Responses will face challenges with high warming of the climate
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued areport today that says the effects of climate change are already occurring on all continents andacross the oceans. The world, in many cases, is ill-prepared for risks from a changing climate. Thereport also concludes that there are opportunities to respond to such risks, though the risks will bedifficult to manage with high levels of warming.
The report, titled Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, from Working GroupII of the IPCC, details the impacts of climate change to date, the future risks from a changingclimate, and the opportunities for effective action to reduce risks. A total of 309 coordinating leadauthors, lead authors, and review editors, drawn from 70 countries, were selected to produce thereport. They enlisted the help of 436 contributing authors, and a total of 1,729 expert andgovernment reviewers.
The report concludes that responding to climate change involves making choices about risks in achanging world. The nature of the risks of climate change is increasingly clear, though climatechange will also continue to produce surprises. The report identifies vulnerable people, industries,and ecosystems around the world. It finds that risk from a changing climate comes fromvulnerability (lack of preparedness) and exposure (people or assets in harm’s way) overlapping withhazards (triggering climate events or trends). Each of these three components can be a target forsmart actions to decrease risk. |
“We live in an era of man-made climate change,” said Vicente Barros, Co-Chair of Working Group II.”In many cases, we are not prepared for the climate-related risks that we already face. Investmentsin better preparation can pay dividends both for the present and for the future.”Adaptation to reduce the risks from a changing climate is now starting to occur, but with a strongerfocus on reacting to past events than on preparing for a changing future, according to Chris Field,Co-Chair of Working Group II.
“Climate-change adaptation is not an exotic agenda that has never been tried. Governments, firms,and communities around the world are building experience with adaptation,” Field said. “Thisexperience forms a starting point for bolder, more ambitious adaptations that will be important asclimate and society continue to change.”
Future risks from a changing climate depend strongly on the amount of future climate change.Increasing magnitudes of warming increase the likelihood of severe and pervasive impacts that maybe surprising or irreversible.
“With high levels of warming that result from continued growth in greenhouse gas emissions, riskswill be challenging to manage, and even serious, sustained investments in adaptation will facelimits,” said Field.
Observed impacts of climate change have already affected agriculture, human health, ecosystemson land and in the oceans, water supplies, and some people’s livelihoods. The striking feature ofobserved impacts is that they are occurring from the tropics to the poles, from small islands to largecontinents, and from the wealthiest countries to the poorest.
“The report concludes that people, societies, and ecosystems are vulnerable around the world, butwith different vulnerability in different places. Climate change often interacts with other stresses toincrease risk,” Field said.
Adaptation can play a key role in decreasing these risks, Barros noted. “Part of the reasonadaptation is so important is that the world faces a host of risks from climate change already bakedinto the climate system, due to past emissions and existing infrastructure,” said Barros.
Field added: “Understanding that climate change is a challenge in managing risk opens a widerange of opportunities for integrating adaptation with economic and social development and withinitiatives to limit future warming. We definitely face challenges, but understanding those challengesand tackling them creatively can make climate-change adaptation an important way to help build amore vibrant world in the near-term and beyond.”
Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the IPCC, said: “The Working Group II report is another important stepforward in our understanding of how to reduce and manage the risks of climate change. Along withthe reports from Working Group I and Working Group III, it provides a conceptual map of not onlythe essential features of the climate challenge but the options for solutions.”
The Working Group I report was released in September 2013, and the Working Group III report willbe released in April 2014. The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report cycle concludes with the publicationof its Synthesis Report in October 2014.
“None of this would be possible without the dedication of the Co-Chairs of Working Group II and thehundreds of scientists and experts who volunteered their time to produce this report, as well as themore than 1,700 expert reviewers worldwide who contributed their invaluable oversight,” Pachaurisaid. “The IPCC’s reports are some of the most ambitious scientific undertakings in human history,and I am humbled by and grateful for the contributions of everyone who make them possible.”
You may find the Report at IPCC webiste
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