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APPLE TEMPS ON THE CLIME

The city’s average temperature could rise by as much as 7.5 degrees this century, and once-in-a-century storms may occur as often as every 15 years, a climate-change panel said Tuesday.

The report by the city’s Panel on Climate Change was requested by Mayor Bloomberg to better understand how global temperature levels could strain the city’s infrastructure.

“Climate change is real and could have serious consequences for New York if we don’t take action,” Bloomberg said.

The report predicts average annual temperatures will increase between 4 and 7.5 degrees and extreme events such as heat waves, intense rain, droughts and coastal flooding will become more frequent.

Coastal floods that are now expected to occur once every 10 years could occur once every three years and floods that occur once in a century could begin to occur once in every 15 to 35 years, the report said.