Global Warming to Stress Tennessee: Vandy, ORNL Experts

By the year 2050, Tennessee will be three to five degrees hotter on average, according to a new report by experts from Vanderbilt University and Oak Ridge National Lab, and drawing on a raft of government data and academic journals.

Tennessee has already gotten two degrees hotter since 1950, and that trend is expected to accelerate in coming decades. It could bring more extreme weather – droughts and floods, like the state has already seen in recent years.

Researchers say if water becomes a less dependable resource, it could stress power plants, even as demand rises for electricity and cooling. The report also warns higher temperatures could help disease spread, and hurt air quality. But it doesn’t offer a ton in the way of detailed remedies:

“If you get into making a lot of specific, concrete recommendations, then the report becomes really big and nobody reads it.”

Vanderbilt’s Jonathan Gilligan says while the problem of climate change is far bigger than Tennessee, he hopes the report spurs meaningful local action. Gilligan argues such efforts can overlap with other broad goals, like improving public health and transportation systems.

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean says there’s an upside to projects that address global warming, even if some people doubt the science. Speaking before the report’s authors, Dean ticked off efforts to expand mass transit and green spaces, and improve the city’s water systems.

Dean says such projects are worth doing, whether or not you believe people are making the earth hotter:

“Whether it’s making the air quality better or making the water cleaner or preserving open space, just put aside climate change for a minute: all those things lead to a higher quality of life in Nashville. It’s not some abstract idea that when you preserve open space, create more parks, you make life better for Nashvillians right now.”

Dean says climate change is far too big problem for any government to handle entirely. Gilligan says while it calls for a massive and coordinated response, he’s “enthusiastic” about anyone making a difference where they can.

A Vanderbilt official says the report was put together through volunteer efforts and spurred by the Vanderbilt Institute for Energy and Environment, which sponsored the release. She says colleagues at ORNL did much of the heavy-lifting to weave together writing from numerous authors into one cohesive document.

You can download the report at SustainableTennessee.org – Sustainable Tennessee was “started by developer Tom McCormick, inquiring of (VIEE Director) George Hornberger and other researchers as to what the future with climate change looked like for Tennessee.”