“This whole global warming myth will be exposed as what it really is—a way of control more than anything else. And that generation will be ticked.”
WHAT CLIMATE CHANGE MEANS FOR OKLAHOMA
- In Oklahoma, there were close to 4,300 hospital admissions for asthma in 2011, with an average charge of more than $16,700 for each stay.
- President Obama declared a major disaster in Oklahoma due to the 2012 Freedom Wildfires, which impacted 423 residences and required more than $10 million in federal assistance for recovery efforts.
- 2011 was the hottest summer for Oklahoma since record-keeping began in 1895, with 63 days over 100°F. The summer was also the second driest on record. The heat and drought depleted water resources and contributed to more than $12 billion in direct losses to agriculture alone and 95 deaths.
- Climate change has increased temperatures across the Great Plains since the 1960s, particularly in the northern states. The hotter, drier conditions are already contributing to water resource stress, particularly in the southern portion of the region. In the coming decades, lack of water will constrain development, stress natural resources, and increase competition for water among communities, agriculture, energy production, and wildlife and natural ecosystems. In 2011, heat and drought contributed to agricultural losses across the Midwest and Great Plains, and the northern Great Plains dealt with significant flooding. Extreme events like floods and droughts are expected to become more common with climate change. Other agricultural impacts of rising temperatures include changes in insect pests and the northward shift of optimal zones for crops. As young adults move out of small, rural communities, the towns are increasingly populated by a vulnerable demographic of very old and very young people, placing them more at risk for health issues than urban communities. Serious health concerns are also associated with severe flooding, projected to increase in the future, including greater incidence of waterborne diseases. Water quantity and quality issues are expected to exacerbate existing economic and social issues for the 65 Native American tribes in the Great Plains, where populations on rural tribal lands have limited capacities to respond to climate change.
