25.10.2008

Climate Change is Accelerating

 
WWF’s report brings together new scientific data that has emerged since the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Fourth Assessment Report last year.
 
New data
 
The new report, Climate change: faster, stronger, sooner, reveals that global warming is accelerating beyond the IPCC’s forecasts:
  • The Arctic Ocean is losing sea ice up to 30 years ahead of IPCC predictions. It is now predicted that the summer sea ice could completely disappear between 2013 and 2040 - something that hasn’t occurred in more than a million years.
  • Global sea level rise is expected to reach more than double the IPCC’s maximum estimate of 0.59m by the end of the century, putting vast coastal areas at risk.
  • Natural carbon sinks - the areas that help to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere - are losing their ability to soak up growing levels of emissions faster than expected.
  • Rising temperatures have already led to a major reduction in global yields of wheat, maize and barley, resulting in losses of 40 million tonnes of grain per year.
  • Marine ecosystems in the North and Baltic Sea are being exposed to the warmest temperatures measured since records began.
  • The number and intensity of extreme cyclones over the British Isles and the North Sea are projected to increase, leading to increased wind speeds and storm-related losses over Western and Central Europe.
Critical
 
“Climate change is a major challenge to the future of mankind and the environment, and this sobering overview highlights just how critical it is that EU environment ministers, who are meeting today to discuss EU legislation to tackle climate change, commit to a strong climate and energy package, in order to ensure a low-carbon future,” said Dr Keith Allott, Head of Climate Change at WWF-UK.
 
For the full article and links visit the WWF website here.