The impact of global warming on Texas

"The presence of uncertainty need not immobilize us like a deer trapped in the headlights of an onrushing truck. There is enough information to craft a sound program for a rational response to climate change in Texas." So concludes this report of the Task Force on Climate Change in Texas, an interdisciplinary group of experts convened by the Houston Advanced Research Center to study the possible effects of global warming on Texas and to identify policy options for avoiding or mitigating them. After introductory chapters on global climate change, the changing Texas climate, and greenhouse emissions, individual chapters of this study explore the effects of global warming on Texas water resources, estuaries, biodiversity, agriculture, urban areas, and the economy. These essays reveal a wide range of possible effects, from severe stresses on water and coastal resources to low impact in the agricultural sector and in urban areas. Policy options to mitigate some of these effects follow these investigative chapters. Given the fact that Texas ranks seventh in the world in total CO[subscript 2] production and second in per capita emissions, the need to look seriously at our contributions to global warming and find ways to reduce emissions becomes clear. This book is an important step in that direction, especially for environmentalists, policymakers, and concerned public citizens.