Latest IPCC Third Assessment Report Stories
A Swiss team has found that about three-quarters of the global warming seen since 1950 is due to human influences. These findings, as well as a second report about increasing glacier loss in the Himalayas, comes as U.N. climate talks in South Africa goes underway. Some of the main tasks facing U.N. members is to find an agreement on a 143-page draft text covering issues like speeding up emission cuts, safeguarding forests and helping the poorest countries protect themselves against...
The ranges of species will have to change dramatically as a result of climate change between now and 2100 because the climate will change more than 100 times faster than the rate at which species can adapt, according to a newly published study by Indiana University researchers. The study, which focuses on North American rattlesnakes, finds that the rate of future change in suitable habitat will be two to three orders of magnitude greater than the average change over the past 300 millennia,...
The UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has issued a new report, the annual World Meteorological Organization Statement on the Status of the Global Climate. The report was released Nov. 29 in Durban, South Africa at an international climate conference. The report states that 2011 was the tenth warmest year on record and the surface temperatures were higher than any previous year with a La Nina event, which has a cooling effect. The report also notes that the incidence of Arctic...
According to a new study published this week in Science, the rate of global warming from doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide may be less than previous estimates. The study authors said that global warming is real and that increases of atmospheric CO2 will have multiple serious impacts. However, the most Draconian projections of temperature increases from the doubling of CO2 are unlikely, which is a projection made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007....
WASHINGTON, Nov. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A second batch of leaked emails from scientists working on board and alongside the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have come to light. They contain shocking revelations which show an insular cadre of climate scientists coordinating efforts to place advocacy ahead of science, stifle dissent, and conceal information which detracts from a preconceived, ideologically driven, global warming narrative. This shockingly...
Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide levels reached record highs in 2010, surpassing what experts had previously called the worst-case scenario for these greenhouse gases, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced on Monday. The WMO, which is the U.N.'s weather agency, reported that CO2 levels increased by 2.3 parts per million, to 389 ppm, from 2009 to last year, according to Reuters reporter Tom Miles. That single-year increase exceeds the average for both the 1990s...
According to a report by U.N. scientists, man-made climate change has already boosted heat waves and flood-provoking rainfall and is likely to contribute to future natural disasters. It said that the toll from these extreme weather events will depend as much on the measures taken to protect populations and property as the violence of nature's outbursts. The report is the U.N.'s first comprehensive review of global warming's impact on weather extremes and how best to manage them. "We...
Two research papers, each appearing in the journal Nature Climate Change, have warned that if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, global temperatures could exceed “safe” levels of two degrees Celsius in some regions of the world by 2060. Even if the 2C threshold is inevitable, reducing emissions now could delay that rise by up to several decades, giving us much needed time to adapt to climate change. These are the conclusions of new research by scientists from the...
Rising sea levels in the coming centuries is perhaps one of the most catastrophic consequences of rising temperatures. Massive economic costs, social consequences and forced migrations could result from global warming. But how frightening of times are we facing? Researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute are part of a team that has calculated the long-term outlook for rising sea levels in relation to the emission of greenhouse gases and pollution of the atmosphere using climate models. The...
Warmer temperatures and a lack of water are causing some types of plants and animals to become smaller, claims a new study published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change. According to Marlowe Hood of the AFP, authors Jennifer Sheridan and David Bickford of the National University of Singapore discovered that nearly 45% of the species they studied had decreased in size over the past few generations, and they say climate change is at fault. "The impact of rapidly climbing...
