Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke at the kickoff for Climate Week NYC yesterday morning, warning that New York’s year of severe weather is a window into what climate change could mean for the city.
So far this year, the city has weathered a tornado that touched down in Brooklyn last September, heavy snowfall and a hurricane that was downgraded to a tropical storm but still wreaked havoc on parts of the city and the surrounding area.
“We’ve seen the rainiest day and rainiest month ever,” Bloomberg said. “A tornado. A hurricane. The snowiest January on record. And 16 blistering days of 90-degree-plus heat.”
Speaking at the New York Academy of Sciences in 7 World Trade Center, Bloomberg said the weather patterns could be coincidental. But perhaps not.
“Perhaps, they’re warnings of what the future holds, unless we act now,” the mayor said.
Bloomberg spoke alongside former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who called climate change “something that is easy to solve.”
Blair acknowledged that while not everyone believes that the Earth is growing warmer, action still needs to be taken soon. “It is sensible to act,” he said.
Follow Alison Bowen on Twitter @AlisonatMetro.
