Climate change has already cost Maryland between $10 billion and $20 billion in cleanup efforts following 85 extreme weather events that have hit the state since 1984, Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman said at a symposium Tuesday. But, she added, not preparing for continuing changes would cost the state far more in the future.
Lierman spoke at the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s Climate Health and Policy in Maryland Symposium Tuesday. She joined Maryland researchers and student interns who presented their findings on how the changing climate affects individual and public health.
Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration backs Lierman up – the federal agency concurs that climate change has already cost Maryland $10 to $20 billion. As well, the Chesapeake Bay, which has risen by a foot in the last century, is projected to rise 5 feet over the next 100 years. Although the state plans to reduce carbon emissions with $8 billion in new investments by 2031, more frequent and intense heat waves increase the risk of heat exhaustion, stroke and heart attacks in Marylanders…