Melillo, Jerry M., Terese (T.C.) Richmond, and Gary W. Yohe, Eds.

U.S. Global Change Research Program

Published date May 6, 2014

NCA 3: Climate Change Impacts in the United States

  • Summarizes the impacts of climate change on the United States, now and in the future, as determined by a team of more than 300 experts guided by a 60-member Federal Advisory Committee, and reviewed by the public and experts, including federal agencies and a panel of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Finds that the world is warming and that human activity is the primary cause
  • Finds that other changes flow from this warming, including melting of snow and ice, rising sea level, and increases in some types of extreme weather, such as extreme heat and heavy downpours
  • Analyses climate change impacts across different regions—including the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Great Plains, Southwest, Northwest, Alaska,  Hawai'i and the Pacific Islands, Oceans and Coasts
  • Analyses climate change impacts across different sectors—including water, energy, transportation, agriculture, forests, ecosystems, human health, energy, water, and land
  • And analyses climate change impacts for different communities—including urban, indigenous, and rural