US Releases Sweeping Climate Change Report

While the Bush administration resisted acknowledging climate change, the Obama administration has flat-out embraced it, releasing a 190-page assessment by 13 government agencies documenting the dire impacts of global warming across the nation.

According to the report, Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, climate change-driven extreme weather, drought and wildfire trends are already impacting Americans and unless our production of greenhouse gases is greatly reduced soon, thing will get even worse.

• Heat waves will become more frequent and so intense that they will threaten human health and quality of life.
  
• Heavy rain downpours will increase, resulting in waterborne diseases, negative effects on agriculture, and disruptions to energy, water, and transportation systems.
  
• Extended drought, especially in the West, will spur greater competition between agricultural, commercial and residential interests for dwindling water supplies.
  
• Rising sea water temperatures and acidification will threaten coral reefs and the ecosystems they support. Tourism and fishing industries will suffer.
  
• Insect infestations and wildfires are already increasing and will increase further in a warming climate.
  
• Local sea-level rise of over three feet on top of storm surges will increasingly threaten homes and other coastal infrastructure.

According to John P. Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the report “tells us why remedial action is needed sooner rather than later, as well as showing why that action must include both global emissions reductions to reduce the extent of climate change and local adaptation measures to reduce the damage from the changes that are no longer avoidable.”

Later this summer, Congress will consider an Obama-backed energy reform bill -- the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 -- requiring a 17 percent reduction in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, and an 80 percent reduction by 2050.

Also See:
Abrupt Climate Change Likely this Century, USGS Finds
Climate Change Creating More Refugees than War (Environmental Issues)

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