Climate Change Facts
The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) is a scientific a body operating under the authority of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It is responsible for reviewing, assessing, and compiling the most recent scientific, technical, and socioeconomic research and information relevant to climate change worldwide.
The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) released in October 2014 details the current state of scientific information regarding climate change. AR5 consists of 3 working group reports (WG) and a synthesis report (SR). This report is used as the scientific basis for policy decision-making regarding emission reductions, as well as adaptation and mitigation negotiations and policies at the annual Conference of the Parties (COP), the decision-making body of the UNFCCC. A brief summary of the report is included in the video, text and links below. For more information please visit the Synthesis Report Summary for Policymakers.
The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) released in October 2014 details the current state of scientific information regarding climate change. AR5 consists of 3 working group reports (WG) and a synthesis report (SR). This report is used as the scientific basis for policy decision-making regarding emission reductions, as well as adaptation and mitigation negotiations and policies at the annual Conference of the Parties (COP), the decision-making body of the UNFCCC. A brief summary of the report is included in the video, text and links below. For more information please visit the Synthesis Report Summary for Policymakers.
Main Findings of the IPCC
- Human influence on the climate system is clear, and recent anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are the highest in history. Recent climate changes have had widespread impacts on human and natural systems.
- Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia. The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, and sea level has risen.
- Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions have increased since the pre-industrial era, driven largely by economic and population growth, and are now higher than ever. This has led to atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide that are unprecedented in at least the last 800,000 years. Their effects, together with those of other anthropogenic drivers, have been detected throughout the climate system and are extremely likely to have been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.
- In recent decades, changes in climate have caused impacts on natural and human systems on all continents and across the oceans. Impacts are due to observed climate change, irrespective of its cause, indicating the sensitivity of natural and human systems to changing climate.
- Changes in many extreme weather and climate events have been observed since about 1950. Some of these changes have been linked to human influences, including a decrease in cold temperatures extremes, and increase in warm temperature extremes, an increase in extreme high sea levels and an increase in the number of heavy precipitation events in a number of regions.
- Continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system,increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems. Limiting climate change would require substantial and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions which, together with adaptation, can limit climate change risks
- Surface temperature is projected to rise over the 21st century under all assessed emission scenarios. It is very likely that heat waves will occur more often and last longer, and that extreme precipitation events will become more intense and frequent in many regions. The ocean will continue to warm and acidify, and global mean sea level to rise.
- Climate Change will amplify existing risks and create new risks for natural and human systems.
