Antonio Manaytay – Fourth Estate Contributor
Washington, DC, United States (4E) – The US government had released a climate assessment report Friday confirming what the Trump administration vigorously denies: global warming is human-caused. The report by US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) was released amid the flurry of efforts by the government to promote the use of fossil fuels and relax several federal rules by reversing the Obama-era climate policies that seek to curb carbon emissions of the United States.
The report has warned of the potential hazards and potential damage for the United States as global temperature rises at a steady rate, which at present unfolds at 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit. It also warned of a rise of sea level by eight feet by the end of the century.
The report warned, among others, of the following: the intensity and frequency of heavy rainfall across the United States; and the annual average temperature over the next few decades is expected to rise by about 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit for the United States.
“It is extremely likely that human interference has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century,” the USGRCP said.
It said that global warming has “no convincing alternative explanation supported by the extent of the observational evidence.”
The release of the report came as a surprise to scientists and climate change advocates because it was at odds with Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The White House, however, appeared to be playing down the report saying “the climate has changed and is always changing.”
“As the Climate Science Special Report states, the magnitude of future climate change depends significantly on ‘remaining uncertainty in the sensitivity of Earth’s climate to emissions,” White House spokesperson Raj Shah in a statement said.
“In the United States, energy-related carbon dioxide emissions have been declining, are expected to remain flat through 2040, and will also continue to decline as a share of world emissions,” the White House statement said.
Sounding off the Trump administration’s support to “rigorous scientific analysis and debate,” Shah had also faintly indicated the government’s direction favoring the use of fossil fuels in what he called as “affordable and reliable energy to grow economically.”
Amid the government’s timid reaction but experts believe the report could have a far-ranging policy impact.
“This is a federal government report whose contents completely undercut their policies, completely undercut the statements made by senior members of the administration,” Phil Duffy, director of the Woods Hole Research Center, told the Washington Post.
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