Accelerating Climate Change Requires Urgent Emission Reductions
30.11.2009 - Logistics, Atmosphere & Space, Water & Oceans, Land & Geology, Ice & Snow, Flora & Fauna, Human Dimension, Bi-polar
With ice sheets melting at an increasing rate and Arctic sea ice vanishing faster than projected, The Copenhagen Diagnosis, a new report documenting the key findings in climate change science since the publication of the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report in 2007, has been released to give an update on scientific findings in the interim period before the release of the IPCC's 5th Assessment report, due out in 2013.
The new study, which is the result of the collaboration between 26 scientists (most of whom were authors of the IPCC report), shows the predictions made in the 2007 IPCC report are already below the current observed changes. The report also mentions that without substantial mitigation, global temperatures may rise by as much as 7°C by 2100.
Some of the key findings include:
- According to satellite observations, the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets are losing mass at an increasing rate and are thus contributing to the sea level rise.
- Melting of Arctic sea ice is beyond the predictions of climate models.
- Sea levels have risen by more than 5 cm over the past 15 years.
- Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels are 40% higher than in 1990.
