Major funding for backstory is provided by an anonymous donor,

the National Endowment for the Humanities, the University of Virginia,

and the Robert and Joseph Cornell Memorial Foundation.

From Virginia Humanities, this is backstory.

Welcome to backstory, the show that explains the history behind today's headlines.

I'm Joanne Freeman.

I'm Brian Ballow.

And I'm Nathan Connolly.

New findings on the effect of climate change in the U.S.

The report obtained by the New York Times found the average temperature in the U.S.

has gone up rapidly since 1980.

What's science to say it's more than temperatures.

They have connected man-made climate change to deadly heat waves, drought, and devastating floods.

Now the study by scientists from 13 federal agencies directly contradicts claims by the

president and some cabinet officials who say that human contribution to climate change is

uncertain.

This summer has been brutally hot.

So hot, in fact, it's the fourth warmest summer ever worldwide in all of recorded history.

Since the late 19th century, the Earth's average temperature has risen about two degrees.

Most of that rise comes from increased carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.

Now two degrees might not sound like much, but scientists fear that those rising temperatures

could produce even more extreme weather, famines, and millions of climate refugees.

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