{"id":640296,"date":"2018-10-31T07:00:40","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T13:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=640296"},"modified":"2018-11-01T07:13:41","modified_gmt":"2018-11-01T13:13:41","slug":"the-next-governor-must-prioritize-water-and-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/10\/the-next-governor-must-prioritize-water-and-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"The next governor must prioritize water and climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Elephant

Laura Paskus \/ New Mexico Political Report<\/p>

Elephant Butte Reservoir has been below four percent capacity since late summer.<\/p><\/div>\n

COMMENTARY:<\/strong> The next governor of New Mexico needs to understand climate change \u2014 its cause, the immediate and far-reaching impacts to our state and the need for substantive action.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re far past a time when denial or doubt can be indulged. Today, there\u2019s not even time for rhetoric or vague promises.<\/p>\n

In early October, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0that humans must drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade. Failing to do so means failing to hold warming below levels that will have catastrophic and irreversible impacts upon the Earth\u2019s ecosystems.<\/p>\n

Globally, the temperature \u2014 averaged between land and sea temperatures \u2014 has already risen 1\u00b0 Celsius, or 1.8\u00b0 Fahrenheit, since 1880. And the U.S. Southwest is warming at a rate nearly twice the global average: Average annual temperatures have increased by\u00a02\u00b0 Fahrenheit<\/a>\u00a0just since the 1970s in New Mexico.<\/p>\n