The fourth National Climate Assessment is a compilation of research by hundreds of climate scientists in the United States. The extensive report details the causes of global warming as well as the many effects, some already prevalent, that climate change has caused in different regions of the US. Check out their website linked above if you’re interested in learning more!

“Human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century,” according to the report.

The beginning of the report claims that, “The impacts of climate change are already being felt in communities across the country. More frequent and intense extreme weather and climate-related events, as well as changes in average climate conditions, are expected to continue to damage infrastructure, ecosystems, and social systems that provide essential benefits to communities. Future climate change is expected to further disrupt many areas of life, exacerbating existing challenges to prosperity posed by aging and deteriorating infrastructure, stressed ecosystems, and economic inequality. Impacts within and across regions will not be distributed equally.”

Global action to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions can substantially reduce these climate-related risks in the future.

Policies put forward by the Trump administration are in direct opposition to this report, including the United States’ withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement, which sets global collaborative targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to help climate change.

President Donald Trump is in denial about these findings and when asked about the findings that unchecked global warming would wreak havoc on the US economy, he said: “I don’t believe it.”

Climate change should not be a political argument or a divisive topic. Scientists across the U.S. and across the world are in agreement; climate change is real. It is up to us to create tangible change regarding the way our country thinks about and addresses this scientifically proven issue.

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/23/668555773/climate-change-is-already-hurting-u-s-communities-federal-report-says

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46351940