“Science has spoken,” U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said. “Time is not on our side.”
In Copenhagen on Sunday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a "synthesis" report, a stark summary of its last three reports.
“Human influence on the climate system is clear,” the report reads, “and recent anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are the highest in history.”
“Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia,” the report continues. “The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, and sea level has risen.”
Scanpix Denmark / Reuters
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a stern warning while presenting the report: "Science has spoken. There is no ambiguity in the message. Leaders must act, time is not on our side.”
Scanpix Denmark / Reuters
Indeed, the IPCC notes that fast action in reducing emissions is needed in order to limit global warming to 2º Celsius (3.6º Fahrenheit) and keep climate change in check at manageable costs.
Inaction, the report warns, is likely to lead to water and food shortages, refugee crises, widespread flooding, "and long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system, increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems."
from BuzzFeed - Breaking http://ift.tt/1rO0Udg
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