Climate change wreaking havoc in America's backyard, scientists warn

[umbertino]

• Scientists hope to spur US to action with dire warning

• Obama plans push to amplify findings of definitive report

 

 

 

• Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent
•  
• theguardian.com, Tuesday 6 May 2014 09.57 EDT

 

 

 

Climate change has moved from the corners of the earth into the American backyard, the country's leading scientists warned on Tuesday, releasing a landmark report they hoped would spur action on climate change.

 

The 840-page National Climate Assessment was seen as the definitive account of the effects of climate change on America, and of the country's efforts to deal with climate change.

 

The findings were immediately embraced by the White House as “actionable science” which would guide Barack Obama as he moves to cut carbon emissions from power plants next month and for the remaining two years of his presidency.

 

“I think this National Climate Assessment is the loudest and clearest alarm bell to date signalling the need to take urgent action to combat the threats to Americans from climate change,” John Holdren, the White House science advisor, told a conference call with reporters.

 

Scientists who worked on the report said its main messsage was that climate change was already disrupting the lives of Americans – now and in real-time – and was doing so much more strongly than scientists had expected.

 

Climate change was already registering in the form of extreme weather, sea-level rise, and the thawing of Arctic sea ice, a shift in growing seasons, and other indicators, the report said.

 

“What this report shows is that climate change is happening now in our own backyards,” Thomas Karl, the director of the climatic centre at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told the Guardian. “There are a number of changes that have become faster and more apparent and stronger than we first anticipated.”

 

The report for the first time looks at what America is doing to cut the emissions that cause climate change, and to protect people from its consequences in the future.

 

It said all Americans are experiencing and will continue to experience the effects of climate change.

 

"Climate change, once considered an issue for a distant future, has moved firmly into the present," the report said. "Corn producers in Iowa, oyster growers in Washington state and maple syrup producers in Vermont are all observing climate-related changes that are outside of recent experience."

 

The report is a compilation of published peer-reviewed science of the last several years, and details the effects of climate change on eight regions in the US. It notes that average temperature in the US has increased by about 1.5F (0.8C) since 1895, with more than 80% of that rise since 1980. The last decade was the hottest on record in the US.

 

Temperatures are projected to rise another 2F over the next few decades, the report says. In northern latitudes such as Alaska, temperatures are rising even faster.

 

Some parts of the country will be harder hit than others.

 

Record-breaking heat – even at night – is expected to produce more drought and fuel larger and more frequent wildfires in the south-west, the report says. The north-east, midwest and Great Plains states will see an increase in heavy downpours and a greater risk of flooding. The north-east saw a 70% rise in heavy rainfall events in the last 60 years, the report said.

 

Sea-level rise, which could reach 4ft by the end of the century, was already causing dangerous flooding in low-lying areas like Miami, Norfolk, Virginia, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the report said. Florida alone could face a $130 billion bill for flooding damage by the year 2100.

 

Drought and high temperatures were already baking California and Arizona and prolonging the fire season in other parts of the south-west.

 

In California, warmer winters have made it difficult to grow cherries. In the midwest, wetter springs have delayed planting. Invasive vines such as kudzu have spread northward, from the south to the Canadian border.

 

Some of the effects on agriculture, such as a longer growing season, are positive. But "by mid-century and beyond the overall impacts will be increasingly negative on most crops and livestock."

 

The report also warned of a growing risk of contaminated water supply because of sea-level rise and flooding, and poor air quality as hotter temperatures cook the smog, and soot from wildfires drifts across the country. Those with allergies are facing longer pollen and ragweed seasons – by as much as 24 days in North Dakota and Minnesota, the report said.

 

“I think maybe this report will be the turning point when people finally realise that this is about them,” Susan Hassol, the chief science writer on the report, told the Guardian. “It's about them and their lives … Earlier, they had seen it as a distant threat – distant in time, distance in space, this is about poles, this is about island nations. They haven't seen it as a threat in their own backyard.”

 

The White House moved to try to capitalise on that new sense of immediacy, organising a series of events on Tuesday and this week to showcase the findings of the report.

 

Environmental groups and Democratic members of Congress also rallied to support the report.

 

John Podesta, the White House counsellor, said Obama would rely on the report's findings as he moves ahead on the most ambitious phase of his climate change plan in June – a proposal to cut emissions from the current generation of power plants.

 

Power plants are responsible for nearly 40% of US carbon dioxide emissions, he said.

 

The president discussed those plans and climate change with television meteorologists in the Rose Garden later on Tuesday.

 

But the White House acknowledged Obama would continue to face strong pushback from Republicans and industry.

 

Podesta said the most Obama could expect from Congress in the way of climate action was a modest energy efficiency bill.

 

Some Republican members of Congress continued to dismiss the findings of the report. Deb Fischer, a Republican Senator from Nebraska, attacked the science as "politically charged" and "far from settled" as well as Obama for bypassing Congress and using his executive authority to act on climate change.

 

Meanwhile, a leading coal industry lobby group, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, dismissed the report as “unsubstantiated scare tactics and hyperbole” and lashed out at Obama for moving ahead on power plant regulations.

 

 

 

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/may/06/climate-change-report-us-dire-warning

[eastcreek]

I am a fan of a college team whose stadium seats roughly 88000 fans. A geophysicist friend of mine is also a fan. A group of some eight of us friends were in a discussion on climate change about three years ago. My geophysicist friend explained it in a way that was understood by all. Taking in to account man's CO2 emissions, and believing that mankind is causing the climate changes being reported by the IPCC, would be like us fans believing that a fan in that stadium was changing the temp in that stadium by two degrees. 

 

Hard. To. Believe.

 

Also, a little factoid that continues to stick out to me. This from about 3-4 years ago: If the whole population of earth were to be put inside the state of Texas; the population density would be less than exists today in the city of New York. Think about that. Now in fairness, I have not done those calculations myself. I just read them from a trusted source, so I took it in.

 

Sometimes, a little perspective needs to be given........................................................Oh, if you calculate differently on the Texas thingy, please let me know. G'day.

[Bunk]

  Nothing to see here,just more scare tactics to keep the climate change money flowing from the government..

[Nelg]

Things happen in cycles.  We are in a cycle.  Just wait.  Things will change next year for the better.  

[Indraman]

Yawn...when is this Administration going to do something that has lasting value or real impact to the lives of citizens in this country? This is another example of the priorities of this Administration spending time on things that don't matter. Global Warming (now called Global Change), Women's Equal Pay (the war on women), Economic Inequalities (minimum wage and the war between the classes), Immigration Reform (Amnesty, or more voting Democrats), legal battles against Voter ID Laws (or enable continuing voter fraud).

 

Indy

[waterman13]

Indy, you are correct in your questions. It's the ole' slight of hand trick. Look over here at my left hand..... meanwhile the right hand is picking your pocket.

Wm13

[Jaxinjersey]

I love weather

[gymrat76541]

_{Funny that Hollywood is coming out with all these new movies about civilization AFTER we screw up the planet so much that people can not longer live here!}

 

_{That is exactly the way that we are headed. People are so short sighted that they do not care until it is too late. You can already see how each year the weather seems worst than the previous years. The boat is sinkin' guys...........................................better teach your kids to swim!}

[jobug38]

Carbon print yeah right. What about the crap they are spraying in the air "chem trails" . I would think that anyone who researched valcanic activity would know the weather is affected by the warming of the oceans which is caused by under water valcanos. Which is getting pretty active more and more every day. The poles are melting from under neath from warm water. We may be in trouble but not from carbon printing. I keep an eye on this because we have a better chance of a valcanos bringing destruction than a carbon print. This is another scam to still more money from the masses.

[jonjon]

"The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth."

 

"If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan"

[George Hayduke]

Well... I don't think it is a whole lot to do about nothing and, I don't think it has anything to do with saving the cherries in California.  I think it has more to do about Obama designating large agricultural areas as International Disaster zones and giving international regulators standing in those areas.  I also think that the National Monuments movement that is presently being worked in the background is a pay back to the Environmentalist for their support.  Don't think for a moment that transaction won't include an International Caveat to include regulatory authority.

 

SImply put, Obama is going to give away US sovereignty to the globalists under the guise of protecting the planet's weather. 

 

Slow the rise of the oceans?  OTAY buckwheat...

 

What arrogance.

[dog53]

Things happen in cycles.  We are in a cycle.  Just wait.  Things will change next year for the better.  

 

+1 Nelg

Thats exactly what happens. 

They found a way to make a buck out of it. 

So their going to ride this as long as its profitable

then move to some other ridiculous scheme to hustle us out of our money.

[AmericaInc]

I am a fan of a college team whose stadium seats roughly 88000 fans. A geophysicist friend of mine is also a fan. A group of some eight of us friends were in a discussion on climate change about three years ago. My geophysicist friend explained it in a way that was understood by all. Taking in to account man's CO2 emissions, and believing that mankind is causing the climate changes being reported by the IPCC, would be like us fans believing that a fan in that stadium was changing the temp in that stadium by two degrees. 

 

Hard. To. Believe.

 

Also, a little factoid that continues to stick out to me. This from about 3-4 years ago: If the whole population of earth were to be put inside the state of Texas; the population density would be less than exists today in the city of New York. Think about that. Now in fairness, I have not done those calculations myself. I just read them from a trusted source, so I took it in.

 

Sometimes, a little perspective needs to be given........................................................Oh, if you calculate differently on the Texas thingy, please let me know. G'day.

cutsey little factoids and stories.

 

Too bad they conflict with the studies of nearly 100% of the globe's scientists

+1 Nelg

Thats exactly what happens. 

They found a way to make a buck out of it. 

So their going to ride this as long as its profitable

then move to some other ridiculous scheme to hustle us out of our money.

not everything is about money.

 

Some of it's about breathing and rain and wind

_{Funny that Hollywood is coming out with all these new movies about civilization AFTER we screw up the planet so much that people can not longer live here!}

 

_{That is exactly the way that we are headed. People are so short sighted that they do not care until it is too late. You can already see how each year the weather seems worst than the previous years. The boat is sinkin' guys...........................................better teach your kids to swim!}

rat you are scratching at the wrong trees, though you are right. good try

 

all the poster here are avid deniers....it's all money...blah blah

 

Don'y listen to the climatologists...just hate Obama, like a good, smart adult.

Yawn...when is this Administration going to do something that has lasting value or real impact to the lives of citizens in this country? This is another example of the priorities of this Administration spending time on things that don't matter. Global Warming (now called Global Change), Women's Equal Pay (the war on women), Economic Inequalities (minimum wage and the war between the classes), Immigration Reform (Amnesty, or more voting Democrats), legal battles against Voter ID Laws (or enable continuing voter fraud).

 

Indy

LASTING VALUE????

 

That is just priceless....climate change is not lasting? Got any children?

 

Truly, truly, utterly pathetic post. One of the worst I've seen here since I joined DV in '08

Edited May 7, 2014 by AmericaInc

[Whatshername]

 

Too bad they conflict with the studies of nearly 100% of the globe's scientists

 

 

Truly, truly, utterly pathetic post. One of the worst I've seen here since I joined DV in '08

Hahahaha!  Who do you think you're foolin' ?  Better question... what propaganda machine do you get your information?  Nearly 100%... really?  Can you back that up?  Of course not because it's not even remotely true.  Climate change, global warming, global cooling, the sky is falling, the oceans are rising... ALL A HOAX!  Not to mention a regulation NIGHTMARE.  It is ALL about MONEY and POWER. 

Don't believe me? Put on a cup and lets talk about it...  

Oh, and Indy's right... this regime has done WAY more damage than good to job growth, our economy, the military, racial divide, healthcare, our standing in the world.  I think I can make a case for who is actually "pathetic" around here...

[DiveDeepSix]

Hahahaha!  Who do you think you're foolin' ?  Better question... what propaganda machine do you get your information?  Nearly 100%... really?  Can you back that up?  Of course not because it's not even remotely true.  Climate change, global warming, global cooling, the sky is falling, the oceans are rising... ALL A HOAX!  Not to mention a regulation NIGHTMARE.  It is ALL about MONEY and POWER. 

Don't believe me? Put on a cup and lets talk about it...  

Oh, and Indy's right... this regime has done WAY more damage than good to job growth, our economy, the military, racial divide, healthcare, our standing in the world.  I think I can make a case for who is actually "pathetic" around here...

 

Whatshername sets back at the buzzer, it's up........................nothing but net!!!  Call em like ya see em kiddo!!

 

DV's Nutty Professor still barking up the global warming.....oops global climate change (since warming has been debunked) Same BS new name.  Seriously Hame?  According to you idiots we should have all been under water almost 100 years ago............where is it?  Now it's cooling because it's warming or is it warming because it's cooling?  You clowns need to get your #$@# together and come up with a matching story, kinda like the WallStreet protestors nobody knows what the message is because you are all full of it!  I can't believe you are even arguing this dude, it's been debunked so badly it's pathetic..............ok  wait, check that, I can believe you would argue it you still think Obama is doing a good job as prez too!   What really needs to happen is we need to get liberal professors out of our colleges so they stop warping the minds of our kids by spewing out all their liberal talking points direct from fantasy land on subjects they know nothing about.  Nearly 100%, what a dumb@$$!