Trump administration releases report finding ‘no convincing alternative explanation’ for climate change
By Chris Mooney, Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis November 3
Government's dire climate change report blames humans
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The government’s National Climate Assessment released on Nov. 3 cited human influence as the “dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.” (Patrick Martin/The Washington Post)
The Trump administration released a dire scientific report Friday calling human activity the dominant driver of global warming, a conclusion at odds with White House decisions to withdraw from a key international climate accord, champion fossil fuels and reverse Obama-era climate policies.
To the surprise of some scientists, the White House did not seek to prevent the release of the government’s National Climate Assessment, which is mandated by law. The report affirms that climate change is driven almost entirely by human action, warns of a worst-case scenario where seas could rise as high as eight feet by the year 2100, and details climate-related damage across the United States that is already unfolding as a result of an average global temperature increase of 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit since 1900.
“It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century,” the document reports. “For the warming over the last century, there is no convincing alternative explanation supported by the extent of the observational evidence.”
Trump administration releases report finding ‘no convincing alternative explanation’ for climate change - The Washington Post
The most damning evidence is from coastal communities:
New Orleans is canary in the coal mine for coastal cities (Opinion) - CNN
Louisiana's sinking parishes sue fossil fuel companies for climate damage
Climate Change Affects Coastal Communities and Beyond
October 29, 2017 Elizabeth Lee
The recent drought in the Western region of the United States, and the hurricanes and floods along the Gulf Coast are extreme weather events on just one continent.
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“There is no doubt that part of this is climate change," said Bill Patzert, oceanographer and research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "Winters are warmer. Snow packs come later. They leave earlier. Droughts have tended to be more intense especially here in California.”
Climate Change Affects Coastal Communities and Beyond - Voice of America
Meanwhile, in the UK:
Lincolnshire's coast and farms will sink with 3C of warming
As sea levels rise, the county’s low-lying farm plains and coastline would flood, changing the entire shape of eastern England forever
“There is no doubt that part of this is climate change," said Bill Patzert, oceanographer and research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "Winters are warmer. Snow packs come later. They leave earlier. Droughts have tended to be more intense especially here in California.”
Climate Change Affects Coastal Communities and Beyond - Voice of America
Meanwhile, in the UK:
Lincolnshire's coast and farms will sink with 3C of warming
As sea levels rise, the county’s low-lying farm plains and coastline would flood, changing the entire shape of eastern England forever
The sea wall, near Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, separates agricultural land to the right and wild saltmarsh to the left. Photograph: Michael David Murphy/Alamy Stock PhotoJonathan Watts Skegness, Lincolnshire
Friday 3 November 2017
Lincolnshire’s flat, low-lying agricultural plains, which stretch north from the fens, curling around the Wash to Skegness and Grimsby, have long been a frontline of mankind’s battle to claim and protect food-producing land from the sea.
But with sea levels rising, a managed retreat is underway that threatens to become a full-scale rout if global temperatures rise by 3C. The UN warns that they will unless governments take far more drastic action to reduce emissions.
In short, the entire shape of eastern England would change. The iconic British Isles map, learned from an early age in schools, would look very different. Locals already quip about Peterborough, 35 miles from the shore in Cambridgeshire, becoming a seaside city.
Lincolnshire's coast and farms will sink with 3C of warming | Environment | The Guardian
With a piece here from the Telegraph back in June 2015:
Growing climate change threat to Britain's historic coastline - Telegraph
Whilst coastal communities will find it very hard to cope...
Seaside towns among most deprived communities in UK | Inequality | The Guardian
... there are ways to deal with the challenges:
Saving Coastal Communities Requires a Community-Based Approach – Brink – The Edge of Risk
BBC - Future - How artificial islands could help us adapt to climate change
See also:
Futures Forum: Climate change: and rising sea levels @ Science Festival >>> Friday 13th October
Futures Forum: Climate change: and rising sea levels
Futures Forum: Climate change: a significant impact on flooding
Futures Forum: Climate change and flooding: last winter’s floods “were a powerful reminder that we need to work with nature to reduce flood risk – and ministers wholeheartedly agreed”.
Futures Forum: Climate change >>> Leonardo DiCaprio’s ‘Before the Flood’
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