Climate change in New York (state)
[1] The main sources of greenhouse gases per the state government are transportation, buildings, electricity generation, waste, refrigerants, and agriculture.
[3] In 2021, New York experienced areas of extreme flooding due to Hurricane Ida, which was noted as having characteristics that are probably more common in a warmer climate: the intensity, the rapid intensification, and the amount of rainfall over land.
"[6] "Sea level is rising more rapidly along New York's coast than in most coastal areas because the land surface is sinking.
"[5] According to a 2011 report commissioned by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, "there is a high amount of low-income housing that would be in the path of flooding".
[8] "Climate change is estimated to cause the sea level along the coast of New York City to rise anywhere from one to three and a half feet by 2080 at a cost of billions of dollars in lost property and assets.
"[9] Unless action is taken, the United States Geological Survey predicts that by 2100, "the barrier islands in Southampton would be broken up by new inlets or lost to erosion if sea level rises three feet.
As early as 2006, Stern Review, the largest, most comprehensive economic analysis of climate change to that point, projected that warming of 3 or 4 °C (5.4 or 7.2 °F) would lead to serious risks and increasing pressures for coastal protection in New York State.
Lake Erie levels are expected to decrease by as much as five feet by 2100, threatening wildlife and reducing waters supplies for electricity generation.
"[9] Warmer temperatures cause algae blooms, "which can be unsightly, harm fish, and degrade water quality".
"[8] The EPA notes that "increasingly hot summers are likely to reduce yields of corn, the state's most important crop.
"[5] "Striped bass is expected to experience a major loss in habitat as ocean temperatures rise, especially in the southern part of its range"[9] Climate change has also been asserted to be the cause of growing rat infestations in the state, as "[m]ilder winters — the result of climate change — make it easier for rats to survive and reproduce".
[15] The Community Risk and Resiliency Act (CRRA), signed into law in September 2014 by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, requires that applicants to certain state permitting and funding programs "demonstrate that they have taken into account future physical climate risks from storm surges, sea-level rise or flooding".
[16] It also "requires the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to adopt science-based sea-level rise projections into regulation" and "adds mitigation of risk due to sea-level rise, storm surge and flooding to the list of smart-growth criteria to be considered by state public-infrastructure agencies".
Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States: Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume II (Report).
