Authors of Major U.S. Climate Report: ‘The Old Normal Is Broken’

The impact of climate change is already being felt on every corner of the U.S., the third installment of the National Climate Assessment reported on Tuesday, as heatwaves, drought, stronger rainfall and coastal storms are being experienced with greater intensity across the country.

“Climate change is happening now.  It’s not something in the future,” said Don Wuebbles, coordinating lead author of the report and University of Illinois atmospheric scientist.  “It’s happening now, it’s actually happening quite rapidly … and the evidence clearly points to the reason we’re getting these changes is because of human activity, particularly the burning of fossil fuels.”

“I just hope that we convince as many people as possible that they live in a dynamic climate, that the old normal is broken and we have no idea what the new normal is going to look like when all of this is done,” said Gary Yohe, an economist at Wesleyan University and since 2010, a leader of the advisory committee that guided the multi-year process.

Authors of Major U.S. Climate Report: ‘The Old Normal Is Broken’