NOAA Makes it Official: Extreme Weather Due to Climate Change

In a report issued by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, a joint effort of more than a dozen government agencies -- including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration -- the conclusion is that the extreme weather we've been experiencing will become more extreme and is due to climate change.

WASHINGTON - Droughts will get drier, storms will get stormier and floods will get deeper with a warming climate across North America, U.S. government experts said in a report billed as the first continental assessment of extreme events.

Events that have seemed relatively rare will become commonplace, said the latest report from the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, a joint effort of more than a dozen government agencies.

Specific future projections include:

* Abnormally hot days and nights, along with heat waves, are very likely to become more common.
* Cold nights are very likely to become less common.
* Sea ice extent is expected to continue to decrease and may even disappear in the Arctic Ocean in summer in coming decades.
* Precipitation, on average, is likely to be less frequent but more intense.
* Droughts are likely to become more frequent and severe in some regions.
* Hurricanes will likely have increased precipitation and wind.
* The strongest cold-season storms in the Atlantic and Pacific are likely to produce stronger winds and higher extreme wave heights.

The report, issued by the Department of Commerce in accordance with Section 515 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001 was produced to be in compliance with that act in conjunction with NOAA.

For purposes of compliance with Section 515, this CCSP Synthesis and Assessment Product is an "interpreted product" as that term is used in NOAA guidelines and is classified as "highly influential."

Which means the report cannot require regulatory action, though it can (and should) influence it.

From the NOAA press release:

The U.S. Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Change Research today released a scientific assessment that provides the first comprehensive analysis of observed and projected changes in weather and climate extremes in North America and U.S. territories. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change previously evaluated extreme weather and climate events on a global basis in this same context. However, there has not been a specific assessment across North America prior to this report.

Among the major findings reported in this assessment are that droughts, heavy downpours, excessive heat, and intense hurricanes are likely to become more commonplace as humans continue to increase the atmospheric concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

That's official. The extreme weather the U.S. has been experiencing is due to climate change and is expected to become more extreme in the future.

Congress, candidates and electorate take note.

More on this topic at THE ENVIRONMENTALIST

Comments

[cylindar]

I have to confess!! I live in the far North East and I am glad global warming is a happening thing. Why? Because I am tired of the cold winters here, and I am too tired to move south. But as it so happens the global warming thing is accommodating me and coming up here. I think it is great. I know thats not PC but what the heck, you should see my heating bills. I would also like to grow more moderate zone vegetables and hope one day that I can even grow bananas, but that is probably asking for too much. We might lose a little coastline in the US but hell the real estate there is too high and its about time the developers got their comeuppance anyways. People worry too much about global warming. They should look on the bright side of things.

[CluelessOne]

When is the federal government gonna make prosperity official? I certainly if the feds proclaim something, it has to be true! WMD's, No more earmarks, the end of poverty ...

[wiseapple]

Will this science report have any impact on the right wingnut writers who have been trumpeting their faith-based rantings that the issues of climate change and global warming are hoaxes?

[cjohnathan]

Climate change is real . Fixing it by doubling or tripling the cost of everythig I consume is a hoax.

[KillTheMessenger]

Nice strawman you got there. Now please be so nice to set it ablaze yourself. I don't want to waste my matches.