The Heaviest Warning

In what sounds to be its heaviest warning yet--and despite efforts by the U.S. to soften its language--the BBC is reporting that the final summary report to be released tomorrow by the Nobel Peace Prize winning UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is going to be harsh and unequivocal, with a new warning of possible "abrupt and irreversible" climate change.

According to the BBC, "Among its top-line conclusions are that climate change is "unequivocal", that humankind's emissions of greenhouse gases are more than 90% likely to be the main cause, and that impacts can be reduced at reasonable cost. "

The report now being completed "strengthens the language of those earlier reports with a warning that climate change may bring "abrupt and irreversible" impacts. Such impacts could include the fast melting of glaciers and species extinctions."

"Climate change is here, it's impacting our lives and our economies, and we need to do something about it," commented Hans Verolme, director of the climate change programme with the environmental group WWF. "After this report, there are no politicians left who can argue they don't know what climate change is or they don't know what to do about it."

The summary is expected to be released Saturday, and will accompany a full report, in addition to the three reports on aspects of the Climate Crisis already issued this past year.