Pirate's Cove

Where do you find the most pro-science skepticism when it comes to anthropogenic climate change? The Southeast and Midwest. Republican leaning states. So, shockingly, guess which areas are targeted in this new “study”?

As Climate Changes, Southern States Will Suffer More Than Others

As the United States confronts global warming in the decades ahead, not all states will suffer equally. Maine may benefit from milder winters. Florida, by contrast, could face major losses, as deadly heat waves flare up in the summer and rising sea levels eat away at valuable coastal properties.

In a new study in the journal Science, researchers analyzed the economic harm that climate change could inflict on the United States in the coming century. They found that the impacts could prove highly unequal: states in the Northeast and West would fare relatively well, while parts of the Midwest and Southeast would be especially hard hit.

In all, the researchers estimate that the nation could face damages worth 0.7 percent of gross domestic product per year by the 2080s for every 1 degree Fahrenheit rise in global temperature. But that overall number obscures wide variations: The worst-hit counties — mainly in states that already have warm climates, like Arizona or Texas — could see losses worth 10 to 20 percent of G.D.P. or more if emissions continue to rise unchecked.

Since 1850, there has only been a mild 1.5 degree Fahrenheit increase. Will 1 more degree Fahrenheit really be noticeable? Only in Warmist World. The notion here is to attempt to scaremonger aimed at the areas with the most skeptics, all in order to get them to accept more taxes, fees, a higher cost of living, higher energy costs, and more centralized governmental control of their lives.

Previous economic models have been relatively crude, focusing on broad global impacts. The new study, led by the Climate Impact Lab, a group of scientists, economists and computational experts, took advantage of a wealth of recent research on how high temperatures can cripple the economy. And the researchers harnessed advances in computing to scale global climate models down to individual counties in the United States.

Who’s shocked by the use of computer models? Raise your hands.

There are still limitations to the study. It relies heavily on research showing how hot weather has caused economic losses in the past. But society and technology will change a lot over the next 80 years, and people may find novel ways to adapt to steadily rising temperatures, said Robert S. Pindyck, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was not involved with this study.

Limitations? The heck you say. People survived Holocene warm periods that were warmer than today, we’ll survive this one.