World climate change body issues most comprehensive report to date
At a time when climate change and Environmental Protection Agency proposals to curb greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, among others, are taking center stage in the United States, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) -- the world body for assessing the science related to climate change -- has released a report laying out the case for immediate action to protect the health of communities, governments, and economies around the world.
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The impacts of human influence, according to the report, can be seen across the world, regardless of the continent and, if left unchecked, climate change will "increase the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems."
The report confirms with greater certainty than ever before that emissions of greenhouse gases has been one of the dominant causes of global warming since the mid-20th century, with changes like atmosphere and ocean warming, rising sea levels and unprecedented levels of carbon dioxide being observed since the 1950s.
"This report should galvanize the world to take urgent and collective action to curb climate change, and to deal with its here-and-now devastating impacts," said Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "We're almost out of time to avoid the worst—but we're not out of solutions. For the sake of our children and all future generations, we need to take significant action, and soon.''
The Sierra Club, however, admonishes the report in favor of action over words.
"We do not need any more reports - we need action," said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club.
Brune said that the report does, in fact, make clear that "we must rapidly transition to a clean energy economy free from dirty fossil fuels, and we must do it now…The silver lining to the report is that it recognizes clean energy climate solutions are affordable and ready to deploy."
That is true. In fact, the report suggests implementing stringent mitigation activities to ensure that the impacts of climate change remain within a manageable range.
"We have the means to limit climate change," said R. K. Pachauri, chair of the IPCC and lead on the report. "The solutions are many and allow for continued economic and human development. All we need is the will to change, which we trust will be motivated by knowledge and an understanding of the science of climate change."
There are multiple mitigation solutions to achieve substantial emissions reductions over the next few decades necessary to limit, with a greater than 66 percent chance, the warming to 2 degrees Celsius -- the goal set by governments, according to the report; however, delaying additional mitigation to 2030 will substantially increase the technological, economic, social and institutional challenges associated with limiting the warming.
These economic estimates of mitigation costs do not account for the benefits of reduced climate change, nor do they account for the numerous co-benefits associated with human health, livelihoods, and development. "The scientific case for prioritizing action on climate change is clearer than ever," Pachauri said. "We have little time before the window of opportunity to stay within 2ºC of warming closes. To keep a good chance of staying below 2ºC, and at manageable costs, our emissions should drop by 40 to 70 percent globally between 2010 and 2050, falling to zero or below by 2100. We have that opportunity, and the choice is in our hands."
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