Sec. 2. Findings
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Congress finds the following: Every region of the United States is confronting the effects of climate change and related natural disasters, including extreme heat and droughts, heavy rains and flooding, hurricanes and tornadoes, acidification of the oceans and sea level rise, wildfires, and mudslides, among other effects. These changes affect the health, agriculture, food supply, infrastructure, energy supply, water quality and water supply, and have the potential to reduce the standard of living and quality of life in the United States.
The Fourth National Climate Assessment estimates that low-income communities will be disproportionately impacted by climate change through higher rates of adverse health conditions, greater exposure to environmental hazards, and more severe impacts and longer recovery from natural disasters. The Fourth National Climate Assessment estimates that— climate change will shrink the American economy by up to 10 percent by the year 2100 and will result in losses up to $141,000,000,000 from heat-related deaths, $118,000,000,000 from sea level rise, and $32,000,000,000 from infrastructure damage; and proactive adaptation initiatives yield benefits in excess of their costs in both the near term and long term.
The frequency and severity of natural disasters taking place each year is steadily and significantly increasing. In 1970, there were 78 registered natural disasters. In 2017, there were 335 natural disasters, impacting approximately 96,000,000 people and costing the United States more than $306,000,000,000. Service and Conservation Corps, which are descended from the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s, are trained for and have experience with the four stages of disaster: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.