As the earth continues to warm, there will be consequences — not just "global" consequences, i.e. faraway things like sheets of ice falling into the ocean — but local consequences.
This week's cover storydiscusses the potential impacts of climate change on Tennessee, with particular attention to Nashville. In short: It's already getting hotter, it's going to get a lot hotter than it is, and higher temperatures could damage crops, endanger livestock, create water shortages, worsen air quality and overload our power grid — not to mention leading to increases in severe rain and, as a result, a greater likelihood of flooding.
As former Vice President Al Gore told me via email: "I think it’s already clear that the climate crisis has very real and serious implications for middle Tennessee and the United States as a whole. Although scientists warn us that no single weather event can be solely blamed on climate change because there is a lot of variability in weather, including the occurrence of extreme events — it’s clear that long-familiar patterns are being disrupted and the extreme events are becoming both more extreme and more frequent. Moreover, the changes — like larger downpours — are absolutely consistent with what the scientists have long warned us would accompany global warming."
