Climate change will shrink lakes in Alaska, cause severe droughts across the Southwest, increase the insect population in the Great Plains, and cause increasingly heavy downpours in the Northeast, according to a new government study detailing the impacts of climate change on different regions in the country.
“It is clear that climate change is happening now. The climate changes we observed are not opinions to be debated, they are facts to be reported,” Jerry Melillo, a co-chair of the report, said in releasing it a Tuesday press conference. “We are already beginning to feel the effects of climate change in every region.”
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The 196-page study is one of the most comprehensive analysis of the effects of climate change and its impact on the country’s health and economy. The report found that climate change will have significant impacts on ecosystems, health, society, agriculture, transportation, energy and water supply.
The study was prepared by the United States Global Change Research Program, a joint scientific venture of 13 federal agencies and the White House. Under a 1990 law, the group is required to report every 10 years on natural and human-caused effects on the environment. The current study, which began in the George W. Bush administration, builds on the findings of the one released in 2000.
It lends additional scientific clout to White House efforts to institute a cap and trade system to limit emissions of greenhouse gases from power plants, manufactures and other industrial sources. The authors and federal agencies briefed staffers and lawmakers on Capitol Hill about their findings this week.
“I really believe this report is a game changer,” said Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “This is science that will inform policy making.”
But even if the country curbs its emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which scientists say contribute to global warming, the report warns that the country will be unable to stop all effects of climate change.
“We do need to act sooner rather than later,” said Donald J. Wuebbles, an author of the report and professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Illinois, “because we want to avoid the worst of the kinds of changes that we looked at.”
The administration is under pressure to make substantive progress towards cutting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions before December, when negotiators head to the international climate talks in Cophenhagen. President Barack Obama is considering attending the negotiations, in what would be the first visit to the annual U.N. conference by a sitting U.S. president since 1992, when George H. W. Bush traveled to Rio de Janeiro.
According to the report, the global average temperature has risen by about 1.5ºF since 1900. By 2100, it is projected to increase anywhere from 2 to 11.5ºF.
The changing temperature could have a significant effect on a wide swath of the economy, hurting tourism as activities such as skiing and salmon fishing become more difficult. Extreme heat will damaging roads, the demand for electricity will grow, and water – particularly in the Southwest—will become increasingly scarce, the report says.