Clik here to view.
The Synthesis Report distils and integrates the findings of the three working group contributions to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report -- the most comprehensive assessment of climate change yet undertaken, produced by hundreds of scientists -- as well as the two Special Reports produced during this cycle.The scientists have spoken:
Climate change is set to inflict “severe, widespread, and irreversible impacts” on people and the natural world unless carbon emissions are cut sharply and rapidly, according to the most important assessment of global warming yet published.The scientists have been speaking. And speaking. And speaking. And speaking. And the Republicans have been ignoring the scientists.The stark report states that climate change has already increased the risk of severe heatwaves and other extreme weather and warns of worse to come, including food shortages and violent conflicts. But it also found that ways to avoid dangerous global warming are both available and affordable.
“We have the means to limit climate change,” said Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). “The solutions are many and allow for continued economic and human development. All we need is the will to change.”
Find out the details over the fold.
Mitch McConnell uses the "I'm not a scientist" dodge. Lots of people aren't scientists. Intelligent people listen to those who are scientists. Lots of people also aren't doctors, but when the overwhelming majority of doctors warns of a health hazard, intelligent people listen to them.
Joni Ernst says "I don't know the science." She also apparently isn't smart enough to listen to those who actually are scientists. If her doctors told her she had a horrible but treatable disease, would she say that she doesn't know the medical science, and ignore them?
When asked whether "humans are contributing significantly to climate change," Cory Gardner said "Look, this is an important issue and I don't think you can say yes or no." But of course, the actual scientists actually can say yes or no. If he bothered to pay attention to them. Which he doesn't, while now also wanting to pretend he does. Because he flip-flopped. Partially.
Gardner and Scott Brown have both flip-flopped on climate change, Brown more than once, and when politically convenient play the game of acknowledging at least some human contribution to climate change, while criticizing efforts that would actually begin to address climate change. It's a clever ploy. Sort of sometimes admit there's a problem, oppose solutions to the problem, and act as if the problem is no big deal anyway. Which seems to be the latest Republican means of ensuring that the crisis isn't treated as a crisis, and that nothing will be done about it.
David Perdue has a big shortsighted financial incentive to oppose efforts to deal with climate change, and dutifully does so.
Thom Tillis is refreshingly straightforward about his climate change denial. No matter the scientific proof, Tillis says climate change just isn't happening.
Dan Sullivan vows that a Republican Senate majority will quash President Obama's efforts to deal with climate change. Which is as plain as could be.
The science is clear and overwhelming. Democrats are trying to do something about the crisis, and Republicans either deny the crisis actually exists or oppose all efforts to address it.
The scientists are speaking:
The unrestricted use of fossil fuels should be phased out by 2100 if the world is to avoid dangerous climate change, a UN-backed expert panel says.And speaking:The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says in a stark report that most of the world's electricity can - and must - be produced from low-carbon sources by 2050.
If not, the world faces "severe, pervasive and irreversible" damage.
The UN said inaction would cost "much more" than taking the necessary action.
The cost of fighting climate change will only climb if industrialized nations don't take steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the United Nations' panel on the matter warned Sunday in its wrap-up report.The full report can be found here. You can be assured that the Republicans won't be reading it. Or referring to it. Or even acknowledging its existence. And will American voters really be voting for them anyway?In its "synthesis report," the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that the hundreds of authors involved in the study were even more certain than before that the planet is warming and humans are the cause.
"If left unchecked, climate change will increase the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems," the report said.