140 Climate Management Issues
climate change triggers diseases, insect infestations, and wildres. Groundwater aquifers in
Texas, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico
could see a lessening of recharge of 20–40 percent, causing problems for farmers and popula-
tion centers (UNEP, 2007). Winter recreation in eastern North America may disappear by the
2050s, striking a hard blow to the recreation industry. Costs to replenish Florida’s beaches
with new sand after sea-level rise may cost upward of $9 billion.
The IPCC also cautions that severe storm surges could hit Boston and New York City.
Cities that rely on melting snow for water, such as those in the drainage basins of the Rocky
Mountains and Sierra Nevada, ...