Progress Report of the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force: Recommended Actions in Support of a National Climate Change Adaptation ...

This Progress Report of the Interagancy Climate Change Adaptation Task Force, dated October 5, 2010, from the White House Council of Environmental Quality finds that the scope, severity, and pace of future climate change impacts are difficult to predict. However, observations and long-term scientific trends indicate that the potential impacts of a changing climate on society and the environment will be significant. Projected impacts include more frequent heat waves and high-intensity precipitation events, rising sea levels, ocean acidification, and more prolonged
droughts.

The year-round average air temperature in the United States has already risen by more than 2 degress F. over the past 50 years and is projected to increase further in the future. On average, wet areas of the United States will become wetter and dry areas will become drier. Adding to the challenge of responding to these impacts, climate-related changes do not act in isolation but rather interact with and often
exacerbate the impacts of other non-climatic stressors such as habitat destruction, overharvesting, and pollution.