About that Chinese hoax

Federal scientists warned in a new report Friday that changes in the climate will disrupt the economies of every region in the country in the coming years, with costs threatening to reach hundreds of billions of dollars annually by the middle of this century.

The message, echoing decades of sobering conclusions from the world's leading climate scientists, is at odds with President Donald Trump's repeated scoffing at the idea of global warming. And the administration chose to release it on Black Friday, the busiest shopping day and one of the slowest news days of the year.

  Politico

But release it they did.

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, who is set to take the gavel at the House Science Committee, said it's time to start addressing the causes of the wildfires, devastating storms, coastal flooding and toxic algae blooms that plagued much of the U.S. this year. "That is why I have made climate change one of my top priorities for the Committee going in to the next Congress,” she said in a statement.

[...]

The report, which runs more than 1,600 pages, is the latest scientific work to warn that the planet is due to undergo devastating changes in the coming years that will permanently alter the coastlines, worsen droughts and storms and foster the outbreaks of dangerous diseases as temperatures climb. And while the report said quick action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution could dramatically affect the state of the planet by the end of the century, many of the impacts the U.S. will see in the next two decades appear irreversible.

In truth, Trump and his administration and the Republican Party all know this is true. Remember the report where they released an environmental impact statement in August, admitted it was dire, and decided instead of doing something about it, they'll just grab everything they can before it's all gone? 

But the administration did not offer this dire forecast, premised on the idea that the world will fail to cut its greenhouse gas emissions, as part of an argument to combat climate change. Just the opposite: The analysis assumes the planet’s fate is already sealed.

The draft statement, issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), was written to justify President Trump’s decision to freeze federal fuel-efficiency standards for cars and light trucks built after 2020. While the proposal would increase greenhouse gas emissions, the impact statement says, that policy would add just a very small drop to a very big, hot bucket.

[...]

The world would have to make deep cuts in carbon emissions to avoid this drastic warming, the analysis states. And that “would require substantial increases in technology innovation and adoption compared to today’s levels and would require the economy and the vehicle fleet to move away from the use of fossil fuels, which is not currently technologically feasible or economically feasible.”

[...]

“The amazing thing they’re saying is human activities are going to lead to this rise of carbon dioxide that is disastrous for the environment and society. And then they’re saying they’re not going to do anything about it,” said Michael MacCracken, who served as a senior scientist at the U.S. Global Change Research Program from 1993 to 2002.

  WaPo

I'm actually surprised they've released this second report.

The new report, which Congress requires to be issued every four years, was released by U.S. Global Change Research Program.

  Politico

I see. Still surprised they did.

It is the product of 300 scientific experts under the guidance of a 60-member federal advisory committee, and it was open to review by the public, 13 federal agencies and a panel at the National Academy of Sciences.

[...]

The White House tried to downplay the new report's conclusions Friday, claiming that they are "largely based on most extreme scenarios."

[...]

In an email Friday, the White House said the report took a particularly pessimistic point of view. “The report is largely based on the most extreme scenario, which contradicts long-established trends by assuming that, despite strong economic growth that would increase greenhouse gas emissions, there would be limited technology and innovation, and a rapidly expanding population,” a White House spokesperson said in the email.

[...]

“While the report doesn’t offer policy recommendations, the findings certainly make a convincing case that the White House should stop rolling back climate policies and recognize that a much larger scale response is required to keep people safe,” [said Brenda Ekwurzel, the senior climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists].

It SHOULD do a lot of things, but it won't. And it SHOULDN'T do a lot of things it will continue doing. It has at least two years to create more irreversible damage if Mr. Mueller or the courts or the House Democrats don't manage to pry Trump and Pence out of office.

Last year’s report said the 1.8 degree Fahrenheit increase in global temperatures since 1901 had lifted temperatures to their highest level in the history of modern civilization, and that it was extremely likely human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, were the dominant cause of the warming since the mid-20th century.

And what happened with that report? Exactly.

If you want to know the predicted effects on each part of the country, they're laid in this article. Click here.

 ...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 11/27:

Responding to questions about the economic impacts of climate change, Trump said [he] doesn't think they will be devastating.

"I don't believe it," he told reporters on Monday.

"I've seen it, I've read some of it, and it's fine," he said.

  alJazeera