US government report at odds with top Donald Trump officials

The US government released a major scientific report that says climate change is real, "extremely likely" to be caused by human activity, and affecting the daily lives of Americans. The findings of the federally mandated report are starkly at odds with the position of US President Donald Trump, who has labelled global warming a Chinese hoax and named fossil fuel ally Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency. The Climate Science Special Report spans more than 600 pages and is part of a larger report known as the Fourth National Climate Assessment.

The findings came as no surprise to climate scientists. Pic/AFP

Based on "a large body of scientific, peer-reviewed research," global annually averaged surface air temperature has increased by about 1.0° Celsius over the last 115 years (1901-2016), it says.

It was compiled by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, with contributions from NASA, the Department of Energy and other federal agencies. Since the last report of its kind was issued in 2014, "stronger evidence has emerged for continuing, rapid, human-caused warming of the global atmosphere and ocean," the report stated.

1°c Increase in Earth's temperature since 1900