Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY 12 hrs ago
People are dying from more intense heat waves, hurricanes and flooding. Forests are disappearing because of worsening wildfires, droughts and pest invasions. Rising sea levels are imperiling coastal communities and ecosystems.
After three years of studying the latest science, the extensive footprints of the world’s warming climate in North America are more obvious than ever, concluded the authors of the newest report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The report, issued last week, found that life in some parts of the world is rapidly reaching the point where it will be too hot for the species that live there to survive.
But the effects are not limited to the world's hot spots, the panel's co-authors said last week as they discussed their findings. They’re happening here. They’re happening now. And they will only get worse without immediate action to adapt and reverse greenhouse gas emissions.
"Climate change impacts in North America have been occurring faster, and will become more severe, much sooner than we had previously thought," said co-author Sherilee Harper, an associate professor in the public health school at Canada's University of Alberta.
Rachel Bezner Kerr, a professor of global development at Cornell University and coordinating lead author of a chapter on food and fiber, agreed.
“No one is left unaffected by climate change,” she said. “Every increased amount of warming will increase the risk of severe impacts, and so the more (rapidly) we can take strong action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the less severe the impacts will be.”
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Their report delves into more detail than ever about the consequences of hotter climates and more extreme weather on ecosystems and people’s physical and mental well-being. It also describes alternatives that could lessen these effects, such as using locally produced foods and plant-based diets and restoring ecosystems that can cool temperatures and help keep carbon out of the atmosphere.
Georgia Silvera Seamans, an urban and community forester in New York City, found hope in the report’s attention to possible solutions.
“In some ways, the report provides a deeply discouraging outlook on our future. I mean, people are dying and it’s a reality. We can no longer say this is going to happen. It’s happening now,” Seamans said. “But in some ways there are a lot of opportunities to really mitigate some of the most dire outcomes.”
© NASA/SUOMI NPP VIIRS One of the effects of climate change already being seen in North America? More intense hurricanes, like this image of Harvey off the coast of Texas in August 2017.
What the scientists found
Such dire outcomes are more widespread and negative than in any of the reports since the intergovernmental panel was formed in 1998, several of the report's authors said.
Among their findings in North America:
Species-killing marine heat waves, stronger hurricanes, extreme rainfall, reductions in snowpack and glaciers and in the volume and extent of sea ice.
Native cutthroat trout are threatened by the invasive rainbow trout as it spreads into warmer waters in the West.
Trees dying from wildfire, drought and pest invasions, and more extensive burned acreage in parts of the West.
Reduced agriculture producti has been noted since 1961, outweighing gains seen in increased yields of maize and soybeans in the Great Plains.
Increased warming of offshore waters, especially along the Atlantic coast, where low-lying communities already routinely see disruption caused by changes to coastal ecosystems, sea level rise and flooding.
Matters are only likely to get worse, with potentially irreversible changes to ecosystems, mounting economic damages to infrastructure and housing, and disruption of livelihoods, the report's co-authors said.
Additional warming could further reduce yields of wheat, corn and soybeans, raising concerns about food security. Scientists also expect declines in livestock production and worsening conditions on recreational and commercial fishing.
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The worst outcomes will be for those who are already vulnerable, without good diets, good jobs or capital to improve their homes, said Michael Oppenheimer, a climate scientist and professor of geoscience and international affairs at Princeton University, a review editor for a chapter in the overall report.
Specifically, in the warmer parts of the country along the Gulf Coast already experiencing deadly hurricanes, flooding and sea level rise, Oppenheimer said that "even a modest amount of warming means a higher risk of what's causing the highest number of deaths."
Alternatives to slow climate change
Strong action is needed quickly to avoid future disruptions, the report’s authors said. Among the suggested strategies:
Seamans, the New York City forester, was pleased to see some of the alternatives echo similar findings she reached while working as an urban forester to help bring trees, green spaces and youth education to her community.
Planting biologically diverse forests in city parks can lower temperatures in what’s known as urban "heat islands" while also addressing flooding by reducing runoff. The parks also can boost residents’ mental and physical well-being by providing places to rest and play.
She plans to use the report to help persuade elected officials to take timely action.
“We want policymakers to think about the direness of climate change and to recognize the role nature and biodiversity can play in mitigating some of the worst aspects of climate change," she said.
Many cities are making steady but incremental progress on climate change, the co-authors wrote. But Harper, the professor from Canada, noted that efforts in North America and the U.S. in particular had been made “more urgent by the delays in climate action due to misinformation about climate change science."
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Even though a divide remains over the extent people believe the scientific evidence, Elisabeth Gilmore, a report author who is a visiting professor at Rutgers University and associate professor at Canada’s Carleton University, now sees more things that people agree upon than they disagree about.
"Climate change affects everything we care about,” she said. "If we can talk about things like safety and human security in a way that looks at what do we have, what do we need, what are the steps we want to take to do something about it, it changes the story in a way that’s much more helpful.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘People are dying’: Global warming already being seen in North America, UN report finds
Such dire outcomes are more widespread and negative than in any of the reports since the intergovernmental panel was formed in 1998, several of the report's authors said.
Among their findings in North America:
Species-killing marine heat waves, stronger hurricanes, extreme rainfall, reductions in snowpack and glaciers and in the volume and extent of sea ice.
Native cutthroat trout are threatened by the invasive rainbow trout as it spreads into warmer waters in the West.
Trees dying from wildfire, drought and pest invasions, and more extensive burned acreage in parts of the West.
Reduced agriculture producti has been noted since 1961, outweighing gains seen in increased yields of maize and soybeans in the Great Plains.
Increased warming of offshore waters, especially along the Atlantic coast, where low-lying communities already routinely see disruption caused by changes to coastal ecosystems, sea level rise and flooding.
Matters are only likely to get worse, with potentially irreversible changes to ecosystems, mounting economic damages to infrastructure and housing, and disruption of livelihoods, the report's co-authors said.
Additional warming could further reduce yields of wheat, corn and soybeans, raising concerns about food security. Scientists also expect declines in livestock production and worsening conditions on recreational and commercial fishing.
Indigenous peoples: 'They're finally listening': Indigenous peoples play major role in new climate report
The worst outcomes will be for those who are already vulnerable, without good diets, good jobs or capital to improve their homes, said Michael Oppenheimer, a climate scientist and professor of geoscience and international affairs at Princeton University, a review editor for a chapter in the overall report.
Specifically, in the warmer parts of the country along the Gulf Coast already experiencing deadly hurricanes, flooding and sea level rise, Oppenheimer said that "even a modest amount of warming means a higher risk of what's causing the highest number of deaths."
Alternatives to slow climate change
Strong action is needed quickly to avoid future disruptions, the report’s authors said. Among the suggested strategies:
Seamans, the New York City forester, was pleased to see some of the alternatives echo similar findings she reached while working as an urban forester to help bring trees, green spaces and youth education to her community.
Planting biologically diverse forests in city parks can lower temperatures in what’s known as urban "heat islands" while also addressing flooding by reducing runoff. The parks also can boost residents’ mental and physical well-being by providing places to rest and play.
She plans to use the report to help persuade elected officials to take timely action.
“We want policymakers to think about the direness of climate change and to recognize the role nature and biodiversity can play in mitigating some of the worst aspects of climate change," she said.
Many cities are making steady but incremental progress on climate change, the co-authors wrote. But Harper, the professor from Canada, noted that efforts in North America and the U.S. in particular had been made “more urgent by the delays in climate action due to misinformation about climate change science."
'Ultimate injustice': World leaders, climate experts react to grave United Nations report
Even though a divide remains over the extent people believe the scientific evidence, Elisabeth Gilmore, a report author who is a visiting professor at Rutgers University and associate professor at Canada’s Carleton University, now sees more things that people agree upon than they disagree about.
"Climate change affects everything we care about,” she said. "If we can talk about things like safety and human security in a way that looks at what do we have, what do we need, what are the steps we want to take to do something about it, it changes the story in a way that’s much more helpful.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘People are dying’: Global warming already being seen in North America, UN report finds
