The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report last year warning of imminent extreme climate-based threats if Earth's average temperature rises 2 degrees Celsius. While planet Earth as a whole hasn't yet crossed the 2 degree threshold, some individual states already have, particularly in the Northeast, according to The Washington Post.
Washington Post Climate Reporter Steven Mufson explained why states like Massachusetts, Maine and Connecticut are close to the 2 degree tipping point. Rhode Island has already passed the forewarned point, he added.
"One of the factors is that the Gulf Stream, which is a warm current, has moved closer to the Northeast coast," Mufson said. "As a result, things that die off in the winter aren't dying off anymore, including everything from mosquito larvae to aquatic weeds to pests that eat agricultural products, so that's a very important part of the story, especially in the Northeast."
It will take a massive energy infrastructure overhaul to reverse the effects of climate change, Mufson said. Bipartisan support is essential for this restructuring to be addressed, he added.
"Among Democrats, there is a huge amount of support for doing something on climate change," he said. "If policy is going to change, it will be an important factor when Republican lawmakers start to see that being in their political interest."
