skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, April 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Tribal advocates keep up legal pressure for fair political maps; 12-member jury sworn in for Trump's historic criminal trial; the importance of healthcare decision planning; and a debt dilemma: poll shows how many people wrestle with college costs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Civil rights activists say a court ruling could end the right to protest in three southern states, a federal judge lets January 6th lawsuits proceed against former President Trump, and police arrest dozens at a Columbia University Gaza protest.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural Wyoming needs more vocational teachers to sustain its workforce pipeline, Ohio environmental advocates fear harm from a proposal to open 40-thousand forest acres to fracking and rural communities build bike trail systems to promote nature, boost the economy.

National Climate Assessment: The Time to Act is Now

play audio
Play

Tuesday, May 6, 2014   

DES MOINES, Iowa - What's being called the most comprehensive look at the effect of climate change on the United States finds that it is not just a problem for the future, but has moved firmly into the present. Kim Knowlton, senior scientist, Natural Resources Defense Council, served as one of the co-authors of the third National Climate Assessment. She says the impacts range from health to energy, and among the main concerns is water.

"Water resources are going to be and already are very impacted by increasing temperatures and longer heatwaves. That makes drought periods so much worse," Knowlton says.

She hopes that instead of continuing to kick the can down the road, these latest findings will inspire action from policy makers all around the country and at every level of government. The assessment also finds that across the country, there are numerous real and measurable effects of climate change and that it's mostly human caused, she adds.

"Climate change is caused by carbon pollution and that's caused by human activities, and it's already causing harm in this country. That said, the report does describe some of the efforts already being made to prepare, to adapt for the changes and also to limit the worst effects in the future by reducing heat-trapping carbon pollution," she explains.

Based on the evidence, more than 97 percent of climate scientists have concluded that human-caused climate change is happening, Knowlton says.

National Climate Assessment information is available at www.NRDC.org.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
In Pennsylvania, more than 400,000 people are living with Alzheimer's disease. (C. Nathaniel Brown)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Alzheimer's disease is the eighth-leading cause of death in Pennsylvania. A documentary on the topic debuts Saturday in Pittsburgh. "Remember Me: …


Social Issues

play sound

April is Financial Literacy Month, when the focus is on learning smart money habits but also how to protect yourself from fraud. One problem on the …

Environment

play sound

Arizona conservation groups and sportsmen alike say they're pleased the Bureau of Land Management will now recognize conservation as an integral part …


Social Issues

play sound

The need for child care and early learning is critical, especially in rural Arkansas. One nonprofit is working to fill those gaps by giving providers …

Workers harvest a field before the annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. (Jeff Huth/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

An annual march for farmworkers' rights is being held Sunday in northwest Washington. This year, marchers are focusing on the conditions for local …

Social Issues

play sound

A new Gallup and Lumina Foundation poll unveils a concerning reality: Hoosiers may lack clarity about the true cost of higher education. The survey …

Environment

play sound

As state budget negotiations continue, groups fighting climate change are asking California lawmakers to cut subsidies for oil and gas companies …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021