Climate change: debate over, political action urgent
A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirms that urgent international political action is needed if we are to avoid dangerous climate change.
The report - the most comprehensive assessment of the science of climate change to date - shows that global temperatures continue to rise and that there has been an acceleration in the rate of changes observed over the last few decades.
Environment Secretary David Miliband said:
“This report confirms our concerns that the window of opportunity to avoid dangerous climate change is closing more quickly than previously thought. It is another nail in the coffin of the climate change deniers and represents the most authoritative picture to date, showing that the debate over the science of climate change is well and truly over.
“What’s now urgently needed is the international political commitment to take action to avoid dangerous climate change. This has been absent so far. If we are to succeed, we will require the engagement not just of environmental ministers but heads of state, prime ministers and finance ministers. This first report by the IPCC, and others to follow later this year, can provide a strong evidence base needed to move the prospects of agreement closer.
“Man-made climate change poses an increasing risk to people and business across the globe. It will have disastrous consequences if we don’t act now. The economic evidence, following the Stern Review, is clear that tackling this challenge is both achievable and affordable.”
There is now much stronger evidence that the emissions of greenhouse gases, produced, for example, as a result of fossil fuels burnt for transport, heating and industry, as well as a result of deforestation, are responsible for the warming observed since pre-industrial times. The Earth has warmed by 0.74°C since the beginning of the twentieth century.
Among the key issues highlighted in the report are:
- human activities are causing concentrations of greenhouse gases to rise at an unprecedented rate
- by the end of the 21st century temperatures may rise by between 1.8 and 4 deg C (best estimates) or 1.1 and 6.4 deg C (including all uncertainties)
- sea level may rise by up to half a metre by the end of this century
- the projected warming will increase the frequency of heat waves and heavy precipitation events, affect storminess and reduce snow and ice cover
Further information
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Page published: 2 February 2007