WASHINGTON, May 8 (RIA Novosti), Lyudmila Chernova – In line with a recent US National Climate Assessment report, the dangerous effects of climate change in the US are already being felt nationwide, the head scientist of climate and land use change at the US Geological Survey told RIA Novosti Thursday.
“Droughts, floods, wildfires, and pest outbreaks associated with climate change are already disrupting forests and other ecosystems. The combination of higher temperatures and changes in rainfall are expected to lead to more frequent and intense droughts. More widespread and frequent wildfires are also expected,” Virginia Burkett warned, commenting on the recent US climate report.
Burkett, who worked on a report published a month ago by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, coauthored the chapter on the impacts in the US Southeast. She explained that the surveys’ results are consistently solid and point to serious natural threats stemming from a rise in temperature.
“The findings of the US assessment report are quite consistent with those of the IPCC. US average temperature has increased by 1.3°F to 1.9°F since 1895; most of this increase has occurred since about 1970,” she said, emphasizing that the pace of change is uneven as “some areas are getting hotter much faster than others.”
The expert explained that permafrost is thawing and sea ice is retreating at an accelerated rate due to the increased temperatures.
“Sea-level rise is also accelerating. Arctic coastal landforms are collapsing and some entire communities in Alaska are facing relocation,” Burkett said.
Along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, sea level rise and more intense hurricanes pose an increasing threat to low-lying coastal communities.
“Marshes, barrier islands, and communities located in low coastal areas are highly vulnerable to sea level rise, which is projected now at a higher rate than in the prior US assessment reports,” Burkett stated, explaining that “areas that are sinking in coastal Texas, Louisiana, and parts of the Mid-Atlantic coastal zone are likely to see higher rates of flooding and erosion.”
The third US National Climate Assessment released Tuesday, prepared by a team of over 250 scientists and taking four years to produce, confirmed that manmade climate change is now a reality, with potentially disastrous consequences for Earth. The survey summarized the present and future impacts of climate change on the United States.
To respond to the changing climate and related social issues, the authors of the study suggested both mitigation and adaptation, including a reduction of emissions, increasing carbon uptake, adapting to a changing climate, and increasing resilience to impacts that are unavoidable.
