A new report released by 50 top university and government researchers including one of the leading authors of the IPCC‘s report on impact and mitigation of global warming, has warned that the Northeastern United States could face severe weather changes if initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are not acted on.

Lengthy spells of over 100 degree heat, frequent and intense flooding, the disappearance of most ski resorts in the area as well as spruce and hemlock trees are some of the devastating effects that the forecasted temperature increase would produce.

The report suggests that it’s not too late to avoid such a scenario but that richer nations would have to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 80% below 2000 levels. Already, several states in the region have joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multi-state effort to reduce harmful emissions from power plants.