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Climate report examines impact on region

Dec 29, 2011 12:02 am
Jim Planck reports in The Daily Mail about a region-by-region report on the effects of climate change in New York. Columbia University, the City University of New York, and Cornell University were involved in producing the large study for the NYS Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The report concludes that New York State’s climate is changing and divides the state up into seven regions. The study examines the impact of climate change on water resources, coastal zones, ecosystems, agriculture, energy, transportation, telecommunications, and public health and recommend measures for remediation. The report concludes that region #7, which includes Columbia County, will likely see a steady increase in precipitation in the future. It also contains a warning for communities, like Hudson, that rely on a single stream for much of its water. “Only six water supplies in the state appear to rely solely on a single small stream,” it says, noting that two of them are local -- the City of Hudson and the Village of Saugerties. “Without secondary sources,” it states, “these run-of-the-river systems with small drainage basins are considered to be at risk for occasionally running out of water under conditions of climate change.” Read Planck's article in The Daily Mail<./a>