Tag: Union of Concerned Scientists

As Heat Wave Approaches, Study Finds West Virginia Faces Hotter Future

This story was updated on 7/22/19 at 4 p.m. EST.

 

New research published this week finds communities across the county, including in West Virginia, can expect weeks of dangerously hot days in the coming decades if action to reduce global heat-trapping pollution isn’t taken.

 

 

According to a peer-reviewed study published this week by researchers from the science advocacy group the Union of Concerned Scientists, by the end of the century, West Virginians can expect expect a much hotter future if actions to mitigate climate change aren’t implemented.

“This Union of Concerned Scientists report shows if we stay on our current global emissions path, extreme heat days are poised to rise steeply in frequency and severity in just the next few decades,” stated the group’s accompanying report. “This heat would cause large areas of the United States to become dangerously hot and would threaten the health, lives, and livelihoods of millions of people.”

The study, published Monday, July 15, in the journal Environmental Research Communications, used 18 climate models to project future heat indexes, a combination of temperature and relative humidity, also known as what temperatures “feel like.”

By 2100, the study estimates West Virginia would experience almost three months worth of days where temperatures hit above a heat index of 90 degrees Fahrenheit if climate intervention isn’t undertaken. Today, there are, on average, 13 days a year with a heat index above 90 degrees. 

Historically in West Virginia, the heat index has hit above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, on average, one day per year. The study estimates by the year 2100, this could increase to 42 days. 

By the end of the century, about 1.1 million people would be exposed to a heat index above 105 degrees Fahrenheit for the equivalent of a month or more each year. 

Exposure to extreme heat can be dangerous or even fatal, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

 

Nicolas Zegre, associate professor of forest hydrology at West Virginia University and director of the West Virginia University Mountain Hydrology Laboratory said the study’s methodology was based on datasets he called “really robust.” He said the research underscored the impact extreme and prolonged heat has on public health.

“Often we talk about impact of climate change on floods and drought events,” Zegre said. “This is very much a public health issue. It’s directly impacting both quality of life and also public health and safety.”

 

The study comes as much of the eastern United States is suffering through a heat wave. The National Weather Service in Charleston has issued an excessive heat warning that went into effect at noon on Friday and lasts through Saturday night.

Innovators, entrepreneurs, policy experts meet at economic conference

With coal industry jobs dwindling and many young people leaving the state to find work, speakers at the Bright Economic Future for the Mountain State Conference in Charleston outlined many of the challenges for the state’s economy. Even despite these obstacles, many entrepreneurs, policy experts and grassroots organizations who gathered at the conference said they see plenty of opportunity.

“What I’m learning is that people really, really are interested in having this conversation about what our future looks like. I think that people—I think we see really strong support for the idea of diversifying our economy,” said Jeremy Richardson,  a Fellow with the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Although his organization usually focuses on issues related to climate change and renewable energy, Richardson noticed the need to apply those issues to the state’s economy and helped organize the Bright Economic Future Conference.

West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy Executive Director Ted Boettner says a diverse, healthy economy ultimately comes down to a healthy and financially stable workforce. But, he said, the state has struggled with that in recent decades.

Credit West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy
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The graph shows the average wages for West Virginia workers from 1969 to 2011.

“Back in the late ‘70s there was a time when middle-class families were fairing pretty well. Our wages were a little higher, more people had benefits, you could raise a family on one income. Those times have dramatically changed,” Boettner said.

“Now you need both people in the workforce, you’re making less, and you’re working more hours. At the same time you are unable to afford some pretty basic expenses like healthcare.”

During a panel focused on the potential of moving the economy forward, Kent Spellman of the West Virginia Community Development Hub noted that his organization believes that working directly with people in small communities is the key to improving the economic picture.

“We really believe, frankly, that economic transition—this is a great group of people—but, for it to work, we have to get out in our communities and we have to listen. The Hub and the work we do with smaller, rural communities—and we mostly work with smaller, rural communities—focuses on wealth creation, not job creation. We want to see communities create opportunities—economic opportunities—that are locally based, that are placed based, that keep the wealth in the community,” Spellman said.

Both Richardson and Boettner echoed Spellman’s call for a grassroots-oriented, localized push for the diversification of the state’s economy. Richardson said that means it’s up to each community to play a part in deciding how they can contribute to the state’s economic future.

“I think it depends on where you are. We were just listening to one of the commissioners of Fayette County who was talking about all of the wonderful opportunities they have taken advantage of there,” he said.

Richardson also pointed to business projects in unlikely places, such as Sustainable Williamson in Mingo County—right in the heart of an area known as the Billion Dollar Coalfield.

“I think it depends on your location to some extent. The message that I’m trying to get out there is that we need to expand peoples’ idea of what’s even possible,” he explained.

Other presentations at the conference included Richardson’s discussion of sustainable economic development, a lecture from Boettner on the proposed state Future Fund, and a screening and discussion of the interactive film Hollow, directed by McDowell County native filmmaker Elaine McMillion.

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