A climate change report drafted by scientists from 13 federal agencies won't be released until the Trump administration signs off on it, but the report does not line up with the views of President Trump and some members of his Cabinet, The New York Times said Monday.
The Times has obtained a copy of the report, which states that since 1980, the average temperature in the United States has risen dramatically, that even if greenhouse gas emissions stop immediately, the world would still experience a warming of 0.50 degrees Fahrenheit, and that it is "extremely likely" that more than half of the global mean temperature increase since 1951 can be linked to humans. In Alaska and the Arctic, surface, air, and ground temperatures are warming twice as fast as the global average, the report said, and it is "very likely that the accelerated rate of Arctic warming will have a significant consequence for the United States due to accelerating land and sea ice melting that is driving changes in the ocean including sea level rise threatening our coastal communities." This is also caused by humans, the report says.
One scientist who worked on the report told the Times they are worried it will be suppressed. One of the agencies that must approve it by Aug. 13 is the Environmental Protection Agency, led by Scott Pruitt, and he has said he does not believe carbon dioxide is a major contributor to global warming.