September 27, 2013 -- Updated 1204 GMT (2004 HKT)
Scientists are 95% certain that human activity has caused at least half
of climate change in the last 50 years, a U.N. report concludes. FULL STORY
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UNDERSTANDING THE REPORT
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5 THINGS TO KNOW
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5 THINGS TO KNOW
September 27, 2013 -- Updated 1256 GMT (2056 HKT)
Understanding the climate change report
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Climate change deniers beware, says Secretary of State John Kerry
- There is even more certainty that humans are playing a role
- The report lays out projections for climate change through the end of the century
- The first section of the report is aimed at assisting policymakers
That activity? Driving
cars, running power plants on coal and oil, torching swathes of
forestland and debris; anything involving burning carbon-based fuels and
emitting greenhouse gases.
We are seeing the
consequences already in extreme weather patterns, particularly drought
and flood, and they will probably get worse this century, the report
said.
"It should serve as yet
another wake-up call our activities today have a profound impact on
society, not only for us, but for many generations to come," Michel
Jarraud, head of the World Meteorological Organization, said at a news
conference in Stockholm, Sweden.
Saving the coral reefs
Scottish salmon fisheries imperiled
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry echoed his words in an official statement.
"Those who deny the
science or choose excuses over action are playing with fire," he said.
"Once again, the science grows clearer, the case grows more compelling,
and the costs of inaction grow beyond anything that anyone with
conscience or common sense should be willing to even contemplate."
The assessment report
from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the benchmark
study on global warming published every few years. Nearly 1,000
researchers from around the world work on the document, which then
undergoes review by about as many scientists.
The panel released a summary report Friday and plans to post the full version, roughly 2,500 pages, online on Monday.
This year's report further strengthens the suspicions that scientists already have.
In 2007, climate
researchers were already 90% sure that people were behind a seemingly
small rise in global average temperature of about half a degree Celsius
(1 degree Fahrenheit) that has already notched up extreme weather events
such as heat waves, droughts and flooding.
The effects they are
already causing are expected to increase for a century or more, the
report reads. Weather catastrophes, previously called storms of the
century, are on their way to striking every 20 years or even more
frequently.
This means,
unfortunately, that we could see more EF5 tornadoes like the one that
ground up Moore, Oklahoma; stronger and more floods like those that
inundated Colorado towns; another Sandy or Katrina or two in our
lifetimes; more crops wiped out by drought; and more forestland consumed
by roaring wildfires.
The Arctic ice cap could
melt nearly completely in summer, and sea levels could continue to
rise. In the Antarctic, the ice cap could continue to increase slightly.
And if greenhouse gas
emissions continue to climb as they have, the resulting temperature rise
and its deadly effects would get even worse, the report says.
Hundreds of experts weigh in
The 2013 assessment
report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change brings
together the latest research from top scientists in the field. It
contains a "summary for policymakers" aimed at guiding politicians and
lawmakers worldwide on decisions regarding the environment over the next
several years.
The document released Friday explains the physical science behind climate change.
The U.N. panel releases a
report every five or six years. Friday's report is the culmination of
work by more than 250 authors from 39 countries and was subject to an
extensive review process involving more than 1,000 experts.
More than 850 expert
authors from 85 countries contributed research for the full report,
which will be released in three stages through April. The first, on the
physical science behind climate change, accompanies the summary for
policymakers. The second, expected in March, will cover "impacts and
vulnerabilities" of climate change; the third, on mitigation efforts, is
set to go out in April.
Critics of the report
Despite the breadth of
the scientific expertise involved and the extensive review and approval
process, the assessment reports spark quite a few criticisms, from both
climate change believers and skeptics.
Skeptics say the panel
exists only to produce further evidence supporting the idea of man-made
climate change while ignoring opposing research. But climate change
activists, and many climate scientists, say the panel's
consensus-seeking policy produces conclusions and estimates that are too
conservative.
Another often-cited
critique of the report is that, due to its size and lengthy approval
process, it is already outdated by the time it is released. Several
important studies already have been published in the past year in the
constantly evolving science of climate change that will not be included
in this assessment.
Despite the critics,
this week's document will serve as a major measuring stick for the
current state of the world's climate and what type of change is in
store.
The summary for policymakers will be available Friday at www.climatechange2013.org.
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