5. Drought From King of the Hill, Pilot Episode, 1997 Expected temperature rise: 3-10°F rise in winter lows and 3-7°F rise in summer highs. July heat index—a measure combining temperature and humidity to represent the temperature actually felt—could rise by 10-25°F. Dale, you giblet head, we live in Texas. It’s already 110 in the summer, and if it gets one degree hotter I’m gonna kick your ass! I say, let the world warm up…We’ll grow oranges in Alaska.
From: How Will Climate Change Impact the EPA Region 6 Area?: http://www.epa.gov/region6/climatechange/impact-in-r6.htm Texas and the Southern Great PlainsTHE POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF GLOBAL WARMING ON TEXAS AND THE SOUTHERN GREAT PLAINS: http://www.climatehotmap.org/impacts/texas.html
Union of Concerned Scientists, Climate Projections for Texas http://www.ucsusa.org/gulf/gcstatetex_cli.html
A combination of record-high heat and record-low rainfall has pushed south and central Texas into the region's deepest drought in a half century, with $3.6 billion of crop and livestock losses piling up during the past nine months. Nearly 80 of Texas' 254 counties are in "extreme" or "exceptional" drought, the worst possible levels on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's index. Though other states are experiencing drought, no counties in the continental U.S. outside Texas currently register worse than "severe." In late April, the USDA designated 70 Texas counties as primary natural-disaster areas because of drought, above-normal temperatures and associated wildfires. Wall Street Journal Article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124872939604384837.html
During the summer of 2002, the river basin received nearly three feet of rain over the course of about a week. It was the first time the spillway became active, and the landscape below it would literally not be the same afterwards. Over the course of just a few days, the flood barreled through limestone-rich bedrock, carving out 1.2km of canyon with an average depth of over seven meters, and as deep as 12m in some spots. A 2002 Texas megaflood carved a 2.2km canyon in three days: http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2010/06/2002-megaflood-carved-22km-canyon-in-three-days.ars
The "Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing Climate" report, discussed above, found evidence for a link between global warming and increased hurricane activity. It concludes, "It is very likely that the human-induced increase in greenhouse gases has contributed to the increase in sea surface temperatures in the hurricane formation regions. Over the past 50 years there has been a strong statistical connection between tropical Atlantic sea surface temperatures and Atlantic hurricane activity." The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report makes similar findings, as do more recent studies. The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, working with federal agencies as well as the insurance and energy industries, has launched an intensive study to examine how global warming will influence hurricanes in the next few decades. http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/sap/sap3-3/final-report/default.htm
The "Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing Climate" report, discussed above, found evidence for a link between global warming and increased hurricane activity. It concludes, "It is very likely that the human-induced increase in greenhouse gases has contributed to the increase in sea surface temperatures in the hurricane formation regions. Over the past 50 years there has been a strong statistical connection between tropical Atlantic sea surface temperatures and Atlantic hurricane activity." The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report makes similar findings, as do more recent studies. The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, working with federal agencies as well as the insurance and energy industries, has launched an intensive study to examine how global warming will influence hurricanes in the next few decades. http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/sap/sap3-3/final-report/default.htm
"Freak" Hurricane Ike Will Cost $22 Billion http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/09/080915-hurricane-ike.html
Global Warming & Sea Level Rise in the Gulf Coast Region, Union of Concerned Scientist report: http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/acfvebkwm.pdf
For example, you can see in Brazoria county (a little south of Houston), the areas in which there is protection against increases in water levels available versus none to little protection From: Anticipated Local Response to Sea Level Rise along the Texas Coast: A first approximation http://www.rpts.tamu.edu/urban-nature/publications/documents/FinalDraft_AllCounties_Texas_SLR_Response_7_01_08.pdf
Houston's regional forest provides impressive value to its citizens: The replacement cost of the region's 663 million trees is valued at over $205 billion. Trees store $721 million worth of carbon. Trees generate $456 million worth of environmental benefits annually - amounting to $109 per person per year. Trees save $131 million in residential energy costs and avoided power plant emissions each year - almost $90 per household. Houston's trees remove over 60,000 tons of air pollution per year.
Large trees and urban trees have greater roles in producing forest benefits: Urban trees work harder. The average urban tree stores 75% more carbon and has a 76% higher replacement value than the average rural tree.
Getting the Big Picture on Houston’s Air Problem http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/everydaylife/archives/HP_ILP_Feature_03.html
http://www.greenhoustontx.gov/airquality.html
A Closer Look at Air Pollution in Houston: Identifying Priority Health Risks A summary of the Report of the Mayor’s Task Force on the Health Effects of Air Pollution (2007) http://www.epa.gov/ttn/chief/conference/ei16/session6/bethel.pdf