UPI/Jeremy Potter/NOAA
YOKOHAMA, Japan – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report today that says the effects of climate change are already occurring on all continents and across the oceans. The world, in many cases, is ill-prepared for risks from a changing climate. The report also concludes that there are opportunities to respond to such risks, though the risks will be
difficult to manage with high levels of warming.
The report, titled Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, from Working Group II of the IPCC, details the impacts of climate change to date, the future risks from a changing
climate, and the opportunities for effective action to reduce risks. A total of 309 coordinating lead authors, lead authors, and review editors, drawn from 70 countries, were selected to produce the report. They enlisted the help of 436 contributing authors, and a total of 1,729 expert and
government reviewers.
The report concludes that responding to climate change involves making choices about risks in a changing world. The nature of the risks of climate change is increasingly clear, though climate change will also continue to produce surprises. The report identifies vulnerable people, industries, and ecosystems around the world. It finds that risk from a changing climate comes from vulnerability (lack of preparedness) and exposure (people or assets in harm’s way) overlapping with hazards (triggering climate events or trends). Each of these three components can be a target for smart actions to decrease risk.
“We live in an era of man-made climate change,” said Vicente Barros, Co-Chair of Working Group II. “In many cases, we are not prepared for the climate-related risks that we already face. Investments in better preparation can pay dividends both for the present and for the future.”
Adaptation to reduce the risks from a changing climate is now starting to occur, but with a stronger focus on reacting to past events than on preparing for a changing future, according to Chris Field, Co-Chair of Working Group II.
“Climate-change adaptation is not an exotic agenda that has never been tried. Governments, firms, and communities around the world are building experience with adaptation,” Field said. “This experience forms a starting point for bolder, more ambitious adaptations that will be important as climate and society continue to change.”
Future risks from a changing climate depend strongly on the amount of future climate change.
Increasing magnitudes of warming increase the likelihood of severe and pervasive impacts that may
be surprising or irreversible.
“With high levels of warming that result from continued growth in greenhouse gas emissions, risks will be challenging to manage, and even serious, sustained investments in adaptation will face limits,” said Field.
Observed impacts of climate change have already affected agriculture, human health, ecosystems on land and in the oceans, water supplies, and some people’s livelihoods. The striking feature of observed impacts is that they are occurring from the tropics to the poles, from small islands to large continents, and from the wealthiest countries to the poorest.
“The report concludes that people, societies, and ecosystems are vulnerable around the world, but with different vulnerability in different places. Climate change often interacts with other stresses to increase risk,” Field said.
Adaptation can play a key role in decreasing these risks, Barros noted. “Part of the reason adaptation is so important is that the world faces a host of risks from climate change already baked into the climate system, due to past emissions and existing infrastructure,” said Barros.
Field added: “Understanding that climate change is a challenge in managing risk opens a wide range of opportunities for integrating adaptation with economic and social development and with initiatives to limit future warming. We definitely face challenges, but understanding those challenges and tackling them creatively can make climate-change adaptation an important way to help build a more vibrant world in the near-term and beyond.”
Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the IPCC, said: “The Working Group II report is another important step forward in our understanding of how to reduce and manage the risks of climate change. Along with the reports from Working Group I and Working Group III, it provides a conceptual map of not only the essential features of the climate challenge but the options for solutions.”
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Haarp in Alaska controls the weather and the perverts in washington are at the controls.
What do real scientists know anyhow? If Glenn Beck doesn’t say it it’s not real.
These people are as stupid as Philly.. There has always been climate change and there always will be. The planet changes constantly. I know the top climate scientist in the country and he says this is a scam and all about controlling other people and the money.
Who is the “top” climate scientist in the country? Where can I find his published work? I’d love to read his research and findings. This is not a troll response, I’m always open to new information and would like to hear what he has found.
He is out of Davis, California. Graduated from Iowa State with his doctorate in climatology and now uses the title Biometerologist. I won’t put his name on here because he is a relative of mine.
@Matt Rezab-He told me that all weather is caused by the sun’s effect on the water’s of the oceans. He said nothing that man can produce even comes close to the power the sun puts out on the oceans surface. Made sense to me.
Found a man with those exact credentials. Dr Richard L Snyder. Very impressive background.
Looking at Dr. Snyder’s well respected opinions:
“The highlight of the ceremony was the keynote speaker, Dr. Richard L. Snyder–a biometeorologist from UC Davis.
He gave a very sobering presentation on climate change…We should all be on Yellow Alert….Dr. Snyder emphasized that the effects of climate change will be profound.”
Same guy LVS?
If so, you’re blowin’ smoke out your butt…as…
@BCN-If it was Dr. Snyder you know nothing at all about what he thinks. He is so much smarter than a troll like you it isn’t even close.
Those are Dr. Snyder’s quoted words, not mine.
I’d give you the link, but you would ignore it and come up with more of the BS that spews from your keyboard in a continuous basis.
You just can’t stand that fact that you were caught in one of your many lies.
@BCN-You had better go back and listen again. The yellow warning he is talking about pertains to the drout in California and they way the misuse the water resources in that state. He is talking about soil moisture. You are to damn dumb to understand.
A drought…caused be global warming. LVS caught red handed lying again.
YOU LIED LVS, plain and simple and just now again.
You’re such an Ignoranus.
“The irrefutable evidence of the increasing atmospheric carbon loads, and explained the equations for projecting a 6-9°F increase in the average global temperature by 2100.
Pointedly, that it took 18,000 years to reach a 5°F rise in average global temperature, so 90 years is really foreshortening the pace of adaptation.
This is very worrisome and will be a big problem.”
Quote from Dr. Richard L. Snyder
Ig-no-ra-nus:
Noun
1. Someone who is both ignorant and an asshole.
2. A dumbass of extravagant proportions.
See LVS
@BCN-what a dumb ass you are. I know him personally and “Talk” to him all the time. I know what he thinks and how he feels. You can misquote all you want but his interest is in evaporation, water content and raising food. If he is talking about that then he is talking about Egypt (where he did a lot of work or Italy, or even Australia where he goes quite often. You know nothing except how to look stupid. You are a worthless, cowardly troll who is to cheap to pay for a subscription.