Nashville continues to welcome more people and travelers into the "It City" but it could come at a cost to our environment.
A newly released Federal climate change report says more urbanized cities like Memphis and Nashville with increased growth can create more greenhouse gases. As a result, longer days of extreme cold or heat are possible.
Dodd Galbreath an assistant professor in sustainability with Lipscomb University said Middle Tennesseans should start finding more ways to conserve fossil fuel.
"You can still buy the type of car that you love it just needs to be the type of car you love that is also energy efficient and not energy wasteful. I don't think that we should worry or feel overwhelmed I do feel like we need to feel a sense of urgency. Some scholars in our fields say this is the test of humanity," Galbreath said.
He said buying LED light bulbs will also help. The challenge is making changes as a whole.
"Even if we do all the things individually that we need to do or can do, it's not enough because of our societal contribution," he said.
In an effort to generate more clean energy in Middle Tennessee, Nashville installed its first-ever solar panel farm this past January.
Galbreath to try and curb greenhouse gas emissions, it will help if Nashville starts building more vertical infrastructure.
"And when we get people in tighter places, they don't have to travel as far to get services and we get the benefit of more restaurants and higher diversity of retail," he said.
The report also states there will be increased extreme weather events that will impact our city's infrastructure like roads and bridges.
