From the sea-level site of historic Jamestown – which Time magazine describes as “where it all began” for the European settlement of North America – to the heights of the iconic Shenandoah National Park, Virginia’s economy faces a major impact if climate change is left unchecked in the coming years, according to a major new report from Rocky Mountain Climate Organization (RMCO) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

The RMCO/NRDC report will be released on Wednesday, (September 1st, 2010), during a 1:30 p.m. EDT during a live, two-way phone-based news conference. In addition to Jamestown, which is a part of Colonial National Historical Park (NHP), and Shenandoah National Park, the report also examines the potential impact of climate change on Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). Together, the sites support thousands of Virginia jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in tourism dollars and other economic activity in the state.

The RMCO/NRDC report examines the possible impact of projected elevated average temperatures in Virginia, stronger coastal storms, loss of wildlife, higher seas, and other factors.

TO PARTICIPATE: Join this live, phone-based news conference (with full, two-way Q&A) at 1:30 p.m. EDT on September 1st, 2010 by dialing 1 (800) 860-2442. Ask for the “Virginia economy and climate change” news event.

CAN’T PARTICIPATE?: A streaming audio replay of the news event will be available on the Web at www.nrdc.org as of 5 p.m. EDT on September 1st, 2010.