Climate Change Threat Confirmed: National Academies Report Reinforces EPA’s 2009 Finding
A new report from the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) decisively confirms the EPA’s 2009 finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health and welfare. This conclusion comes despite political pressure, including the threat of a congressional investigation into the NAS’s work.
The report is unequivocal: “EPA’s 2009 finding…was accurate, has stood the test of time, and is now reinforced by even stronger evidence.” This stronger evidence stems from improved climate monitoring, more robust data, and advancements in analytical methods, allowing for more accurate detection and attribution of climate change to greenhouse gas emissions.
The impacts of climate change are already being felt across the US, negatively impacting agricultural productivity, exacerbating wildfires, creating water scarcity, and straining infrastructure. Beyond these indirect effects, the report highlights direct harms to public health:
Climate change intensifies risks to humans from exposures to extreme heat, ground-level ozone, airborne particulate matter, extreme weather events, and airborne allergens, affecting incidence of cardiovascular, respiratory, and other diseases. Climate change has increased exposure to pollutants from wildfire smoke and dust, which has been linked to adverse health effects. The increasing severity of some extreme events has contributed to injury, illness, and death in affected communities. Health impacts related to climate-sensitive infectious diseases-such as those carried by insects and contaminated water-have increased.
The NAS report also refutes the argument that US emissions are insignificant. Even small reductions in emissions will lessen the risk of future damaging events and help avoid potentially irreversible tipping points in the climate system. Therefore, reducing US emissions is a crucial step in mitigating these risks.
