The White House released on Wednesday a global climate report predicting rapid sea-level rise, lost glaciers, more intense hurricanes and a drier Southwest unless we take fast action, and we mean NOW. This report is exhaustive, more detailed than it’s predecessors, and doesn’t pull punches. Although it doesn’t reveal anything startlingly new, the cumulative weight of evidence is profoundly disturbing. As one environmental reporter put it, unlike previous years “This time the warnings were coming from the White House, not just a bunch of Cassandras in the academic community.”

Video from the rather exhaustive press conference (You can skip below to get to the documents if you’d rather read):

During the press conference announcing the federal climate change report, Jane Lubchenco of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said, “This report is a game changer. The foot-dragging we’ve seen on climate change is a reflection of the perception that global warming is way down the road, in the future, and only affecting remote parts of the planet. This report says unequivocally that climate change is occurring now. This is science that will inform policymaking, but it also says this is important, it affects you and the things you care about.”

From the report: “Warming over this century is projected to be considerably greater than over the last century. The global average temperature since 1900 has risen by about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit. By 2100, it is projected to rise another two to 11.5 degrees Fahrenheit.” And global warming over the last 50 years “is due primarily to human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases.” While warming in and of itself doesn’t sound that devastating, dig a little deeper to find out what that means to water resources, agriculture and our lifestyles in a near and probable future. Looking for an incentive to change your business and your life? This might be it.

See the whole report here		Check out the effect on the US Southwest by reading this PDF excerpt

Tags: emissions, global climate change, global warming, greenhouse gas, saving energy