ClimateScienceWatch

Promoting integrity in the use of climate science in government

A report prepared for state legislators by the National Conference of State Legislatures and the University of Maryland Center for Integrative Environmental Research presents damages amounting to billions of dollars in eight states (CO, GA, KS, IL, MI, NV, NJ, OH) from a host of observed and predicted climate-related impacts:  drought and water shortages; impacts on shipping and tourism; agricultural losses; sea level rise; and drier, hotter weather.  Many of these impacts are occurring now, and predicted to get worse and more costly the longer they go unaddressed.  With support from the Environmental Defense Fund, this survey of climate threats adds to the growing body of climate change assessments for policymakers conducted absent federal funding.  Notably, each report cites the 2000 US National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change.