New report details effects of climate change on U.S. health, economy
 |
||
Click here for the Executive Summary Click here for the Full Report [13 MB] Here's what others are saying: Climate change: From bad to worse U.S. study projects how 'unequivocal warming' will change Americans' lives |
||
“Observations show that warming of the climate is unequivocal,” the executive summary from the U.S. Global Change Research Program report begins. The 196-page study, released Tuesday by the White House, offers one of the most comprehensive analyses of the effects of climate change and its effects on the health and economy of the United States.
“I really believe this report is a game-changer,” Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said. One of the scientists from 13 federal agencies that collaborated on the report offered this chilling prospect: “The world is in for some very serious problems.”
The report synthesizes information from a wide variety of scientific assessments and recently published research to summarize what is known about the observed and projected consequences of climate change on the United States. It combines analysis of impacts on various sectors such as energy, water and transportation at the national level with an assessment of key impacts on specific regions of the country.
Key findings from the report include:
- Global warming is unequivocal and primarily human-induced.
- Climate changes are under way in the United States and are projected to grow.
- Widespread climate-related impacts are occurring now and are expected to increase.
- Climate change will stress water resources.
- Crop and livestock production will be increasingly challenged.
- Coastal areas are at increasing risk from sea-level rise and storm surge.
- Risks to human health will increase.
- Climate change will interact with many social and environmental stresses.
- Thresholds will be crossed, leading to large changes in climate and ecosystems.
- Future climate change and its impacts depend on choices made today.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is one step, certainly, but the report emphasizes that it’s not the only solution. We must learn to adapt.
“It's not a document for scientists. It's not even a document for policymakers,” said Katharine Hayhoe, a geosciences professor at Texas Tech University and one of the report’s co-authors told The Daily Climate. “It's a document for every individual citizen who wants to know why they should care about climate change.”
Read it and decide for yourself. Comments? Visit the The Water Cooler climate change blog.
