Environmental Impacts

“Greenhouse gases are accumulating in Earth’s atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures to rise.”
-Climate Change Science, U.S. National Academy of Sciences, 2001

The earth is warming. Temperatures at the Earth’s surface increased by an estimated 1^oF (0.6^oC) over the 20^th century. The 1990s were the hottest decade of the entire century; perhaps even the millennium, and 1998, 2001, and 2002 were three of the hottest years ever recorded. The growing scientific consensus is that this warming is largely the result of emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from human activities including industrial processes, fossil fuel combustion, and changes in land use, such as deforestation. Projections of future warming suggest a global increase of 2.5^oF (1.4^oC) to 10.4^oF (5.8^oC) by 2100, with warming in the United States expected to be even higher. This warming, along with the associated changes in precipitation and sea-level rise will have important consequences for the U.S. environment and economy.

The objective of the Pew Center's Environmental Impacts Program is to advance public and private policy-makers' understanding of the climate system and the consequences of climate change for the United States. We work to inform this understanding by bringing sound, credible analysis to the assessment of climate change science as well as the environmental and economic implications of climate change to various sectors of the United States, including natural ecosystems and resources, human health, and infrastructure.

To accomplish this objective, the Pew Center publishes a report series on the science and environmental impacts of climate change. These reports are authored by experts from the scientific community and review the current state of knowledge regarding the implications of climate change across various sectors. The Pew Center also sponsors periodic workshops that explore the implications of environmental impacts for climate change policy. Meanwhile, the Pew Center constantly strives to build relationships with members of the scientific, policy, and business community to increase the level of awareness regarding the science and impacts of climate change.