Who Says Climate Change Is Real?

Who Says Climate Change Is Real?

The most authoritative word on climate change and its consequences is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an international body established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme.  Under the advocacy of the United Nations, the IPCC strives to inform policymakers about the impacts of climate change, future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation.

The IPCC recently published its Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. With contributions from a total of 837 coordinating lead authors and 1,729 reviews by experts and government officials, the latest report indicates that when it comes to climate change, the worst is yet to come. According to the AR5, “Throughout the 21^st century, climate-change impacts are projected to slow down economic growth, make poverty reduction more difficult, further erode food security, and prolong existing and create new poverty traps, the latter particularly in urban areas and emerging hot spots of hunger.”

Still, while greenhouse gas emissions are rising faster than ever, there is time, albeit little, to prevent the worst from arriving. With sustained global efforts to utilize renewable energy, which is becoming more and more affordable, and a continued pattern of countries prioritizing the effects of climate change, perhaps we can avert a potential crisis.

However, there cannot be any passengers. Gas emissions in rising economic countries such as China have been counterproductive to efforts by other nations to decrease their own gas emissions. A new White House report released this month confirms that the rapid warming of the past half-century is due primarily to human activities. We aren’t simply passengers when we harm our planet; so how can we be as we attempt to heal it? Are we being melodramatic, or are climate change and the human contribution to global warming alarming enough for us to act?