14 DAY TRIAL // This past May 6, the United States Global Change Research Program delivered a detailed and much awaited report on climate change and its impact on the country.
The report confirms what scientists have been trying to drill into people's heads for years: that climate change is real, it is happening right now, and it is affecting each and every region in the United States.
On its website, the White House details what the Program means when it says that the entire country stands to be affected by climate change and the new environmental conditions that come with it.
Thus, it appears that, courtesy of climate change, the United States Northeast, which is currently home to about 64 million people, is faced with heat waves, extreme precipitation events, and coastal flooding, as a result of sea level rise and storm surge.
As explain in said report, the Northeast encompasses the following states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and District of Columbia.
The Southeast and Caribbean, which include Virginia, W. Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, S. Carolina, N. Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana, and the Caribbean Islands, are no strangers to the effects of climate change either.
On the contrary, this phenomenon is said to have left them vulnerable to decreased water availability and extreme weather manifestations such as hurricanes. The situation is made worse by population growth and land-use change.
Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and Wisconsin, which make up the United States Midwest, are experiencing an increase in the yields of some crops thanks to longer growing seasons and a rise in local carbon dioxide levels.
However, researchers stress that, although an increase in crop yields cannot exactly be viewed as bad news, the trouble is that heat waves, droughts, and floods will likely offset any perks that might come with climate change.
In the Great Plains, i.e. Wyoming, N. Dakota, S. Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, an increase in local temperatures need be linked to an increase in the demand for water and energy, and it is, therefore, also affecting agricultural practices.
Water availability appears to also be an issue in the Southwest, i.e. California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado, and in the Northwest, which encompasses Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, the Global Change Research Program writes in its report.
This means that these regions are more vulnerable to wildfires and are also quite likely to experience an increase in the competition for water resources for people and ecosystems, the Global Change Research Program's report further details.
Not at all surprisingly, Alaska, and the Hawaii and Pacific Islands are no strangers to the effects of said phenomenon either. On the contrary, the former is facing damage to infrastructure and changes to ecosystems, whereas the latter is struggling with access to freshwater sources and higher local temperatures.
In light of these findings, the Obama administration argues that efforts must be made not only to limit climate change and global warming for the sake of future generations, but also to keep current generations safe from the effects of these phenomena.
“The findings in this National Climate Assessment underscore the need for urgent action to combat the threats from climate change, protect American citizens and communities today, and build a sustainable future for our kids and grandkids,” the White House's website reads.
Furthermore, “Even as we act to reduce the greenhouse-gas pollution that is driving climate change, we must also empower the Nation’s communities, businesses, and individual citizens with the information they need to cope with the changes in climate that are already underway.”