Global Warming
Global warming is one of the most serious challenges facing us today. To protect the health and economic well-being of current and future generations, we must reduce our emissions of heat-trapping gases by using the technology, know-how, and practical solutions already at our disposal.
Features
Key Provisions in the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act
Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) introduced the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act. Though the bill in many ways mirrors the strong comprehensive framework of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) that passed in the House in June, there are several key areas in which the legislation differs.
New Series of Reports on Climate Impacts to U.S. Midwest
The Confronting Climate Change in the U.S. Midwest series shows that without strong action to reduce heat-trapping emissions, midwestern states could face dramatic changes including an increase in the number of extreme heat days, more intense spring rains that delay agricultural planting, and an expansion of crop-damaging pests.
Costs of Climate Inaction
Failing to act on climate change is prohibitively expensive—from flooding and storm damage in coastal communities to health care costs and agricultural losses in our heartland. Unchecked climate change could saddle taxpayers with hundreds of billions of dollars in damages. Learn about costs in your region, and the Senate bill aimed at limiting our climate impact.
New Study Shows Sensible Path to Clean Energy Economy
Climate 2030: A National Blueprint for a Clean Energy Economy found that implementing a smart set of climate, energy, and transportation policies can save consumers and businesses money while deeply reducing our nation's heat-trapping emissions.
Successes
Recent successes in Global Warming include:
- Worked with allies in Congress to craft strong climate policy
- Coordinated U.S. scientists and economists statement with 1,700 signatures calling for emissions reductions
- Engaged aspiring writers and photographers to submit entries to an online book—Thoreau’s Legacy: American Stories About Global Warming
- Educated policy makers and mobilized activists on nation’s first program limiting carbon emissions from power plants
- Played lead role in developing a regional cap-and-trade program in the Midwest
- Helped win legislation in Minnesota to fund a study of cap-and-trade auctions
- Supported international climate negotiations by highlighting the role an agreement on reducing tropical deforestation can play in our report Out of the Woods
Analysis
Climate Change in Pennsylvania
Report by Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and a group of independent scientists and economists provides an in-depth look at the potential consequences of climate change in Pennsylvania.
A Target for U.S. Emissions Reduction
This UCS report explains why the U.S. must cut heat-trapping emissions by 80 percent.
California: Our Changing Climate
If global warming emissions continue unabated, California is expected to face poorer air quality, a sharp rise in extreme heat, a less reliable water supply, more dangerous wildfires, and expanding risks to agriculture.
In Nuclear Power section:
Nuclear Power in a Warming World
This report describes the role nuclear power should play as a climate change solution.
Campaigns
Click here to read about the Union of Concerned Scientists' campaign to pass federal climate legislation and how you can help.
We have an historic, but short, window of opportunity to win adoption of policies that will rein in global warming pollution this year. But the science is clear and it’s urgent: to achieve the deep reductions in global warming pollution required to protect future generations Congress must act now.
Now, we need your help to put a strong bill over the finish line. Please urge your senators to act quickly to strengthen and pass the House bill.
Resources
Smoke, Mirrors and Hot Air
A UCS report documents ExxonMobil’s tobacco-like disinformation campaign on global warming science, which spent nearly $16 Million to fund skeptic groups, create confusion.
Migrating Climates
The Migrating Climates feature provides a dramatic way of visualizing the effects of climate projections by estimating where selected states in the Great Lakes region and the Northeast will have "moved" climatically over the next century.
For Scientists:
Northeast Climate Impacts Database
This web-based database provides registered users with free access to most of the climate data generated for the Northeast Climate Impacts Report, including projected changes this century in temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, snow cover, and more that can be expected in the Northeast under higher and lower emission scenarios.
