book "melting pot or civil war." it's partly because of falling birthrates, immigration is is a big driver. the composition of immigration is thus important. not just as a discreet matter of immigration policy but in terms of human capital policy, the character of our schools, our future work force and much else. it is a very important issue touching on many different sectors. >> watch this weekend on c-span 2's booktv. unfortunately we are still having problems with our coverage of the bloomberg public health summit taking place here in washington, d.c., today. you should know, we are recording it and we'll have it for you later on our schedule on the c-span networks.

>> washington journal continues. host: joining us is scott news.n for e&e key is here to talk about the release of the trump administration. good morning to you. it is called the fourth national climate assessment. how did we get to the point where he got the document produced in the first place? guest: it is congressionally mandated. it is a sweeping survey of the latest in climate science. is fairly comprehensive. it looks at all sectors of society and the economy. just a broad-based survey of where we are in terms of what we know about climate change. host: how much of the trump administration scientists or people assigned were done?

was it started earlier than that? guest: i think the actual writing took place under the trump administration. one of the lead authors pointed that out yesterday. she started in 2017. she is from texas tech university. this is career staff largely from 13 different federal agencies. some of the best scientists in the world. i think it is more than 300 scientists contributed to this report. it is fairly broad-based in terms of the input from all across the administration. host: when it comes to the findings, what were the main pieces of information that made the most impact? guest: it shows an alarming climate situation in the u.s. -- the information is nothing new necessarily in terms of what we have known for years. it builds upon that.

it takes it further by showing and emphasizing this report compared to previous iteration that climate change is here now. we are seeing the effects right now. it is not just something happening in the future. one example is in miami where there is nuisance flooding where parts of the city are flooded without any sort of storm moving in. there is climate gentrification where parts of the city that are slightly higher above sea level, those are worth far more. there are pockets around the u.s. for you can see living, breathing examples of climate change. it is not something that is abstract. from wildfires in california, you can see the fingerprints of human-caused climate change as well. what are the connections to the economy? guest: it is saying it will cost

tens of billions of dollars every year. problems likeh severe heat waves that can cause premature deaths. that will cost tens of billions of dollars a year. you will see a huge hit to infrastructure. not just roads and bridges near coastal areas, of places that have been experiencing more extreme storms inland. areas that might see pipes, sewer pipes destroyed by the storms. we will see more and more of that in the future. host: scott waldman joining us to talk about the report and the reaction from me trump administration. if you want to ask questions, (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 from republicans. (202) 748-8002 for independents. he said this was written largely by members of the trump administration. guest: career staff in the federal government. host: the president's reaction,

was that surprising? guest: no. he rejects the science. he does not believe this report. he said similar things like that in the past. he pointed out it was called on thanksgiving, and asked where was global warming. weatherflates conditions over a short period of time where climate is conditions over a long period of time. a single day does not equal the absence of climate change. all brand-new research or depend on other research? how does that possibly skew the results? guest: there is plenty of new research in this. one of the most intriguing areas basicallyearch

looking at how we can attribute human-caused climate change to some phenomenon like hurricanes, individual hurricanes we have seen. the way we can study that is improving. you can look at hurricane irma and any other hurricane that has caused devastation and say this is the fingerprints of human-cost climate change. is easier with heat waves to determine the role. there is a growing body of science that shows we can track our human-cost climate change contributes to any individual heatwave. host: giving a specific example. -- give me a specific example. guest: one of the first they studied was in europe in the early 2000's. they found -- i don't remember the number but it was 30% or 40% of the heat wave was directly related to human activity.

host: part of the section, actions to reduce risks. what are some of the recommendations from the report? guest: we have known that for quite some time. we have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, carbon dioxide. the primary ways we believed with carbon dioxide in the u.s. is through the transportation sector, through vehicles and power plants that make electricity. those are the primary sources of pollution. the report next to clear we have to cut those levels fairly drastically or we will not be able to stop the worst effects of climate change. looking at climate modeling in the past has been fairly accurate. some of the temperature increases, the worst effects we past they werehe in the higher end of the modeling. some of the worst effects have already started to come true. host: the integration of climate

and if a decision-making of adaptation activities have significantly increased since the third national climate assessment in 2014. development of engineering to --ders best engineering development of engineering standards. banks are starting to factor this into their equations that we need to recognize we sure ansure that -- in bunch of homes in southern florida, we need to account for climate change. they need a factor that into our economic calculations. these are potentially profound economic hits to some of the companies. is not just insurance. is international companies. if you are making computer parts

in thailand and there are floods that are devastating factories, that can cause disruption to the whole computer supply chain. this report points out an example where the happened -- where that happened. host: dana from los angeles, republican line. caller: you were talking about the wildfires in california. by an electrical company. they are the ones that started the fire. have been as it was if somebody didn't start the fire. you guys talk about people causing pollution, driving cars, using all kinds of machinery, running refrigerators. why are you letting so many people into this country? all these people are coming in

like crazy. not because would any co2 activity. as soon as they come here they start causing pollution. the more people we bring into this country, the more pollution it will cause. host: thank you. guest: if we look at the wildfires as an example, a --ort is not saying humans the wildfire had a number of conditions related to climate change that fueled it that made it worse. in the trees in california are a result of the beatles moving northward and devastating more forests. hot conditions dries out the ground, which kills the brush and fuels the fire and makes it worse. when the president stood in the smoldering ruins, he was actually standing on the front

lines of climate change. that's exactly what this report says, expect more in the future. and wildfires in particular. we can expect an increase in devastating wildfires. this report is not saying climate change sparked. the wildfire it creates -- sparked the wildfires. it creates conditions to make them worse. host: can you highlight why this is included in the report? guest: i spent time in the arctic, in alaska. the northernmost city in the united states with whale hunters who had been for a millennia harvesting bowhead whales. because the ice is breaking up, they can't get to where they slam and harvest. -- swim and harvest. traditions that have persisted in the modern day for be disrupted and potentially shifted.

godelle in michigan. caller: good morning, gentlemen. harpir force has the antenna which changes the winds over north america. thes experimental but government is trying to manipulate the weather over north america. they showed it on tru tv. the government is not trying to manipulate the weather. we are trying to mitigate climate we're going to leave this washington journal conversation here. we're going live now to a discussion on democracy in the western