According to a new and recently released report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), climate change is in fact to blame for the recent bout of storminess to affect the United States. From those record-breaking blizzards to summer heat waves, and from tropical cyclone development to deadly tornadoes, the EPA is officially defining climate change as a very real problem for our nation.Surprise, surprise… right!?!? Interestingly, the report releases just as the U.S. Senate debates whether to take up a climate bill before an immigration one.
The report is said to display indisputable evidence that human activities such as electricity production and transportation are adding to the concentrations of greenhouse gases that are already naturally present in the atmosphere, therefore causing more frequent, violent storms and heat waves.
USA Today illustrated that the report's key findings included:
- Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are increasing. Between 1990 and 2008, there has been about a 14 percent increase in emissions in the United States.
- Average temperatures are rising. Seven of the top 10 warmest years on record for the continental United States have occurred since 1990.
- Tropical cyclone intensity has increased in recent decades. Six of the 10 most active hurricane seasons have occurred since the mid-1990s.
- Sea levels are rising. From 1993 to 2008, sea level rose twice as fast as the long-term trend.
- Glaciers are melting. Loss of glacier volume appears to have accelerated over the last decade.
- The frequency of heat waves has risen steadily since the 1960s. The percentage of the U.S. population impacted by heat waves has also increased.
So... I'm not quite sure what impact this has on all of us. Carry on, I guess...
