The United States government on Friday released a major scientific report that says climate change is “extremely likely” to be caused by human activity and will get worse without major cuts to carbon emissions.
The findings of the federally mandated report were approved by the White House, even though they are starkly at odds with the position of President Donald Trump, who has labelled global warming a Chinese hoax and named fossil fuel ally Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency.
Part of larger report
The Climate Science Special Report spans more than 600 pages and is part of a larger report known as the Fourth National Climate Assessment, which is being issued in draft form for public comment.
Based on “a large body of scientific, peer-reviewed research,” global annually averaged surface air temperature has increased by about 1.8 Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) over the last 115 years (1901-2016), it says.
“This period is now the warmest in the history of modern civilization,” said the report, available at science2017.globalchange.gov .
Since the last report of its kind was issued in 2014, “stronger evidence has emerged for continuing, rapid, human-caused warming of the global atmosphere and ocean,” the text said.
