US climate report is produced 4 years late
WASHINGTON - Under a court order and four years late, the White House produced yesterday what it called a science-based "one-stop shop" of specific threats to the United States from man-made global warming.
While the report contains no new science, it pulls together different US studies and localizes international reports into one comprehensive document required by law. The 271-page report is notable because it is something the Bush administration has fought in the past.
In a teleconference with reporters, White House associate science director Sharon Hays declined to characterize the findings as bad, but said it is an issue the administration takes seriously. She said the report was comprehensive and "communicates what the scientists are telling us."
The forecast includes increased heat deaths and deaths from smog. In Los Angeles alone yearly heat fatalities could increase by more than 1,000 by 2080, and the Midwest and Northeast are most vulnerable.
Water shortages will affect agriculture and urban users, the report said. Warmer weather will require billions more for power plants (a major cause of global warming gases). The report says summer cooling will increase energy consumption in Seattle 146 percent by the century's end.
