Climate change is already having "pervasive, wide-ranging" effects on "nearly every aspect of our society," a task force representing more than 20 federal agencies reported Tuesday.Seriously? I love how the author says "it's definitive." If the Bush White House had gotten all the same groups together 8 years ago to say that Islamic terrorism was the greatest threat ever faced by every Federal Agency, would that have been "definitive" too? (In fact, exactly this happened, as every department made a pitch for why they needed new security funds).
"These impacts will influence how and where we live and work as well as our cultures, health and environment," the report states. "It is therefore imperative to take action now to adapt to a changing climate."
Indeed, climate change has begun to affect the ability of government agencies to fulfill their missions, reports the White House Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force.
The group is led by the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
It is made up of representatives from more than 20 federal agencies, departments and offices, including the Department of Commerce, the National Intelligence Council, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Pentagon. That's diverse - and it's definitive.
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Comment: The growing problem of trashing the world's oceans with toxic rubbish is clearly defined in the following article:
The world's rubbish dump: a garbage pit that stretches from Hawaii to Japan
The world's rubbish dump: a garbage pit that stretches from Hawaii to Japan
Plastic is believed to constitute 90 per cent of all rubbish floating in the oceans. The UN Environment Programme estimated in 2006 that every square mile of ocean contains 46,000 pieces of floating plastic.
Marcus Eriksen, a research director of the US-based Algalita Marine Research Foundation, which Mr Moore founded, said yesterday: Dr Eriksen said: Additional articles about the ocean being the 'Biggest Dump in the World':
What is the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch?
Pacific Ocean garbage patch worries researchers
Plastic trash vortex menaces Pacific sealife: study
Huge Garbage Patch Found in Atlantic Too