What does global warming have in store for outdoor sports enthusiasts?

WHEEZING RUNNERS (from more intense allergy seasons)

DRIED UP RIVERS (from more intense droughts)

CODE RED AIR QUALITY (from more intense heat waves)

And who’s the top contributor of climate pollution in Virginia? Dominion Power.

Sponsoring events like Dominion Riverrock, Richmond’s annual outdoor sports festival, can’t erase the company’s huge contribution to the global climate crisis. If Dominion wants good PR, the company should not only sponsor community events, like Riverrock, but also make a real commitment to clean energy, like wind and solar power, instead of building more and more massive fossil fuel plants.

That’s the message we’re bringing to Dominion Riverrock on this weekend in Richmond. Sports enthusiasts who are also fans of a stable climate are wearing t-shirts bearing the message while participating in events.  

They’re even adding to the fun by entering photos with folks who agree with our message into the event’s Instagram contest!  How fun is that? Check out the photos:

For an idea of how increased extreme weather, like droughts and floods, are already in the picture from climate change, check out this Huffington Post piece.

Climate studies have warned us to expect more frequent and intense extreme events, such as heavy rain and snow storms, along with heat waves. While weather variability is nothing new, the wild swings in weather — termed “weather whiplash” and that have recently occurred across the Midwest and South Central states during the past few years, from record flood to record drought and back to record flood — may be an example of what’s in store as global warming continues to alter the atmosphere.

To learn more about how climate change affects air quality, check out the recent report on the topic from the Union of Concerned scientists, which projected that Virginia would be one of the top 10 most affected states.

Ground-level ozone, the primary component of smog, is generated by chemical reactions between nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) triggered by heat and sunlight. Warmer average temperatures from a changing climate may elevate ozone concentrations in many parts of the country, especially in and around urban areas.

Warmer temperatures also are associated with stagnant air conditions that can cause ozone pollution to settle over an area and remain for extended periods of time.

The UCS analysis, which used the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Benefits Mapping model, calculated national impacts and ranked the 10 states most likely to experience the worst health impacts and highest costs in 2020.

In terms of costs, it found that California would be hit hardest, followed by Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey and Virginia. These states are most vulnerable because they have a combination of the largest number of residents living in urban areas, large numbers of children and seniors, and high levels of nitrogen oxides and VOC emissions from vehicles and power plants.

And finally, for more information about allergies and climate change, check out this early spring Huffington Post piece.

The planet is getting warmer, and human behavior is responsible. The changing climate has brought early spring, late-ending fall, and large amounts of rain and snow. All of that, combined with historically high levels of carbon dioxide in the air, nourishes the trees and plants that make pollen, and encourages more fungal growth, such as mold, and the release of spores.

We will be paying a wretched price in the coming months for the behavior fueling the explosion of pollen, which are the tiny reproductive cells found in trees, weeds, plants and grasses. By all accounts, there will be more pollen this year than ever before.

Most trees release their pollen in the early spring, while grasses do so in late spring and early summer. Ragweed makes its pollen in the late summer and early fall.

And pollen production is only part of the impact that global warming is going to have on allergies and asthma — and our health overall.

In areas of the country experiencing prolonged heat and drought, dust will worsen air pollution, exacerbating asthma and other respiratory diseases. In other regions, climate change will affect the insect population — their stings and bites can provoke fatal allergic reactions in sensitive individuals — as well as the proliferation of such vines as poison ivy. Poison ivy thrives with increased carbon dioxide, and as a result, now makes a far more potent urushiol — the oil that causes poison-ivy-triggered rashes — than in the past.