Climate change needs to be addressed now

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a UN scientific body established to evaluate the best available scientific evidence on the topic has looked at thousands of published studies and come to the following conclusions:

(a) The levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are rising rapidly;

(b) Human activity - mostly the burning of fossil fuels, is responsible for this rise;

(c) The average global temperature has already risen by around 0.6 degrees Celsius from what we would otherwise expect and can be directly correlated with the rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It will continue to do so as carbon dioxide levels increase;

(d) The world's ecosystems, of which we are a part, will be severely impacted by a rise of more than around 2 degrees;

(e) If we don't take action very soon to first stabilize and then reduce our greenhouse gas emissions on a worldwide basis, we will risk reaching the threshold of irreversible and potentially catastrophic climate change within the lifetime of our grandchildren.

The good news is that we have it in our power to do something about the problem without bankrupting our economy, but the longer we put off addressing the problem, the more it will cost down the road. Don't take my word for it - read the latest report from the IPCC or the UK government's Stern Report.



David Holmes

Orléans