By Celsias
Limiting climate change will require “substantial and sustained” GHG reductions says a new report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Global warming, it states , is “unequivocal” and humans are turning up the heat — but somewhat more slowly since 1998, according to a released today.
Each of the last three decades has been warmer at the Earth’s surface than any previous decade since 1850, says the 36-page Summary for Policymakers of the IPCC Working Group’s assessment report . In the Northern Hemisphere, the last 30 years from 1983–2012 was “likely” the warmest 30-year period of the last 1400 years.
The atmosphere and oceans have warmed, snow and icecaps diminished, sea levels have risen and concentrations of greenhouse gasses have increased since 1750 due to human activity, the report concludes.
But one piece of good news. The rate of warming over the past 15 years (from 1998 to 2012) is slower than the rate calculated since 1951, according to the assessment. Average global temperatures rose at 0.05 degree Celsius per decade from 1998 through 2012, compared to 0.12 degree per decade from 1951 through 2012. Sadly this 15-year slow down in temperature increases, does not reflect long-term climate trends, the report says.
Global surface temperature change by the end of the 21stcentury will likely exceed 2 degrees Celsius for the two highest scenarios.
