Climate Change 101
Climate Change in Bellevue
Climate change isn’t a future problem for Bellevue. In a Sustainable Bellevue survey, 81% of respondents said they’ve already experienced climate-related hazards here, including extreme heat, wildfire smoke, and flooding, and these impacts are only expected to become more frequent and intense.
In the next 25 years, the humidex (heat and humidity index) is projected to increase by 30.8 to 32.4 days. This means that by 2050, Bellevue will experience an additional 30-32 days of extreme heat above 88 degrees Fahrenheit (°F), which puts added strain on our health, homes, and infrastructure. Acting now helps protect residents today and ensures a safer, healthier Bellevue for future generations.
Climate Change 101
Building Resilience for All
While the hazards of climate change impact all of us, not everyone is affected equally. Older adults, young children, people with health conditions, lower-income households, and residents facing language or housing barriers can be hit harder by extreme weather and poor air quality.
Addressing climate change in Bellevue means both cutting emissions and building a community where everyone is better protected from the impacts ahead. That's what a resilient and sustainable Bellevue looks like.
Climate Change 101
What Are Greenhouse Gases (GHGs)?
Greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) are released when we burn fossil fuels like gas and oil to power buildings, cars, and industrial processes. These gases act like a heat-trapping blanket in the atmosphere. As we add more GHGs, that “blanket” gets thicker and holds in more heat, which disrupts the climate.
The result is rising temperatures, increasing flood risk, longer and more dangerous wildfire seasons, and more intense storms, much of which Bellevue is already experiencing today. That's why Bellevue has committed to reducing community GHG emissions 50% by 2030 and 95% by 2050 as part of its path toward carbon neutrality.
Carbon neutrality means reducing greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible and balancing any remaining emissions with equivalent offsets so that overall emissions equal zero.
Video Source: The Greenhouse Effect, NASA-JPL/Caltech
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The Sources of GHGs
Energy emissions come from the electricity, natural gas, propane, and fuel oil used to power the grid and heat residential, commercial, and industrial buildings and operations.
Grid distribution loss emissions come from electricity that is lost during transmission and distribution across the grid.
Transportation emissions come from the fuel used to power our vehicles, construction equipment, and public transit systems.
Solid waste emissions come mainly from materials sent to the landfill that break down over time, and also include emissions from composting.
Water and wastewater emissions come from the treatment and distribution of water, as well as the treatment of wastewater, which releases biogenic gases into the atmosphere.
Fugitive emissions come from leaks in natural gas pipelines and from refrigerants, including hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs).
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The Path to a Sustainable Bellevue
The strategies in the Sustainable Bellevue Plan and this dashboard will be transformative for our community’s emissions profile. Together with state laws which commit our utilities to an electricity supply free of greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, fully implementing these strategies will reduce or avoid more than 706,000 MTCO₂e by 2030.
Reaching that outcome will require major progress across the community, including converting more existing homes to efficient electric heat pumps, improving energy performance in commercial buildings, increasing the number of people who use transit and active transportation, putting more zero-emission vehicles on the road, and sending less waste to landfill.