Article:
Signs Of The
Last Times
he Obama administration on Tuesday
released an updated report on how climate change requires urgent action to counter impacts that touch every corner of the country, from oyster growers in Washington State to maple syrup producers in Vermont.
"Climate change, once considered an issue for a distant future, has moved firmly into the present," the report said.
Some environmental and public health groups
hailed the National Climate Assessment as a possible “game changer” for efforts to address climate change, in part because it makes the impact less abstract to many Americans.
The extensive report
detailed how consequences of climate change are hitting on several fronts, including health, infrastructure, water supply, agriculture and especially in more frequent severe weather such as floods and droughts. The impacts are also broken down by region - from storm surges in the Northeast to wildfires and water shortages in the southwestern United States.
Thirteen departments and agencies, from the Agriculture Department to NASA, are part of the committee, which also includes academics, businesses, non-profit organizations and others. More than 240 scientists contributed.
The focus on solutions, not just warnings, is key, said Vicki Arroyo, executive director of the Georgetown Climate Center of Georgetown University.
“You really can’t just provide a report that paints this dark picture of all these impacts. You have to couple it with a message of what our government can do about it, what you can do about it and what our communities can do,” she said.
Among the key findings in the report are that the past decade was the country’s warmest on record, and that some extreme weather events have increased in recent years. That severe weather and other impacts of climate change also increase the risk of disease transmission, decrease air quality and can increase mental health problems, among other effects, the report said.
