The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. assessment forecasts trouble for Georgia’s residents, agriculture
The toll of climate change is already visible across Georgia, making a lasting impact on its cities, shores and even its leading industry, according to a report the federal government released last week.
In Atlanta, that’s meant eight more extreme heat days — when temperatures and humidity are both high for extended periods — than it saw in 1961. The city has also added more than 80 days to its “heat wave season.”
The federal report, known as the Fifth National Climate Assessment, identified the Southeast as among the most vulnerable regions in the country to climate change.
One reason is the general poor health in the region. Southerners consistently rank among the most unhealthy residents in the country, and conditions such as diabetes and heart disease are known to increase vulnerability to heat illness.
Some of the most dramatic change can be seen along Georgia’s coast and other shorelines of the Southeast.
From 1970 to 2020, sea levels rose in some areas by about 6 inches. By 2050, the assessment predicts, sea levels in parts of the Southeast could rise 16 to 23 inches over where they were in 2000. Some coastal communities could see incidents of high-tide flooding occur five to 10 times more often.
Flooding could also become a bigger problem farther inland, as heavy deluges grow stronger and more frequent. In the Southeast, according to the assessment, the heaviest 1% of precipitation events now dump 37% more rain than they did in the middle of the 20th century.
Extreme weather has already pummeled agriculture, the state’s largest industry with an annual economic impact of $74 billion. When a freeze hit in March after an exceptionally warm winter, peach farmers lost nearly their entire crop. Blueberry farmers experienced a similar fate. Just over two months ago, it was pecan farmers’ turn, when Hurricane Idalia downed tens of thousands of their trees in South Georgia.
The report says long-term droughts will likely grow more intense, and warmer conditions will allow pests to flourish.
But Pam Knox, an agricultural climatologist at the University of Georgia and one of the authors of the Southeast chapter of the report, said there is reason for hope.
She said data-driven technologies can help farmers use resources such as water and fertilizer more efficiently.
“The more we know, the more we can figure out ways to adapt and change our management style to deal with a challenge,” Knox said.
On a wider front, solar panels are becoming less expensive — down 90% since 2010 — and other clean-energy technologies, such as batteries and wind turbines, have also gotten cheaper. Georgia is helping lead the way, with electric vehicle, battery and solar manufacturing plants coming online.
“The takeaway from this assessment — the takeaway from all of our collective work on climate — should not be doom and despair,” said Ali Zaidi, the White House’s national climate adviser. “The takeaway should be a sense of hope and possibilities.”