How Government Data Shows Climate Change Is Accelerating

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The U.S. government measures the pace of climate change. Federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and NASA maintain comprehensive climate indicators.

These indicators provide clear evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate, with widespread changes occurring in the atmosphere, oceans, and frozen regions.

This analysis examines what government data reveals about our changing world and explores what’s being done—and what experts believe should be done—at every level of society.

In This Article

• Government data shows climate change is accelerating: higher CO₂ levels, record global temperatures, rising seas, melting ice, and more extreme weather.
• Oceans are warming and acidifying; Arctic and Antarctic ice is shrinking rapidly.
• Precipitation patterns and extreme storms are shifting, causing health risks, property damage, and energy system stress.
• Species are migrating or declining due to changing climates.
• Federal and state governments are acting via laws (IRA, Infrastructure Law) and resilience planning, but experts say stronger action is needed.

So What?

• Climate impacts are intensifying, threatening lives, infrastructure, and ecosystems.
• Current policies help, but more aggressive mitigation and adaptation are required.
• Coordinated action across federal, state, local, and individual levels is essential to manage risks and reduce future costs.

Key Climate Indicators at a Glance

The Greenhouse Gas Driver

The fundamental science of climate change has been understood since the mid-19th century. Certain gases in our atmosphere, primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, trap heat from the sun that would otherwise radiate back into space. This natural “greenhouse effect” keeps our planet warm enough for life to thrive.

However, human activities since the Industrial Revolution have dramatically increased the concentration of these gases. The burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas has effectively wrapped a thicker blanket around Earth, causing it to warm.

According to the EPA’s official inventory, total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 were 6,343 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents. While this figure is 3.0% lower than 1990 levels, it marks a 5.7% increase from the pandemic-induced lows of 2020, showing that economic activity rebounded and drove emissions back up.

Breaking Down the Numbers

The data reveals important patterns:

By Gas: Carbon dioxide is the primary greenhouse gas, but others matter too. Between 1990 and 2022, U.S. CO2 emissions decreased by 2%, while methane emissions fell by 19% largely due to improvements in landfills and natural gas systems. However, emissions of powerful synthetic fluorinated gases used in refrigeration and industrial processes surged by 58%.

By Economic Sector: In 2022, transportation was the largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 28.4% of the total. It has been the top emitting sector since 2017. Electric power generation was second at 25%, followed by industry at 23%.

Globally, atmospheric CO2 concentrations have surpassed 428 parts per million, a 50% increase since 1750. Analysis of air bubbles trapped in ancient ice cores shows this is the highest concentration in at least 800,000 years.

A Critical Counterbalance

Natural “sinks” provide an important counterbalance to these emissions. In the United States, the land use and forestry sector acts as a net sink, absorbing more CO2 from the atmosphere than it releases. In 2022, these sinks offset approximately 13% of the nation’s gross greenhouse gas emissions, underscoring the vital importance of conserving and managing forests and other lands.

Economic Growth Without Carbon Growth

The data reveals an encouraging trend: the decoupling of economic growth from carbon emissions. From 1990 to 2022, while the U.S. economy grew substantially, the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions per dollar of GDP fell by 55%.

This demonstrates that the old assumption of economic growth requiring ever-increasing fossil fuel consumption is breaking down. The shift stems from improved energy efficiency across the economy, structural changes toward less energy-intensive industries, and the power sector’s transition away from coal toward natural gas and renewable energy sources.

This provides powerful evidence that policies promoting clean energy and efficiency can drive economic strength and innovation rather than impede prosperity.

Rising Temperatures Everywhere

The most direct indicator of a warming planet is surface air temperature. Both global and national data show a clear and accelerating warming trend.

Globally, Earth’s average surface temperature has risen by approximately 2°F (1.1°C) since the late 19th century. The year 2024 was officially the warmest year in the 175-year global record, breaking the previous record set just one year earlier in 2023.

All 10 of the warmest years ever recorded have occurred in the last decade, from 2015 to 2024. The rate of warming has more than tripled since the early 1980s, accelerating to 0.36°F (0.20°C) per decade.

Within the United States, the trend is similar. Average temperature across the contiguous 48 states has risen at a rate of 0.17°F per decade since 1901.

This warming isn’t evenly distributed. The most significant temperature increases have been observed in the North, the West, and particularly Alaska, which is warming more than twice as fast as the global average. Some parts of the Southeast have experienced less change.

Loading the Dice for Extreme Heat

While a rise of a few degrees in global average temperature may sound small, it fundamentally alters the likelihood of extreme weather. This phenomenon can be understood as “loading the dice” for extreme heat.

A modest shift in average temperature dramatically increases the probability of events at the extreme ends of the spectrum. This means dangerously hot days become much more common, and previously unheard-of temperature extremes become possible.

Since 1950, the number of record high temperature events in the U.S. has been increasing, while record low temperature events have been decreasing. This shift toward more frequent and intense heat waves creates some of the most severe impacts, including threats to human health and major strains on the electric power grid during peak summer demand.

Ocean Changes and Rising Seas

The world’s oceans are on the front lines of climate change, acting as a massive buffer that has shielded the atmosphere from even more rapid warming. The ocean has absorbed over 90% of the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases since 1955.

As a result, the past two decades have seen the warmest ocean temperatures on record. This absorption of heat and carbon comes with profound consequences.

Sea Level Rise Accelerates

The most visible consequence is sea level rise, driven by two primary factors:

Thermal Expansion: Just as liquids expand when heated, seawater expands as it warms. The immense amount of heat absorbed by the ocean is causing its total volume to increase, pushing sea levels higher.

Melting Land Ice: Water from melting glaciers and the massive ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica flows into the ocean, adding to its volume. This is now the dominant contributor to sea level rise.

Data from tide gauges and satellites show that global mean sea level has risen by 8 to 9 inches since 1880. More concerning, the rate of rise is accelerating. It has more than doubled from an average of 1.4 millimeters per year during most of the 20th century to 3.6 millimeters per year between 2006 and 2015.

The Other CO2 Problem

The ocean also absorbs about a quarter of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activities. This leads to “the other CO2 problem”: ocean acidification.

When CO2 dissolves in seawater, it forms carbonic acid, which lowers the water’s pH and makes it more acidic. Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, the acidity of the ocean’s surface waters has increased by about 30%.

This change in chemistry makes it harder for marine organisms like corals, clams, oysters, and some plankton to build their protective shells and skeletons from calcium carbonate. This threatens the foundation of the marine food web and the health of critical ecosystems like coral reefs.

The ocean’s role as a planetary buffer reveals a dangerous trade-off. By absorbing vast quantities of heat and CO2, it has slowed atmospheric warming, but this comes at the cost of fundamental alterations to the ocean’s own chemistry and temperature, leading to impacts like coral bleaching and ecosystem collapse that are becoming irreversible on human timescales.

Vanishing Ice Across the Globe

The cryosphere, Earth’s frozen parts, provides some of the most sensitive and visible indicators of climate change. From polar ice sheets to mountain glaciers, the evidence of a warming world is written in melting ice.

Massive Ice Sheet Losses

The planet’s two great ice sheets are losing mass at staggering rates. NASA’s GRACE satellites, which measure changes in Earth’s gravity field to track mass movement, show that:

• Greenland has been losing ice at an average rate of about 267 billion metric tons per year since 2002
• Antarctica has been losing ice at an average rate of about 136 billion metric tons per year over the same period

Together, meltwater from these two ice sheets is responsible for about one-third of all observed global sea level rise since 1993.

Retreating Mountain Glaciers

Mountain glaciers around the world tell a similar story. Glaciers in the United States, found in Alaska, the Rocky Mountains, and the Cascades, and across the globe have been shrinking since at least the 1970s. The rate of melting has accelerated over the last decade.

This contributes to sea level rise and threatens water security for millions of people in communities that depend on steady flows of glacial meltwater during dry summer months.

Arctic Sea Ice Disappears

In the Arctic, changes are particularly dramatic. The area of the Arctic Ocean covered by sea ice at the end of summer (the annual minimum in September) is shrinking at a rate of 12.2% per decade, relative to the 1981-2010 average. The ice is also becoming thinner and younger, making it more fragile and susceptible to further melting.

The rapid changes in the Arctic aren’t just a regional concern—they’re part of a powerful feedback loop that amplifies global warming. The Arctic is warming at least three times as fast as the rest of the planet.

This happens largely due to the “albedo effect”: bright, white ice and snow reflect sunlight back into space. As this ice melts, it exposes darker ocean or land beneath, which absorbs more of the sun’s energy, leading to more warming and more melting.

Additionally, thawing permafrost, permanently frozen ground covering vast areas of Alaska and the Arctic, releases trapped carbon dioxide and methane, further accelerating global warming. The Arctic is therefore not just a passive victim of climate change but an active participant amplifying the problem for the entire globe.

Shifting Weather and Extreme Events

Climate change is altering the weather patterns we experience, loading the dice for more frequent and intense extreme events. One of the most direct connections is through the water cycle. A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, changing precipitation patterns.

Since 1901, total annual precipitation has increased across the contiguous 48 states at a rate of 0.18 inches per decade on average. This trend masks significant regional variation. While many areas have become wetter, others, such as the Southwest, have experienced decreases in precipitation, worsening drought conditions.

The increased moisture in the atmosphere also means that when it does rain, it’s more likely to rain harder. The U.S. has witnessed an increasing number of intense rainfall events, where large amounts of rain fall over short periods, heightening flash flooding risks.

Coastal Flooding Increases

Along the nation’s coasts, rising seas are already being felt. The combination of higher sea levels and storm surges means coastal communities flood more often. So-called “nuisance flooding,” which occurs during high tides without storms, is now 300% to 900% more frequent in many U.S. coastal communities than it was just 50 years ago.

The Economic Toll

The economic toll of extreme events is staggering. From 1980 to August 2024, the United States experienced 396 separate weather and climate disasters where overall damages reached or exceeded $1 billion. The total cost of these events exceeds $2.78 trillion.

These trends reveal that climate change acts as a “threat multiplier” for the nation’s infrastructure and economic stability. Many roads, bridges, power plants, water treatment facilities, and military installations were designed for the climate of the 20th century, which no longer exists.

Climate change intensifies existing risks. A storm that might have been a minor inconvenience 50 years ago can now become a billion-dollar catastrophe due to higher sea levels amplifying storm surge and a warmer atmosphere fueling more intense rainfall.

This reframes climate change from a purely environmental concern to a core issue of economic stability and national security, providing a powerful rationale for proactive investment in both emission reduction and adaptation.

Health, Society, and Ecosystem Impacts

The physical changes to our planet’s climate have profound effects on human health, social structure, and natural ecosystems.

Direct Health Impacts

Since 1979, more than 14,000 Americans have died from direct, heat-related causes. This number is likely an undercount, as extreme heat often worsens underlying conditions like cardiovascular disease, which may be listed as the primary cause of death. The elderly and outdoor workers, such as those in construction and agriculture, are particularly vulnerable.

Increased heat also worsens air quality by promoting ground-level ozone (smog) formation, leading to more respiratory problems and hospital visits.

Changing Energy Use

As the U.S. climate has warmed, “heating degree days,” a measure of energy needed for heating, have decreased, while “cooling degree days” have increased. Americans are using less energy for heating in winter but significantly more for air conditioning in summer. This shift puts immense strain on the electrical grid during heat waves, increasing blackout risks.

Ecosystem Disruption

Natural ecosystems are being disrupted fundamentally. With their environments changing faster than they can adapt, many plant and animal species are migrating, shifting their ranges an average of 11 miles north and 36 feet higher in elevation each decade in North America to find more hospitable climates.

This migration can have cascading effects through food webs. Warming streams and rivers in the Pacific Northwest threaten cold-water fish populations like salmon. This affects species that rely on them for food, from grizzly bears to orcas.

For humans, longer growing seasons and changes in plant life are leading to more pollen and worsening allergies.

Unequal Impacts

The impacts of climate change aren’t distributed equally. Vulnerable populations—including low-income communities, the elderly, some communities of color, and outdoor workers—often bear a disproportionate burden.

These communities may be located in areas more susceptible to flooding or urban “heat islands” (areas with less green space and more heat-absorbing pavement). They often have fewer resources to prepare for, withstand, and recover from extreme weather events.

Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath starkly illustrated how climate-related disasters can devastate low-income communities, severing social networks and access to essential services. This pattern, where environmental degradation’s harms fall heaviest on those with the least power and resources, is central to environmental justice concepts.

A Two-Pronged Response Strategy

Responding to climate change requires addressing both the causes and consequences of the problem through mitigation and adaptation.

Mitigation focuses on slowing future climate change by reducing heat-trapping greenhouse gas flows into the atmosphere. This can happen by cutting emissions from their sources—switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy—or by enhancing “sinks” that absorb and store these gases, such as forests and soils.

Adaptation focuses on preparing for climate change that’s already happening or unavoidable. It involves adjusting communities and infrastructure to reduce vulnerability to harmful effects like sea-level rise, intense storms, and extreme heat.

These strategies are deeply intertwined. The more successfully we mitigate, the less severe the impacts will be, and the less we’ll have to adapt. The longer we delay mitigation, the more difficult, costly, and potentially impossible adaptation becomes.

Federal Government Climate Action

In recent years, the U.S. federal government has taken its most significant climate action steps to date, primarily through two landmark pieces of legislation representing massive investments in the nation’s energy and infrastructure systems.

The Inflation Reduction Act

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 is the largest climate investment in U.S. history. Rather than mandating emissions cuts, it primarily uses financial incentives—tax credits, rebates, and grants—to encourage businesses and individuals to adopt clean energy technologies.

Key provisions include:

• Long-term extensions of the Investment Tax Credit and Production Tax Credit, making it cheaper to build large-scale renewable energy projects like solar and wind farms
• Consumer tax credits of up to $7,500 for new and $4,000 for used electric vehicles to make them more affordable
• Billions of dollars for home energy rebates, particularly for low- and moderate-income households, to help cover the cost of installing high-efficiency electric appliances like heat pumps and making energy-saving retrofits
• Major investments in onshore clean energy manufacturing, providing incentives for companies to build factories for solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries in the United States

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) of 2021 complements the IRA by investing over a trillion dollars to modernize the nation’s physical infrastructure, with a strong focus on climate resilience and clean technology.

Key provisions include:

• $7.5 billion to build out a national network of EV charging stations, addressing a key barrier to widespread EV adoption
• Billions to upgrade the electric grid, making it more resilient and capable of handling a larger share of renewable energy
• Funding for public transit and $5 billion for clean school buses to reduce transportation emissions
• Nearly $3 billion for NOAA to invest in coastal resilience and habitat restoration projects to help communities adapt to rising sea levels and storm surge

National Targets and Regulation

Alongside these investments, the federal government sets national climate targets and uses regulatory tools. The U.S. has committed, as part of the Paris Agreement, to reduce its net greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030 and achieve a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.

The EPA uses its Clean Air Act authority to issue regulations advancing these goals, such as setting stronger emissions standards for cars and trucks, limiting carbon pollution from power plants, and cracking down on methane leaks from oil and gas operations.

Modern Industrial Policy

This strategy represents a form of modern industrial policy. It uses the federal government’s financial power not only to reduce emissions but also to rebuild America’s manufacturing base, create high-quality jobs (through prevailing wage and apprenticeship provisions), and enhance economic competitiveness with other nations.

By linking climate action to core economic and national security objectives, this approach aims to build a broader and more durable political coalition for the clean energy transition than one based on environmental arguments alone.

However, since the beginning of the Trump Administration in January, 2025, federal climate change initiatives have mostly been reversed:

Paris Agreement Withdrawal

• Trump signed an executive order on his first day back in office to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord again.
• This move marks a retreat from international climate diplomacy.

• Executive Orders Rolling Back Biden-Era Climate Protections
  • On Day One, Trump issued “Unleashing American Energy,” rescinding several Biden policies, disbanding the Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases, and directing agencies to reconsider the EPA’s “endangerment finding” on CO₂.
  • He also rescinded other environmental and climate-focused executive orders.
• Cutting Climate Research Capacity
  • Funding for the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) was ended, a critical body that coordinates climate science and produces the National Climate Assessment.
  • The website for the National Climate Assessment (globalchange.gov) and its past reports were taken down.
  • Scientific integrity policies at the EPA and NOAA were rolled back to earlier, weaker standards, reducing protections against political interference.
• Deregulation & Permitting Favoring Fossil Fuels
  • Dozens of environmental regulations are being targeted for rollback. According to analysis, the administration launched more than 145 actions in its first 100 days undoing major protections for air, water, and climate.
  • Offshore wind development has been halted (“temporary withdrawal of all areas … from offshore wind leasing”) under the new administration.
  • Trump’s EPA is reconsidering vehicle emissions standards and other climate-relevant regulations to reduce regulatory burdens.
• Environmental Justice and Workforce Cuts
  • The administration rescinded orders on environmental justice, closing offices and dismantling roles focused on inequities in environmental impacts.
  • There have been mass layoffs across federal agencies involved in environmental and climate work (EPA, USDA, HHS), raising concerns about reduced capacity to respond to climate-related issues.
• International Engagement Reduced
  • U.S. officials appear largely absent from major climate diplomacy forums (e.g., UNFCCC) since the second Trump term began.
  • Exiting the Paris Agreement reduces the U.S.’s ability to influence global climate policy as a leader.

State and Local Climate Leadership

While federal policy sets national direction, much of the most innovative and ambitious climate action in the United States happens at the state and local levels.

State Action Plans

Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia have developed their own climate action plans. These plans are tailored to each state’s unique economy and resources, setting specific targets for greenhouse gas reduction and outlining strategies to meet them.

This wave of planning has been significantly supported by the EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act.

State Collaboration

Many states collaborate to amplify their impact. The U.S. Climate Alliance is a bipartisan coalition of 24 governors who have committed their states to achieving Paris Agreement goals. The Alliance works as a forum for states to share best practices and coordinate policies across ten key areas:

• Clean Electricity: 24 member states have goals or standards for 100% clean electricity
• Clean Transportation: 16 member states have adopted California’s more stringent vehicle emissions standards
• Building Efficiency: 21 members have energy efficiency resource standards to reduce energy waste in buildings
• Resilience: 20 members have developed statewide adaptation plans

City Leadership

Cities are critical leaders. As hubs of population and economic activity, they’re often on the front lines of climate impacts like heat waves and flooding. Many major U.S. cities are part of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, a global network dedicated to bold climate action.

City-level climate plans typically focus on areas within their direct control, such as:

• Improving public transportation
• Updating building codes to require greater energy efficiency
• Expanding recycling and composting programs to reduce landfill emissions
• Planting trees to mitigate urban heat island effects

Laboratories of Democracy

This decentralized approach creates a “patchwork of ambition” across the country. On one hand, it allows states and cities to act as “laboratories of democracy,” pioneering innovative policies, like California’s vehicle standards, that can later serve as models for the rest of the nation.

On the other hand, it can lead to significant inequities. A person’s health risks from air pollution, access to clean energy jobs, and vulnerability to climate disasters can depend heavily on the policies of their state or city.

Federal programs like the IRA and BIL aim to provide a baseline of investment for all states, but their ultimate success often depends on the commitment and capacity of state and local governments to implement them effectively.

Individual and Community Action

Large-scale government policy is essential, but choices made by individuals and communities play a vital role in driving the transition to a clean energy economy. These actions reduce emissions directly and build social momentum and political will needed for sustained, ambitious policy.

Three Key Areas for Impact

The EPA and other experts suggest individuals can have the greatest impact by focusing on three key areas:

At Home: The biggest sources of household emissions are typically heating, cooling, and electricity use. Individuals can make significant differences by:

• Improving home insulation
• Switching to energy-efficient LED lighting
• Choosing appliances with the ENERGY STAR label
• Electrifying home systems by replacing fossil-fuel-burning furnaces and water heaters with highly efficient electric heat pumps

The Inflation Reduction Act provides substantial tax credits and rebates to lower the cost of these upgrades.

On the Go: Transportation is the largest source of U.S. emissions. Reducing miles driven by walking, biking, carpooling, or using public transit is a powerful action. When purchasing vehicles, choosing more fuel-efficient models or EVs can dramatically cut emissions. Reducing air travel, which has a very high carbon footprint per mile, is also impactful.

Consumption Choices:

• Reducing food waste is a key climate solution, as food rotting in landfills releases methane
• Eating a more plant-rich diet can lower carbon footprints, as livestock is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions
• The principles of “reduce, reuse, recycle” help conserve energy and resources needed to produce new goods

Community-Level Action

At the community level, collective action can drive transformative change. Examples include:

• Organizing community solar projects that allow multiple households to share renewable energy benefits
• Advocating for safer bike lanes and better public transit
• Establishing local farmers’ markets and composting programs

Many local governments formalize these efforts in Community Climate Action Plans, as seen in places like Raleigh, North Carolina, and Alameda County, California.

Building Social Momentum

While direct emissions reduction from one person’s actions may be small in the national context, the cumulative effect of these choices is powerful. Individual and community actions create a virtuous cycle: when more people buy EVs, it signals to automakers to produce more models and creates public demand for more charging stations.

When homeowners install heat pumps, it helps normalize the technology and build a skilled workforce for installations. This ground-level activity creates the social and political foundation upon which durable, large-scale climate policy can be built and sustained.

Expert Recommendations for Future Policy

There’s broad consensus among nonpartisan policy experts and think tanks that while the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are historic and essential first steps, they’re likely not sufficient on their own to meet the nation’s ambitious 2030 and 2050 climate goals.

Complementary Policies Needed

The Brookings Institution suggests that emissions reductions from the IRA could be significantly augmented by adding complementary policies. Their analysis shows that implementing a modest carbon fee (a tax on emissions) or a national clean electricity standard (requiring a certain percentage of electricity to be carbon-free by a specific date) would help the U.S. achieve its targets more quickly.

In the case of a carbon fee, it could substantially reduce the net cost to the federal budget.

All-Hands-On-Deck Approach

The World Resources Institute advocates for “New Climate Federalism,” an “all-hands-on-deck” approach emphasizing seamless and robust collaboration between federal, state, and local governments to effectively implement climate policy.

WRI also highlights that carbon removal—using both natural solutions like reforestation and technological approaches like direct air capture—is a critical component of a comprehensive strategy to reach net-zero emissions, alongside aggressive emissions cuts.

Legal and Advocacy Strategies

The Natural Resources Defense Council uses a combination of scientific analysis, legal action, and public advocacy to advance climate solutions. Its priorities include:

• Accelerating the transition to 100% clean energy
• Using legal authority of existing laws, like the Clean Air Act, to set strong pollution standards
• Promoting energy efficiency in buildings and industry
• Ensuring the transition to a clean economy is just and equitable for all communities

The Future Strategy

The debate among experts is no longer about whether to act, but about how to most effectively build upon the new foundation of U.S. climate policy. The future likely lies in a sophisticated blend of strategies:

• Continuing to leverage the powerful financial incentives of the IRA
• Strengthening regulations to guarantee pollution reductions
• Exploring market-based mechanisms like carbon pricing to drive efficiency
• Investing in innovative technologies needed to tackle the hardest-to-abate sectors of the economy

A Multi-Level Action Framework

The Path Forward

Government climate indicators show unambiguous evidence of rapid planetary change. From rising temperatures and sea levels to melting ice and shifting weather patterns, the data reveal a world already transformed by human activities.

The response has been equally dramatic. Federal investments totaling hundreds of billions of dollars, state and local innovation, and growing individual awareness are driving an unprecedented transformation of America’s energy systems.

Yet experts agree that more action is needed to meet national climate goals. The next phase will likely require deeper integration of policies across all levels of government, continued technological innovation, and sustained public commitment to the clean energy transition.

The window for limiting warming to manageable levels is narrowing, but the foundation for action has never been stronger. The question is whether America can scale and accelerate these efforts quickly enough to match the pace of change revealed in its own climate data.

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