Emissions, impacts and responses of the United States related to climate change
Geographic extent of warming: Average temperatures in almost all regions in the U.S. have increased in the last 120 years.[1]Warming over time: Annual temperatures averaged across the U.S. have exceeded the 1971–2000 average almost every year in the 21st century.[2]
Climate change has led to the United States warming by 2.6°F (1.4°C) since 1970.[3] The climate of the United States is shifting in ways that are widespread and varied between regions.[4][5] From 2010 to 2019, the United States experienced its hottest decade on record.[6] Extreme weather events, invasive species, floods and droughts are increasing.[7][8][9] Climate change's impacts on tropical cyclones and sea level rise also affects regions of the country.
Cumulatively since 1850, the U.S. has emitted a larger share than any country of the greenhouse gases causing current climate change, with some 20% of the global total of carbon dioxide alone.[10] Current US emissions per person are among the largest in the world.[11] Various state and federal climate change policies have been introduced, and the US has ratified the Paris Agreement despite temporarily withdrawing. In 2021, the country set a target of halving its annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2030,[12] however oil and gas companies still get tax breaks.[13]
Climate change is having considerable impacts on the environment and society of the United States. This includes implications for agriculture, the economy, human health and indigenous peoples, and it is seen as a national security threat.[14] States that emit more carbon dioxide per person and introduce policies to oppose climate action are generally experiencing greater impacts.[15][16] 2020 was a historic year for billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in U.S.[17]
Although historically a non-partisan issue, climate change has become controversial and politically divisive in the country in recent decades. Oil companies have known since the 1970s that burning oil and gas could cause global warming but nevertheless funded deniers for years.[18][19] Despite the support of a clear scientific consensus, as recently as 2021 one-third of Americans deny that human-caused climate change exists[20] although the majority are concerned or alarmed about the issue.[21]
^"Climate Change Indicators: U.S. and Global Temperature". EPA.gov. Environmental Protection Agency. 2021. Archived from the original on 30 December 2021. (FIg. 3) EPA's data source: NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). 2021. Climate at a glance. Accessed February 2021. www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag. (Direct link to graphic; archive)
^Hawkins, Ed (2023). "Temperature change in the USA". ShowYourStripes.info. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. — Based on warming stripes concept.
^Cite error: The named reference ClimateCentral_20220420 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Heidari, Hadi; Arabi, Mazdak; Warziniack, Travis; Kao, Shih-Chieh (2020). "Assessing Shifts in Regional Hydroclimatic Conditions of U.S. River Basins in Response to Climate Change over the 21st Century". Earth's Future. 8 (10): e2020EF001657. Bibcode:2020EaFut...801657H. doi:10.1029/2020EF001657. ISSN 2328-4277. S2CID 225251957.
^US EPA, OAR (2016-06-27). "Climate Change Indicators: U.S. and Global Temperature". www.epa.gov. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
^Heidari, Hadi; Arabi, Mazdak; Ghanbari, Mahshid; Warziniack, Travis (June 2020). "A Probabilistic Approach for Characterization of Sub-Annual Socioeconomic Drought Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) Relationships in a Changing Environment". Water. 12 (6): 1522. doi:10.3390/w12061522.
^US EPA, OAR (2015-11-06). "Climate Change Indicators in the United States". www.epa.gov. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
^Casagr, Tina (2022-02-16). "Climate Change and Invasive Species - NISAW". Retrieved 2022-07-29.
^"Analysis: Which countries are historically responsible for climate change?". Carbon Brief. 2021-10-05. Archived from the original on December 23, 2021. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
^www.climatewatchdata.org Archived 2021-06-24 at the Wayback Machine, at Calculations select per capita.
^"New momentum reduces emissions gap, but huge gap remains - analysis". Climate Action Tracker. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
^Friedman, Lisa (15 March 2024). "The Zombies of the U.S. Tax Code: Why Fossil Fuels Subsidies Seem Impossible to Kill". The New York Times.
^"Climate Change and US National Security: Past, Present, Future". atlanticcouncil.org. Atlantic Council. March 29, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
^Tollefson, Jeff (12 February 2019). "US climate costs will be highest in Republican strongholds". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-00327-2. S2CID 188147110. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
^"States Blocking Climate Action Hold Residents Who Suffer the Most From Climate Impacts". Climate Nexus, Ecowatch. October 29, 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
^Cite error: The named reference NCEI_thru202009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Egan, Timothy (November 5, 2015). "Exxon Mobil and the G.O.P.: Fossil Fools". The New York Times. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
^Goldenberg, Suzanne (July 8, 2015). "Exxon knew of climate change in 1981, email says – but it funded deniers for 27 more years". The Guardian. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
^"A third of Americans deny human-caused climate change exists". The Economist. 2021-07-08. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
^Yang, Maya (13 January 2021). "Six in 10 Americans 'alarmed' or 'concerned' about climate change – study". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 January 2022.
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