U.S. Shapes Climate Change Response Plans

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Coral reefs, like this at Jarvis Island Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific Ocean, are one of the ecosystems most vulnerable to climate change.

Washington — The Obama administration is developing action plans to adapt to and lessen the impact of climate change, with two reports issued by different government entities in late March.

The recommendations emerging from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) and the Department of Interior follow through on a priority that was front and center in President Obama's State of the Union address delivered in January.

"For the sake of our children and our future, we must do more to combat climate change," President Obama said. He urged the Congress to address climate change through legislation, but also said the administration would look at implementing executive actions — those not requiring congressional approval — "to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy."

On March 22, the PCAST issued recommendations for a strategy that would work both to reduce the rate and degree of climate change and minimize the damage that is anticipated.

PCAST offered six recommendations focused on improving preparedness for extreme weather events and a transition to a national energy strategy less reliant on the carbon-based fuels. An international scientific consensus has concluded that carbon dioxide emissions from human activity are trapping heat in the atmosphere and causing a gradual planetary warming.

PCAST recommends continued efforts to "decarbonize the economy" and create a better regulatory and tax framework for emerging clean-energy and energy-efficient technologies.

Ongoing investments in research and deployment of new technologies are also suggested by PCAST. The scientific advisers also recommend that the United States strive to establish a position of leadership in the international effort to address climate change.

Recommendations emerging from the Department of the Interior March 26 are intended to address climate change as it unfolds for agriculture, fisheries, resource management and wildlife conservation and recreation.

 

“Rising sea levels, warmer temperatures, loss of sea ice and changing precipitation patterns — trends scientists have connected to climate change — are already affecting the species that we care about, the services we value and the places we call home,” said Deputy Secretary of the Interior David J. Hayes as he unveiled the new National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy March 26. “The strategy is a comprehensive, multipartner response that takes a 21st-century approach developed by the American public for sustaining fish, wildlife and plant resources and the services they provide — now and into the future.”

The climate adaptation strategy emerges from an "extensive national dialogue" conducted over almost two years, involving input from more than 55,000 Americans, Interior said. With a 2009 directive from the Congress, the Department of Interior, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and representatives from fish and wildlife agencies around the country worked together to develop responses to a changing climate.

The report documents in considerable detail how climate change is unfolding in a variety of U.S. ecosystems and how it is affecting the life forms therein and the people whose lives and livelihoods may depend on them.

"Geese are not migrating as far south and ducks are migrating later in the fall, to the dismay of waterfowl hunters," the report says. "Oyster larvae are failing to survive off the coast of Washington State, threatening the shellfish industry. Fish stocks along the east coast have moved northward and deeper as ocean temperatures have increased, affecting fishers and fishing communities."

In deserts, forests, scrubland, waterways and more, the report documents the changing characters of ecosystems that can be traced to climate change. It is unequivocal in its call for action.

"Unless the nation begins serious adaptation efforts now, we risk losing priceless living systems — and the countless benefits and services they provide — as the climate changes," the report says.

The goals outlined by the strategy aim to minimize the impact of climate change on natural resources where possible and to maximize opportunities where the effects of climate change might be beneficial. The goals call for conservation and effective management of habitat to sustain the resources and maintain a balance for sustainable use of the resources. Increasing knowledge, motivating action and enabling species adaptation to climate change effects are also cited as goals.

The National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy and other information is available on a special mulitagency U.S. government website.

The report (PDF, 175.6KB) from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology is available on the PCAST website.