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BILL NO. 22-60
<br /> RESOLUTION NO.4994-22
<br /> AN UPDATED AND SUPERCEDING RESOLUTION OF THE SOUTH BEND COMMON
<br /> COUNCIL CONCERNING CLIMATE RECOVERY AND OUR COMMITMENT TO
<br /> DEVELOP A CLIMATE ACTION PLAN AIMED AT GREENHOUSE GAS
<br /> REDUCTIONS FOR THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND AND TO SUPPORT OTHER
<br /> CLIMATE RELATED INITIATIVES.
<br /> WHEREAS, scientific consensus concludes that it is extremely likely that the dominant
<br /> cause of ongoing climate change is the emission of heat-trapping gases by human actions,
<br /> primarily from the combustion of fossil fuels; and the more carbon dioxide in our
<br /> atmosphere, the warmer our planet gets. Per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
<br /> Administration (NOAA), carbon has not been this highly concentrated in the atmosphere in
<br /> the past 800,000 years; in fact, according to NOAA, the five-year period, 2014-2018, are the
<br /> warmest years ever recorded 1; and
<br /> WHEREAS, in 1988, NASA's Dr. James Hanson testified before Congress on the impending
<br /> perils of climate change, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was
<br /> established by the United Nations and the World Meteorological Association, and has since
<br /> released five climate assessments with each affirming: the planet is getting warmer and
<br /> humans are causing it through our carbon emissions, and unless we reduce emissions, there
<br /> are serious environmental consequences in our future. Both the 1997 Kyoto Protocol2 and the
<br /> 2015 Parisi Agreement challenged nations to reduce greenhouse emissions and thereby, limit
<br /> climate change, and the 2019 IPCC report just released in January advocates for policies
<br /> aimed at temperature targets under one point five (1.5) degrees Celsius, and further
<br /> acknowledged that the impact of even a one point five (1.5) degrees Celsius rise will pose
<br /> drastic impact on the Earth's ecosystems and inhabitants4; and
<br /> WHEREAS, climate change already poses risks at the global, state, and local level, impacts
<br /> evidenced around the world are changes in precipitation (intensification of both drought and
<br /> storm effects), ocean acidification, coral reef degradation, loss of species, threats to marine
<br /> life and biodiversity, rising sea levels threatening food supplies and livelihoods, and forced
<br /> emigration of coastal populations. In addition, extreme weather events, temperatures, and
<br /> air pollutants can acutely impact human health. The elderly, young, homeless, and people
<br /> with chronic diseases, or respiratory illnesses (such as asthma) are particularly sensitive to
<br /> extreme temperatures contributing to increase hospital visits, health care costs, and
<br /> mortality. Another health effect of climate change is the spread of disease such as Lyme and
<br /> the Zika Virus which are transmitted by ticks and mosquitoes that thrive in hot, humid
<br /> environments5; and
<br /> WHEREAS, Indiana and South Bend will certainly share in some of these impacts, already
<br /> documented or projected effects include, but are not limited to: record breaking heat waves
<br /> and high humidity (with accompanying increased demand for cooling), reduced water and air
<br /> quality, decreased agricultural productivity (e.g., of corn and soybean crops); increased heavy
<br /> rainfall leading to more flooding, shorter winters and delayed fall freeze (e.g., extending the
<br /> ragweed allergy season), increased invasive species; loss of plant, fish and wildlife habitats6;
<br /> and
<br /> 1 httos://www,nationalgeogra phic,com/environment/2019/02/2018-fourth-warmest-vear-ever-noaa-nasa
<br /> reports/
<br /> 2 UNFCCC {1997) Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted at COP3
<br /> 3 Jlttos:// unfccc.int/resource/bigoicture/#content-the-oaris-aareement
<br /> 4 https://www.ipcc.ch/
<br /> 5 Jittp://docs.southbendin.aov/WebLink/Browse.aspx?dbid=0&startid=279856&row=l&cr=1
<br /> 6 Purdue Climate Change Research Center's 2019 Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment;
<br /> https://aa.ourdue.edu/i ndi anaclimate/
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