WASHINGTON, D.C. (Reuters) – Droughts, acidic ocean water and melting glaciers are signs that the pace of climate change is surpassing the worst-case scenarios scientists predicted in 2007, says a United Nations report.
The UN Environment Program (UNEP) report said mountain glaciers in Asia are melting at a rate that could eventually threaten water supplies, irrigation or hydro power for 20 to 25 percent of the world’s population.
“We are headed to very serious changes in our planet and we need to appreciate how serious it is in order to lend support to the transformational policy measures that need to be taken,” said UNEP executive director Achim Steiner.
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The Climate Change Science Compendium 2009 report has analyzed 400 scientific reports released through peer-reviewed literature or from research institutions since the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its last report in 2007.
It found that an increase in global greenhouse gas concentrations has raised concern among scientists that a rise of 1.4 to 4.3 C above pre-industrial temperatures is likely.
That is above the range of 1 to 3 C many scientists see as a level that could lead to the end of summer Arctic sea ice and the eventual melting of the Himalayan glaciers and the Greenland ice sheet.
In addition, increased absorption of carbon dioxide by oceans is leading to acidification of sea water faster than expected. For example, water that can corrode a seashell-making substance is “already welling up along the California coast, decades earlier than existing models predict,” the report said.
The acidification of oceans could threaten shellfish and coral reefs, the breeding grounds for many fish species.
Environmentalists hope leaders will pay attention to the UNEP report but news about how the global recession is affecting emissions may also be a factor. The Paris-based International Energy Agency said the recession has set the stage for the 2.6 percent drop in global carbon dioxide production this year, the sharpest fall in 40 years.
Still, the UNEP report said emissions that have already been released into the atmosphere could lead to the loss of ecosystems and increased desertification from Africa to Asia.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects U.S. emissions to begin rising again next year as the economy improves.
