New US draft climate change report released for review

From the draft report:

Coming just days after news that the United States experienced its hottest year on record in 2012, the draft report says that average US temperatures have increased by more than 0.8° Celsius since 1895, with a sharp spike since 1980. It also provides an update on the litany of impacts being analysed by scientists. There is “strong evidence” that global warming has roughly doubled the likelihood of extreme heat events, contributing to droughts and wildfires, according to the report. Permafrost is melting in Alaska, and much of the country is experiencing more extreme rainfall and winter snowstorms.

The draft report, produced by the Global Change Research Program, is slated for release later this year or early 2014.

(Note: Maxine Burkett, a contributing author on the report’s chapter on Hawaii, is a speaker at Ideas Summit 2013.)