Today the IPCC released the full text of Working Group I (Science) of its 5th Assessment report. After negotiations in Stockholm last week went 
into the wee hours each night, delegates were able to come to agreement on the final text for the Summary for Policy Makers, or SPM, for the science report.
None of Working’s Group I’s major conclusions were changed since the last draft, perhaps the most notable being that scientists are now 95% or more certain that humans are causing climate change. In addition, climate models have improved since AR4 was released in 2007, making these findings even more accurate – and even more stark – than before. Some of the other major findings of AR5 Working Group I include:
– global warming is unequivocal; each of the last 3 decades has been warmer than the one before; the oceans are warming and acidifying; the ice sheets are melting; sea levels are rising faster than predicted; these levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have not been seen for 800,000 years. The warming of the air, ocean and atmosphere and loss of sea ice and permafrost are expected to continue.
You can find the full text of the summary of headline statements from the SPM here.
Both the Working Group I report and the SPM are available today at www.climatechange2013.org. Assuming you don’t want to pore through the hundreds of pages of the full Working Group I report, the SPM is your best bet.
CAN Europe will continue to be engaged in promoting the findings of the IPCC report, urging EU leaders to up their climate ambition in line with what science says is necessary.
