The US government has launched a very swanky new inter-agency website, www.globalchange.gov, intended to act as a central point for news and reports on climate change. And the centre-piece of the launch is a major new report on Climate Change Impacts in the US. It draws on the IPCC reports for much of the science, but it adds to that a lot of detail on how the impacts of climate change are already being seen across the US, and how much worse it’s going to get. Definitely worth reading, especially the parts on drought and heat waves. (The brochures and factsheets are good too)

Add to that a recent report from CNA on Risks to (US) National Security from energy dependence and climate change. It includes some fascinating snippets from senior retired US military admirals and generals, including for example, the threat to the US’s military capacity posed by sea level rise (e.g loss of coastal installations), and disruption to energy supplies. And that the biggest cause of conflict in the 21st century is likely to be mass migrations of entire populations, seeking water and food as supplies dwindle (but if you’ve read Climate Wars, you already knew this)

1 Comment

  1. Simon Springall

    Climate Wars isn’t even published in the US yet!

    The frustrating things about the Climate Change Impacts is that it’s supposed to be an annual report, but even since the first one was published in 2000 the Bush White House has been covering it up and failed to support annual updates as required by Congress. Finally Obama has thrown all that duplicity out of the window. This new site is fantastic.

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