The New York Times has gotten a hold of a draft of the federal government's climate science special report. The draft report is slated to be part of the National Climate Assessment, which is required by Congress every 4 years. The draft report represents the collective judgment of scientists from, among other places, 13 federal agencies. Read the executive summary, at pages 11-31, which presents the report's findings in layperson's terms.
The accompanying Times' article, by Lisa Friedman, is worth reading. Among other things, it addresses whether Trump will suppress official release of the report. Some excerpts:
The average temperature in the United States has risen rapidly and drastically since 1980, and recent decades have been the warmest of the past 1,500 years, according to a sweeping federal climate change report awaiting approval by the Trump administration. The draft report by scientists from 13 federal agencies, which has not yet been made public, concludes that Americans are feeling the effects of climate change right now. It directly contradicts claims by President Trump and members of his cabinet who say that the human contribution to climate change is uncertain, and that the ability to predict the effects is limited. * * *
The E.P.A. is one of 13 agencies that must approve the report by Aug. 18. The agency’s administrator, Scott Pruitt, has said he does not believe that carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming. … Scientists say they fear that the Trump administration could change or suppress the report. But those who challenge scientific data on human-caused climate change say they are equally worried that the draft report, as well as the larger National Climate Assessment, will be publicly released.
