Earth & Environment
Posted on February 01, 2019 at 12:00 AM
The National Climate Assessment 4, presented at the WNDC speaker luncheon on January 10, 2019 by Dr. Fred Lipschultz, one of the authors, is a gold mine of information on the state of climate change in the US as of November 2018. Volume I presents an assessment of the physical science underlying the report, but Volume II is the most valuable for policymakers, candidates for office, advocates, and other leaders. It contains detailed and recent information on impacts, risks, and adaptations to climate change, with chapters on the state of climate change nationwide, and deep data-based dives into the specific status in each of 10 areas of the country. Each of the 10 regional chapters contains information not only on the specific climate change damages now occurring, but also on some of the adaptations that some states and cities are taking to respond to existing and future threats, and to limit risks through reductions in carbon emissions.
The WNDC Public Policy Committee (PPC) recommends that this report, specifically Volume II, be made available to Democratic candidates for office at all levels to use in their campaigns. The data and case studies should prove invaluable in convincing voters to support these candidates’ environmental policies.
The link to Volume II is:https://nca2018.globalchange.gov. (A separate link to case studies developed by NOAA of adaptation and mitigation is: https://toolkit.climate.gov, but is currently unavailable due to the partial government shutdown as of 1/14/2019.)
— Jean Stewart, Chair, Earth and Environment Task Force