World faces 'irreversible' climate change, researchers warn http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/03/12/irreversible.climate/index.html
(CNN) -- The world is facing an increasing risk of "irreversible" climate shifts because worst-case scenarios warned of
two years ago are being realized, an international panel of scientists has warned. Drought, flooding, storms and mass
extinction in the future will have a heavy social cost as well. Temperatures, sea levels, acid levels in oceans and ice
sheets were already moving "beyond the patterns of natural variability within which our society and economy have
developed and thrived," scientists said in a report released Thursday. The findings came at the end of a three-day
conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, where nearly 2,000 researchers gathered to discuss climate change.
The group called on policy-makers to use all tools available to reduce
dangerous emissions of greenhouse gases.
The current climate situation on the planet may be as severe as the worst-case scenarios predicted by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which issued warnings in 2007 of a future beset by flooding, drought,
storms and mass extinction of species.
In its report, the researchers also warned of potential social costs across
the planet because of climate change.
Temperature rises above 2 degrees Celsius would lead to climate disruption for the rest of the century and
disproportionately affect poor nations, the researchers warned.
"Recent observations show that societies are highly vulnerable to even modest levels of climate change, with poor
nations and communities particularly at risk," the report said.
The conclusions of the conference will be presented to politicians when they meet in Copenhagen in December. It is then
that leaders will discuss a new global agreement on greenhouse gas emission levels to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which
expires in 2012
[permaculture] World faces 'irreversible' climate change, researchers warn - CNN.com,
Lawrence F. London, Jr., 03/13/2009