Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
<br /> <br />IPCC Secretariat <br />c/o WMO · 7 bis, Avenue de la Paix · C.P: 2300 · CH-1211 Geneva 2 · Switzerland <br />telephone +41 22 730 8208 / 54 / 84 · fax +41 22 730 8025 / 13 · email IPCC -Sec@wmo.int · www.ipcc.ch <br /> <br /> <br />2018/24/PR <br />IPCC PRESS RELEASE <br /> <br />8 October 2018 <br /> <br />Summary for Policymakers of IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5ºC approved by <br />governments <br /> <br />INCHEON, Republic of Korea, 8 Oct - Limiting global warming to 1.5ºC would require rapid, far- <br />reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society, the IPCC said in a new assessment. <br />With clear benefits to people and natural ecosystems, limiting global warming to 1.5ºC compared to <br />2ºC could go hand in hand with ensuring a more sustainable and equitable society, the <br />Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said on Monday. <br /> <br />The Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5ºC was approved by the IPCC on Saturday in Incheon, <br />Republic of Korea. It will be a key scientific input into the Katowice Climate Change Conference in <br />Poland in December, when governments review the Paris Agreement to tackle climate change. <br /> <br />“With more than 6,000 scientific references cited and the dedicated contribution of thousands of <br />expert and government reviewers worldwide, this important report testifies to the breadth and policy <br />relevance of the IPCC,” said Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC. <br /> <br />Ninety-one authors and review editors from 40 countries prepared the IPCC report in response to <br />an invitation from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) when it <br />adopted the Paris Agreement in 2015. <br /> <br />The report’s full name is Global Warming of 1.5°C, an IPCC special report on the impacts of global <br />warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, <br />in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable <br />development, and efforts to eradicate poverty. <br /> <br />“One of the key messages that comes out very strongly from this report is that we are already <br />seeing the consequences of 1°C of global warming through more extreme weather, rising sea levels <br />and diminishing Arctic sea ice, among other changes,” said Panmao Zhai, Co-Chair of IPCC <br />Working Group I. <br /> <br />The report highlights a number of climate change impacts that could be avoided by limiting global <br />warming to 1.5ºC compared to 2ºC, or more. For instance, by 2100, global sea level rise would be <br />10 cm lower with global warming of 1.5°C compared with 2°C. The likelihood of an Arctic Ocean <br />free of sea ice in summer would be once per century with global warming of 1.5°C, compared with <br />at least once per decade with 2°C. Coral reefs would decline by 70-90 percent with global warming <br />of 1.5°C, whereas virtually all (> 99 percent) would be lost with 2ºC. <br /> <br />“Every extra bit of warming matters, especially since warming of 1.5ºC or higher increases the risk <br />associated with long-lasting or irreversible changes, such as the loss of some ecosystems,” said <br />Hans-Otto Pörtner, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group II. <br /> <br />Limiting global warming would also give people and ecosystems more room to adapt and remain <br />below relevant risk thresholds, added Pörtner. The report also examines pathways available to limit <br />warming to 1.5ºC, what it would take to achieve them and what the consequences could be.