AP Photo/Tannen Maury
A landmark report on climate change in the United States will be formally released at the White House on Tuesday, following approval by a federal advisory committee.
The National Climate Assessment is a 1,300 page scientific report compiled by more than 240 authors that outlines the threats American face because of climate change.
"Climate change, once considered an issue for a distant future, has moved firmly into the present," a draft version of the report said in its introduction. "Americans are noticing changes all around them. Summers are longer and hotter, and periods of extreme heat last longer than any living American has ever experienced."
The report, which is expected to guide President Obama's environmental policy over the next two years, covers risks to different eight different geographical regions in the U.S. as well as more than a dozen economic sectors, including transportation, agriculture, energy, and water resources.
The National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee (NCADAC) will review the final draft of the third National Climate Assessment on Tuesday morning. If approved, the report will be released to the public shortly after and can viewed here.
The National Climate Assessment is produced every four years. The last came out in 2009.