Federal report sounds alarm on growing impact of climate change
A new climate report from the federal government released Friday warns that current global and regional efforts to stave off the devastating effects of climate change are insufficient.
The report, the first of its kind released under the Trump administration, finds that climate change is expected to interrupt the way people live day-to-day as it ravages infrastructure, impacts human health, poses challenges to the global economy and threatens the world’s energy supply.
{mosads}The Global Change Research Act of 1990 mandates that the federal government release a report about global warming and climate change every four years. This report, the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4), is the latest fulfillment of that mandate. It is the counterpart to the Climate Science Special Report, which was released last year.
The damning report, which analyzes the effects of climate change by U.S. region, comes as President Trump has continued to cast doubt on the scientific consensus that global warming and climate change are caused by human activity. Trump on Wednesday seemed to scoff at the idea of global warming, tweeting:
Brutal and Extended Cold Blast could shatter ALL RECORDS – Whatever happened to Global Warming?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 21, 2018
The report states emphatically: Global warming exists and it is a threat to humankind’s survival.
“Global average temperature has increased by about 1.8 [degrees] from 1901 to 2016, and observational evidence does not support any credible natural explanations for this amount of warming,” the report reads. “Instead, the evidence consistently points to human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse or heat-trapping gases, as the dominant cause.”
More than 300 federal and nonfederal experts participated in creating the assessment, which is based on scientific research and on-the-ground discussions with those impacted by climate change.
The report emphasizes that those most impacted by the intensifying storms and weather patterns caused by global warming will be poor and marginalized communities.
“Risks are often highest for those that are already vulnerable, including low-income communities, some communities of color, children, and the elderly,” it reads, citing multiple scientific studies. “Climate change threatens to exacerbate existing social and economic inequalities that result in higher exposure and sensitivity to extreme weather and climate-related events and other changes.”
While most of the information in the report is already known by climate scientists, the report’s intention is to propose solutions and possible actions for policymakers.
Updated: 2:56 p.m.
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