A new synthesis report, published by the U.S. federal Climate Change Science Program, finds that “climate changes are already affecting” U.S. water resources, agriculture, land resources, and biodiversity, and that significant impacts are “very likely” to continue over the next few decades and beyond. The 200-page “The Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture, Land Resources, Water Resources, and Biodiversity” assessment summarizes scientific literature from more than 1,000 publications, including the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The assessment is notable not only for the U.S. Administration’s recognition of the “robust scientific consensus that human-induced climate change is occurring,” but also for its strong warning that the short term consequences of climate change are already irreversible and for its call for ecosystem monitoring systems specifically designed for detecting climate change effects.

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