Confronting Climate Change in the U.S. Northeast: Science, Impacts and Solutions" was released on Wednesday, July 11. This report of the Northeast Climate Impacts Assessment (NECIA) provides new information on the impacts of climate change on key climate-sensitive sectors (coastal, marine, forests, agriculture, winter recreation and health), and options and opportunities for mitigation and adaptation.

The NECIA is a collaboration between the Union of Concerned Scientists and a team of more than 50 independent scientists and economists and covers the U.S. Northeast, from Pennsylvania to Maine.

The report finds that without urgent action to reduce heat-trapping emission today, the region could face:

• Climate: By late this century, summers in Pennsylvania could resemble summers today in Georgia or Alabama if emissions continue unabated. Under a lower-emission scenario, summers in Pennsylvania could resemble those in Virginia and Kentucky.
  
• Human Health: The number of days of dangerous heat and poor air quality that Pennsylvania residents will need to cope with could increase dramatically this century. By late-century, Pittsburgh couldexperience roughly 24 days over 100*F every summer under the higher-emissions scenario, compared with roughly six such days under the lower-emissions scenario. Also, increasing levels of carbon dioxide are expected to accelerate seasonal pollen production over the next several decades, extending the allergy season and exacerbating symptoms for asthma and allergy sufferers across the state.
  
• Agriculture: Under the high emissions scenario, most July days in Pennsylvania late in the century are projected to exceed the heat-stress threshold for many economically important crops currently grown in the state, and the dairy industry is particularly at risk. High temperatures would also allow agricultural pests and weeds, such as kudzu, to spread further north.

But there is good news, too. The report shows that the technology and ingenuity to reduce the threat of global warming is already at our fingertips. Solutions are already available:

• Electric Power: The state of Pennsylvania has seized upon wind energy as a new energy resource and an economic development strategy. The wind-energy company Gamesa is investing $84 million and creating nearly 1,000 jobs by locating its U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia and building three plants in the state.
  
• Buildings: "Green" building programs, like the federal Energy Star Buildings program and the U.S. Green Building Council LEED certifications, provide guidance needed to make buildings more energy-, water-, and resource-efficient. Pittsburgh has the largest number of "green" buildings of any city east of the Mississippi.
  
• Transportation: The transportation sector in the Northeast represents the single largest source of CO2 emissions. Pennsylvania has adopted California's vehicle emissions standards, which will require emissions reductions of 30 percent below 2002 levels by 2016, beginning with the 2009 model year (with implementation contingent upon an EPA ruling).

Accompanying the 140-pg report are nine state-specific outreach documents -- these are 4, 6 and 8 page state summaries highlighting the key findings for each state -- and an updated web site highlighting "Solutions in Action." A stand-alone executive summary will soon be available. Visit www.climatechoices.org/ne to download the report and fact sheets, and see the new solutions feature.

The Pennsylvania state summary is attached. We hope you find the report and accompanying fact sheets to be useful and timely guides to understanding climate change in the Northeast and what we can do to ensure a promising future for our children. The full report and a complete list of collaborating scientists and economists are available at http://www.climatechoices.org/ne/resources_ne/nereport.html. Further information on the work of the Union of Concerned Scientists is available at http://www.ucsusa.org