Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Top climate experts issued their bleakest forecasts yet about global warming on Friday, ranging from hunger in Africa to a thaw of Himalayan glaciers in a study that may add pressure on governments to act.
More than 100 nations in the UN climate panel agreed upon a final text after all-night disputes during which some scientists accused governments of watering down some of their findings in a 21-page draft summary.
“We have an approved report,” Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), told reporters on Friday morning after negotiations about the regional impact of climate change that began on Monday.
Pachauri — who said he was still wearing the same suit as on Thursday due to the marathon overnight talks — added that he hoped the world would pay attention.
The report says the poor will be hit hardest by changes, including desertification, drought, and rising sea levels.
The IPCC, which groups 2,500 scientists, is the world’s top authority on climate change. Its findings are approved unanimously by governments and will guide policy in coming years on issues such as extending the UN’s Kyoto Protocol, the main UN plan for capping greenhouse gas emissions, beyond 2012. “Conflict is a hard word, tension is a better word,” said Gary Yohe, one of the scientists who was a lead author of the report.
He said China, Russia and Saudi Arabia had raised most objections during the night. Other participants also said the United States had toned down some passages.
Some scientists objected, for instance, after China tried to eliminate a note saying that there was “very high confidence” that climate change was already affecting “many natural systems, on all continents and in some oceans”.
Still, delegates sharpened other sections, including adding a warning that some African nations might have to spend 5 to 10 per cent of gross domestic product on adapting to climate change.
Overall, the report is the strongest UN assessment yet of the threat of climate change, predicting water shortages that could affect billions of people and a rise in ocean levels that could go on for centuries.
The report also forecast that temperatures could rise by 1.8 to 4.0 degree Celsius this century. Friday’s study also says climate change could cause hunger for millions with a sharp fall in crop yields in Africa. It could also rapidly thaw Himalayan glaciers that feed rivers from India to China and bring heatwaves for Europe and North America.
