TheDay.com - Climate Outlook Gloomy For Region: "Major flooding of the Connecticut coast is expected to occur every 17 to 32 years by the end of this century, and one of the most vulnerable areas lies along the Thames River in Groton and New London, home of critical infrastructure landmarks such as the Amtrak railroad bridges, the Long Island and Fishers Island ferry terminals, State Pier, and the Electric Boat shipyard.
These and other gloomy predictions for Connecticut are included in a report released Wednesday by the Union of Concerned Scientists about the regional effects of climate change over the next century and how the public and private sectors should respond.
Titled “Confronting Climate Change in the Northeast,” the report includes a six-page section specifically about Connecticut with a map showing flood-prone areas along the Thames River as an example of the kind of area once considered vulnerable to severe flooding once in a century that will flood more frequently in the future as the climate warms.
...For Charles Rothenberger, staff attorney at Connecticut Fund for the Environment, the report strengthens his conviction that the state needs to set enforceable targets for reducing carbon emissions and ensure that its goals are met.
Current “aspirational goals” for reducing emissions, he said, will not succeed, and without concerted, sustained effort, “we're going to be in trouble.”
“States are starting to realize that wishful thinking alone is not going to solve the problem,” he said. “This report underscores that climate change is not a backburner issue"
