Press Releases

Today, NASA released data declaring 2017 to be the second hottest year on record. Since the United States started measuring global temperatures 138 years ago, the five hottest years have all occurred since 2010. In response, Reps. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) and Don Beyer (D-VA), co-chairs of the Congressional Safe Climate Caucus, issued the following statement:

“Climate change is the greatest existential threat of our time, and NASA’s report is the latest in a long list of data points confirming human-driven climate change. The consistent warming of the Earth’s climate will continue to lead to extreme weather catastrophes like the ones that plagued the United States in 2017. The longer our leaders ignore these warnings, the greater the damage will be to our health, environment, infrastructure, and the American people’s pocketbooks.

“It is essential that Congress acknowledge this alarming data, and take immediate action. The Trump Administration has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement, slashed funding for scientific research, proposed gutting staffing at scientific agencies, and rolled back important environmental regulations. In an age where the White House is ceding our role as a leader on climate, the responsibility to act must be shouldered by those of us who are bold enough to do so.”

The hottest year on record was 2016, but climate scientists have written that 2017 would likely have been hotter than 2016 if not for differences caused by El Niño.