May 6, 2014 — The following was released by NOAA:
Today the White House released the 3rd National Climate Assessment. The report finds that climate change is not a distant threat, but it is affecting the American people already. These findings underscore the need for urgent action to combat the threats from climate change, protect American citizens and communities today, and build a healthy, sustainable future for our children and grandchildren.
NOAA (including Fisheries) had major roles in all aspects of this report from overall leadership to developing technical reports to expert scientists crafting the final assessment chapters. Fisheries had variety of roles including leading the team that did the technical report on climate impacts on US ocean ecosystems (ST) to expert scientists participating in various stages of the assessment. This is the first climate assessment report that will have specific chapters dedicated to current and projected climate impacts on U.S. oceans and coasts. The chapter on oceans highlights the growing evidence of current and expected future impacts on physical, chemical, and biological ocean components (e.g., fish stock distributions) and some social/economic impacts.
View the assessment at GlobalChange.gov