WASHINGTON, DC — Breaking with its traditionally cautious tone, the National Academy of Sciences on Wednesday urged the federal government to put a price on carbon to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and devise an adaptation plan to deal with its inevitable impacts.

The National Academy of Sciences issued three highly anticipated reports covering the latest climate science, potential emissions reduction efforts, and adaptation strategies. Two additional reports will be released this year to complement the project called America's Climate Choices, which was requested by Congress.

The reports' release within days of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announcing that April was the warmest month on record, in terms of global land and ocean average surface temperature. Last year was tied for the fifth warmest on record, with the 10 warmest years over the last 130 years occurring since 1998. "Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for — and in many cases is already affecting — a broad range of human and natural systems," concludes the NAS report, "Advancing the Science of Climate Change."

It recommends that the government give authority and resources to a single entity or program to coordinate a unified research effort to improve our climate change understanding and responses.

A second report, "Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change," recommends the U.S. set a "budget" that restricts and reduces greenhouse gas emissions through a carbon tax or cap-and-trade program and strategic policies -- sooner rather than later since stalling will make action more difficult and expensive.

Climate change is already occurring, so developing adaptation strategies could be seen as a hedge against future risks, especially in light of the uncertainty surrounding the timing and intensity of some effects, such as sea level rise and extreme weather.

"It is the judgment of this panel that anticipatory climate change adaptation is a highly desirable risk management strategy for the United States," concluded the third report, "Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change." "Such a strategy offers potentials to reduce costs of current and future climate change impacts by realizing and supporting adaptation capacities across different levels of governments, different sectors of the economy, and different populations and environments, and by providing resources, coordination, and assistance in assuring that a wide range of distributed actions are mutually supportive."

There is a wealth of information and analysis in the reports, which combined span more than 800 pages. To access the reports, visit the National Academy of Science webpage.

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