NPS Researcher Contributes to Major U.S. Report on Climate Change
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NPS Researcher Contributes to Major U.S. Report on Climate Change
By Javier Chagoya
The U.S. Global Change Research Program recently released one of the federal government’s most comprehensive climate change studies in U.S. history, and NPS Research Professor Wieslaw Maslowski was a key contributor. The Climate Science Special Report (CSSR), mandated by the Global Change Research Act of 1990, serves as the authoritative assessment on current climate change science.
Maslowski’s contribution to the report can be found in Chapter 11, “Arctic Change and Their Effects on Alaska and the Rest of the United States.” Maslowski has studied the Arctic region for more than 30 years, extensively researching how climate change in this region is continuing to outpace other regions across the globe.
“In the Arctic, it’s a matter of when and not if the summer sea ice will be gone. This will affect the oceanic intake of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses,” said Maslowski.
The United States is an Arctic nation, Maslowski says, and he believes there is a direct link between U.S. national security and our understanding of these climate systems.
“For me, sea-level rise, extreme weather and climate events, including draught, cold, floods, mud slides, and their impact on human health, lives, food, energy availability and resulting national/global stability and local/regional conflicts ... These are all vulnerabilities that will impact the region,” said Maslowski.
Check out the Climate Science Special Report for a review of the entire report.