Human influence on global warming is 'unequivocal,' IPCC report says

 As a meteorologist who has been working with scientists studying climate change for the last 21 years, it's frustrating when people (especially those with ZERO science background) say they don't believe it. For decades, NASA and NOAA and scientists around the world have been saying the world is warming . Now a very damning global report goes into detail about the weather extremes such as extreme heat, extreme flooding, more powerful storms - all caused by a warmer planet. Here's the story 

( Flooding in Germany, 2021. Credit: CNN) 

Human influence on global warming is 'unequivocal,' IPCC report says 

By Mindy Weisberger - Senior Writer about 9 hours ago

Hundreds of scientists reviewed more than 14,000 studies tracking climate change evidence worldwide.

Record-setting wildfires, historic floods, baking droughts and punishing heat waves have dominated headlines in recent months, and if you're wondering if these extreme events are linked to climate change — and if humans are responsible — a new report by hundreds of climate experts confirms that this is indeed the case.

In fact, it's "unequivocal" that human activity is driving climate change, and it's affecting Earth's oceans, atmosphere, ice and biosphere in ways that are "widespread and rapid," according to the report.

On Monday (Aug. 9), the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN body for evaluating climate science, released the first installment of the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report in a virtual press event. In the report, the authors reviewed more than 14,000 studies that: document evidence of climate change; record the influence of human activities on global warming; and model predictions of our future should we fail to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change today.

(Image; 2021 Raging fires in Northern California. Credit: NBC)

"The fact that the IPCC has agreed — with the agreement of all 195 member countries — that it is unequivocal that human activity is causing climate change, is the strongest statement that the IPCC has ever made," Ko Barrett, IPCC Vice Chair and Senior Advisor for Climate at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said at a briefing on Aug. 8. Produced by the IPCC's Working Group I, this report addresses the scientific evidence of how Earth's climate is changing and how human activity is driving that change, summarizing the findings for global leaders and policy makers. 

More than 200 scientists authored and edited the new report, and they found that human activity, primarily the production of atmospheric CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels, has driven global warming at a rate that is unprecedented in the last 2,000 years. Due to climate change, human communities everywhere on Earth are affected by extreme weather events that are longer, more intense and more frequent. 

If current warming continues, Earth will exceed 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) of warming and reach 3.6 F (2 C) by 2050, which will further intensify the severity of extreme weather.

Under all the future emissions scenarios that were considered in the report, "surface temperatures will continue to increase until at least the mid-century," the authors wrote.

Powerful hurricanes are also forming more frequently — and deposit more rainfall — than they did decades ago; and most land areas are seeing precipitation events that are more frequent and intense, according to the report.

FOR MORE ABOUT THE REPORT https://www.livescience.com/ipcc-climate-report-2021.html?utm_source=SmartBrief&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=368B3745-DDE0-4A69-A2E8-62503D85375D&utm_content=E515AD0D-D741-4D89-BF21-5692FAEAF946&utm_term=cb486bd9-5e56-49fc-869b-ea0dd0662c29