Greenhouse effect benefit

Press, 25 January 1989, Page 16

Greenhouse effect benefit

From a correspondent in Washington, D.C., for the ‘Economist’

TALK about a silver lining. A study commissioned by the Environmental Protection Agency has actually found a beneficiary of the “greenhouse effect,” the warming trend that has scientists forecasting doom for much of the world. It is Cleveland, the habitual butt of bad jokes. “Cleveland is likely to benefit substantially,” wrote the Urban Institute in a report on global warming. “An image change from 'rust belt’ to ‘garden spot’ is not an outlandish prediction.” Scientists have predicted that as carbon dioxide and pollutants build up, the earth’s average temperatures could be five-nine degrees warmer by 2080. So as Atlanta broils, Cleveland, which now suffers long, brutal winters, might be having a balmy day. Warmer temperatures would help to attract businesses and keep residents from fleeing. Heat also would cut the city’s expenses. Cleveland’s annual snowfall could decline by roughly 85 per

cent from 125 cm to 20cm, according to the report. That would save SUS4.4O million a year on snow removal.

Fewer cycles of freezing and thawing would mean less buckling of roads and deterioration of bridges, thus saving the city more money. Adding to Cleveland’s joy is the study’s prognosis for Miami, which features flooding, more hurricanes and a shortage of drinking water. Rising sea levels would put a third of the city’s streets under water. The streets could be raised, for a price, but then: “People’s houses, yards and garages would

be three feet below the streets ... a situation strongly reminiscent of the Dutch countryside.” No American city deserves this reversal of fortunes more than Cleveland. The city suffers a dreadful image problem, mostly left over from the 1960 s and 1970 s when it was on the brink of financial ruin and reeling from other embarrassments that included both the Cuyahoga River and the mayor’s hair catching fire (not simultaneously). Things have improved, but Cleveland’s public-relations campaigns of recent years still reek of desperation, featuring unconvincing slogans such as “The Best Location in the Nation,” “The North Coast” and — apeing New York’s successful fruit imagery — “Cleveland’s a Plum.”

Clevelanders must hope that warnings about global warming will be ignored long enough to give them the last laugh. Copyright — The Economist.