The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
The IPCC was established by the United Nations and the World Meteorological Organisation and is the world's leading scientific body for the assessment of climate change. It has been reviewing worldwide research on climate change by thousands of mainstream scientists since 1988.
In its latest report, the IPCC concluded that:-
"Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level". (IPCC Fourth Assessment Report AR4, Nov 2007)
The IPCC also concludes that human activities which strengthen the greenhouse effect are the main cause of the warming over the last 100 years, particularly over the last 50 years. Over 30 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide are emitted globally each year by burning fossil fuels and another 7 billion tonnes by changes in land use, mainly deforestation. These gases are now concentrated in the atmosphere at levels not seen in the past 650,000 years.
The IPCC suggests that global temperatures are likely to rise between 1.1 and 6.4 degrees above 1990 levels by the end of this century, depending on our emissions. This could result in a rise in global sea levels of between 20cm and 60cm, continued melting of glaciers, sea ice and the polar ice caps, changes in precipitation patterns, the intensification of storms, water scarcity in vulnerable areas and the loss of 20-30% of the species we currently know exist.
