The hottest 30-year period in 1,400 years ended in 2012 – but it’s only going to get hotter from here on in, a new report on climate change reveals.
In fact, each successive decade since 1850 has been hotter than the last. And there’s nothing we can do about it.
The Working Group ‘Climate Change 2013’ report part I is the first of three instalments, with parts II and III due to be completed in Spring 2014.
Commissioned by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the report is a collaborative effort of 259 scientists and experts from around the world, spanning 39 countries. It outlines two main points: yes, climate change is our fault and, yes, it is going to keep happening. Thomas Stocker, co-chair of the working group, says: “As a result of our past, present and expected future emissions of CO2, we are committed to climate change, and effects will persist for many centuries even if emissions of CO2 stop.”
Emissions of carbon dioxide and rising sea levels have been ratcheting up since before industrialisation and are likely to continue to do so, with up to 40 per cent of the CO2 currently present in the atmosphere predicted to remain there for the next 1,000 years.
We can mitigate the fallout by stopping all carbon fuel emissions and moderating global surface temperatures, says the IPCC. But we cannot stop it entirely.
