§2931 Findings and purpose

Summary

Requires the United States to create and run a broad research program on global environmental change. Congress found that human activities and a growing population are changing the Earth and could alter its habitat within a few human generations. These changes, along with natural shifts, may cause major warming, change climate patterns, and raise sea levels over the next century, harming farming, oceans, coasts, biodiversity, health, and the global economy. Chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone‑depleting chemicals are thinning the ozone layer and letting in more UV radiation. Better policies need much stronger science to tell human-caused change from natural change. New Earth science methods, observing systems, and computing make this possible, but federal research must be better coordinated with state, private, and international efforts.