What are the Projected Impacts of Climate Change?
• Species in natural ecosystems will attempt to migrate with the changing climate, but will differ in their degree of success. Ecosystem productivity may decrease or increase, at least over the short-term. • Increases in temperature and changes in precipitation will have significant impacts on water resources, either reducing or increasing water availability along with increasing the risk of floods or droughts. • Coastal developments will experience additional sea-level rise that will interact with coastal storms to erode beaches, inundate land, and damage structures. • U.S. agriculture and forestry will likely experience mixed results with moderate warming, with increases in productivity likely in northern states and possible declines in southern states. However, at higher magnitudes of warming, the risk of more uniform adverse effects across the nation increases. • Human health may be affected by climate change through a number of mechanisms including extreme temperatures (i.e., heat
