The message couldn't be more blunt or direct....
"We must reduce global carbon emissions and we must do it now, concludes a landmark report released in Copenhagen on Sunday by the United Nations climate science body, the Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Said to be the official word on climate change from the world's top climate scientists, the final summary report (pdf) underscores three major facts about climate change: it’s man-made and already having dangerous impacts across the globe; if the world community acts now, warming can still be kept below the politically agreed upon "safe" limit of 2 degrees Celsius; the ability to secure a safe climate future is not only possible but also economically viable.
"In the starkest terms ever used, the scientific community is looking world leaders directly in the eye and demanding that they wake up," said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune in a statement following the report's release.
The Synthesis Report, the last installment of the UN body's Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), builds on a series of recent IPCC reports that have been released over the last 12 months and have detailed the science, impacts and solutions for climate change. It is expected to provide a foundation for international negotiations at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in Paris next year.
The report states decisively that global warming is "unequivocal" and that humanity’s role in causing it is "clear," adding that recent anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are the highest in history with "widespread impacts on human and natural systems."
Further, without "substantial and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions," the scientists warn that it is very likely that heat waves and extreme precipitation events will become more frequent and intense, that the ocean will continue to warm and acidify, while the global mean sea level will also continue to rise.
"Continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system, increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems," the summary states.
The IPCC report also notes that human populations in developing countries "that lack the resources for planned migration" will likely experience "higher exposure to extreme weather events." And overall, climate change impacts are projected to "make poverty reduction more difficult, further erode food security, and prolong existing and create new poverty traps, the latter particularly in urban areas and emerging hotspots of hunger."
"We must reduce global carbon emissions and we must do it now, concludes a landmark report released in Copenhagen on Sunday by the United Nations climate science body, the Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Said to be the official word on climate change from the world's top climate scientists, the final summary report (pdf) underscores three major facts about climate change: it’s man-made and already having dangerous impacts across the globe; if the world community acts now, warming can still be kept below the politically agreed upon "safe" limit of 2 degrees Celsius; the ability to secure a safe climate future is not only possible but also economically viable.
"In the starkest terms ever used, the scientific community is looking world leaders directly in the eye and demanding that they wake up," said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune in a statement following the report's release.
The Synthesis Report, the last installment of the UN body's Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), builds on a series of recent IPCC reports that have been released over the last 12 months and have detailed the science, impacts and solutions for climate change. It is expected to provide a foundation for international negotiations at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in Paris next year.
The report states decisively that global warming is "unequivocal" and that humanity’s role in causing it is "clear," adding that recent anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are the highest in history with "widespread impacts on human and natural systems."
Further, without "substantial and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions," the scientists warn that it is very likely that heat waves and extreme precipitation events will become more frequent and intense, that the ocean will continue to warm and acidify, while the global mean sea level will also continue to rise.
"Continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system, increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems," the summary states.
The IPCC report also notes that human populations in developing countries "that lack the resources for planned migration" will likely experience "higher exposure to extreme weather events." And overall, climate change impacts are projected to "make poverty reduction more difficult, further erode food security, and prolong existing and create new poverty traps, the latter particularly in urban areas and emerging hotspots of hunger."
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