A massive report issued by the Trump administration on Friday emphasizes the dire threat that human-caused global warming poses to the United States and its citizens.\u2026<\/b>
\nA massive report issued by the Trump administration on Friday emphasizes the dire threat that human-caused global warming poses to the United States and its citizens.
\u00ab\u00a0Earth\u2019s climate is now changing faster than at any point in the history of modern civilization, primarily as a result of human activities,\u00a0\u00bb researchers say in the report, officially Volume II of the National Climate Assessment.
The 1,600-page report details the climate and economic impacts U. S. residents will see if drastic action is not taken to address climate change.
\u00ab\u00a0The impacts of global climate change are already being felt in the United States and are projected to intensify in the future,\u00a0\u00bb researchers say.
The last few years have smashed records for damaging weather in the United States, costing nearly $400 billion since 2015. In a worst-case scenario, the researchers say, climate change could deliver a 10 percent hit to the nation’s GDP by the end of the century.
Climate change threatens the health and well-being of the American people by causing increasing extreme weather, changes to air quality, the spread of new diseases by insects and pests and changes to the availability of food and water, the researchers say.
Report co-author Katharine Hayhoe of Texas Tech University said it shows the dangerous weather that scientists said will happen in the United States is already happening.
The assessment, first mandated by Congress in the late 1980s, is prepared every four years by the nation’s top scientists from 13 agencies. It’s meant as a reference for the president, Congress and the public.
Volume I was released in 2017.
The report frequently contradicts President Donald Trump, who took to Twitter on Wednesday night to again express his doubts about climate change, using the especially cold Thanksgiving forecast as an example.
\u00ab\u00a0Brutal and Extended Cold Blast could shatter ALL RECORDS – Whatever happened to Global Warming?\u00a0\u00bb the president tweeted.
But weather isn’t climate, the researchers say. They say cold snaps can occur even as the planet warms overall.
\u201cOver shorter timescales and smaller geographic regions, the influence of natural variability can be larger than the influence of human activity,\u00a0\u00bb they write. \u00ab\u00a0Over climate timescales of multiple decades, however, global temperature continues to steadily increase.\u201d
Environmental groups quickly reacted to the report.
\u201cAny remaining debate on the reality of climate change is over,\u00a0\u00bb said Lou Leonard of the World Wildlife Fund. \u00ab\u00a0The Bush, Obama, and now Trump Administrations have all published reports showing the current and future impacts to the United States from climate change. Each report is increasingly dire.\u00a0\u00bb
More: UN report: ‘Unprecedented changes’ needed to protect Earth from global warming
More: Climate change to trigger widespread hazards to Earth and humanity \u2013 many at the same time
Report co-author Brenda Ekwurzel of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said it \u00ab\u00a0makes it clear that climate change is not some problem in the distant future. It\u2019s happening right now in every part of the country.
\u201cU. S. residents are now being forced to cope with dangerously high temperatures, rising seas, deadly wildfires, torrential rainfalls and devastating hurricanes,\u00a0\u00bb she said. \u00ab\u00a0The report concludes that these climate-related impacts will only get worse and their costs will mount dramatically if carbon emissions continue unabated.\u00a0\u00bb
The day-after-Thanksgiving release comes more than two weeks earlier than the original planned release at the American Geophysical Union annual conference in December, according to Climate Nexus.
Contributing: The Associated Press<\/p>\n