Some environmentalists hope the report will make the Obama administration and Congress more active in curbing climate change, even though many Republicans are hesitant to link it to human activity, Deborah Zabarenko of Reuters reports. Congress has been largely silent on the issue since the failed attempt to pass "cap-and-trade" legislation in 2009 and 2010. Some Democrats hope President Obama will use executive powers to "clamp down further on some carbon-polluting industries," Zabarenko reports.
More than 80 percent of the 1.5-degree Fahrenheit increase in the country's average temperature since 1895 has occurred in the past 30 years, according to the report, which says temperatures could rise by 2 to 4 degrees in most parts of the country over the next few decades because of heat-trapping gases already in the atmosphere. The report noted that positive impacts of climate change, such as longer growing seasons, would be offset by more destructive impacts, including increased extreme weather events, wildfires and air pollution; decreased water supplies; vulnerable infrastructure in case of sea-level rises; and, warmer and more acidic oceans. (Read more)