NEWS UPDATE:Original article from CNN.
Even if we end emissions tomorrow, climate change could continue for centuries. What do you think about this conclusive statement?
The latest United Nations climate change report concludes that it is "extremely likely" that human activity accounts for at least half of the global warming that has been observed since the 1950s. The Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the benchmark study on global warming published every few years. Nearly 1,000 researchers from around the world work on the document, which then undergoes review by about as many scientists.
This report further strengthens the suspicions scientists have already ascertained. Climate scientists are 95% confident -- that is to say, surer than ever -- that humans are responsible for at least "half of the observed increase in global average surface temperatures since the 1950s." This is the major headline from the report, as it marks a stark spike in confidence over the last 12 years, as scientists were 90% confident in 2007 and 66% confident in 2001 of the same conclusion.
An increase in carbon dioxide concentrations that is "unprecedented" in the last 20,000 years, along with increases in other emissions, have driven up average temperatures by about 0.6 degrees Celsius (1 degree Fahrenheit) since 1950, the report states. Worst-case predictions are that by 2100, temperatures could increase by as much as 3.7 degrees Celsius (6.6 Fahrenheit), the report indicates.
Article Source - CNN -- Image Source -- Read full U.N Report HERE
