Northeast already hit by climate change, says draft of major US report
A draft of the U.S. government's latest official report on climate change, to be released this week, says northeastern states are already seeing dangerous effects of warming climate, including the nation's largest increase in extreme downpours, sea-level rise above the global average, and crop-unfriendly weather. The new National Climate Assessment, the first in five years, also makes newly specific future regional projections. It maps out flood-vulnerable areas, potential deaths from heat waves, and challenges to land and marine ecosystems. There is some good news: The region's rainfall will probably go up, so it may not suffer the droughts projected for other areas; and most of the 12 Northeast states and many municipalities are already laying plans to cut greenhouse-gas emissions and adapt.