Federal report already says climate change is hurting US communities

Residences razed by the campfire line in a cul-de-sac in Paradise, California earlier this month. A massive federal report says that climate change is contributing to the largest forest fires and other extreme weather events.

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Residences razed by the campfire line in a cul-de-sac in Paradise, California earlier this month. A massive federal report says that climate change is contributing to the largest forest fires and other extreme weather events.

Noah Berger / AP

According to the most comprehensive federal climate report to date, climate change is already causing more frequent and more severe weather events in the United States, and the country is about to suffer extensive damage to infrastructure, ecosystems , health and the economy, if global warming continues. .

The fourth national climate assessment is the culmination of years of research and analysis by hundreds of top climate scientists in the country. The massive report details the many ways in which global climate change is already affecting US communities, from hurricanes to forest fires to floods and droughts.

"Climate change is already affecting every region of the United States, almost every sector, be it agriculture, forestry or energy, tourism," said Andrew Light, professor at the George Mason University, one of the report writers. "It will hurt cities, people in the countryside and, as the world warms, things will get worse."

President Asset, many cabinet members and some members of Congress wondered whether climate change was caused by humans or whether it was happening at all.

"I do not think there's a hoax, I think there's probably a difference, but I do not know if it's man-made," he said. the president on CBS. 60 minutes in October.

In an interview in August on California's deadly forest fires, US Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke told KCRA TV channel Sacramento: "It has nothing to do with the change This has to do with the active management of forests ".

The new report, commissioned by Congress and published by the US Global Change research program, is the latest and most detailed confirmation that humans are driving climate change and Americans are adapting to it. already and are already suffering the effects. Climate change is "an immediate threat, not a distant possibility," says the report.

For example, large fires are becoming more frequent as a result of climate change. The report notes that the area burned by forest fires in the country has increased every year over the past 20 years. "Although projections vary across states and ecoregions, on average, the annual area burned by lightning – caused fires is expected to increase by at least 30 km per cent by 2060.

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Although California and other western states have been in the headlines about deadly fires, the report says the southeastern United States is also expected to see more fires.

Many areas are also experiencing extreme rains – and floods – including the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Southern Great Plains, including Texas and Oklahoma. The most extreme example is Hurricane Harvey, who dumped 60 inches of rain on parts of southeast Texas in 2017 and flooded a huge area from Houston to the border with Louisiana.

Larry Hickman stands in the floodwaters caused by Hurricane Florence in September in Bucksport, S.C.

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Larry Hickman stands in the floodwaters caused by Hurricane Florence in September in Bucksport, S.C.

Sean Rayford / Getty Images

And the authors clearly indicate that the most extreme rainfall and floods are widespread, going beyond the big hurricanes. In the Midwest, runoff from heavy rains depleted some cropland with nutrients. In the northeast, cities are facing catastrophic floods caused by summer storms.

"If you look at the whole of the United States, the overall amount of precipitation is perhaps less, but it is provided during these very intense rainfall," says Brenda Ekwurzel, report author and climate scientist of the United States. Union of Concerned Scientists. "That's how you get a lot of floods, especially after a forest fire."

In the southwest, climate change is at the root of a particularly devious phenomenon: climate change contributes to drought and flooding in one place. The drought has been going on for months. When the rain falls, it is more and more likely that it is an extreme rainstorm that causes sudden floods and landslides. Scientists predict that momentum will only worsen as climate change progresses.

The authors of the report also devoted several chapters to the effects of climate change on health. In a section on air pollution, they write:

"Unless efforts are made to improve air quality, climate change will exacerbate existing air pollution levels." This air pollution would worsen the impact. adverse effects on respiratory and cardiovascular health, including premature death. "

And as the climate warms, insect vectors of diseases, such as mosquitoes and ticks, should also expand their territory.

The authors warn that the most vulnerable people economically and physically will continue to be the most severely affected by climate change, that it is air pollution, diseases, d & # 39; floods or disasters caused by fires.

Climate adaptation is already taking place at the local, regional and state levels, the report says. It gives examples including water conservation, forest management, infrastructure upgrades and agricultural advances.

"The real front of action in the United States to combat climate change is now at the non-federal level," said Light, also a senior member of the World Resources Institute think tank. "They are states, cities, businesses."

But it takes a lot more involvement at all levels to change human behavior.

"The successful adaptation has been hampered by the assumption that climatic conditions are and will be similar to those of the past," write the authors, stressing that recognizing climate change, adapting to its effects and strive to limit global warming, would save money and live long term.

These findings contrast sharply with the policies put forward by the Trump administration, including announcing that the United States intended to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement, which set international targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. greenhouse gas emissions.

Although the new report does not make policy recommendations, it is designed to be a scientific resource for leaders at all levels of government.

"We are charging a price for inaction," says Ekwurzel, citing the future inaction of the global community to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and greenhouse gas emissions. adapt to the effects of climate change. "There is very good news here – I mean, we are talking billions of dollars in the cost of inaction every year – I think a lot of people in the United States are going to be surprised by that."