United Nations Panel sees more climate change ahead

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is projecting even more intense climate changes during the next century. These are expected to hit the Northern Hemisphere particularly hard.

Panel members from 99 nations met this week in Shanghai, China where they released a 1000-page report on climate change, the most comprehensive study to date.

The report provides more evidence that temperature increases are due to pollution, rather than natural causes.

The report’s draft summary says the earth’s average temperature will rise 1.4 to 5.8 degrees C. by 2100, and sea levels are likely to jump by nearly a metre.

“The scientific consensus presented in this comprehensive report about human-induced climate change should sound alarm bells in every national capital and in every local community,” said Karl Toepfer, the head of the UN Environment Program, in a statement.

The Shanghai meeting is the first in a series of meetings to gather information on climate change for policy-makers.