The National Climate Assessment: Climate Change Already Having Devastating Impacts

On Friday the Trump Administration released a major climate assessment. This report is required by Congress every 4 years. It comes from 13 federal agencies and the U.S. Global Change Research Program.

There is no sugar-coating it. It’s blunt. Here’s what one of the co-authors (Katherine Hayhoe of Texas Tech University) had to say, “Climate change is happening here and now. It is affecting all of us no matter where we live. And the more climate changes, the more serious and even more dangerous the impacts will become.”

Just in case you think South Carolina is escaping the impacts of Climate change, take a look at this picture taken on Saturday in Charleston. This was caused by nothing more than a high tide and modest winds from the east.

This image shows the story as well. Saturday’s flooding in Charleston was the 6th highest on record. All of the top 5 are related to tropical storms or hurricanes, or major coastal winter storms.

Finally this image shows that the water level in Charleston has risen about a foot in the last 100 years.

This is all due to a warmer planet. That is, warmer ocean water takes up more space, so it expands causing sea level to rise. Additionally, the world’s glaciers are melting. This water is running off into the oceans, also causing sea level to rise.

Sea level will continue to rise dramatically in the coming decades. The latest estimates for higher sea level in Charleston are somewhere between 3 and 8 feet by the year 2100. As the water continues to rise, Charleston will ultimately become uninhabitable.

That said, there is still time to take action to avoid even more devastation. But we are running out of time.

Here’s the link to the sobering report. https://science2017.globalchange.gov/chapter/executive-summary/