The agency of Environmental Protection had stated on Wednesday that climate change has already been triggered in the United States of America. Moreover, the change is taking place at an exponentially high speed in a few of the cases.
There are numerous cases of wildfires that are getting more frequent and bigger every year. More frequent incidents of a heatwave, warming of seas, and flooding are reported with each passing year. The air in the atmosphere is getting hotter and more polluted. In addition, the season of ragweed pollen is starting before time.
The most recent data that is compiled on the latest and highly comprehensive information by the federal government shows that the world is getting warmer very quickly. As a result of this climate change, Americans are faced with huge threats regarding their health, communities, and homes. Furthermore, the administration of Biden has been striving to begin an aggressive action both in the nation as well as abroad in order to reduce pollution that is eventually increasing global temperatures.
Michael Regan, the EPA administrator, informed on Wednesday that every town, big and small along with every community is affected by climate change. The citizens of the US are witnessing and experiencing the impacts of the climate crisis at close quarters and with more frequency.
There has been a 4-year gap before the recent data was released. The EPA often updated its climate indicators till 2016. However, the data remained stagnant for some time under the administration of the ex-President, Trump because he repeatedly questioned them over the warming of our planet. Hence, all the data was available but they were not updated.
The administration of Biden has successfully managed to revive this effort and offer new measures this year. They pulled new information from federal agencies, universities as well as other sources. Additionally, the EPA has 54 different indicators that demonstrated a hopeless picture when studied together.
Read Take A Peek At What Awaits Us If We Don’t Do Anything About Climate Change
Reports On Climate Change Seems Grim
The EPA reports include a wide range of topics like Lyme disease that is growing faster in some states just like climate change is more obvious in some regions. They also provide detailed insight into the increasing drought conditions across the South-west which threatens the supply of fresh drinking water. They also show the high possibilities of wildfires along with the decline in the ability to generate electricity with the help of hydropower.
Katherine Hayhoe, a climate scientist from Texas University, has mentioned that this data from the EPS is already helping us in understanding the shifts taking place in the daily lives of people. This has been specifically helpful since Americans often see climate change as a big problem that affects people and remote parts all over the world rather than directly affecting them.
Hayhoe further added that the indicators are extremely relevant that is essential to prepare for the impending changes and the ways in which they might affect our life. Moreover, it also helps us in connecting climate change with our own experiences.
New data reveals that temperature is increasing worldwide along with that the rise is accelerated. From 1901 onwards, surface temperatures all over the 48 states of the US have increased by almost 0.16 ⁰F every 10 years. Since the 1970s, this rate has increased to approximately half-degree every decade.
Alaska has been receiving the worst brunt of this rise in temperature. Several parts of this state experiences over 4 ⁰F rises in temperature from 1925. This rise is also affecting the permafrost. Out of 15 permafrost sites, 14 have experienced rising temperatures from 1978 to 2020.
Read Sea Level Rise: Ominous Effect Of Global Warming And Climate Change
The US States Facing Climate Crisis
Scientists have said that the world requires better preventive measures against the rise in global temperatures that is over 3.6 ⁰F. Heatwaves will become more frequent if the surface temperatures continue to rise. From 1960, the heatwave frequency across the big cities of the US has increased 3 times that is from 2 to 6 every year, according to new data. The animals and plants are also getting affected since the nights are hotter now.
Increasing temperature is also having an adverse impact on the ice levels. The Arctic ice has been rapidly melting and the oceans have been becoming warmer that has reached a new record last year in 2020.
Sea levels are also rising in the Gulf and East Coast regions due to the dual reason of the melting of the polar ice along with the rising temperature of the water. The sea level in some of the places has risen over 8 inches comparatively from 1960 to 2020.
The sea level is rising, the wildfires are becoming worse. Forest lands are getting destroyed every year due to the increasing number of wildfires. The most recent climate indicator of EPA has added new kinds of data to their existing information. One such data shows that the glaciers in the National Park of Glaciers in Montana have shrunk by almost one-third from 1966 to 2015. The officials have informed that the measurements have created a record.
Interestingly, the EPA is also gathering data on the number of displaced people forced to migrate from their homes every year owing to hurricanes in the US. Although the Biden administration is certainly taking strict measures to implement preventive measures and take necessary steps to curb climate change, large-scale action is required to protect our planet.
