On the Verge of Catastrophe

The challenge of global warming will likely define the next era of history. Will the dominant west break its deadly addiction to fossil fuels? Most of the rest of the world will suffer famine and other environmental catastrophes if they do not.
CNN.com

Climate change is "severe and so sweeping that only urgent, global action" can head it off, a United Nations scientific panel said in a report on tackling global warming issued Saturday.


The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was delivering its fourth and final report on the science of climate change and the impact of human-produced greenhouse gases at a conference in Valencia, Spain.


The report produced by the Nobel prize-winning panel warns of the devastating impact for developing countries and the threat of species extinction posed by the climate crisis.


U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, presenting the report, warned that some of the effects of rising levels of greenhouse gases may already be irreversible. The U.N. head said the situation was already "so severe and so sweeping that only urgent, global action" could head off the crisis.


[..]Scientists say up to an 85 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions is needed to head off potential catastrophic changes that could lead to more floods and famine.