EPA says humans caused climate crisis in report suppressed under Trump

The US federal government has admitted that humans are to blame for climate change for the first time in a newly-released report blocked by Donald Trump.

Wednesday's Environmental Protection Agency report summarized the key signs of climate change, as well as their likely causes.  It is the first time the EPA has released its once-annual climate indicators report since President Biden came to office.

President Trump barred its publication during his single term in the White House.  

'The Earth's climate is changing,' the summary states.

'Temperatures are rising, snow and rainfall patterns are shifting, and more extreme climate events – like heavy rainstorms and record high temperatures – are already happening.

'Many of these observed changes are linked to the rising levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, caused by human activities.'

Describing greenhouse gases, the authors conclude that they are man-made, and devastating.

'Greenhouse gases from human activities are the most significant driver of observed climate change since the mid-20th century,' they write.

The experts source their report from a UN body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and their report, Climate change 2013.

The report presents 'compelling and clear evidence' of a climate crisis, the EPA said in a press release.

'There is no small town, big city, or rural community that's unaffected by the climate crisis,' said Michael Regan, the administrator of the EPA, on Wednesday.

The report showed that 2016 was the warmest year on record, 2020 was the second warmest, and 2001-2020 was the warmest decade on record since 1880, when thermometer-based observations began.

Heat waves are occurring more often across the United States, the EPA reported, and have risen from an average of two heat waves per year during the 1960s to six per year during the 2010s.

Some climate measuring points along the Mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coast registered a rise in the sea level between 1960 and 2020 of more than eight inches, and tidal flooding was becoming more frequent.

Fishermen were noticing that their catch was moving north, as the seas warmed.

Farmers were noticing the climatic changes, with a growing season that has on average increased by more than two weeks since the beginning of the 20th century.

Regan, announcing the report, said: 'Combatting climate change - it's not optional. It's essential.'

The publication of the data serves as a reminder of Biden and Trump's stark differences in approach to global warming. 

Trump was unconvinced by the scientific consensus, suggesting that climate change could be a hoax engineered by China.

He heavily promoted the use of fossil fuels, and rolled back restrictions on gas and oil exploration.

The president later conceded climate change did exist - but then claimed the Earth's climate would at some stage cool down again by itself.  

Biden, by contrast, has said that combating climate change will be a pillar of his presidency.

Within his first 100 days he convened a summit of world leaders including Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia to regain momentum for the fight against climate change, and rejoined the Paris climate agreement on his first day in office.