Report: Climate Change Is Already Impacting U.S.

The Arctic isn't the only place where the footprints of global warming can be found, the tracks can also be seen in climate-related changes across the United States – that's the message of a new report released yesterday by the U.S. government.

A summary of the report's findings was written up by The New York Times. The report details the impacts that are already being felt around the country, including more intense droughts in the Southwest and heavier rains in the Midwest. It also connects these effects to their likely impacts on the nation's infrastructure, landscape and even public health.

The Times piece notes that some of these effects have been mentioned before, but authors of the report noted that the topic is still an important one.

"What we would want to have people take away is that climate change is happening now, and it's actually beginning to affect our lives," Thomas R. Karl, director of the National Climatic Data Center, told the Times.

Understanding the impacts of climate change is particularly important because it informs the decisions the country faces in drawing up a response to the problem.

The entire report can be found at: http://www.globalchange.gov/usimpacts.