Four years late and under court order to issue a report, the Bush administration has officially conceded what scientific studies have long maintained: The planet is warming rapidly and the burning of fossil fuels is “very likely” the cause. In a report entitled “Scientific Assessment of the Effects of Global Warming,”
U.S. government scientists sign on to many of the conclusions reached recently by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Though mainstream in its conclusions, the report is a big step for an administration that for years denied the link between human activity and climate change. The report, which was supposed to have been issued in 2004 under the federal Global Change Research Act, says that one upshot of rising temperatures will be greater demands on the energy sector to produce more electricity to cool buildings, industries, and homes, and to pump more water to irrigate crops in a hotter — and often drier — world.
Bush Administration Concedes Earth is Warming and Humans are the Cause
More From E360
-
Climate
Scientists Are Trying to Coax the Ocean to Absorb More CO2
-
INTERVIEW
Marina Silva on Brazil’s Fight to Turn the Tide on Deforestation
-
Solutions
Solomon Islands Tribes Sell Carbon Credits, Not Their Trees
-
INTERVIEW
With Sea Turtles in Peril, a Call for New Strategies to Save Them
-
RIVERS
Jared Kushner Has Big Plans for Delta of Europe’s Last Wild River
-
Energy
A Nuclear Power Revival Is Sparking a Surge in Uranium Mining
-
OPINION
Despite Official Vote, the Evidence of the Anthropocene Is Clear
-
INTERVIEW
At 11,500 Feet, a ‘Climate Fast’ to Save the Melting Himalaya
-
Oceans
Octopuses Are Highly Intelligent. Should They Be Farmed for Food?
-
Climate
Nations Are Undercounting Emissions, Putting UN Goals at Risk
-
Solutions
As Carbon Air Capture Ramps Up, Major Hurdles Remain
-
ANALYSIS
How China Became the World’s Leader on Renewable Energy