IPCC report: Humans are dominant cause of Global Warming

A latest report by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on global warming claims that it has evidence that since 1950 the atmosphere and oceans had warmed, and that scientists are now “95% certain” that humans are the “dominant cause”.

As per the IPCC report:

• Warming patterns has been replicated across the climate system, as the amount of snow and ice has diminished, the mean global sea level has risen and concentration of greenhouse gases has increased.
• In the absence of strong measures, the global warming is likely to exceed 2C by the end of this century. This is the level at which the consequences become even more catastrophic and which world governments have agreed to try to avoid.
• It is urgent to put a price on carbon emissions that was high enough to force power companies and manufacturers to reduce their fossil-fuel use. IPCC is working on “mechanisms” through which the market could be used to reduce carbon emissions.
• The world had already burned more than half of the one trillion tonnes of carbon permitted if it is to have a reasonable chance of limiting the temperature rise by 2C.
• Rapid industrialisation in the developing world is increasing global emissions so fast that the world is on course to use up its entire carbon budget within 25 years.
• The effects of climate change include rising sea levels, more and hotter heatwaves, and changes to rainfall meaning dry regions get less and wet areas receive more.

What skeptics have to say about climate change?

As per the skeptics who play down the idea of climate change the phenomena is a problem but not so serious to be called a crisis. They point to an observation that there has been a slowdown in climate change in past 15 years.  As per the observation, the temperature rise has slowed from 0.12C per decade since 1951 to 0.05C per decade in the past 15 years – a point seized upon by climate sceptics to discredit climate science.

However, environmentalist point that it was the effect of El Nino in 1998 which made it unusually hot and since then there have been a series of medium-sized volcanic eruptions that have cooled the climate. The oceans have also played a significant role in rearranging the earth’s heat by absorbing it. So, it just seems to have cooled. Ocean warming dominates the increase in energy stored in the climate system, accounting for more than 90% accumulated by the planet between 1971 and 2010.