Advanced Search
February 25, 2019
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), and National Wildlife Federation (NWF) held a briefing on the latest climate change findings, as reported by leading scientists in the 4th National Climate Assessment (NCA) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Special Report. Attendees learned about how climate change is expected to affect the United States and how federal, state, and local governments can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help communities adapt to rapidly encroaching risks over the next decade and beyond. They learned how Congressional districts are being impacted by climate change, and how they could benefit from investing in low-carbon solutions and advance planning to safeguard lives, infrastructure, and businesses.
Senator Tom Carper (D-DE)
Collin O’Mara, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Wildlife Federation
Dr. David Easterling, Chief, Observations and Data Records, and Director, National Climate Assessment Technical Support Unit, Center for Weather and Climate, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s National Centers for Environmental Information
Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, Director, The Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University
Dr. Brenda Ekwurzel, Director of Climate Science, Union of Concerned Scientists
The NCA is a comprehensive report produced every four years by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, as required by Congress. The fourth edition of the report, released in November 2018, analyzes the effects of climate change across the country, including agriculture, energy production and use, land and water resources, transportation, and biodiversity. The NCA applies these findings to 10 regions across the United States and features recommendations on how to reduce risks associated with climate change to protect public health, economic sectors, and the environment. The report was crafted with policy-makers, utility and natural resource managers, public health officials, and emergency planners in mind.
The IPCC’s Special Report delves into the potential impacts of global warming under different greenhouse gas emission scenarios. The landmark report, released in October 2018, is the product of thousands of expert and government reviewers, more than 6,000 scientific references, and 91 authors and editors from 40 countries working under the banner of the United Nations. The report found that in order to keep global warming from crossing the critical 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold, a “rapid and far-reaching” transformation of the global economy would be necessary, including land and energy use, transportation, buildings, and industry.