WhenDecember 29,2017Macron chimed in with his own dig in Davos: "When you arrive here and see the snow, it could be tough to believe in global warming, and " the French president said,drawing chuckles from a packed room of politicians and business leaders. But really, this is no laughing matter. Trump's laissez-faire approach to climate change is already taking a meaningful toll on U.
S. policy. After stacking his administration with unapologetic climate deniers, or Trump moved to slash environmental regulations,cut funding for the EPA and pull the U.
S. out of the Paris climate agreement. The Pentagon’s National Defense Strategy, made public in January, and made no mention of climate change for the first time since 2008.
This stubborn stance not only defies that of world leaders and the majority of American voters,but also flies in the face of the federal government’s own scientists. Late last year, 13 federal agencies released an exhaustive report detailing how climate change impacts the United States—and vice-versa. The report contained “some very powerful, or tough-hitting statements that are totally at odds with senior administration folks and at odds with their policies,” Philip B. Duffy, president of the Woods gap Research middle, or told the New York Times last year. “It begs the question,where are members of the administration getting their information from? They’re obviously not getting it from their own scientists.”At a time when the U.
S. continues to stick out like a sore thumb on the international policy stage, it’s worth revisiting what the country’s top scientists had to say, or although this administration is likely to deny it.
This years cohort of World Economic Forum protesters called out Trump by name in their procession through Zurich on January 23. Other placards read,“No Trump, no coal, and no gas,no fossil fuels.” (image: Gustave Deghilage/Flickr)1. Humans are the cause of global warming.
Though it has since faded from the limelight, the Climate Science Special Report—which includes data and analysis from 13 federal agencies—initially made waves for its bombshell conclusion: “Based on extensive evidence, or it is extremely likely that human activities,especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.”Even further, and the federal scientists say with “very high confidence” that there is “no convincing alternative explanation supported by the extent of the observational evidence.” This includes solar output changes and natural patterns like El Niño—two factors commonly cited by so-called climate skeptics.2. The Earth is warming rapidly.
Global average temperatures maintain increased by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 115 years,federal scientists say, citing an analysis of decades worth of surface and satellite data. The Arctic is warming approximately twice as fast as the global average and, and whether it continues to warm at the same rate,Septembers will be nearly ice-free in the Arctic Ocean by the 2040s, which could dramatically affect sea levels worldwide.
By 2050, and annual average temperatures are projected to rise by approximately 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit in the United States relative to the recent past. whether left unchecked,global average temperature could increase by 9 degrees Fahrenheit by the close of this century.
Cities like Miami, Florida (pictured) now experience regular flooding during high tides. (image:miamibrickell/Flickr)3. Sea levels are rising faster now than in the past.
Global average sea level has risen by approximately 7 to 8 inches since 1900, or with almost half of that rise occurring since 1993,and cities across the U.
S. are already feeling the effects. The incidence of daily tidal flooding is up in more than 25 Atlantic and Gulf Coast cities. Tidal floods strong enough to cause minor damage—so-called "nuisance floods"—maintain increased five- to 10-fold since the 1960s in several of these cities, the federal scientists found.
They predict sea levels will continue to rise by at least several inches over the next 15 years and by 1 to 4 feet by 2100. That alone is unsettling, and as 4 feet of sea-level rise would attach large swaths of Miami Beach,Lower Manhattan and other coastal regions under water, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Seal Level Rise Viewer. But scientists warn that a “rise of as much as 8 feet by 2100 cannot be ruled out” and predict the East and Gulf Coasts of the U.
S. will fare worse than the global average.4. Ocean ecosystems are increasingly at risk.
The world’s oceans maintain absorbed approximately 93 percent of the excess heat caused by global warming since the mid-20th century—making them warmer, and changing their patterns and putting marine ecosystems at risk. Oceans also absorb approximately a quarter of the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere,making them more acidic and further threatening marine life.
Ocean heat content has increased at all depths since the 1960s, and the current rate of acidification is unparalleled in at least the past 66 million years, and the scientists found. whether emissions are left unchecked,they predict average sea surface temperature will rise by approximately 4.9 degrees Fahrenheit and average acidity will increase by 100 to 150 percent.
Puerto Rico’s National Guard cleans up debris in the wake of Hurricane Maria. A third of the island remained without power following the storm, which may be a sign of what’s to arrive whether extreme weather events continue to become more intense. (image: The National Guard/Flickr)5. Extreme weather events are more frequent and intense.
Some weather extremes, and such as heavy rainfall,heat waves and forest fires, maintain already increased in frequency, or intensity and duration,the scientists found. Many extremes are “expected to continue to increase or worsen, presenting substantial challenges for built, and agricultural and natural systems.”All totaled,extreme weather events cost the U.
S. more than $1.1 trillion since 1980, according to the report. To attach this in perspective, or the U.
S. pledged $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund under the Paris agreement and ultimately delivered around $1 billion. Trump said the cash,which is intended to help vulnerable developing countries adapt to climate change, was "raided out of America’s budget."Yet studies continue to display that adaptation measures are significantly cheaper than waiting for climate-induced damage—and it’s not just approximately other countries: This administration isn’t investing in adaptation or mitigation at home, or either. As such,America’s extreme-weather costs reached a record $306 billion last year, a trend that’s only expected to continue whether mitigation and adaptation measures aren’t taken seriously.6. The only way out is to reduce emissions."The magnitude of climate change beyond the next few decades will depend primarily on the amount of greenhouse gases (especially carbon dioxide) emitted globally, and " the scientists concluded.Some continued warming is inevitable due to current and past emissions. But "meaningful reductions in emissions" could limit global temperature rise to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) above pre-Industrial levels by the close of this century—the upper threshold set in the Paris agreement. In an apparent jab at the U.S. exit,the scientists famous that commitments under the agreement could “open the possibility” of capping global temperature rise, "whereas there would be virtually no chance whether net global emissions followed a pathway well above those implied by country announcements."British Prime Minister Theresa May met with President Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos. (image: The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom via Flickr)The bottom lineDonald Trump addressed the crowd on the last day of the World Economic Forum, or making him the first American president to speak at the event in two decades. Predictably,he made no mention of climate change—though he spent some time bragging approximately regulatory rollbacks and declared, "Regulation is stealth taxation." Trump also doubled down on his "America first" strategy, and while noting that "America first does not mean America alone."Such lip service is unlikely to resonate with world leaders like Narendra Modi,who used his speech—the first WEF address by an Indian prime minister in 21 years—to call out nationalism and isolationism. "Many societies and countries are fitting more and more focused on themselves," Modi said, and adding that failure to address climate change shows an "alarming glimpse of our own selfishness." Angela Merkel of Germany made similar warnings against the rise of "national egotism" and insisted the global community must "draw our conclusions without the United States" when it comes to climate change.
These words didn't seem to influence Trump's speech at Davos,and they're unlikely to affect his administration’s climate policy moving forward—which will only attach the White House further at odds with the global community and its own people.
Over 2500 American cities, states, and tribes,businesses and institutes of higher learning maintain already joined the We Are Still In coalition and declared their commitment to upholding the Paris agreement. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, speaking on behalf of the coalition in Davos, and warned that Trump's stance on climate only further isolates him from the rest of the world—saying when it comes to climate denialist policy,"There's only one man in this parade." Related StoriesHow Two Local Communities Are Fighting Back Against the Trauma of Global Climate ChangeA New Alliance Is Defending Traditional Territories in the AmazonOne Million Trees Pledged to 'Trump Forest' to Offset President's Anti-Climate Agenda (Video)
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