Global Warming News

PennEnvironment & National Wildlife Federation Urge Action to Cut Global Warming Pollution

Global warming could cause Pennsylvania's state tree and flower, the eastern hemlock and mountain laurel respectively, to go extinct in Pennsylvania, according to a new report released today by PennEnvironment and written by the National Wildlife Federation.  Nationally, the report found that thirty-five state flowers and state trees will go extinct in their home states under the projected impacts of global warming.  The report also offered tips for how gardeners can do their part to combat global warming.

“It's sad to think that plants designated as representing Pennsylvania won't be able to survive in the commonwealth due to global warming,” said Willcox.  “Left unchecked, global warming will wreak havoc on Pennsylvania's gardens, trees, and flowers, and it is therefore critical that we take action to cut global warming pollution.”

A February 2007 report from the International Panel on Climate Change, an international body of climate scientists, projects that the Earth’s average temperature will rise by 4-11 degrees before the end of this century if our dependency on fossil fuels continues unabated. Another report from this same prestigious group of scientists says that changes are happening faster than expected and the harmful effects of global warming on daily life are already apparent.

As any gardener knows, even just one degree difference between 32 and 33 degrees Fahrenheit over a period of time can make a huge difference in a garden.  Scientists are now finding what many gardeners have already been noticing: earlier leaf out and bloom times, earlier emergence of butterflies and other insects, and the arrival of new bird species at the backyard feeder.

Many of the “hardiness zone maps” that gardeners rely on to identify which plants to choose for their gardens are already being adjusted to account for the impacts of global warming. The Arbor Day Foundation recently shifted Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and part of Michigan from Zone 5 to a warmer Zone 6 along with other zone changes.

Changes in climate due to global warming will no doubt create some enormous new challenges. As numerous studies show, any potential benefits from a longer growing season will only be outmatched by a host of problems.

Heavier downpours and more intense storms will lead to extensive flooding in vulnerable areas. At the other extreme, severe drought conditions plaguing parts of the nation over the past few years lead to watering restrictions for our gardens. With global warming, lack of sufficient water for gardens will become even more of a problem. Droughts and heat waves also encourage some of the most damaging garden pests such as aphids, spider mites, locusts and white flies. Garden weeds such as dandelion and lambsquarters are expected to thrive with global warming.

While weeds and pests in the garden can be frustrating and time consuming to control, the invasive species encouraged by global warming can wreak absolute havoc in a garden as they gain more of a foothold. Scientists estimate that global warming will enable 48 percent of the invasive plants and animals in this country to move further north as temperatures rise.

“Failure to halt global warming will mean that the world we leave for our children and grandchildren will be vastly less supportive of the people, plants, and wildlife than the one we cherish today,” said Catherine Bowes, Northeast Global Warming Program Manager at the National Wildlife Federation. “Unless we take significant action to reduce global warming pollution, we will face more frequent and severe weather extremes, ecosystem disruptions, and the extinction of thousands of species – all of which are disasters for nature, let alone gardeners.”

While predictions for global warming are dire, they are not inevitable.  PennEnvironment and NWF are calling for passage of federal legislation to require 20% of our electricity to come from clean renewable sources of energy like wind and solar power.  The bill, introduced by Reps. Tom Udall (NM) and Todd Platts (PA), has been cosponsored by Representatives Bob Brady, Chris Carney, Chaka Fattah, Paul Kanjorski, Patrick Murphy, Joe Sestak and Allyson Schwartz from Pennsylvania’s delegation.

Under a comprehensive plan to reduce global warming pollution, a national renewable electricity standard of 20% by 2020 would achieve more than one-third of the reductions needed to put us on track to prevent the worst effects of global warming.

PennEnvironment and NWF are also urging Gov. Rendell to include strong science-based pollution reduction targets as part of his global warming plan, expected to be unveiled in the coming months.  Pennsylvania creates more global warming pollution than every state besides Texas and California.

And at the local level, the NWF report recommended a variety of actions that gardeners can take in their everyday lives to help combat global warming.  These included improving the energy efficiency of homes and garden lights, reducing the use of gasoline-powered yard tools, reducing the threat of invasive species expansion, incorporating a diversity of native plants into gardens, reducing water consumption, developing a rain garden, composting kitchen and garden waste, establishing a "greenroof" and planting trees to help cut home heating and cooling costs, and planting trees to absorb and store carbon dioxide.

 “The National Wildlife Federation report will help gardeners understand the predicted impacts of global climate change on plant species, and gives them practical tools to address this urgent problem,” says Marian Hill, Conservation Chairman of the Garden Club of America, who wrote the foreword to NWF’s report.

A full copy of the NWF report can be found at http://www.nwf.org/gardenersguide/Gardeners_Guide.pdf.