Ask Zoe Johnson, of the state Department of Natural Resources what climate change means for Maryland, and she gives you a list.
“Wildfire and drought, you know impact on invasive species, pests, and insects, changes in precipitation patterns, extreme snowfall events,” says Johnson, who is DNR’s program manager for climate change policy.
Add to that an expected rise in sea level of nearly four feet by the year 2100. But Johnson says you won’t have to wait that long to see the effects of rising sea level; just head down to the City Dock in Annapolis at high tide.
A study released this summer by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that Annapolis has seen the biggest increase of nuisance flooding of any U.S. city since the 1960s. Back then, Annapolis saw around four days a year of flooding. Now it averages about 39 days a year.
Johnson said that’s just one of the effects of climate change. “Climate change is influencing both the intensity and sometimes the frequency in some cases of extreme events such as hurricanes.”
The state has a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020. It’s also waging a campaign to have each of us use less energy. Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown says if he’s elected governor, those programs and others like them will continue. “I believe we have a responsibility to address climate change and these are certainly important programs and initiatives that help us do that,” Brown said.
Republican Larry Hogan’s campaign canceled one interview, and then failed to respond to multiple requests to reschedule. Later, his staff released a statement saying he believes climate change is a scientific fact and adding, “The question is how much a small state like Maryland can do to actually solve the problem.”
The statement also says Hogan would support climate change initiatives, as long as there was proof they would work and wouldn’t be too costly for taxpayers.
Brown said a governor must address climate change and that it would be a priority for his administration. “If we’re going to protect low lying coastal regions, if we’re going to protect the thousands of jobs at the Port of Baltimore...then we have a responsibility to address climate change,” Brown said.
DNR’s Johnson said the state is taking steps now to deal with the effects that are coming. For instance, as sea levels rise, some wetlands will be flooded. So the state is figuring out where there is dry land today that could be the wetlands of the future. “So we are preemptively targeting and working to conserve those lands so we have future wetland habitat to replace the wetland habitats that’s being lost," Johnson said.
A Goucher Poll released this week found that 84 percent of Marylanders believe climate change is a threat to the state. The poll’s director, MileahKromer said that’s not surprising because “coastal states are certainly more influenced by changes in climate and global warming.”
And rising sea levels, she said “impact Marylanders more than they would impact people in Wyoming."
The poll also found that by a more than two to one margin, Marylanders believe Democrats do a better job than Republicans on environmental issues.