U.S. Climate Report Warns of Damaged Environment and Shrinking Economy

"WASHINGTON — A major scientific report issued by 13 federal agencies on Friday presents the starkest warnings to date of the consequences of climate change for the United States, predicting that if significant steps are not taken to rein in global warming, the damage will knock as much as 10 percent off the size of the American economy by century’s end.

The report, which was mandated by Congress and made public by the White House, is notable not only for the precision of its calculations and bluntness of its conclusions, but also because its findings are directly at odds with President Trump’s agenda of environmental deregulation, which he asserts will spur economic growth.

Mr. Trump has taken aggressive steps to allow more planet-warming pollution from vehicle tailpipes and power plant smokestacks, and has vowed to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement, under which nearly every country in the world pledged to cut carbon emissions. Just this week, he mocked the science of climate change because of a cold snap in the Northeast, tweeting, “Whatever happened to Global Warming?”"

Coral Davenport and Kendra Pierre-Louis report for the New York Times November 23, 2018.

SEE ALSO:

"Major Trump Administration Climate Report Says Damage Is ‘Intensifying Across The Country’" (Washington Post)

"Government Climate Report Warns Of Worsening Us Disasters" (AP)

"Federal Report: Climate Risks, Damage Rising Across U.S." (ClimateWire)

"Climate Change Puts U.S. Economy and Lives at Risk, and Costs Are Rising, Federal Agencies Warn" (InsideClimate News)

"Clashing With Trump, U.S. Government Report Says Climate Change Will Batter Economy" (Reuters)

"Climate Change Is Already Hurting U.S. Communities, Federal Report Says" (NPR)

"Climate Change Will Shrink Us Economy And Kill Thousands, Government Report Warns" (CNN)

"Climate Change 'Will Inflict Substantial Damages On US Lives'" (Guardian)

"What’s New in the Latest U.S. Climate Assessment" (New York Times)

"Climate Change Poses Major Threat To U.S., New Government Report Concludes" (Science)

"Trump's Dire Climate Report Hands Ammunition To Democrats" (Politico)

"Fourth National Climate Assessment Volume II" (USGCRP)

"Experts To Discuss New Federal Climate Change Assessment Report for the U.S." (NOAA)

"Federal Report: Hurricane Harvey Was A Climate Change Harbinger" (Texas Tribune)