WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tom Udall issued the following statement on the release today of the Fourth National Climate Assessment:
“The federal government’s comprehensive climate report confirms yet again the warnings we’ve heard from scientists for years. Here are a few of the findings:
-The last 115 years have been the warmest in the history of modern civilization.
-The last three years have been the warmest years on record – and that trend is expected to continue.
-Human-generated greenhouse gases are almost certainly the cause – and there is no convincing alternative theory.
-The oceans are rising, and this is already causing tidal flooding in the United States.
-There have been more large forest fires in the West and Alaska since the early 1980s, and that is expected to increase – and cause profound changes to regional ecosystems.
-Earlier spring snowmelt and reduced snowpack already are affecting water resources in the West, and unless we make profound changes to water management, chronic, long-duration hydrological drought is increasingly possible before the end of this century.
“There isn’t a debate, the science is definitive, and the longer we deny climate change the worse off we will be, especially our children and future generations. Global action must be taken to prevent climate change from getting worse, or we will pay the consequences -- in our communities, our food supply, global health, and national security. In the United States, the West is already in the bull’s eye, and we need to be taking urgent action.
“The only positive news from today’s report is the fact that the Trump administration didn’t suppress it, and I will keep working to ensure scientific integrity going forwards. While the Trump administration debates and denies climate change, we’re losing valuable time that we should be spending trying to reduce greenhouse gas pollution."
