IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007
Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its fourth assessment report on climate change hints at the danger posed by the global warming due to human activities
Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its fourth assessment report on climate change hints at the danger posed by the global warming due to human activities. The important observations of the working group-I
I. The major greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere. This is actually a natural process. However, the very noticeable increase in these GHGs over the past 50 years is the result of human activity. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in 2005 "exceeds by far" the levels recorded in ice cores over the last 650,000 years. The rate of increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been greater in the past 10 years than at any point since continuous measurements began in 1960.
II. Warming of the climate is unequivocal
III. The resulting hike in the atmospheric temperature and the rise in sea level are expected to continue for centuries, even if we control the level of pollution. At the same time, the amount of temperature and the extend of the sea level rise varies greatly depending on the intensity of human activities.
IV. World temperature is expected to rise between 1.1 and 6.4 0C (i.e., 1.98 and 11.52 0F) in this century. The sea level may rise by 18-59 cm. There may be more frequent warm spells, heat waves and heavy rainfall. There may be an increase in droughts, cyclones and extreme high tides.
V. The carbon dioxide, one of the GHGs, will continue to be the major cause of global warming and sea level rise for more than a millennium.
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