYC parks department, sustainable facilities division.) Climate change is a serious topic that happens in New York but it’s not talked about as often as it should be. It has been happening since 1970 according to the department of environmental conservation. “The annual statewide average temperature in New York has warmed 3°F (0.6°F per decade) since 1970. The state’s average temperatures are projected to rise by as much as another 3°F by 2080 with the greatest warming occurring in the northern parts of the state.”
Climate change affects our everyday lives without us noticing. We might think climate change is nothing serious but it is. Climate change needs to be taken seriously and needs to be more talked about. “Risks associated with climate change include greater incidence of heat stress caused by more frequent and intense heat waves; greater incidence of heavy rainfall events affecting food production, natural ecosystems, and water resources; and sea level rise leading to increased flooding in coastal areas. Climate change may exacerbate existing stresses on the people and activities of New York State and, in some cases, might provide opportunities such as enhancement of its water resources and agricultural potential.” “An extensive literature on vulnerability to heat-related morbidity and mortality has been reviewed elsewhere [3,4]. Areas with lower prevalence of air conditioning (AC), for example, have been found to have higher rates of heat-related deaths [5,6], while areas with more green space tend to have lower rates of heat-related deaths [7,8].” (Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 1433)
According to the Wikipedia website “ Climate change in New York City could affect buildings/structures, wetlands, water supply, health, and energy demand, due to the high population and extensive infrastructure in the region. A seaport like New York is especially at risk if the sea level rises, with many bridges and tunnels in the city. Major facilities for Aviation in the New York metropolitan area, and the New York Passenger Ship Terminal, are also located in areas vulnerable to flooding. Flooding would be expensive to reverse. Tide gauge records indicate a rise in sea level of about 50 cm (20 inches) since 1860.” (at Columbia University , n.d. Web. 16 October 2009.)
After all these things happening from climate change which lead to negative impacts New York City made a plan to stop the climate change etc. “ The US$10-billion plan would extend Manhattan Island by as much as 150 meters into the East River by using materials, such as sand or concrete rubble, to build an elevated landscape. Lower Manhattan is a transportation hub for the city and a global financial center that flooded during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The project would help to protect the area from what could become daily floods on some streets by 2100, city officials said during a 14 March press conference, citing their assessment of climate-change risks.” (Tolleson, Jeff, 2014) This means they’ll add more land to Manhattan but would that actually stop climate change? Because in my opinion it wouldn’t, adding more land to New York City would just continue to contribute to climate change. They would just end up building stuff in places they’re not supposed to, which would pollute the oxygen in the first place. They would also build that on the river which clearly makes no sense in my opinion because they’re taking away nature’s water to build material.
New York’s population is way too high, it has been increasing in the past years which can lead to a major population in the future. We should be scared if we don’t take action on climate change as soon as possible. According to the Macrotrends.website the area population of New York City in 2022 increased 0.23% from 2021. This is a lot for just one year. Also I gathered up information in the website of ontariotechuniversity.com about the cities/states that would have the largest population in the future and here’s what I found:
One recent example of this could be November 7, 2022. The temperature outside was 70 degrees fahrenheit. This type of climate in November from my point of view should be concerning because it’s fall, and not even because of that but winter is right around the corner. I would say it would be fine if it would’ve been in October by the beginning or middle of the month but It’s November already. “We all know how frigid New York can get and so, when we hear that the month of November is going to be unseasonably warm, we tend to forget about what that all means on a climate change scale and just revel in the fact that we won’t have to wear our scarves, gloves and boots for a bit longer this year.” (Rahmanan, Anna. November, 2022). This article makes it look so normal but it clearly explains it’s climate change and it’s on a scale. This should not be normalized because people would just pretend like nothing is happening and would not take this topic seriously while it is.
Note: I know I have to write more but I need feedback on what else do you think I should add because I am also thinking of gathering information to make my own chart about the population in the United States to see which state is more populated but what else should I add?
References
Department of environmental conservation. (2022). Climate change effects and impacts
Rosenzweig, C. Solecki, W. DeGaetano, A. O’Grady, M. Hassol, S. & Grabhorn, P. Responding to Climate Change in New York State: The ClimAID Integrated Assessment for Effective Climate Change Adaptation in New York State
Madrigano, J. Lane, K. Petrovic, N. Ahmed, M. Blum, M. & Matte, Y. (2018) Awareness, Risk Perception, and Protective Behaviors for Extreme Heat and Climate Change in New York City
Earth institute at Columbia University (2009) Climate change in New York City.
Tollefson, J. (2019) New York City climate-change plan proposes adding land to Manhattan.
Macrotrends (2022) New York City Metro Area Population 1950-2022
University of Ontario Institute of Technology (2022) City population 2050.
Population connection (2022) The Connections Between Population and Climate Change Info Brief.
Rahmanan, A. (November 1 2022) Brace yourselves for a fairly warm November in NYC.
