The National Climate Assessment, overseen by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, is a report involving 13 federal agencies that summarizes the state of climate change in the United States and how it will affect the nation in the future.
The Global Change Research Act mandates that an assessment be provided to the president and to Congress every four years. The next report, which will be the fifth, is due in 2023.
“We want everyone to have useable and useful information so they can take the smart actions needed to minimize risk to their families, communities, and livelihoods,” said Dr. Jane Lubchenco, the OSTP Deputy Director for Climate and Environment, in a statement. “That means putting information in the hands of the people.”
The office said the report and its data can help farmers dealing with heat waves plan the type of crops they can grow, based on extreme weather, and assist city planners retrofit drainage systems for heavy rain.
“When every American has access to practical, usable information on how climate change affects their businesses, families, and communities, they can both reduce risks and seize opportunities,” Crimmins said in a statement.
With the US already dealing with impacts of climate change like extreme heat and historic droughts in the Western US, the OSTP says the report is meant be another tool to help Americans plan and adapt to a warming world.
More News
Opinion | Biden Can Do Something at the Debates That Trump Never Could
A New Centrism Is Rising in Washington
Comet Fragment Explodes in Dark Skies Over Spain and Portugal