Climate change report outlines dire impact of global warming

The report by the IPCC, a body established by the United Nations in 1988 that brings together the opinions of scientists around the world, finds that global warming will lead to an increased prevalence of droughts, rising sea levels, flooding rivers, large-scale extinctions of plant and animal life, and greater malnutrition and disease. The most severe impact will be on the poor, but global warming will affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people internationally.

The summary released Friday comes from the second of the IPCC’s three-part report on climate change and deals with impacts of climate change on human and natural systems. The first part, released in February 2007, examined the physical science basis for climate change, finding that warming is real and is “very likely” to be caused by humans. The third part is due to examine ways that global warming can be halted or reversed. The full report will be released later this year.

The dire nature of the report’s findings comes despite an intense dispute between the lead scientists authoring the report and diplomats representing national governments. According to a report in the Associated Press, “Five days of negotiations reached a climax when the delegates removed parts of a key chart highlighting devastating effects of climate change that kick in with every rise of 1.8 degrees, and in a tussle over the level of scientific reliability attached to key statements.”

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http://wsws.org/articles/2007/apr2007/glob-a10.shtml