National Academies of Science Report: Evidence that Climate Pollution Harms Human Health, Welfare Is “Beyond Scientific Dispute”

(September 17, 2025) A new report released today by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine finds that it is “beyond scientific dispute” that climate pollution harms human health and welfare.

The report, Effects of Human-Caused Greenhouse Gas Emissions on U.S. Climate, Health, and Welfare, finds that “EPA’s 2009 finding that the human-caused emissions of greenhouse-gases threaten human health was accurate, has stood the test of time, and is now reinforced by even stronger evidence.”

Scientists at Environmental Defense Fund praised the study.

“The National Academies of Science study summarizes the overwhelming body of scientific evidence documenting the serious harms greenhouse gas emissions pose, which has only grown larger since 2009,” said EDF Associate Chief Scientist Lisa Dilling.  “The report considers extensive evidence, including numerous peer-reviewed studies and public comments, and strongly affirms what Americans across the country already know – that climate pollution is harmful and reducing it is vital for protecting communities across the country.”

The National Academies of Science study was undertaken in response to EPA’s proposal to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding – the 2009 determination that greenhouse gas pollution (GHGs) endangers the health and welfare of current and future generations. The study considers scientific information developed since 2009 and concludes that “the evidence for current and future harm to human health and welfare is created by human-caused GHGs is beyond scientific dispute.” 

The study includes a number of supportive findings, which are also grounded in extensive scientific evidence:  

• Emissions of GHGs from human activities are increasing the concentration of these gases in the atmosphere. 
• Improved observations confirm unequivocally that GHGs are warming Earth’s surface and changing Earth’s climate. 
• Human-caused emissions of GHGs and resulting climate change harm the health of people in the United States.
• Changes in climate resulting from human-caused emissions of GHGs harm the welfare of people in the United States. 
• Continued emissions of GHGs from human activities will lead to more climate changes in the United States, with the severity of expected change increasing with every ton of GHGs emitted. 

The report was released on the same day that a federal judge ruled in a case brought by EDF and the Union of Concerned Scientists. The groups are challenging the formation of the Climate Working Group — a group of hand-picked climate action opponents secretly convened by Trump Secretary of Energy Christopher Wright — and use of the group’s report by the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency. That widely discredited report questions the scientific basis for the Endangerment Finding and is the basis of the Trump EPA’s attempt to overturn it. 

EDF and UCS filed a lawsuit arguing that DOE, EPA, and the Climate Working Group violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act’s requirements for transparency and public participation. The Trump administration argued the group was exempt from that law. Today the court rejected that claim – the only one the Trump administration had presented in defense of the group and its report.