Climate change is heating up the U.S., national report warns

By Juliet Eilperin, WashPost, Updated: Friday, January 11, 4:04 PM

A federal advisory panel released a massive draft report Friday saying climate change is already damaging the nation’s infrastructure and poses a risk to human health as well as the natural resources supporting Americans’ way of life.

The draft of the third National Climate Assessment — more than 1,000 pages compiled by more than 300 experts over the past three years — sums up what has become increasingly apparent: The country is hotter than it used to be, rainfall is becoming both more intense and more erratic, and rising seas and storm surges threaten U.S. coasts.

It warns that these impacts will intensify in the coming decades, given the current rate of global carbon emissions.

The report does not include policy recommendations, but is designed to guide decisionmakers on the federal, state and local level on how to prepare for a warmer world. In a joint blog post Friday, White House science adviser John P. Holdren and Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, wrote that it is aimed at Americans “who need information about climate change in order to thrive — from farmers deciding which crops to grow, to city planners deciding the diameter of new storm sewers they are replacing, to electric utilities and regulators pondering how to protect the power grid.”

(More here.)