For years, Republicans have refused to acknowledge the overwhelming scientific consensus about climate change. With the Trump administration’s own report confirming both the fact and urgency of climate change, some Republicans are begrudgingly moving to concede reality — in the most equivocal fashion possible. (Other Republicans such as Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida wrongly insist there is doubt that climate change is man-made, despite the danger that increasingly extreme climate conditions pose to their constituents.)
Released on Friday (in the Trump administration's ham-handed effort to tamp down attention), the latest government report, the Fourth National Climate Assessment, was unflinching in its assessment of the dangers all of us face because of climate change:
"Earth’s climate is now changing faster than at any point in the history of modern civilization, primarily as a result of human activities.