Climate change: Humans hold the 'smoking gun'

Global warming as a result of human activity is here, and could get much worse in the future an international scientific report has warned.

There is a strong correlation between increasing temperatures and glacial retreat in the Bhutan-Himalaya region

“The smoking gun is definitely lying on the table as we speak,” said climate scientist Jerry Mahlman, who reviewed the first section of the four-part report - ‘Climate Change 2007’- from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). “The evidence is compelling,” he added.
 
The first phase of the IPCC report - which considers the physical science basis of climate change - has been released in Paris and includes “a significantly expanded discussion of observation on the climate” according to co-chair Susan Solomon, a senior scientist for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Many feel that the report will further convince the global community that humans are having an indisputable effect on the climate. An early draft of the report stated: “An increasing body of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on aspects of climate including sea ice, heat waves and other extremes, circulation, storm tracks and precipitation.”

The report - the 4th of its kind from the IPCC - will draw on already published peer-reviewed work, including recent studies showing that temperatures are the hottest in thousands of years, especially during the last 30 years. The predictions for the future of climate change in the report are based on 19 computer models.

Dr Peter Stott, of the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research in the UK and one of the lead authors of the report, told Laboratory News: “A lot of research has gone into this report, with many scientists involved at every level. I am hopeful that it will make people sit up and listen. They need to take it seriously.”

The IPCC was established by the World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Environment Programme to assess the scientific, technical and socio- economic information relevant for the understanding of climate change. The report was authored by three working groups, and the next three sections are expected throughout 2007.