ANN ARBOR—University of Michigan professor Rosina Bierbaum will be part of an expert panel today when the White House hosts an event highlighting the release of the latest National Climate Assessment.

The new report states that the impacts of climate change are already being felt and are expected to become increasingly disruptive across the nation throughout this century and beyond.

“Climate change is already happening, and no matter how much we ultimately control the emission of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, we also need to plan and manage the changes that are already underway, as well as those yet to come,” said Bierbaum of the U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment who is a lead convening author of the report’s chapter on climate change adaptation.

U-M aquatic ecologist Don Scavia, director of the Graham Sustainability Institute, is a lead convening author of the report’s Midwest chapter. Dan Brown of SNRE is a lead convening author of the chapter on changes in land use and land cover. Doctoral student Missy Stults is a contributing author on the adaptation chapter.

In addition, Bierbaum and Marie O’Neill of the School of Public Health serve on the 60-person advisory committee that oversaw development of the latest National Climate Assessment, the third since 2000.

Today’s event begins at 2 p.m. ET and can be viewed live at www.whitehouse.gov. Bierbaum, also a professor at the School of Public Health, is part of a panel on “Using Climate Change Information” scheduled to begin at 3:15 p.m.

U-M Sustainability fosters a more sustainable world through collaborations across campus and beyond aimed at educating students, generating new knowledge, and minimizing our environmental footprint. Learn more at sustainability.umich.edu.