Fifteen Republican States Will Suffer the Most Climate Change in This Century
This has one exception, of the inclusion of the Democratic state of Hawaii.
A study by the Brookings Institute Metropolitan Policy Program shows in the figure below that the top 8 states suffering the largest GDP damage by the last two decades of this century are Republican. The drops are from 13% for Florida, down to 9% for South Carolina, and including Texas at 10%. Then comes the Democratic State of Hawaii at 9%. This is followed by another seven Republican states, ending with Kansas at 5%. Then come Democratic states. (When I was in Hawaii last summer, I dodged two Hurricanes. Tourists fled, or canceled reservations.)
At the bottom are a political mix of 16 states which make small gains, up to 4%, from warming, and longer crop seasons. Among the four large states, other than Texas and Florida, above, are California at a 2% loss, and New York, at a 2% gain.
The top 7 states are all Gulf of Mexico States ending with Texas at 10%, and going up to Florida at 13%. Here is the diagram.
There also is a shortened list of drop in GDP by US Cities. Eight of the top ten are in Florida, ranging from 10% for Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, up to 17.5% for Lakeland-Winter Haven. Texas’ McAllen-Edinburg-Mission is at 15.9%. Jackson, Mississippi came in with 10.5% loss in the top ten. The shortened list did not show whist would happen to California coastal cities. A map showed some with 0-5% loss and a couple in 5-10% loss. Since the study this was based on was in 2017, it didn’t include California’s 2018 record fire season, nor the recent Polar Vortex record Northern cold temperatures.
While I have speculated about local losses of Republican areas, it is great to have this nationwide study. As I was typing this, MSNBC reported that Trump in 2005 filed for a $17.5 loss by Mar-a-Lago, due to a storm.
This reminds me of the Pete Seeger lyrics to “Where Have All The Flowers Gone”: “When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?” This is an odd coincidence, since I am also arranging an OLLI course on mass extinctions, including the insect Armageddon, which is decreasing pollinators for flowers.
