latest ipcc report

Human role in global warming now even clearer says latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report
By Jake Sturmer and Alex McDonald

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says there is now a 95 per cent probability that humans are responsible for global warming.

The figure, in the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report, which was released in Stockholm today, is a 5 per cent increase from the panel's 2007 landmark report.

More than 600 scientists and researchers contributed to the fifth assessment report.
Analysis: 5th IPCC report

ABC Environment: Michael E Mann and Dana Nuccitelli write that climate scientists are increasingly confident humans are causing global warming.
The Drum: The ANU's Professor Will Steffen says the report provides details that stamp out the myths and distortions of those trying to discredit climate science.


Government representatives from member nations haggled with the panel's scientists long into the night over the precise wording of the report.

The report summary also shows the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen by 40 per cent since the pre-industrial era.

Modelling also suggests temperatures are likely to rise by 2 degrees Celsius, and sea levels could possibly will rise by almost 1 metre, by the end of this century.

The worst case scenario is a sea level rise of up to 1 metre.

The latest IPCC report is the result of almost seven years work by scientists and policymakers.

It is based on more than 50,000 contributions from around the world, and an exhaustive peer review process.

Professor Andy Pitman from the University of NSW says the seven-year cycle is "incredibly onerous" and probably unprecedented in any scientific field.

"I actually think it's too slow to respond to emerging issues within climate science," Professor Pitman said.

The IPCC has shown it can fast track its work: A 2011 report on managing extreme weather and disasters was produced relatively quickly, an approach that Professor Pitman favours.

"That model might be one that we need to interweave with a cycle of IPCC reports," he said.

"I would be quite happy if they became once-a-decade, interspersed with fast response reports on particular [topics]."

As expected, the fifth IPCC report shows the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by more than 20 per cent since the 1950s.

Global temperatures have risen almost 1 degree since the pre-industrial era.

Some projections of future temperature rise are likely to be lowered from the previous IPCC report in 2007.

The IPCC assessment is considered a relatively conservative estimate of the threat posed by global warming.

The IPCC was first set up in 1988 by two United Nations organisations and was later endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly.

Scribd: Read a summary of the IPCC report
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-27/read-a-summary-of-the-ipcc-report/4986000

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-27/human-role-in-global-warming-now-even-clearer-latest-ipcc-report/4985878