Global Warming Observations and Quotes
Since
1880, the average global temperature has risen about 0.8°C (1.4°F), resulting in many of the
weather extremes and climatic changes
we see today. However,
the most comprehensive CO2 study to date
by the
Global Carbon Project, published by leading scientists in the journal
Nature Geoscience, says that the world is now firmly on course for the worst-case scenario in terms of climate change, with average global temperatures
rising by up to 6°C (11.5°F) by the end of the century
(PwC
study)
(see also). Such a temperature rise, which would be
much higher near the poles
(see also), would have
devastating
and
irreversible
consequences for the Earth, making
large parts of the planet uninhabitable and threatening the basis of human civilization.
As National Geographic
states, "At six degrees, the oceans could be marine wastelands, the deserts could march across continents, and natural disasters could become common events. The world’s great cities could be flooded and abandoned. This could be 'the doomsday scenario'.” The world is close to reaching tipping points that will
make it irreversibly hotter, making this decade critical in
efforts to contain global warming.
Learn more.
Within five years, the International Energy Agency predicts irreversible climate change. "On planned policies, rising fossil energy use will lead to irreversible and potentially catastrophic climate change… we are on an even more dangerous track to an increase of 6°C [11°F]…. Delaying action is a false economy: for every $1 of investment in cleaner technology that is avoided in the power sector before 2020, an additional $4.30 would need to be spent after 2020 to compensate for the increased emissions.” ~ International Energy Agency World Outlook 2012 Learn more.
Six Degrees Could Change the World
"Countless peer reviewed studies all indicate that the threat of climate change is real and that emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities will change the climate in catastrophic ways if unchecked. In closing, we believe that acting now to address climate change will not only (hopefully) avert catastrophic consequences, it will create jobs, improve energy security and improve people’s lives the world over. Let’s get started now." ~ World Resources Institute
World Health Organization: Protecting Health from Climate Change
"The overall costs and risks of climate change will be equivalent to losing at least 5% of global GDP each year, now and forever. If a wider range of risks and impacts is taken into account, the estimates of damage could rise to 20% of GDP or more. In contrast, the costs of action - reducing greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst impacts of climate change - can be limited to around 1% of global GDP each year." ~ Report on the Economics of Climate Change, World Resources Institute
"Science shows that climate change will affect human health across the world. From diminished air quality and degradation of food and water supplies to increasing levels of allergens and catastrophic weather events, we will experience a number of worsening health threats during our lifetimes." ~ NRDC
"Consumption of energy and many other critical resources is consistently breaking records, disrupting the climate and undermining life on the planet. The world is running out of time to head off catastrophic climate change, and it is essential that Europe and the rest of the international community bring pressure to bear on U.S. policy makers to address the climate crisis. The United States must be held accountable for its emissions, double the per capita level in Europe, and should follow the EU lead by committing to reducing its total greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Without a U.S. commitment to emissions constraints, persuading China and India to commit to reductions is unlikely. The only hope for reducing the world’s carbon emissions is for the U.S. to begin reducing its emissions and cooperating with other nations immediately" ~ World Watch Institute
"It's very important to understand that climate change is not just another issue in this complicated world of proliferating issues. Climate change is THE issue which, unchecked, will swamp all other issues. The only hope lies in all the countries of the world coming together around a common global project to rewire the world with clean energy. This is a path to peace --- peace among people, and peace between people and nature." ~ Ross Gelbspan
"While some level of debate is useful when looking at major social problems, society must eventually move on and actually address the issue. To do nothing about the problem of climate change is akin to letting a fire burn down a building because the precise temperature of the flames is unknown, or to not address the problem of smoking because one or two doctors still claim that it does not cause lung cancer. As the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) acknowledges, a lack of full scientific certainty about some aspects of climate change is not a reason for delaying an immediate response that will, at a reasonable cost, prevent dangerous consequences in the climate system." ~ David Suzuki Foundation
"There is unequivocal evidence that Earth’s lower atmosphere, ocean, and land surface are warming; sea level is rising; and snow cover, mountain glaciers, and Arctic sea ice are shrinking. The dominant cause of the warming since the 1950s is human activities. This scientific finding is based on a large and persuasive body of research. The observed warming will be irreversible for many years into the future, and even larger temperature increases will occur as greenhouse gases continue to accumulate in the atmosphere. Avoiding this future warming will require a large and rapid reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions. The ongoing warming will increase risks and stresses to human societies, economies, ecosystems, and wildlife through the 21st century and beyond, making it imperative that society respond to a changing climate. Prudence dictates extreme care in accounting for our relationship with the only planet known to be capable of sustaining human life." ~ American Meteorological Society
A failure to act on climate change will, as Professor Anthony Costello of the UCL Institute for Global Health
states
, "Result in an intergenerational injustice, with our children and grandchildren scorning our generation for ignoring the climate change threat – with moral outrage."
According to diverse range of leading organizations such as Unesco, the World Bank, the US army and the Rockefeller Foundation, the 2009 State of the Future report contains 6,700 pages and draws on contributions from 2,700 experts around the globe, stating - as The Independent puts it
- "The stakes are high, as, without sustainable growth, “billions of people will be condemned to poverty and much of civilization will collapse”. This is the stark warning from the biggest single report to look at the future of the planet." Learn more.
“Extreme weather like the droughts in Russia, China and Brazil and the flooding in Pakistan and Australia [in 2010] have contributed to a level of food price volatility we haven’t seen since the oil crisisof 40 years ago. Unfortunately, this could be just a taste of things to come because in the next few decades the build-up of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere could greatly increase the risk of droughts, flooding, pest infestation and water scarcity for agriculture systems already under tremendous stress.” ~ John Beddington, UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser
"Research now demonstrates that the continued functioning of the Earth system as it has supported the well-being of human civilization in recent centuries is at risk. Without urgent action, we could face threats to water, food, biodiversity and other critical resources: these threats risk intensifying economic, ecological and social crises, creating the potential for a humanitarian emergency on a global scale. The defining challenge of our age is to safeguard Earth’s natural processes to ensure the well-being of civilization while eradicating poverty, reducing conflict over resources, and supporting human and ecosystem health. As consumption accelerates everywhere and world population rises, it is no longer sufficient to work towards a distant ideal of sustainable development. Global sustainability must become a foundation of society. It can and must be part of the bedrock of nation states and the fabric of societies."~ Planet Under Pressure: State of the Planet Declaration (2012 International Scientific Consensus)
"If global warming continues as expected, it is estimated that almost a third of all flora and fauna species worldwide could become extinct. Scientists … discovered that the proportion of actual biodiversity loss should quite clearly be revised upwards: by 2080, more than 80% of genetic diversity within species may disappear in certain groups of organisms, according to researchers in the title story of the journal Nature Climate Change. The study is the first world-wide to quantify the loss of biological diversity on the basis of genetic diversity." ~ Nature Climate Change study, 'Cryptic biodiversity loss linked to global climate change'
Learn more.
"Black carbon is the second largest man-made contributor to global warming and its influence on climate has been greatly underestimated, according to the first quantitative and comprehensive analysis of this issue. Black carbon has a much greater (twice the direct) climate impact than reported in previous assessments. Black carbon ranks “as the second most important individual climate-warming agent after carbon dioxide”. Cleaning up diesel engines and some wood and coal combustion could slow the warming immediately." ~ International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme
"Global warming is bringing more frequent and severe heat waves, and the result will be serious for vulnerable populations. That means air pollution in urban areas could get worse, bringing increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and asthma attacks. Children, the elderly, poor, and people of color are especially vulnerable to these effects." ~ Dr. Amanda Staudt, National Wildlife Federation Climate Scientist
“The current state of affairs is unacceptable precisely because we have a responsibility and a golden opportunity to act. Energy-related CO2 emissions are at historic highs, and under current policies, we estimate that energy use and CO2 emissions would increase by a third by 2020, and almost double by 2050. This would be likely to send global temperatures at least 6C [11F] higher within this century.” ~ Ms. Maria van der Hoeven, Executive Director, International Energy Agency
Learn more.
‘‘The current heatwave
– in terms of its duration, its intensity and its extent – is now unprecedented in our records. Clearly, the climate system is responding to the background warming trend. Everything that happens in the climate system now is taking place on a planet which is a degree hotter than it used to be. As the warming trend increases over coming years, record-breaking heat will become more and more common. ‘We know that global climate doesn’t respond monotonically – it does go up and down with natural variation. That’s why some years are hotter than others because of a range of factors. But we’re getting many more hot records than we’re getting cold records. That’s not an issue that is explained away by natural variation.’’ ~
David Jones, Australian Bureau of Meteorology’s manager of climate monitoring and prediction
Learn more.
"Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century ... the impacts will be felt all around the world — and not just in some distant future but in our lifetimes and those of our children.” ~ The Lancet, 2009/The world's leading general medical journal
"A warming world with violent storms holds many unpleasant surprises. Recent research now suggests that this may include damage to the protective ozone shield, which protects us from harmful ultraviolet radiation that causes skin cancer, cataracts, suppresses the human immune system, and damages crops and ecosystems." ~
Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development
(View Study)
The
International Energy Agency
has warned
, in the
2011 World Energy Outlook
, that If fossil fuel infrastructure is not rapidly changed in five years, the world will 'lose for ever' the chance to avoid dangerous and irreversible climate change. "If we do not have an international agreement whose effect is put in place by 2017, then the door will be closed forever. Growth, prosperity and rising population will inevitably push up energy needs over the coming decades. But we cannot continue to rely on insecure and environmentally unsustainable uses of energy." ~
IEA Chief Economist Fatih Birol
Learn more.
“Climate change — human-made global warming — is happening. It is already having noticeable impacts…. If we stay on with business as usual, the southern U.S. will become almost uninhabitable.” ~ James Hansen, World Renowned Climatologist, Director NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies Learn more.
"There is unequivocal evidence that Earth’s lower atmosphere, ocean, and land surface are warming; sea level is rising; and snow cover, mountain glaciers, and Arctic sea ice are shrinking. The dominant cause of the warming since the 1950s is human activities. This scientific finding is based on a large and persuasive body of research. The observed warming will be irreversible for many years into the future, and even larger temperature increases will occur as greenhouse gases continue to accumulate in the atmosphere. Avoiding this future warming will require a large and rapid reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions. The ongoing warming will increase risks and stresses to human societies, economies, ecosystems, and wildlife through the 21st century and beyond, making it imperative that society respond to a changing climate." ~ The American Meteorological Society
“The radiative forcing of the CO2 we have already put in the atmosphere in the last century is … the equivalent in energy terms to almost half a billion Hiroshima bombs each year.” ~ Climate Progress
