WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives published a report saying there are strong links between pollution levels and warmer weather patterns.
A 24-page report prepared by Democratic staff members of the House Natural Resources and Energy and Commerce Committees said there's a general agreement among scientists that man-made pollution is leading to abnormal weather patterns.
The report states that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concluded recent droughts in the United States were more likely because of warming trends.
July was the warmest month on record for the Lower 48 states since record-keeping began in the late 1800s.
U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said heat waves, drought and wildfires this year had devastating consequences on constituent welfare.
"The evidence is overwhelming -- climate change is occurring and it is occurring now," he said in a statement.
Leaders from the Democratic Party say their Republican counterparts are supporting legislation that would diminish the effectiveness of environmental laws. Last week, House Republicans helped pass a pro-coal bill that would limit the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Waxman, ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee, helped publish the report.
