President Barack Obama warned of harsher storms, worsening flooding and rising seas which threaten the public's safety and health across the country due to the effects of climate change, according to Reuters.
Joined by top federal officials and local, state and tribal leaders at the White House, Obama said communities experiencing negative effects firsthand know that climate change is already upon us, adding that boosting the nation's resilience and fighting climate change shouldn't be a partisan issue for lawmakers in Washington, Reuters reported.
"Climate change poses a direct threat to the infrastructure of America," Obama said, according to Reuters. "That means that we should see this as an opportunity to do what we should be doing anyway, and that's modernizing our infrastructure, modernizing our roads, modernizing our bridges, power grids, our transit systems, and making sure that they're more resilient."
To help communities prepare, Obama announced new federal resources and grants, Reuters reported. Some of the money will help rural communities dealing with drought and help Native American tribes train their officials to deal with climate change.
The funding will also promote development of three-dimensional mapping of the U.S. for use in flood and erosion mitigation, according to Reuters.
The announcement builds on the administration's multi-pronged Climate Action Plan, first released last year as a way for the United States to take steps to reduce carbon emissions domestically, take international leadership to persuade other countries to fight climate change and prepare the country to adapt to global warming's effects on local communities, Reuters reported.
The National Climate Assessment detailed how some coastal regions could face bigger storm surges and more flooding, while arid areas such as the southwestern United States may have to confront more wildfires and severe water shortages, according to Reuters.
The initiatives announced Wednesday involve a number of federal agencies, such as the Interior Department, the Department of Agriculture, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Reuters reported.
