12-01-2013, 05:40 PM
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[TD="colspan: 2"]By: Andrew Restuccia
January 11, 2013 02:25 PM EST [/TD]
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[TD="class: story, colspan: 2"]Human activities play a primary role in causing climate change, and evidence is mounting that those changes will lead to more frequent extreme weather events, according to a major draft report released Friday.
The draft of the third National Climate Assessment comes as the Northeast continues to recover from devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy and just days after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said 2012 was the hottest year on record in the contiguous United States.
The draft report, which runs more than 1,000 pages and was approved for release Friday by a federal advisory committee, warns that "human induced climate change is projected to continue and accelerate significantly if emissions of heat trapping gases continue to increase."
But don't hold your breath for serious action on climate change in Congress. Republicans and some moderate Democrats remain opposed to measures to address climate change. The Obama administration, meanwhile, is moving forward with its own efforts on climate change, including beefed-up fuel economy standards and greenhouse gas regulations for new power plants.
The report also stresses that climate change harms public health.
"Climate change threatens human health and well-being in many ways, including impacts from increased extreme weather events, wildfire, decreased air quality, diseases transmitted by insects, food and water and threats to mental health," the report says.
And it warns that the effects of climate change including sea level rise, storm surges and extreme heat could have wide-ranging negative effects on the country's infrastructure, findings that could gain traction in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
The report also says climate change will threaten water supplies across large swaths of the United States, including the Southwest, the Great Plains and the Southeast, along with "adverse impacts to crops and livestock over the next 100 years."
The report predicts that temperatures will rise 2-4 degrees Fahrenheit in the coming decades in most areas. By the end of the century, temperatures could increase 3-5 degrees "under a lower emissions scenario involving substantial reductions" and 5-10 degrees "under a higher emissions scenario assuming continued increases in emissions."
"The chances of record-breaking high temperature extremes will continue to increase as the climate continues to change. There has been an increasing trend in persistently high nighttime temperatures, which have widespread impacts because people and livestock get no respite from the heat. In other places, prolonged periods of record high temperatures associated with droughts contribute to conditions that are driving larger and more frequent wildfires. There is strong evidence to indicate that human influence on the climate has already roughly doubled the probability of extreme heat events like the record-breaking summer of 2011 in Texas and Oklahoma," the report says.
The report adds: "The rate of global sea level rise measured by satellites has been roughly twice the rate observed over the last century." And sea level rises will continue, with the report estimating 1- to 4-foot increases this century.
"The stakes are high, as nearly 5 million Americans live within 4 feet of the local high-tide level," the report says.
But there is at least some good news for farmers in the near term.
"Over the next 25 years or so, the agriculture sector is projected to be relatively resilient, even though there will be increasing disruptions from extreme heat, drought, and heavy downpours. U.S. food security and farm incomes will also depend on how agricultural systems adapt to climate changes in other regions of the world," the draft report says.
The report also breaks down the effects of climate change by region. In the Northeast for example, the report warns of "heat waves, coastal flooding due to sea level rise and storm surge, and river flooding due to more extreme precipitation events."
And in Alaska, "summer sea ice is receding rapidly, glaciers are shrinking and permafrost is thawing." The changes are causing major changes to the ecosystem that are impacting Alaskan native communities.
Additionally, the report warns of ocean acidification and the "alteration of marine ecosystems" because oceans absorb about one-quarter of human-caused carbon emissions and 90 percent of heat that results from warming.
The National Climate Assessment Development Advisory Committee reached consensus at a meeting Friday morning to release its draft National Climate Assessment, which will be available online later Friday afternoon.
The report fulfills the requirements of the Global Change Research Act of 1990, which requires a climate change assessment be provided to the president and Congress every four years. This is the third National Climate Assessment.
The report is coordinated by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, a 13-agency working group. But it is written by NCADAC, an advisory committee that consists of 60 scientists and other experts.
The federal government and the public will have the opportunity to make comments and recommend changes to the report before it is finalized. The comment period ends in April 2013. The final report is slated to be released in early 2014.
This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 2:12 p.m. on January 11, 2013.
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[TD="colspan: 2"]By: Andrew Restuccia
January 11, 2013 02:25 PM EST [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: story, colspan: 2"]Human activities play a primary role in causing climate change, and evidence is mounting that those changes will lead to more frequent extreme weather events, according to a major draft report released Friday.
The draft of the third National Climate Assessment comes as the Northeast continues to recover from devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy and just days after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said 2012 was the hottest year on record in the contiguous United States.
The draft report, which runs more than 1,000 pages and was approved for release Friday by a federal advisory committee, warns that "human induced climate change is projected to continue and accelerate significantly if emissions of heat trapping gases continue to increase."
But don't hold your breath for serious action on climate change in Congress. Republicans and some moderate Democrats remain opposed to measures to address climate change. The Obama administration, meanwhile, is moving forward with its own efforts on climate change, including beefed-up fuel economy standards and greenhouse gas regulations for new power plants.
The report also stresses that climate change harms public health.
"Climate change threatens human health and well-being in many ways, including impacts from increased extreme weather events, wildfire, decreased air quality, diseases transmitted by insects, food and water and threats to mental health," the report says.
And it warns that the effects of climate change including sea level rise, storm surges and extreme heat could have wide-ranging negative effects on the country's infrastructure, findings that could gain traction in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
The report also says climate change will threaten water supplies across large swaths of the United States, including the Southwest, the Great Plains and the Southeast, along with "adverse impacts to crops and livestock over the next 100 years."
The report predicts that temperatures will rise 2-4 degrees Fahrenheit in the coming decades in most areas. By the end of the century, temperatures could increase 3-5 degrees "under a lower emissions scenario involving substantial reductions" and 5-10 degrees "under a higher emissions scenario assuming continued increases in emissions."
"The chances of record-breaking high temperature extremes will continue to increase as the climate continues to change. There has been an increasing trend in persistently high nighttime temperatures, which have widespread impacts because people and livestock get no respite from the heat. In other places, prolonged periods of record high temperatures associated with droughts contribute to conditions that are driving larger and more frequent wildfires. There is strong evidence to indicate that human influence on the climate has already roughly doubled the probability of extreme heat events like the record-breaking summer of 2011 in Texas and Oklahoma," the report says.
The report adds: "The rate of global sea level rise measured by satellites has been roughly twice the rate observed over the last century." And sea level rises will continue, with the report estimating 1- to 4-foot increases this century.
"The stakes are high, as nearly 5 million Americans live within 4 feet of the local high-tide level," the report says.
But there is at least some good news for farmers in the near term.
"Over the next 25 years or so, the agriculture sector is projected to be relatively resilient, even though there will be increasing disruptions from extreme heat, drought, and heavy downpours. U.S. food security and farm incomes will also depend on how agricultural systems adapt to climate changes in other regions of the world," the draft report says.
The report also breaks down the effects of climate change by region. In the Northeast for example, the report warns of "heat waves, coastal flooding due to sea level rise and storm surge, and river flooding due to more extreme precipitation events."
And in Alaska, "summer sea ice is receding rapidly, glaciers are shrinking and permafrost is thawing." The changes are causing major changes to the ecosystem that are impacting Alaskan native communities.
Additionally, the report warns of ocean acidification and the "alteration of marine ecosystems" because oceans absorb about one-quarter of human-caused carbon emissions and 90 percent of heat that results from warming.
The National Climate Assessment Development Advisory Committee reached consensus at a meeting Friday morning to release its draft National Climate Assessment, which will be available online later Friday afternoon.
The report fulfills the requirements of the Global Change Research Act of 1990, which requires a climate change assessment be provided to the president and Congress every four years. This is the third National Climate Assessment.
The report is coordinated by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, a 13-agency working group. But it is written by NCADAC, an advisory committee that consists of 60 scientists and other experts.
The federal government and the public will have the opportunity to make comments and recommend changes to the report before it is finalized. The comment period ends in April 2013. The final report is slated to be released in early 2014.
This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 2:12 p.m. on January 11, 2013.
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"We'll know our disinformation campaign is complete when everything the American public believes is false." --William J. Casey, D.C.I
"We will lead every revolution against us." --Theodore Herzl
"We will lead every revolution against us." --Theodore Herzl