A group of 13 federal government agencies have been working for the last two years to assess how climate change will impact the USA. The report was released the day after Thanksgiving this year and is called the Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume II: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States. It outlines some major risks tot he USA environment, economy, and population. A high-level overview of some of the main points can be found here.
One the things that is most striking to me about this report is that it contains some pretty specific numbers. For example, the authors of the report estimate that corn production in the Midwest will drop by ~25%, and soybean production in south could do the same, they also predict that by 2090 the Southeast could lose 570 million labor hours due to severe weather conditions preventing people from getting to work or doing their jobs.
The overarching message of the report is nothing new. Climate scientists have been warning the world that impact of climate change are going to get a lot worse, and we are seeing those predictions coming true all around the world on an almost daily basis. This report is targeted specifically at the USA, and includes predictions based on the best climate data we have. They should not be ignored or taken lightly.
abirdingnaturalist 