2LT International News

WASHINGTON, U.S. – A major U.S. Government report on climate change released this week, has issued a stark warning to the U.S. President Donald Trump over the dangers facing the country, due to his administration’s pro-fossil-fuels agenda. 

The report outlined the prospective impacts of climate change across every sector of American society and underscored the reality of climate change during the Trump presidency.

Prepared by a team of 13 federal agencies, the U.S. Global Change Research Programme has stated that there is “no convincing alternative explanation” for climate change besides “human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases.”

It warned that unchecked climate change is set to cost the U.S. hundreds of billions of dollars and will damage human health and quality of life by the end of the century. 

The 4th National Climate Assessment has stated, “With continued growth in emissions at historic rates, annual losses in some economic sectors are projected to reach hundreds of billions of dollars by the end of the century – more than the current gross domestic product (GDP) of many U.S. states. Future risks from climate change depend… on decisions made today.”

According to the report, climate change is “presenting growing challenges to human health and safety, quality of life and the rate of economic growth.”

It claimed that gross domestic product could be slashed by 10 percent by 2100 – causing losses twice the size of that which occurred during the Great Recession.

It also pointed out that the poorest communities nationwide would be among the most disproportionately impacted by global warming since droughts, flooding and increasingly powerful storms begin regularly impacting the country.

However, the warnings issued in the report contradicted the U.S. President and his repeated denial of climate change.

The federal report and its warnings were immediately dismissed by the White House.

Earlier this week, Trump commented on reports that temperatures were set to reach record lows on Thanksgiving and tweeted, “Whatever happened to Global Warming?”

After the report was released, the White House dismissed it as inaccurate. 

Commenting on the report, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said the new report was “largely based on the most extreme scenario, which contradicts long-established trends by assuming that… There would be limited technology and innovation, and a rapidly expanding population.”

Over the last two years, the Trump administration has been rolling back Obama-era environmental and climate protections.

The administration has issued policies that maximize the production of domestic fossil fuels, including crude oil – which is already the highest in the world, above Saudi Arabia and Russia.

However, Brenda Ekwurzel, Director of Climate Science at the Union of Concerned Scientists and one of the authors behind the report said in a statement that the U.S. government should respond to the report with action. 

She said, “This report makes it clear that climate change is not some problem in the distant future. It’s happening right now in every part of the country.”