Climate change already is affecting Northeast Ohio, but it’s not too late to act: Michael Reiling and Sarah Gridley

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Severe national weather issues in Texas, Arizona, and Vermont have gotten plenty of attention this summer. Regionally, we are now stressed because of Canadian wildfires. Climate issues have become frequent front page news.

Besides the awful smoke from Canadian wildfires, what’s happening to our northeast Ohio climate? According to a 2018 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report to the President and Congress, and their study on Ohio weather, as well as reports from several other sources, climate change is happening here, and its consequences and costs for us are mounting.

Ohio’ s climate average has risen 1.5 degrees since the beginning of this century. At current levels of greenhouse gases, NOAA projects an average local temperature increase of about 8 degrees by the end of the century. Our temperate climate will increasingly resemble the deep south, weather-wise.

Even if we significantly reduce our emissions, there would be an additional 1 or 2 degrees added by the end of this century.

What do these increasing temperatures mean?

Our winters are warmer and shorter at the same time. Lake Erie freezes later – if it does at all – and thaws earlier. Because of this phenomenon, we can expect more lake-effect snow, and more winter precipitation in general as warmer lake waters evaporate.

In spring, our growing season begins earlier and lasts longer. While this seems a positive for farmers and gardeners, there will be more flooding as precipitation increases.

Storm water runoff from our farmland also means loss of soil and an increase in fertilizer pollutants (phosphorous) entering our waterways. And with earlier warmer weather, count on more mosquitoes and ticks and the diseases that they bring.

Our summers will include more extreme heat days. A report by The Climate Reality Project in June,2020 estimates that by 2050 we may see 30 dangerous heat days a year, compared to our current five. Cleveland and other large cities in summer are already “urban heat islands.” Heat effects will be increasingly severe due to population density, lots of concrete, lack of air conditioning, and reduced tree shading. This will significantly impact our health, especially that of our young children, our elderly, and those who must work outdoors.

There will be increasingly severe humidity. Summer nights will often stay close to day temperatures with less cooling off. We can expect more summer droughts. Finally, with more extreme heat days, our Ohio cash crops like corn and soybeans will be threatened.

Climate change has started, but it’s not too late to take action to mitigate it.

A great deal depends on reducing our greenhouse gas emissions now. While climate change is a global, consider that Ohio is among the largest emitters of greenhouse gasses in the United States.

We can do many things to lower emissions.

We can, for example, electrify our lifestyles, put up solar panels, plant more trees, and install heat pumps in our homes.

The absolute best thing we can do is to put a fee on our use of carbon. Think of it as a greenhouse gas pollution fee. This would support and promote market-based, clean energy efforts on the part of both businesses and consumers.

Reducing greenhouse gases will also improve our health.

Let’s insist that congressional, state, and local government representatives, Democrats and Republicans, mitigate negative climate effects.

Or let’s elect people who will.

Michael Reiling and Sarah Gridley are part of the Cleveland Chapter of the Citizens Climate Lobby, a non-profit organization that promotes climate change policy through citizen advocacy.

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