Statement from Ceres president Mindy Lubber regarding draft National Climate Assessment

Statement from Ceres president Mindy Lubber regarding draft National Climate Assessment posted online today by the U.S. Global Change Research Program.

"The draft report is a powerful message that climate change is having widespread impacts across the United States, and it echoes key findings in our recent report, Stormy Future for U.S. Property & Casualty Insurers: The Growing Costs and Risks of Extreme Weather Events.

Climate change and more pronounced extreme weather are hurting businesses, are hurting the economy and are hurting U.S. taxpayers who oftentimes bear the biggest financial brunt.

We're still reeling from a year that was marked by an unprecedented hurricane, a historic drought, damaging wildfires and other extreme weather. Climate change influenced many of these events. For insurers alone, the U.S. losses from these natural disasters totaled $58 billion, more than double the 2000 to 2011 average yearly losses of $27 billion.

The broader economic losses are exponentially higher, something Americans are experiencing first-hand from higher food prices and higher federal payouts for hurricane disaster relief and federal crop insurance losses.

The report sends a strong message that human activity is warming the planet and that fossil fuel use is the most damaging contributor. Until actions are taken to reduce the burning of fossil fuels, human suffering and financial losses will continue escalating."