The changing climate could pose health and economic hardships on areas in the southeast and southwest, particularly in Hispanic communities.

Nearly half of all U.S. Hispanics live in the country's most smog-polluted cities, the report states, breathing dirty air that can cause asthma attacks, reduce lung function, and aggravate respiratory illnesses. Climate change and the hotter temperatures that come with it only make smog worse.

The National Climate Assessment is a project of the U.S. Global Research Program which was established by Congress to coordinate climate science and global change research across 13 federal agencies.

Source: Published originally on the San Antonio Business Journal as New study warns of climate change risks for Hispanic communities by Mike W. Thomas, May 6, 2014.