Greenwire:
Climate change already is affecting the United States, changing everything from weather patterns to wildlife migrations, according to a report from 13 federal agencies and the White House.
Global warming will become more severe in coming years, affecting the nation's farms, forests, coastlines, floodplains, natural resources, transportation and public health, according to the report to be released today by the U.S. Global Change Research Program.
The study blames climate change for droughts in the Southwest and more intense heat waves in the Northeast, as well as eroding ocean coastlines caused by melting Arctic ice.
"What we would want to have people take away is that climate change is happening now, and it's actually beginning to affect our lives," said Thomas R. Karl, director of the National Climatic Data Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a principal author of the report. "It's not just happening in the Arctic regions, but it's beginning to show up in our own backyards."
The program is required under a 1990 law to report every decade on natural and human-caused effects on the environment. The current report was begun during the tenure of former President George W. Bush and builds off findings from the commission's 2000 report.
Full report.
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