On the Big New NOAA Global Climate Change Report

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a report today on the effects we can expect that global climate change will have on the United States. Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States draws material from 13 US government science agencies.

Ten key findings:

• Global warming is unequivocal and primarily human-induced
• Climate changes are underway in the United States and are
  projected to grow
• Widespread climate-related impacts are occurring now and
  are expected to increase
• Climate change will stress water resources
• Crop and livestock production will be increasingly
  challenged
• Coastal areas are at increasing risk from sea-level rise
  and storm surge
• Risks to human health will increase
• Climate change will interact with many social and
  environmental stresses
• Thresholds will be crossed, leading to large changes in
  climate and ecosystems
• Future climate change and its impacts depend on choices
  made today

Josh Harkinson says that the press has overreacted:

The AP called it “the strongest language on climate change ever to come out of the White House” and the Washington Post pointed out that it called evidence of climate change “unequivocal.” Unveiled by Obama’s scientific advisor and packaged by a San Francisco-based environmental PR firm, the report…helped convey the idea that Obama was breaking from the Bush years to tackle climate change head-on. Nevermind that almost nothing of substance in the report is different from a draft that the Bush administration had released last summer.

Kevin Drum says yes but:

…surely it matters that we have an administration that actively and willingly releases a comprehensive report like this rather than one that fumes and delays and denies for four years before finally being forced to make it public with about the same enthusiasm that most of us reserve for getting a root canal?

Besides, even though it’s primarily a review of existing literature, it’s a pretty good review, covering everything from wildfires to rainfall to hurricanes to the fact that Illinois will look like Texas by 2100 (that’s on p. 117).  Having a report this good, this comprehensive, and this authoritative may not save the planet, but it’s still a pretty worthwhile data source to have around.

What’s more, it’s a gold mine of colorful charts!