IPCC SUMMARY FOR POLICY MAKERS (SPM)

What is IPCC- SPM?

• Every six years or so, IPCC publishes assessment reports on science, impact and mitigation of climate change.
• This is the 5th IPCC-SPM. The last (4th) report was published in 2007.

Important Impacts of Climate Change

• Snow cover in the northern hemisphere in June has reduced by 11.7% per decade since 1967. That means the snow cover in that month over the northern hemisphere has fallen to half of what it was less than 50 years ago.
• Permafrost- The frozen soil that extends several million square kilometers along the high Northern latitudes has warmed by staggering 3 degrees Centigrade in Northern Alaska since early 1980s and by 2 degrees Centigrade in the Russian European north sine 1971
• The earth’s surface cover over each of the last three decades has been warmer than any preceding decade since 1850 and has warmed by .85 degrees Centigrade since 1880.
• Between 1901 and 2010, the sea levels rose by 19 cm on an average worldwide. In recent years, the rise has increased to 3.2 mm a year.

Causes

• Of the total Green House Gases (GHGs) emission, 44% or little less than half accumulated in the atmosphere, and rest almost equally being taken up by oceans and land based ecosystems.
• As a consequence, the atmospheric concentration of three main GHGs has risen to levels unprecedented in at least 8,00,000 years. Even the oceans absorbing GHGs have become more and more acidic.

Possible Impacts on India

• The increasing concentration of GHGs in atmosphere will further aggravate the increase in atmospheric temperature as it will rise by a further 0.3 to 0.7 degrees Centigrade in 2016-2035.
• The increase in seasonal and mean temperatures is expected to be larger in the tropics and subtropics than the mid-latitudes.
• The tropics are home to huge number of world’s known species, and which have historically evolved and been used to relative narrow temperature band. A small rise will mean that many tropical species have to migrate or become extinct.
• In the longer term, it is seriously alarming that much of North-west and Central India would be 4 degrees to 5 degrees warmer by 2081 -2100.
• Monsoon retreat dates will likely be delayed in many regions.