COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The United Nations panel on climate science says climate change is happening, and it’s almost entirely due to human activity.
It also says emissions may need to drop to zero by the end of this century for the world to have a decent chance of keeping the temperature rise below a level that many consider dangerous.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says to accomplish that, the world must break its addiction to the oil, coal and gas that power the global energy system while polluting the atmosphere with heat-trapping carbon dioxide.
The fourth and final volume of the panel’s giant climate assessment combines the findings of three earlier reports released in the past 13 months. The final wording was approved yesterday in Denmark after a weeklong line-by-line review.
Speaking in Copenhagen as the report was released today, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (bahn kee-moon) said “science has spoken,” and now “leaders must act.”
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