U.S.: Govt Report Calls for Swift Action to Avoid Climate Chaos

• by Ben Case (new york)
• Wednesday, June 17, 2009
• Inter Press Service

Rick Weiss, a spokesperson for the president’s Office of Science and Technology, told IPS the scope of the 188-page report, titled 'Climate Change Impacts Across America - Renewed Focus for Decisions', was extensive.

'We took eight years to synthesise 21 individual studies from 13 federal agencies, along with help from numerous independent groups and universities,' he said.

While not including specific policy recommendations, the report to the U.S. Congress released Tuesday says that, 'Implementing sizable and sustained reductions in carbon dioxide emissions as soon as possible would significantly reduce the pace and the overall amount of climate change, and would be more effective than reductions of the same size initiated later.'

The report empirically confirmed the existence of human-induced global warming – something that Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, notoriously questioned - and outlined the devastating effects it is projected to have on almost every area of life in the U.S., from agricultural production to public health.

'We will see changes in the U.S. and in the world and they will have consequences,' said Carter Roberts, CEO of the World Wildlife Fund, an environmental group that has been studying climate change for years.

'If you look at the [U.S.] Gulf Coast, the combination of sea level rise and increased rainfall, we stand to lose 2,700 miles of roads and 27 percent of major cities in the area,' he said.

The report measured average temperatures by season in every region of the country and found universal increases over the past 50 years.

'Climate in [northeastern] New Hampshire will resemble that of [the southern state of] North Carolina within the next few decades,' Roberts warned. 'We have to be prepared.'

The report stressed the word 'global' in global warming, noting that certain areas in some years may still be significantly colder than previous years. However, the overall trend has been higher and higher average temperatures for the past half century.

One of the report’s key findings was that the impacts of climate change will likely continue to accelerate.

While average temperatures in the U.S., which covers almost 10 million square kms and contains a diverse array of ecosystems, have risen about one and a half degrees F in the past century, they are projected to rise up to 11.5 degrees in the next century.

An increase of one or two degrees may seem insignificant, but Weiss told IPS it is quite the opposite.

'It sounds small but the increase is quite significant when it comes to the havoc it wreaks on ecosystems that are in a very tight balance,' he said.

But the literal warming is not the only meteorological area experiencing changes as a result of pollution. Rainfall has increased across the board, with the clearest trend showing in the frequency and severity of heavy downpours responsible for flooding.

The study showed a seven percent increase in light and moderate rainfall, and a 20 percent increase in the amount of water falling in the heaviest downpours over the past century.

The WWF warned that the combination of increased temperatures and rainfall will have an array of impacts.

As temperatures go up, for example, certain pests are surviving winters in greater numbers. Pine beetles, which feed on pine trees, are no longer killed by freezing temperatures, causing accelerated forest destruction in the Pacific Northwest.

Some of the most significant changes are occurring in the northern U.S. state of Alaska.

According to Margaret Williams, who coordinated Alaska studies at the WWF, arctic regions are changing more rapidly than anywhere else on the planet.

Temperatures in Alaska have increased by an average of six degrees and frost-free seasons have increased by 50 percent.

'We expect to see an ice-free winter by 2013,' said Williams. 'Impacts on society will be massive. For instance, we get more than half of our fish from the Bering Sea, worth about two billion dollars a year.'

The WWF found fish stocks in the most abundant region of the Bering Sea have been reduced by a staggering 40 percent since 2004.

Williams added that as permafrost melts, the infrastructure it once supported is left in serious peril. Repairs of houses, roads and runways in Alaska, where much of the remote population depends on small planes for goods and services, are estimated to cost up to seven billion dollars by 2025.

Anne Schrag, who headed up studies in the Northern Great Plains, stressed the impact on agriculture.

'Types of crops as well as their yields have been greatly affected,' she said. 'Farmers are cutting back on barley, one of the staples, because this relies on irrigation, but drought has made it difficult.'

This has in turn reduced the land’s ability to support livestock and over-grazing is reducing land fertility further.

Schrag also noted marked growth in the mosquito population, and along with it, transmission of tropical diseases like the West Nile Virus.

Despite the resoundingly dark forecast in the White House report, the news isn’t all bad, according to the WWF.

'We have the sustainable farming and ranching strategies and huge resources in wind energy technologies that are encouraging,' said Schrag. 'The thing is, we have to use them.'

'The timing is important because it is right now at the moment when Congress is considering environmental and energy legislation,' said Roberts.

'But as time goes on it will only take more to address this issue,' he added.

© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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