Latest IPCC Report Points to Urgent Need to Cut Emissions
Excerpt: Our planet’s oceans, forests, and soils perform a valuable service, absorbing half of our carbon dioxide emissions. But the more that our planet warms, the more that these so-called “carbon sinks” weaken in their ability to perform this service. If we continue on our current trajectory of high emissions of greenhouse gases, by the next century not only will oceans and forests absorb less carbon dioxide, they could even reverse their role and become carbon sources. This is one of the key messages from Working Group I of the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released today. ...Reports from Working Groups II and III, which focus on adaptation and mitigation, respectively, will be out next spring. ...Another potent short-lived climate forcer is hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, which are commonly used as refrigerants, such as in air-conditioning. Almost 40% of the warming caused by residential and commercial emissions are from HFC emissions. “They have a very high global-warming potential,” said Kuo, also a contributing author on the chapter. “That’s a concern with global warming, with more people buying air conditioners in regions where they typically weren’t needed, such as the Pacific Northwest in the United States.” ...The chapter on extreme weather is of particular interest in this summer of record-shattering heat, floods, and other severe weather. A key message is that human influence is making many types of extreme climate events, including heat waves, heavy rainfall, and droughts, more frequent and severe....
- See also New York Times: A Hotter Future Is Certain, Climate Panel Warns. But How Hot Is Up to Us; Climate Change Is a ‘Hammer Hitting Us on the Head,’ Developing Nations Say; Washington Post: Humans have pushed the climate into ‘unprecedented’ territory, landmark U.N. report finds; and National Geographic: Some irreversible changes to the climate can still be headed off, report says.